Good recipes are good memory systems. Sometimes as I read them, I can almost hear the laughter of my family as we make Christmas cookies or see the smile on a friend’s face as I give them a new dish to try.
Occasionally I imagine I see a tear stain on a recipe card and remember the time that dish was given to someone who was grieving.
Fortunately, most of my recipes have good memories attached to them; the casserole I took to my best friend when she had her firstborn child, or the soup I made for the neighbor who was finally home from the hospital with her new hip.
My mom (who admittingly hated cooking) always took meals to people. She made casseroles or whatever could be reheated easily. Sometimes she took deli sandwich platters from Kroger, but it was always appreciated.
When my dad was ill in the hospital multiple times growing up; our church, the neighbors, and his office coworkers kept us fed. The microwave became the most used appliance in the kitchen.
To say that giving food is a part of American culture is basically true. There are some people who would say “Please, call me if you need anything” in the full knowledge that someone in mourning will never call for that help. Then, they get to check off ‘was a nice person’ off their to-do list without ever actually doing anything. These are not those people.
For others, it’s a way to express sympathy for the person making the meal, especially in today’s busy world where a lot of us don’t even make our own home-cooked meals anymore.
The people who do this are typically a very “hands on” sort of group. It is a gesture of support and empathy. If you have people doing this, it means you live in a decent community and/or have good friends. It is the small gestures like this that make a “neighborhood” in the U.S. Letting people borrow tools, chatting in the street, giving casseroles to people when they are having a hard time, helping elderly or disabled neighbors with certain things, keeping your property presentable, picking up litter in public areas, participating in trick or treating at Halloween, doing Christmas decorations, cat sitting or dog sitting for neighbors on vacation, etc. They are all kinds of minor things that make a “community” in the U.S.
So, you make a casserole because it’s comfort food and basic self-care is typically rough going when you’re in mourning. It’s homey but the sort of food people prepares for family- it carries a “we care” sort of vibe with it. You can refrigerate and reheat it a little at a time, even freeze it- it isn’t fussy. There’s even a sneaky vibe of they have to return the dish, so there’s a built-in later visit in with it. This is way better than “call me if you need to talk” and it’s built right into the process.
One of my favorite casseroles is Funeral potatoes, they are creamy, cheesy and crispy on top. They reheat and freeze well. This week’s recipe is an upgraded version. It adds chicken to become a square meal.
Funeral Chicken Bake
Ingredients
2 cups shredded chicken
32 ounces diced potatoes canned or frozen
1 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups crushed cornflakes
salt and pepper to taste
green onions or chives for a garnish
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, potatoes, condensed cream of chicken soup, sour cream, chopped onion, and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix until well combined. Spread the chicken and potato mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. Stir the melted butter with the crushed cornflakes in a separate bowl until well-coated. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese evenly over the chicken and potato mixture in the baking pan.
Spread the buttered cornflake mixture over the top of the cheese layer, covering the entire surface. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until the casserole is bubbly and the top is golden brown and crispy. Remove the casserole from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving. Here are some variations: you can make this recipe with turkey or ham.
You can also switch up the type of cheese you use. If you don’t have cream of chicken soup, you can use cream of celery soup or cream of mushroom soup. You can replace the cornflakes with Ritz crackers or crushed potato chips.
