Chicken & Barley Casserole - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 lbs skinless chicken breasts, whole (about 4 pounds total)
salt
pepper
paprika
4 -5 tablespoons butter or 4 -5 tablespoons margarine
1/4 lb sliced mushrooms
1 cup pearl barley
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dry basil
2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 (9 ounce) package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
chopped parsley

Preparation

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and paprika.
In a wide frying pan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the chicken and cook until well browned on both sides. Add a little more butter if needed. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, melt the remaining butter. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.
Add barley and onion to pan. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add basil and one 14 oz. can chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then cover the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
Stir in the mushrooms and arrange the chicken pieces over the barley mixture. Pour the other can of chicken broth and sherry over all. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Gently mix in artichoke hearts and continue to simmer until barley is tender (about 10 more minutes).
To serve, skim off any excess fat and sprinkle with parsley.