Death Chicken

"Thanks to Chef Queen of Cups for posting a lower-fat version of this recipe. Here is the original...low-fat it is not (!), but to me, it is the ultimate comfort food. It gets its name from the strong Southern tradition of bringing a covered dish to families in mourning (with a double meaning resulting from the saturated fat content!) --this was the favorite of all the comfort foods brought on one such occasion. It's from the book "God Save the Sweet Potato Queens" by Jill Conner Browne."
 
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photo by a food.com user photo by a food.com user
Ready In:
2hrs 10mins
Ingredients:
9
Serves:
3-4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with the bacon.
  • Pour the uncooked rice over the bacon, then lay the chicken breasts on top of the rice.
  • Whisk together the remaining ingredients-- using a pinch of nutmeg and a few shakes of garlic salt/powder-- but*don't* eliminate the nutmeg, because I promise, it's what makes the dish!
  • Pour the whisked mixture over the rice, then cover the dish with heavy duty foil (the author states emphatically that it's really important to use*heavy duty* foil, so if I don't have any, I use two layers of regular foil to be safe).
  • Bake at 300 degrees F for 2 hours.

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Reviews

  1. This didn't turn out like I expected. The only thing that I think it could be is that I bought chicken pieces instead of a fryer chicken, 2 large breasts and a package of drumsticks. I used more bacon than called for. after the 2 hours cooking the chicken wasn't done and the rice was over done. It ended up cooking over three hours. The rice does get a nice flavor.
     
  2. This has been a staple dish in my household for at least 7 years. We all love it! I'm making two casserole dishes full of it today just so I can have leftovers for the remainder of my week. I saw that another reviewer used turkey bacon--I don't recommend it. It's a fatty recipe, but real bacon is key to the success of the dish. Sometimes I like crushed garlic instead of garlic powder, but we love the taste of garlic in our food!
     
  3. Besides the weird name, this was awesome! My husband called it one of my top five, which is really saying a lot with how much I cook! I will definitely be making this again, but calling it something else. Thank you!!
     
  4. It doesn't get easier than this! I made a few adjustments due to dietary reasons, using beef bacon rather than pork, cream of celery soup, and 1 1/2 cups my own chicken broth in place of the water. I increased the liquid from the start taking the suggestion from some other reviewers, and the rice turned out perfect. The flavor of the bacon permeates the entire dish. We enjoyed it very much. Thank you!
     
  5. I was a little disappointed in this recipe, especially after all the rave reviews. The oregano definitely dominated this dish and was a bit overpowering. I used turkey bacon so I'm not sure if maybe that played a part in not properly flavoring the rice. Might try this again with some changes.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This has been a staple dish in my household for at least 7 years. We all love it! I'm making two casserole dishes full of it today just so I can have leftovers for the remainder of my week. I saw that another reviewer used turkey bacon--I don't recommend it. It's a fatty recipe, but real bacon is key to the success of the dish. Sometimes I like crushed garlic instead of garlic powder, but we love the taste of garlic in our food!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p>I am a native Californian, and a zealous fruit and vegetable gardener. Most of the produce I eat comes from my back yard. I'm very grateful for a climate that allows for a year-round harvest! <br /> <br />Quality of life is the primary yardstick by which I measure the choices in my life -- the question is always at the forefront of my mind: which option here will bring us (and anyone else involved) the most happiness and fun?! <br /> <br />Generally (not always!), I try to stay away from processed foods -- particularly hydrogenated fats &amp; high fructose corn syrup. I find I feel best when I follow the Zone diet, and I also aim for half my food intake to be vegetables (even at breakfast! I love a good egg-and-veggie scramble with onions, sweet and hot peppers, and summer squash!). No fanaticism however -- a little decadence is the spice of life... so I rationalize that indulging in two rich meals a week only makes up 10% of my total! ;-) <br /> <br />For me, investing in high-quality basics yields great rewards -- so naturally, good cooking ingredients are a big priority, e.g. freshly picked organic produce and high quality spices. And I am just thrilled that since consumer demand is steadily increasing for free-range poultry, grass-fed beef, and the like, these items are becoming more available. (I don't think it's a coincidence that when animals are treated kindly during their lives, given room to roam, fed the food their bodies were designed to eat, and killed humanely, the result is better quality meat. Makes sense to me!) <br /> <br />I love to travel the world and the U.S., and make an effort to take at least one international and one domestic trip every year.</p>
 
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