[CH] King Ranch Chicken

Joe Ferguson (coredump@coredumps.org)
Tue, 26 Jan 1999 13:13:38 -0500 (EST) 

Was browsing the newsgroups just now, and found this:

King Ranch Chicken

This flavorful dish has many variations. Thus recipe includes its own
well-seasoned sauce,
omitting the canned soup commonly found in King Ranch Chicken recipes.
Yes, it's a little more
trouble, but the resulting dish is worth the effort. This casserole
freezes well, and will be a
big favorite at your table.

Ingredients:

     3 T Butter 
     2 Large cloves garlic, minced 
     1/2 t Chili powder (homemade, if possible) 
     3 T All-purpose flour 
     3/4 C Chicken stock or broth 
     3/4 C Buttermilk 
     Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

     2 T Butter or olive oil 
     1 Medium onion, chopped 
     1/2 Large green bell pepper, chopped 
     1 Medium poblano, chopped 
     1 C Finely chopped mushrooms 
     2 Plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or 1/2 cup canned
tomatoes) 
     2 T Chopped pimientos 
     Canola oil for softening tortillas 
     8 Corn tortillas 
     3 to 4 C Cooked, diced chicken (mixture of light and dark meat
preferred) 
     1/3 C Sliced green olives 
     1/3 C Green onions, including tops, chopped 
     2 C Grated longhorn or mild cheddar cheese 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350?F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or 3-quart
casserole. 

Make the Sauce: 

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic
and chili powder, and
saut? for a minute or two. Raise the heat to medium. Quickly sprinkle in
the flour and stir to
mix. Pour in a small amount of the chicken broth, stirring constantly to
remove lumps and
allowing the flour to "cook" briefly. Gradually add the remaining chicken
broth, add the
buttermilk and continue stirring until sauce has thickened, 3 or 4
minutes. Add salt and pepper
to taste. Sauce may be prepared in advance and refrigerated. 

Make the Filling: 

Warm a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the butter or olive oil, and
saut? the chopped
onion, green pepper, poblano, mushrooms, tomatoes and pimientos until
onion is transparent,
about 4 or 5 minutes. Fold into the mixture the diced chicken, olives and
green onions,
combining well. Remove from heat. 

Assembling the Dish: 

In a small skillet, heat about about half an inch of canola oil. Using
tongs, dip the tortillas
in the hot oil one at a time, for just a few seconds, so that they are
softened. Cover the
bottom of your baking dish with 4 of the softened tortillas. Layer the
remaining ingredients in
the following order: 

     Half of the chicken/vegetable mixture 
     Half of the grated cheese 
     Half of the sauce 
     The remaining 4 softened tortillas 
     The remaining chicken/vegetable mixture 
     The remaining grated cheese 
     The remaining sauce 

Bake for 30 minutes at 350?F until casserole is heated through and bubbly.
Makes 6 to 8
servings. 

Notes: Possible substitutions: A small can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and chiles
for the tomatoes and
poblano, OR a small can of green chiles for just the poblano.
  
  


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