Cream of Chicken and Asparagus Casserole Recipe 1
Recipe 1 Top Restaurant Quality! My favorite!
That’s the metal collar you see resting on the sidewalls of the electric wok. I do everything in my wok using the head of my FlavourWave / Logik oven to brown the top.
Of top restaurant quality, is how I would describe this recipe. It is so unbelievably quick and easy to put together!
The Sour Cream is lovely to lower your calories and to serve with baked or roast potatoes - also lovely on crumpets served with apricot jam or scones with strawberry or raspberry jam to lower your calories – Delish!
March 26, 2017,
March 26, 2017,
Serves: 4 Calories per 242.8 g serving: 794
The picture I have posted here is for this 1st recipe. The 2nd is a recipe which I used to make years ago, but now with middle age, I have to watch my weight and nowadays I use the 1st recipe I have posted here which is much lower in calories and to boost – Top Restaurant Quality!
Notes:
If in South Africa you may try Fresher’s white cheddar which you can obtain from Fruit and Veg City which I find to be a very good cheddar.
For South Africans, I find that Knorr, Royco or a Pick ‘n Pay brand Chicken noodle soups, package weights of 55g – 60g are both good for this dish, but you may use any brand you prefer, as good brands come and go these days.
Save your precious asparagus liquids from your tin to add – This is what gives your dish its flavor boost! Whatever you do – Do NOT throw it out!
I use my own homemade mustard, which is far better than the bought versions – Recipe yet to be posted – I hope soon, as I am working on it.
I prepare mine in a large 5-liter Kambrook wok and use the head of my FlavourWave / Logik oven, which comes with a metal collar to raise the head of the element away from the food which prevents scorching) and I brown my topping this way, while the electric wok bakes it from underneath. Saves me a lot of energy as it doubles up like an oven, just the right size to do the job. Both have their own temperature regulators. The metal collar rests on the sidewalls of the wok & the element head fits perfectly on top of its metal collar. The Logik oven sold by Game stores (South Africa) is much cheaper than the FlavourWave oven, which is so much more expensive, but happens to be the same in quality – I love to improvise! 
Therefore, shop for the one that includes a metal collar, which really goes a long way in preventing the scorching of your food items when browning and roasting.
Therefore, shop for the one that includes a metal collar, which really goes a long way in preventing the scorching of your food items when browning and roasting.Ingredients:
15 ml of butter
10 ml of oil
800 g chicken breasts, cut into strips or diced
Pinch salt and some freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 (430 g) tinned/canned/bottled Asparagus salad cuts or tips – liquid reserved
250 ml grated cheddar cheese
400 g macaroni (100 g per person)
Sauce Ingredients:
1 packet (55 -60 g) chicken noodle soup
Freshly ground black pepper added to taste
60 ml fresh chopped parsley (For garnish or more) I included a little dried in my sauce.
100 ml mayonnaise (Cross & Blackwell is what I use – South African)
250 ml sour cream or plain yogurt – Homemade sour cream see recipe at bottom of page
325 ml milk (Part or all of the milk may be replaced with cream, according to own taste)
Dijon hot English or German mustard added to taste
5 cloves garlic, freshly crushed to a paste with a little salt
Method:
Bring a large pot of water with a generous amount of salt added to a rapid boil – I do this in a microwave sealed container. Stir in pasta and cook on high for 7 – 8 minutes (1000 watt microwave) until al dente (firm to the bite). Do NOT overcook pasta. Give it a good stir and empty it into a colander. Run cold tap water through cooked pasta in the colander to rinse out starches which will prevent it from sticking together. Set aside.
With kitchen scissors, cut chicken into strips or cubes. Add half butter to oil mixture to pan or wok with a little freshly ground black pepper, and when sizzling, drop in chicken strips and stir-fry on high heat until just cooked on the outside. Turn off heat, toss and season with just a light sprinkling salt. Remove chicken and set aside. Add the reserved Asparagus liquid to a suitable, microwave-safe container or same pan and reduce it on high heat until you have 1/3rd left.
Add all sauce ingredients to asparagus liquid, excluding the asparagus and whisk or blend together with electric or stick blender. Cook, just until chicken noodle soup is cooked through, which will prevent it from clumping. Fold in well-drained macaroni together with chicken and the asparagus into the sauce and pour into casserole dish. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and chopped parsley. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes at 180 C until done and if necessary, place under the grill for a golden brown topping. Sprinkle with fresh parsley to serve.
If you wish – Serve with a salad of your choice and enjoy! 
Homemade Sour Cream and for half the price!
You will never buy shop-bought again! Here is how I make my own homemade sour cream, which is by far better than shop-bought! This makes a lovely luscious thick sour cream. You will NEVER ever buy shop-bought again! Lovely served with crumpets or scones to cut the calories.
Ingredients:
15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice – You may substitute with white vinegar
235 ml full cream milk
Method:
Add 15 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice to a 250 ml measuring cup and top it up with 235 ml full cream milk. Stir and set aside to thicken.
To a large enough measuring jug – whip up 250 ml cream. Fold your thickened milk, lemon juice mixture into your ready whipped cream.
From this point on, do not beat or stir as it will loosen up. Refrigerate. It will thicken up even further.
Enjoy!
Cream of Asparagus Chicken
Casserole Recipe 2
Servings: 6
A very lovely tasty dish! Just be careful of not making it too rich as it can become very rich if you overdo it.
Notes:
Save costs by grinding mustard seeds in your coffee grinder (I purchase mine “yellow seeds” from Indian spice shops)
I use 100 g (uncooked) pasta per serving
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, cut into portions
15 ml cooking oil,
15 ml of butter
2 tins of asparagus salad/cocktail tips/cuts (I prefer the tips. They are softer)
7 ml of salt
2 ml freshly ground black pepper
5 ml mustard powder
250 ml grated cheddar cheese or more according to taste
White Sauce:
80 ml Cake Flour (Some can be replaced with packet Chicken noodle soup)
400 ml of milk
100 ml Sour Cream – See recipe above
30 ml lemon juice – To taste
Method:
Brown chicken in butter, cooking oil mixture. Pour off any excess cooking fat and reserve for preparation of the white sauce. Drain the asparagus and set aside, reserving the juice. Heat the asparagus juice or liquid in a saucepan and add to chicken together with salt, pepper, and mustard. Reduce heat, cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer chicken for just over 1/2 an hour or until chicken is almost tender.
Transfer chicken to a casserole dish.
Prepare the white sauce as follows:
Heat the reserved cooking fat and add the flour to make up a roux whilst fat is still bubbling hot. Remove from stove and quickly stir to a paste. Heat milk and add in a stream to the roux . Continue stirring (may use a balloon whisk) until the sauce is thick and smooth. If any lumps appear, use a stick blender or beat it out with electric beater. Add sour cream and gradually add lemon juice. Do not boil. Arrange asparagus on top of the chicken and pour over the white sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and bake in an oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Serve with buttered noodles and a crisp green salad. – Enjoy!
Recipe 1 Top Restaurant Quality! My favorite!That’s the metal collar you see resting on the sidewalls of the electric wok. I do everything in my