Smithfield Ham and Chicken Bake

Sometime during my teenage years, the male members of The Newtster's family decided we didn't really enjoy turkey at holiday meals. It was always too dry and not particularly enjoyable. This should not be construed as a criticism of my mother's culinary abilities, rather an expression of preferences.

In the absence of turkey, ham became our holiday meat of choice. As I've mentioned before, Smithfield ham is the best of all the hams out there. Virginia law used to state that "Genuine Smithfield hams [are those] cut from the carcasses of peanut-fed hogs, raised in the peanut-belt of the Commonwealth of Virginia or the State of North Carolina, and which are cured, treated, smoked, and processed in the town of Smithfield, in the Commonwealth of Virginia." Therefore, anything deviating from these specifications could best be described as 'Country Ham'. Apparently the statute was repealed sometime in 2008. Regardless, Smithfield ham and Country ham are essentially interchangeable terms for the same great treat.

The Smithfield Ham and Chicken Bake quickly became a family favorite and a fixture at most holiday meals. It is rather rich so it probably wouldn't work in heavy rotation for meals. The recipe is very simple once you have located the proper ham.
- 4-6 boneless chicken breasts
- 1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 8 oz. of light sour cream
- Thinly sliced Smithfield ham (approx. 1/3 lbs)

Preheat the oven to 275°. Line completely the bottom of a baking dish with the Smithfield ham. Place the chicken breasts on top of the ham. In a small bowl mix the soup and sour cream and spoon it generously on top of the chicken. Put this in the oven for two and a half to three hours.

When the chicken comes out, the ham has basically molded to the bottom of the chicken is super tasty. Mandy should like this one because of the super long baking time. Of course that says nothing of the other ingredients, which Mandy should not like.....

And since I am The Newtster, what better accompaniment could there be for this delicacy than rice? None is of course the correct answer. As you can see, The Newstress sauted some asparagus for herself, which she said was a nice addition.

With the chicken burrito from Qdoba I had for supper on Monday, that brings the Chicken and Rice counter to 22.

I'm Still Eating

I have received some concerned messages from my loyal readers. Please rest assured that despite my lack of blogging thus far in 2009, I am in fact still eating. I will try to get some more stuff up here soon, but in the meantime I will try to bring you up to speed.

After spending the early part of January in Roanoke with my family, Julia and I went to Winston for the UNC game, which was a great time. While in Roanoke, I cooked a few times but nothing special, just spaghetti once or twice and some jambalaya. Since the jambalaya had both chicken and rice, that was another one for the counter. And since Mandy inquired, the counter has also gone up as the direct result of eating Mexican (chicken quesadillas with rice and chicken tacos with rice) and Chinese food once. I also cooked some jambalaya back here at home for yet another notch on the counter, bringing the total to 12.

We hunkered down at home during the inauguration so I did cook during that time, but again nothing special and nothing that you haven't seen on this blog before. We have also seen 4 movies at 4 different theaters over the last week or so. We saw Gran Torino, Doubt, The Wrestler, and Slumdog Millionaire. I thought they were all good and am disappointed that Gran Torino was shut out from the Oscars. Oh well. Julia and I also quietly celebrated our 10 year dating anniversary last week, which is pretty crazy to think about.

In just over a month from today, 4 blogs will collide in New York City. Stayed tuned as it should be fun.....