There are just certain ingredients that really should appear in a culinary hall of fame. Each unto itself is magnificent, but when a combination of these marvelous ingredients are used in a dish, the result is almost mystical. This recipe contains four of what I consider to be wonder ingredients – chicken, sage, prosciutto, and provolone cheese. As an amalgam, their flavor is almost unbeatable, thus allowing a dish like this simple layered chicken to become a culinary work of art.

I say simple, because this recipe is very easy to prepare. Even lazy retirees like me can make this dish in quite a short amount of time. And working parents who might not think of fixing a dinner featuring such an exotic list of ingredients, might make it part of their regular rotation if they once gave it a go.

All it takes is a little planning. First of all, you must have the ingredients on hand. Duh! You also must decide what you are going to serve with the chicken. I recommend a nice rice dish like the one I so graciously supplied for you at the bottom of this post. Then something green. If you have the strength, a lovely green salad is always perfect. If you don’t have the strength, frozen petite peas warmed in the microwave with a dab of butter and a sprinkle of seasoned salt, works just fine.

So once you have the rice happily bubbling away and your green offering ready except for a bit of last minute attention, you are ready to focus on the star of the show.

As you can see, if you’ve taken the time to read the list of ingredients and directions below, this dish does not take a long time from stove/oven to table. But I would caution, assemble all your ingredients ahead of time and have them close at hand. (Pretend you are the prep cook in a fine dining establishment.) Because prep work is the key to successfully preparing this dish. Actually it’s a good plan of action for almost every recipe. Good prep work can save you time and frustration. Before almost every dinner, I do my prep work before I ever set a pan on the stove. Of course, I usually have a drink in my hand while I complete these preliminary functions. This of course helps the onerous tasks like chopping onions much easier to swallow. So to speak!

So regardless of your time in life – retired, eager to retire, or parent trying to provide your family with wholesome and delicious food, get thee to the kitchen and prepare this amazing dish at your earliest convenience. As you will also have noticed, this recipe makes just enough for 2 hungry, or 4 not so hungry adults. But luckily for you, this recipe can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. And remember – it really is OK to play with your food, regardless of what your mother told you when you were a child. Fix this dish for her, and she might even give you permission to play with your food more often! Cheers

• ¼ c. flour
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 T. butter
• 2 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in halves lengthwise
• ¼ c. dry white wine
• scant 1 T. minced fresh sage
• ½ c. chicken broth, divided
• ½ tsp. cornstarch
• 4 slices prosciutto, cut in thirds
• ½ c. grated provolone cheese
• paprika, opt.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a wide shallow dish. (I use an 8-inch cake pan.) Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess. Fry just until done. Transfer the chicken to a 9×9-inch or 7×11-inch Pyrex dish. (Try not to overlap the pieces.)

Deglaze the frying pan with wine. Add the sage, ¼ cup of the chicken broth, and additional pepper. (Not too much pepper.) Slowly simmer for about a minute. Whisk the cornstarch into the remaining ¼ cup chicken broth and add to pan. Let simmer for about a couple of minutes, then remove from heat. Adjust seasoning and set aside.

Lay prosciutto over the cooked chicken breasts, sprinkle with grated cheese, and dribble the sauce over the whole mess. (Use a spatula to get every last bit of the sauce onto the chicken.) Sprinkle very lightly with paprika.

Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 10 minutes. Place under broiler for about 30 seconds to brown. (That is, if you aren’t afraid of your broiler, like I am.  Long story. Someday when I’m feeling strong I’ll tell you all about my ridiculous broiler phobia.) Remove from oven and let rest for about 3 minutes before serving.

WILD RICE SIDE DISH

• 1 c. wild rice blend (I use Lundberg Wild Blend rice)
• 1¾ c. chicken broth
• freshly ground black pepper (not much)

Put the above ingredients in rice cooker. Turn the rice cooker on go. Walk away for about 45 minutes or until the rice cooker tells you the rice is done.

BTW – if you do not own a rice cooker, what are you waiting for? Christmas is coming. Put it on your list. Or do as I do. Order a rice cooker for yourself and inform your spouse that he/she has just purchased one of your Christmas gifts and you are positive you are going to like it. Saves your spouse time and inconvenience, and you get what you truly want or need!

In my opinion, people who think casseroles are uninteresting, too fattening, and a thing of the past, simply don’t have enough empirical study on the subject. And I mean to help with that problem by offering up one of my favorite casserole recipes to assist with said research.

