Swiss Chicken with Condensed Soup

This is a simple chicken dish that changes based on the selected condensed soup. Vegetable paring is flexible given different tastes and the soup selection. The level of cheesiness varies with the thickness of the slices.

Some notes before beginning:

• Your local deli counter can slice the swiss cheese in varying thickness so you can decide how cheesy to make this dish.
• Changing the condensed soup changes this recipe! If you choose Cream of Brocolli or Cream of Mushroom the flavors will change. Stick to the creamy varieties though.
• If you don't have cooking wine you can substitute it with a dry white wine, like a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc. Most advise not to spend a lot of money on the bottle.

Campbell's first introduced condensed soups in 1897 helping to make tomato soup more affordable for American families. Since the 20th century, the company has had many ties with American culture including sponsoring the television program Lassie, featuring future President Ronald Reagan in an ad for V8, and, probably most famously, Andy Warhol's paintings which debuted in Los Angeles in 1962. But even before this Campbell worked with another American culture icon, Orson Wells.

On October 30, 1938 a small radio theatre production called The Mercury Theatre on the Air presented a radio drama version of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" on CBS Radio. At the time, this show was unsponsored and losing out to NBC which featured the radio ventriloquist act Edgar Bergen. CBS needed something to improve popularity and on that Sunday evening they got their wish.

Despite multiple indications throughout the broadcast indicating it was a fictional story, the War of the Worlds caused some real concerns with the listening public. In the days that followed the press published headlines that indicated there was a nation wide panic. Historians generally think that this is an over exageration by the press but it seems as if the broadcast did frighten a certain portion of the population. The sensationalist "panic" headlines were probably an effort to smear their new competition as irresponsible and not trustworthy.

Campbell's Soup took note of the press coverage, word of mouth, and increased popularity of Orson Wells. This small radio program had made a big splash, imagine what they could accomplish with a better budget and bonefide sponsor? The company decided to sponsor the weekly drama production and had the name changed to The Campbell Playhouse. Sponsorship ran from 1938 to 1940. After this radio drama series Orson Welles went on to direct one of the greatest American motion pictures ever made: Citizen Kane. In many ways the "War of the Worlds" and Campbell's Soup helped launch the career of an American entertainment icon.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4-6 slices of medium to thick sliced Swiss cheese (see notes above)
• One 10.5 ounce can of creamy condensed soup (see notes above)
• 1/4 cup cooking wine (see notes above)

Equipment

• Olive oil spray
• Oven safe dish large enough to hold 4 chicken breast filets without overlapping

Mise en Place

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (or 165°C)
2. Filet chicken breasts so they are half as thick (this will allow them to cook better)
3. Combine soup and cooking wine in a bowl, set aside