Utah's Own Best Funeral Potatoes

Leave it to Utah to have a competition for the best funeral potatoes...eye roll.  With that said, I've had a lot of funeral potatoes in my lifetime, but these are by far the best!  Every time I make these I get rave reviews.  I remember growing up that we made our mom make hers without onions because they were crunchy and grossed us out.  These definitely need the onions for flavor and because you saute them in butter, the texture isn't crunchy, yum!  I must admit that I am lazy and use the canned cream of chicken, but I'm sure it's even more amazing with the homemade kind here.  Some day...  

 Utah’s Own Best Funeral Potatoes
By Jessica Yescas

Ingredients:
1 32 oz. package freshly shredded hash browns
2 cups cream of chicken soup (recipe below or 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup)
2 cups of shredded Monterrey and Cheddar cheese
2 cups Meadow Gold Sour Cream
1/2 cup of diced onion
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup of Meadow Gold Unsalted butter, divided
1 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Melt 1/2 cup of butter over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until the onion is translucent. Remove from heat. Add the hash browns, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cheese, salt and pepper and combine well. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
Spread the mixture into a 9 x 13 (or similar) dish. Mix the panko with ½ cup melted butter and top the mixture. Bake for 40 minutes covered with foil. Uncover and bake for an additional 5- 7 minutes or until golden brown.

Cream of Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
2 stalks celery (with leaves), chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
3 cups chicken broth
3 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 3/4 cups cooked, diced chicken
3 cups Meadow Gold heavy cream
Freshly ground black pepper to tastes
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Directions:
Melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 12 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes more.
Pour in the broth and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley springs, thyme, and bay leaf together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the soup. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Whisk the heavy cream into the soup and season with pepper to taste. Remove and discard the herb bhundle. Divide among soup bowls, sprinkle the top of each bowl with chopped parsley and serve immediately.