Now I know broccoli, chicken, and curry casserole (Chicken Divan) has been around for decades. But my version is healthier, less caloric, and if I may be so bold, tastier than most. (If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t be posting this recipe in the first place! Duh!)

So what makes my spin on this classic different?

• no cream of mushroom or chicken soup
• no sharp cheddar cheese
• no bread crumbs
• no butter
• no sherry or white wine
• the addition of a small amount of cooked brown rice
• broccoli and chicken cut into really small pieces so that each bite contains a small bit of each ingredient
• the addition of a small amount of onion
• the addition of Dijon mustard to give the sauce a bit of a kick

So as you can see, this recipe has just a few ingredients either lacking or added to make this casserole just a tad bit unique. It’s still really Chicken Divan. But I think my execution of this dish better reflects the current taste for more sophisticated yet wholesome preparations. But as they say – vive la différence! If you have a favorite recipe for Chicken Divan, I say, stick with what you know and like. But if you are a novice to casserole preparation, and feel up to the task of researching casseroles to enhance your culinary expertise, I would recommend this recipe. You have to start somewhere after all, so you might as well start with a casserole that is easy and relatively inexpensive to prepare, and just plain delicious. In Mr. Cs words, “this is really wonderful”. (I love it when those words pop unsolicited from his mouth. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Of course the pre-dinner martini helps with that feeling too. But it’s healthier mentally to believe that Mr. Cs comments are the real reason for my elation!)

• ½ c. uncooked brown rice*
• 1 c. water
• ½ tsp. seasoned salt
• 3 c. very small pieces of broccoli flowerets and peeled stems  
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
  2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite sized pieces
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ c. finely minced onion
• 2 tsp. flour
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 c. low-fat sour cream
• 1/3 c. light mayonnaise    
• 1 T. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 c. coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 T. minced fresh parsley, opt. garnish*or 1 cup leftover cooked rice

  Combine rice, water, and seasoned salt. Cook while you are assembling other ingredients. (I use my rice cooker.)  While the rice cooks, steam or blanch the broccoli until crisp tender. (You don’t want the broccoli tender at this point. It will continue to cook while it cools and during its tenure in the oven.) Set aside.

  Heat the olive oil in a large fry pan. Add the diced chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry the chicken cubes just until done. (They should have some brown on them.) Remove from pan and set aside.

  Add the onion to the pan and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Do not let the onion get brown. When the onion is done, whisk in the flour and curry powder. (The flour will be quite dry.) Cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock, mustard, sour cream, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. Adjust seasoning. Bring to just under a boil, reduce heat and cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in the cooked rice, broccoli, and chicken.

  Scoop into a buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the casserole is hot. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

I just couldn’t decide which recipe for chicken pot pie I liked the best. So I decided to share my three favorite recipes (Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken and Parmesan Pot Pie, and Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheddar Pot Pie) and let you peruse the ingredient list for yourself. Of course you could fix all three at once, but I would suggest just starting with one. After all, these babies are loaded with calories. (I’m not proud of this you realize. It’s just a matter of fact!) So why am I posting these recipes tempting you to be naughty? Because my dear friends, there’s a time and a place for comfort food. (To my thinking, it’s anytime and anyplace!) But even a foodie hedonist like myself, can’t advocate eating comfort food all the time. (I would of course if I were 25 and still had the metabolism of a pigmy shrew. But alas those days are long gone. Sigh…)

So once in a while, when Mr. C and I have been particularly good, I reward us with a comfort food. And isn’t that the way it should be? A little reward here and there to act as an incentive for good behavior? I know it always works well for our cats after we’ve trimmed their toenails. So I figure if it’s good enough for our kitties, it should be good enough for us! And then, of course, there are those times when life gets a little rough. You know. Like when your favorite sports team loses a game, or your favorite TV show gets preempted by a presidential debate. Rough times for sure!

So when you too need a little comforting, bake yourself up one of these pies. They really are quite easy to build and absolutely fool proof. And if you are wondering why I mainly bake a big pot pie rather than a couple smaller ones, it’s my nod to being good. It’s much easier for me to cut myself a reasonable portion from a large pie, than to have a large individual pie in front of me that fairly demands to be eaten right down to the last crumb. That, and it’s a lot easier to build a large pie than several small ones. (The real reason is the latter, but the first reason sounded so virtuous, I just had to include it!)

