Wintry, Comforting Casserole

I have been on a "Martha" kick recently. My mom gave me a magazine that I really enjoyed reading and I decided to make one of her recipes. It was called Chicken, Leek, and Mushroom Casserole.

Now, this was supposed to be a meal with lighter, healthier ingredients, coming from the article titled "Comfort Zone", January 2009. The description read, "Even when conceived with a lighter touch, the classic casserole still hits home".

The recipe itself I'm sure meets all it's promises of comfort with a lighter touch, but frankly I didn't have "lighter touch" ingredients on hand. What I did have was lots of fat, butter laden ingredients and that is just how I made this casserole.

Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Casserole

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and Ground Pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white/white green part only, sliced in half moons and rinsed
10 ounces cremini mushrooms, rinsed and sliced fat
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
3T dry sherry
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream, or half n half
1 bay leaf
1 T dried thyme leaves, preferrably not ground thyme
8 fat slices baguette
3T flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated or shaker

Preheat oven to 350. Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 2T olive oil in a large skillet. Perferrably deep-sided. Cook chicken until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a plate.

Add to the pan, with the drippings, garlic, leek, celery and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper while it softens. Add a touch of chicken stock if the juices get used up too fast and keep the heat at medium-low.

Stir in flour and cook for about 3 minutes. Add sherry and stock. Stir. Add cream, thyme and bay leaf and cook through. Be sure you have all the good bits off the bottom. Season with salt and pepper if needed and discard bay leaf.

Spray a 2 quart oval dish with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange bread on the bottom, slightly overlapping the slices. Spoon half the vegetable/sauce mixture over the bread and lay the chicken thighs on top. Repeat with other half of the vegetable/sauce mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and parmesan cheese and bake till golden brown and bubbling. About 30 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.