Monday, June 7, 2010

Hawaiian Haystacks

I've been waiting to upload this recipe for quite some time, but didn't have a picture. This is my friend Kristie's recipe and the chicken gravy is DIVINE (much better than any other I've tried).
Please Note: Usually haystacks are topped with tons of assorted nuts, veggies, pineapple, and coconut, but my picky family likes them simple (with cheese and chow mein noodles).


For the gravy:
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-3 tsp. chicken bullion crystals (or 1-2 bullion cubes, smashed)
1/2 onion, sliced
1 cube butter, sliced in 8 pieces
4-5 baby carrots (or 2 regular carrots, sliced)
1 stalk celery, sliced
salt & pepper
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
2 cups chicken broth (may not need to use it all)

In crockpot, place the chicken breasts, onion, carrots & celery. Sprinkle bullion over the top. Place slices of butter all over the top. Salt & pepper the top. Place lid on crockpot and cook for 3-4 hours on high.

After chicken is cooked and veggies are tender, remove all of the ingredients from the crockpot. Be sure to reserve the drippings as well (if vegetables still seem a little crunchy, remove the chicken and leave the vegetables to cook a little longer in the drippings). Shred the chicken and set aside. In a blender, place the cooked carrots, celery and onion. Pour some of the drippings in and then blend the mixture. If it's really thick, add more drippings (or chicken broth).

In the crockpot, add the cream of chicken soup & sour cream and begin to heat the mixture, stirring well. Add the shredded chicken and some of the blended veggie mixture. Use the drippings and the extra chicken broth to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. You can add as much or as little of the blended veggies as you'd like. This just gives it a delicious, homemade taste that's a notch above other chicken gravy recipes I've tried.

To Serve:

Serve gravy over a bed of rice and top with the following Haystack Toppings:
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Olives
Chow Mein Noodles
Chopped green onion
Chopped green pepper
Chopped cucumber
Chopped celery
Pineapple tidbits
Coconut
Chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, or macadamia)

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