BACONY CHICKEN & RICE BAKE

Bacony Chicken & Rice Bake image

Provided by katherine mc kenzie @katey

Categories Chicken

Number Of Ingredients 9

3 slice(s) good smoky bacon, snipped and sauteed, drain grease
2 stick(s) celery, diced small and sauteed with bacon
1 cup(s) long grain, uncooked rice or wild rice/white rice mix
4 - chicken thighs browned in flour seasoned with a pinch salt and pepper to taste plus a couple of shakes of paprika.
1 can(s) cream of chicken soup
1 cup(s) chicken broth
1 pinch(es) garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon(s) bell's season or good poultry seasoning
small - palmful of dried parsley flakes

Steps:

Dust chicken pieces in seasoned flour and brown till golden, set aside for now.
In a separate bowl add the cream of chicken soup, broth, garlic salt, Bell's Seasoning, parsley and whisk together well. Mix all of the rice with the soup mix. Mixing the rice with the soup helps to ensure that the rice is cooked through and flavored well.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spray an 9 x 9 cake dish with non stick spray. Layer sauteed bacon pieces (and celery if using) on the bottom of the baking dish. Carefully pour soup/rice mix over the bacon. Place chicken on top of rice/soup mixture.
Cover tightly with heavy duty foil, or add one layer of regular aluminum foil, seal tight and repeat with a second layer. Bake in the middle or upper part of your oven, at 300 degrees F for 2 hours - without peeking for the full amount of time to ensure rice is cooked! Remove from oven, let rest for 5 minutes before serving.