A tweak to an old family recipe has landed Carlos Heatherly a spot in the top 10 finalists in a national recipe contest. The recipe, Fly-a-way Chicken Casserole, is now eligible for $3,500 in prizes through the Milford Valley Recipe Contest.
According to the long-time Sully resident, the recipe was so named because it’s so good, “it just flies off the table.”
Carlos Heatherly is pictured with his favorite kitchen item – a copper-coated titanium pan. He says everyone should own the versatile non-stick pan which, in this case, he used to bake bread. On the stovetop behind him are a pie and a version of Fly-a-way Chicken Casserole made with hamburger instead of chicken. Heatherly’s wife loved their stove with a convection oven, and he wishes she would have taught him how to use it before she passed away. “I’ve had to learn the hard way,” he said.
Heatherly said he was surprised to find out his recipe made the top 10. One of his daughters frequently enters those kinds of contests and actually won one a couple years ago. But this was his first time submitting a recipe. The main rule of the contest was entrees had to creatively use one of Milford Valley’s chicken products.
“It kind of shocked me,” Heatherly said when asked about his reaction to making the top 10. “I thought maybe the catchy name that I put on it might have been part of the reason they picked me.”
Perhaps the news was extra surprising considering Heatherly is somewhat new to cooking. His late wife, Martha, was an excellent cook and prepared the family’s meals for years. When she passed away five years ago, Heatherly found himself eating the same foods over and over again.
“I got awfully tired of wieners and bologna and that sort of thing,” he said. That’s when he started thumbing through Martha’s recipe collection and ran across the recipe Fly-a-way Chicken Casserole was based on. It called for ground beef instead of chicken and had been handed down for three to four generations.
“We used to eat it quite a bit and we liked it, so I tried it and it turned out pretty good,” Heatherly shared.
He started making the recipe more, but beef was getting expensive to buy, so he decided to try it with chicken strips. He was in luck.
“It turned out tasting real good,” he recalled.
Heatherly said Fly-a-way Chicken is his favorite food to make. Most of the other foods he prepares are simple. He’s grateful for his neighbor, Nancy Vos, who brings him over supper almost every night.
When he does cook, Heatherly likes using a copper-coated titanium pan. “Nothing sticks to them, which is really nice,” he said. “It cleans so easily. You can just wipe it out with a paper towel.”
He also uses a George Foreman indoor electric grill quite a bit as well.
Heatherly’s Fly-a-way Chicken Casserole will now be reviewed by a second panel of judges with five finalists selected and announced on Oct. 17. Those five will advance to the third round, where entrees will be judged based on recipe and preparation, originality and creativity, and flavor and visual appeal. The top three winners will be announced on Nov. 15 with the grand prize earning $2,000, first runner-up receiving $1,000, and second runner-up taking home $500.
When asked whether he’ll be entering more recipe contests in the future, Heatherly said, “Well, we’ll see after the outcome on this one. I haven’t got over the shock yet.”
Fly-a-way Chicken Casserole only takes about 10-15 minutes of prep work. It can be made with either chicken or a pound of hamburger. The Hometown Press staff can attest to the tastiness of the ground beef version Heatherly cooked for them. Whatever route you go, it’s sure to fly off your table, too!
Fly-a-way Chicken Casserole – Carlos Heatherly
14 Milford Valley Chicken Strips (approximately three-fourths of a 20 oz. box) or other brand
1 medium onion
1 15-17 oz. can whole kernel sweet corn (drained)
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 2-3 oz. can sliced ripe black olives (drained)
1 box cornbread mix (Jiffy brand usually requires 1 egg and 1/3 c. milk)
2 Tbsp. butter
Directions: Prepare 14 Milford Valley Chicken Strips as directed on package. While chicken is in the oven, sauté diced onion in a 10” skillet with butter. When onions start to brown, add drained corn and taco seasoning mix. Heat through and set aside.
Prepare corn bread mix as directed (for example, Jiffy brand corn muffin mix requires an egg and 1/3 c. milk) and set aside.
Butter an 8”x 8” pan. When chicken strips are done cooking, remove them from the oven and turn the heat down to 350 degrees. Create a layer of chicken strips on the bottom of the pan. Next, spoon an even layer of the corn and onion mixture over chicken strips. Next, sprinkle the sliced olives (drained) evenly over corn layer. Finally, pour the corn bread batter on top and spread evenly.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the cornbread starts to brown. Serve and enjoy!
