With the havoc that COVID-19 has wreaked on our households, cities, and country, I am thinking many, and probably most, people will forego their traditional Thanksgiving plans.  Those plans that used to be known as “normal”.

Part of many people’s traditional Thanksgiving leftovers include turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey casserole, and turkey soup.  My suggestion follows.

People who know me well know I love to cook.  Cookie McKinney told me a couple of weeks ago she was making French onion soup for some lunch guests.  I immediately thought, “Hmmmm…….French onion soup…….I just wonder……..”

I gathered some ingredients and thought I would make French onion soup in my Crock Pot.  That’s not quite how it turned out, but as you can see from the above picture, it turned out nicely.

This is what I did:

I liberally oiled the bottom and sides of my Crock Pot.  (I used olive oil.)

I poured in 1 quart of beef broth.

Then I placed 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  (The beef broth covered them, but if they hadn’t been, I would have added enough water until they were completely covered.)

I turned the Crock Pot on high and let it cook for 2 hours.

Then I put in 6 medium onions, whole.  If I had diced them, the onions might have produced 3 cups of onions.  Maybe that much!

I waited 2 more hours, while the Crock Pot was cooking on high.

I checked the temperature after a total of 4 hours of cooking;  my chicken’s internal temperature was over 165.  (It just needs to be 145 for food safety.)

I had a box of cornbread flavored stuffing mix that I thought I’d use in place of the croutons usually found in French onion soup.  Into the Crock Pot, which was now turned off, it went!  By this time, I decided I was making a casserole, rather than soup, so I added another box of cornbread flavored stuffing mix.  I stirred well, until the stuffing was moist.

Since I didn’t have any Swiss cheese, I thought I would use Mozzarella cheese to complete the flavor.  And it was fabulous!  I added about 3 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese.  The casserole was created! 

I took some to several people, from whom I was able to socially distance for my delivery.  They all pronounced it the best casserole I’ve ever made.  Indeed, I agree!

To warm it up, I must admit that I sprinkled extra cheese (sometimes cheddar, sometimes Swiss, sometimes Mozzarella) over it.  There’s no such thing as too much cheese!

Getting back to Thanksgiving thoughts:  While I used chicken, I believe this would be extremely tasty with any leftover Thanksgiving turkey.

Copyright October 3, 2020 by Rebecca Henderson.