CHICKEN POT PIE

• 1 c. chicken broth
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced  
• ¼ c. unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 medium potato, cubed
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. milk
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. granulated garlic
• ¼ rounded tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• ¼ rounded tsp. ground sage
• ¼ tsp. ground savory  
• ½ c. frozen petite peas
• 2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 recipe Pie Crust (recipe given below)
• 1 egg
• 1 T. milk

Pour chicken broth into a small sauce pan. Add the chicken and cook only until the chicken is almost cooked through. Turn off heat. With a slotted spoon, remove chicken pieces to a small bowl. Set aside. (The chicken will finish cooking as it cools.) Reserve the broth.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and mushrooms. Sauté until the onion is soft. Whisk in the flour and cook for a couple of minute. Add the reserved chicken broth and whisk to blend. As the sauce starts to thicken, add the milk, salt, pepper, granulated garlic, rosemary, sage, and savory. Add the reserved chicken and peas and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Adjust seasoning.

Butter a shallow casserole dish*. (I use a 9×11-inch casserole dish.) Pour the filling into the dish and smooth the top. Set aside while you prepare the crust.

CHICKEN AND PARMESAN POT PIE

• 1 c. chicken broth
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
• ¼ c. unsalted butter
• ½ onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 4-6- mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole milk
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tsp. dried sage
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• ½ c. frozen petite peas
• 1 c. finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 recipe Pie Crust (recipe given below)
• 1 egg
• 1 T. milk

Pour chicken broth into a small sauce pan. Add the chicken and cook only until the chicken is almost cooked through. Turn off heat. With a slotted spoon, remove chicken pieces to a small bowl. Set aside. (The chicken will finish cooking as it cools.) Reserve the broth.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and mushrooms. Sauté until the onion is soft. Whisk in the flour and cook for a couple of minute. Add the reserved stock and whisk to blend. As the sauce starts to thicken, add the milk, salt, pepper, sage, and thyme. Add the cooked chicken and peas and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in ¾ cup of the Parmesan cheese and the parsley. Adjust seasoning.

Butter a shallow casserole dish*. (I use a 9×11-inch casserole dish.) Pour the filling into the dish and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Set aside while you prepare the crust.

CHICKEN, BROCCOLI, AND CHEDDAR POT PIE

• 1 c. chicken broth
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced  
• ¼ c. (½ stick) unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• ½ crown broccoli, cut in small pieces
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. milk
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1½ c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 recipe Pie Crust (recipe given below)
• 1 egg
• 1 T. milk

Pour chicken broth into a small sauce pan. Add the chicken and cook only until the chicken is almost cooked through. Turn off heat. With a slotted spoon, remove chicken pieces to a small bowl. Set aside. (The chicken will finish cooking as it cools.) Reserve the broth.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté until the onion is soft. Add the broccoli and sauté for 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for a couple of minute. Add the reserved stock and whisk to blend. As the sauce starts to thicken, add the milk, salt, and pepper. Add the cooked chicken and cook until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in the cheddar cheese and parsley. Adjust seasoning.

Butter a shallow casserole dish*. (I use a 9×11-inch casserole dish.) Pour the filling into the dish and smooth the top. Set aside while you prepare the crust.

*Please note: If you prefer individual pot pies, just follow the directions except use smaller casserole dishes or ramekins. Then simply roll the pie crust to the appropriate size for the dishes you are using. Also, if you wish to freeze your pot pie(s), do so before baking. Then remove from freezer about 30 minutes before you stick it or them in the oven.

PIE CRUST

• ½ c. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 3 T. ice cold water

Cut the butter into 16 pieces and place in the bowl of your food processor with the sharpest blade you own. (The first time I made this I used the dull blade. Bad mistake. The cold butter just laughed at the blade and nothing really happened. So I swapped it out for the one I use when I’m pulverizing ingredients, and life got a lot better!) Add the flour and salt. Pulse about 10-15 times or until the mixture looks like small peas. With the processor running, add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Process until the dough begins to look like it might want to clump together. (The only way I know to make sure the dough is ready to form a decent ball, is to use my fingers and pinch a bit of the dough. If the dough ingredients feel like they might be growing fond of spending time together, I call it good!). Sprinkle a little flour on a pastry cloth or clean, dry surface. Pour the mixture on the floured surface and form it into a ball. Roll the dough out until it is about 1-inch on all sides larger than the casserole dish containing the filling. Gently set the crust on the filling. Tuck the pastry edges into the dish. With a paring knife, make several cuts, or steam vents, in the pastry. In a small bowl whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Brush the pastry lightly with the egg glaze. (You will have extra glaze. I cover the bowl, add more eggs the next morning, and enjoy a nice dish of scrambled eggs. Frugal? Who me?) Bake the pot pie in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit about 10 minutes before serving.