Chicken Florentine Casserole & Nebraska's Dorothy Lynch Salad Dressing

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Posting the recipes from our Funky Orange Chicken Supper last week!



Chicken Florentine Casserole
(Printable Version)

4 tablespoons butter
½ cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons flour
1 ¼ cup milk or cream or a combination
¾ cup chicken broth
Salt & pepper to taste
2 packages frozen chopped spinach
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
5 cups cooked chicken, sliced or diced
6 thin slices ham, diced
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook spinach according to package instructions, drain well. In a skillet, melt 4 tablespoon butter and add the onion, cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add 4tablespoon flour and blend well as you cook this for 1 minute. Add the cream and chicken stock; bring to a boil and cook a few minutes until thickened, stirring constantly. Divide this sauce into two bowls. Add spinach and thyme to one half and add the ham to the other half. Place the spinach mixture into the bottom of a lightly buttered 2-quart casserole or baking dish. Cover with cooked chicken slices. Pour the sauce with the ham over chicken. Cover with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake at 400°F for 20-30 minutes, or until cheese is browned and casserole is bubbling. Serves 6.



This recipe has an interesting local history. St. Paul NE isn't far from us and is a pretty small town!

Nebraska's Dorothy Lynch Salad Dressing
(Printable Version)

3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar
3/4 cup to 1 cup oil (I use light olive oil)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1/2 cup vinegar (I use cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients except oil in blender cup. Blend, drizzling oil into mixture slowly until emulsified. Chill well. Makes 1 quart.

(In the late 1940s, Dorothy Lynch and her husband ran the restaurant at the local Legion Club in St. Paul, Nebraska. This is where the original recipe for Dorothy Lynch Home Style Dressing was born. As the Legion Club members were introduced to this delicious recipe the legend of Dorothy Lynch began to grow and the dressing fast became a "must-have" favorite. Stories of local people bringing their own bottle or jug to town to have it filled with "that delicious Dorothy Lynch salad dressing" were quite common. In 1964, Tasty-Toppings, Inc. purchased the recipe and rights to Dorothy Lynch and built a production facility in Columbus, Nebraska. The company later expanded its production capacity with a modern 64,000 square foot plant in Duncan, Nebraska. This is where every bottle of Dorothy Lynch Home Style is produced today.)

Posting to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum!