Certainly there is a story behind the Alpine name but I don’t know it. This was a favorite of my mom and a dish I make once a year to remember her. Topped with cashews and crushed potato chips and making use of the ubiquitous canned mushroom soup, this is most definitely a mid-century dish.

Alpine Chicken

4 cups cooked cut up chicken

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups celery

1 cup mayonnaise

2 cups cheddar seasoned croutons

1 onion, chopped

2 tsp chopped pimento

4 tsp chopped green pepper

2 cans cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese in small cubes

2 cans sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp sage

Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl. Put into an 11 x 15 pan. Top with crushed potato chips and 1 cup cashews.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Serves 12.

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A variation of the above is simply called “Brunch dish.” It’s easy and features Velveeta cheese which is cheese with extra whey, maltodextrin (sugar/food starch),  some preservatives, and natural coloring.

Brunch Dish

1 can 10 1/2 ounces cream of chicken soup

2 cups cooked chicken breasts cubed

1 cup Velveeta cheese cubed

1 1/2 tbsp onion chopped

5 slices of bread cubed-crusts too!

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 eggs–slightly beaten

1 small can of mushroom pieces

1 tbsp chopped pimento or green pepper

1/8 tsp each garlic salt, celery salt, and poultry seasoning

Combine all ingredients but the eggs. Gently fold in eggs. Pour into a 9 x9 greased pan.Refrigerate over night. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

Recipe can easily be doubled and put into a 9 x 13 pan–increase baking time to one hour.

Note: I made the “brunch dish” yesterday and realized that I had never in my memory purchased Velveeta and had no idea where it was in the store. I had to ask and it was with the pizza ingredients. I served it to some of the grandsons and one loved it, one found it unsettling that the ingredients were stuck together with “weird cheese,” and the one who never eats tried a small portion of it and ran off to play on the swing set. It was easy for the toddler to eat as he  practiced using utensils and I’ll consider serving it when I have my dad– who has Parkinson’s– over for dinner.