King Ranch Chicken

Last night my sister and I made King Ranch Chicken for dinner. You may think that's a difficult task, considering we live hundreds of miles away from eachother!...she's in TX, I'm in FL. The story goes like this...she's been talking about this dish for quite some time, and you'd think that being born and raised in TX I would know about it, after all, it's a "Texan" dish! Somehow it had never crossed my tongue, but the more she talked about it, the more I wanted to try it. Yesterday she said she was making it for dinner, and she e-mailed me her recipe from Southern Living.


As usual, I just can't leave well enough alone, and after a couple of small changes, here is my version of King Ranch Chicken. NOTE: I only made a half recipe, so when you see my photos, just remember you'll have twice as much as what you see!



TIME SAVER TIPS:


* Use a 1 or 2 pre-cooked chickens from the Deli, or purchase pre-packaged cooked chicken breast meat.


* If using store bought cooked chicken, replace the "cooking liquid" with canned chicken broth.


Serves: 8-10

For the cooked chicken:
4-5 large chicken breast halves
2 celery stalks (leaves and all),cut into large chunks
2 carrots, cut into large chunks
2 tsp. salt and fresh ground pepper



Remaining ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2-3 minced garlic cloves
2 recipes Cream of Whatever Soup (make one with mushrooms if you desire)
2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes in green chiles, drained
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. Mexican style chili powder (or 1 tsp. regular chili powder + 1/8 tsp. ground cayenne)
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.

To Cook the Chicken:

Place breasts in pot with carrots and celery, sprinkle with salt and pepper. (I used bagged frozen chicken and put it in there straight from the freezer).

Cover with water by an inch or two and bring to a boil, cover and reduce to just a simmer.

Cook 20- 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from pan, RESERVE 3/4 cup cooking liquid.

Let chicken cool for about 15-20 minutes, then shred with two forks (fingers work easier).

While the chicken is cooking:

prepare the Cream of Whatever Soup. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Heat 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil in a large skillet over med-high. Add onion and saute until soft. Add bell pepper and garlic, saute a few minutes. Add reserved 3/4 cup cooking liquid, Cream of Whatever Soup, canned tomatoes n' chilis, and spices. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring every now and again.

While that's going on, cut your tortilla into strips like this...

Now you're ready to layer it all together...First oil a 9x13 dish a little bit, then spread 1/2 the chicken in the dish...

Top with 1/2 the soup mixture...

Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese, then top with a layer of tortilla strips. Repeat that whole thing again and finally top the whole thing with that last cup of cheese (yeah, LOTS of cheese!)...

Cover with foil and pop in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes...remove foil and bake 5-10 more minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned,...like this...

Let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving! YUM!

Happy Cooking!