Fast and Easy Creamy Mexican Chicken

Creamy Mexican Chicken
Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

• 1 package queso fresco (mine came in 15 oz package, available in the Mexican part of the refrigerator section of my local Wal-Mart)
• One bag frozen chicken thighs. (My bag had six very large thighs)
• 1 package taco seasoning (or the equivalent if you make your own)
• 6 T salsa of your choice (I used Pace's Pico de Gallo)
  
• 1 qt heavy whipping cream
• One thin slice of lime for each chicken thigh
  

Cut the cheese into about 1/2" chunks or break it up into sprinkles. Sprinkle about half the cheese in the bottom of a greased baking dish (I used a 10x13 roasting pan).
Rub the chicken thighs with the taco seasoning and then arrange them on top of the cheese.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese around chicken.
Put a dollop of salsa on each thigh, about a tablespoon, perhaps.
Pour cream over all and top each chicken breast with a slice of lime.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for about an hour. I did mine longer since I used such large thighs.

Serve with something to pour the cream sauce over. We used rice. Mmm.

This turned out so creamy and good. The chunks of cheese were gooey; the cream had kind of browned to a golden crust; the chicken was juicy. And the whole thing had this creamy heavenly flavor.

And best of all, I think all the kids liked it and even complemented me on it. (Actually they made their typical backhanded jokes like, "Oh, did Dad cook tonight?" or, "Is this take-out?"

I don't know how it got started, but there is kind of standing joke in our home that Dad's the good cook and Mom's the practical, boring cook. I have to consider cost and time involved and the nutritional value. Dad just has fun coming up with some wonderful meals.

So it is always a HUGE bonus when they really enjoy something I make.

I adapted it from a recipe in Beatrice Ojakangas's Best Casserole Cookbook Ever. I had read the original when I had the book from the library. Now I have my new very own copy that my friend, Char, sent me recently. Thanks, Char! When I looked for the recipe that I know was in there, I could not find it. I think the original had halved jalepenos and queso fresco. But that's all I could remember for sure. I knew I probably did not want to use halved jalepenos for the entire family, so this is what I came up with.

It was definitely a winner.