Last night I made a chicken dish of my grandmother's. She made it for us all the time when we were kids. For a while it was my favorite dish of all.
When my seventh grade class was polled about our favorite foods, all the other students said "pizza."
I, on the other hand, would say "Cranberry Chicken!"
The recipe is a little...anacronistic. Here's what the famous cranberry sauce consists of:
-1 envelope dried onion soup
-1 can cranberry sauce
-1 bottle French dressing
You mix all those ingredients, then throw it on top of some chicken breasts and bake it for two hours (At 325, in case you were wondering - one hour covered, one hour uncovered). Then you throw a whole bunch of bow-tie noodles into the sauce when it's all done.
It did taste just like Bubby used to make it. And for two hours my kitchen smelled just like ours used to when she cooked for our family and took care of my sister and me (as she often did). Those smells brought back good memories.
But my modern-day palate has gotten a little jaded. The dish tasted good, but a definite queasiness lingered after I ate it. So I don't think I'll be making it again. (Sorry, bubby).
Her brisket recipe, however, is a classic. It's delicious, and similarly 1950s-ish yet not quite so...um...French dressing-y. I'll be sure to share that recipe in the future, as the brisket time of year approaches.
