I’m sitting here procrastinating over cooking a meal for my husbands birthday party tomorrow.
I have to cook supper for 10-12 people. And I have to do it for tomorrow. See, I don’t like cooking. Or baking. Or anything about being in the kitchen for longer than grabbing a drink or a snack. Which is weird considering I come from a family of excellent cooks and fantastic bakers.
I completely missed that gene.
So what I decided to make was a chicken shepards pie that I started making like 7 years ago out of the blue. My husband loves this meal ’cause it’s quick and delicious. Not to mention warm and super comforting on long Fall days.
You start with a pan. The best pans are the ones that have been in your family for whatever crazy amount of years that everyone in the family knows. It’s not “the pan” or “that big baking dish”. No. This one has a name. Mine in particular is “Grampy’s Pan”. This particular pan has made many many meals in my family. Anything from cinnamon rolls to turkeys to lasagnas. This pan has be put through the ringer. But somehow, it still looks perfect? I don’t understand.
Then you need chicken. For this amount of people (and this large of a pan) I needed somewhere around ten chicken breasts. I cook this with salt, pepper and parsley. 400°f for 20ish minutes or until the internal temperature of the thickest chicken breast is 175°f. Don’t worry if it’s a tad pink, as long as it’s reached the internal temperature, it kills off everything. Not to mention it’ll also be back in the oven and will cook some more.
So once the chicken is cooked, chop it into cubes and mix it with three cans of creamed corn and three cans of regular corn.
Add some salt, pepper and parsley and you’re done the bottom layer.
Spray the ancient pan with cooking spray and throw the chicken mixture in.
Cover this with a block of mozzarella cheese. Keep in mind, this recipe is tasty, it ain’t healthy.
And then the top layer.
Potatoes.
And more potatoes.
And more.
Boil at least a whole bag of chopped potatoes (or two!) and put in butter, salt and pepper and throw that all ontop of the cheese and chicken.
Bake for whatever amount of time for everything to get bubbly. I don’t know, I never really checked how long it takes to be honest.
Let it cool so you don’t scald yourself or your friends. Pair with rolls or croissants or whatever you want. You can be healthy and make a salad… but I’m not for that life.
Overall, this meal costs about 35$ to feed 10-15 people. That’s with the chicken being 20$ itself.
This with a couple batches of peanut butter frosting or boiled icing frosted boxed cake cupcakes and you have yourself a birthday meal!
You’ll need:
- Chicken
- Salt, pepper and parsley
- Creamed corn
- Kernel corn
- Mozzarella cheese
- Potatoes
That’s it, that’s all.
Until next time
Bree
Bree Howland 