Winning Chicken
In the Oct. 14 Journal, I wrote about Judy Carroll and included her recipe for Mexican Chicken Soup, which won first place in the Lowes “Good for You for Less” Contest at the Dixie Classic Fair.
Because of the turn the story took, about Carroll’s return to the fair after the death of her husband, I did not mention the other two places in the contest. Carolyn Webster took second place with Chicken Bowtie Florentine (pictured above), and Evelyn Gottenstrater won third with a Brunswick stew complete with rabbit.
Here are their recipes.
Chicken Bowtie Florentine
Second place by Carolyn Webster.
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped pecans
1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed
8 ounces bowtie pasta
2 cups rotisserie chicken (boned and skinned), chopped
1 jar (about 7 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white pepper
1 10.75-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 8-ounce container sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add pecans and cook 3 minutes. Remove from and cool completely.
2. Drain spinach well, pressing out excess water between layers of paper towels.
3. Lightly grease a 9-by13-inch Pyrez baking dish. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, combine spinach, chicken, mushrooms, cheddar, onion, nutmeg, salt, pepper, soup, sour cream and mayonnaise. Stir well. Fold in pasta and drained tomatoes.
6. Pour mixture into prepared dish and sprinkle with Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes.
7. Uncover and bake 5 more minutes.
Makes 8 servings.
Brunswick Stew
Third place by Evelyn Gottenstrater.
1 6-pound chicken, smoked with hickory chips for 6 hours
1 3-pound Boston pork butt, smoked with hickory chips for 6 hours
1 3-pound rabbit, boiled in 1 cup white wine and 3 cups chicken broth for 1 1./2 hours
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 brown sugar
2 talbespoons hot sauce
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon sea salt
3 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 16-ounce packages frozen yellow corn
1 16-ounce package frozen butterbeans
2 onions, chopped
32 ounces (1 quart) chicken broth
24 ounces ketchup
1. Remove meat from bones of all three meats. Chop or shred. (Gottenstrater doesn’t specify removing the chicken and rabbit skin, but most people probably will want to discard all the skin.)
2. Place meats and all remaining ingerdients in a large stock pot. Cover and simmer over low heat for 3 hours.
3. Serve with cornbread or crackers.
Makes 28 servings.
