King Ranch Chicken Cotton Country Collection Cookbook Recipes

ORIGINAL KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• 1. Boil chicken, remove meat from skin and bones. (save broth).
• 2. Sometimes I will use 6-8 chicken breasts instead of whole chicken when I'm in a hurry.
• 3. Saute onions and green pepper.
• 4. Mix with soups, tomatoes, cubed chicken, and chicken broth.
• 5. Line bottom of Pyrex casserole with six corn tortillas.
• 6. Add 1/2 of chicken/soup mixture; spread over tortillas. Sprinkle grated cheese over mixture.
• 7. Then make another layer of six tortillas, chicken/soup mixture, and cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 250-300 F 1 hour until cheese is bubbly.
• 8. Please note that you can make this recipe much lower in fat by using the fat free soups and fat free chicken broth. It turns out just as tasty.
• 9. I've also substituted Cheddar Cheese, as well as Lite Velveeta in place of the Monterey Jack cheese and it was all good.
• 10. The original recipe uses corn tortillas, although some people prefer the flour. I believe the corn gives it a better flavor myself. For variety, you can also omit the tortillas and use tortilla chips, or even noodles/pasta, in their place. At one time or another, I've tried every variation - they are all good, although I am partial to the corn tortillas.
• 11. Adding a can of black beans or corn, also takes it to another level and adding a few slicked black olives and a dollop of sour cream before serving makes a nice presentation.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• Make the soup/tomato mixture, which is very bizarre and might scare you off. But please: Be brave and stick with me through this challenging time. You won't be sorry! In a large bowl, combine the soups and diced tomatoes and chiles. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Then--this is the time to be strong--stir it all together. Trust me!
• Line the bottom of the baking dish with half of the torn tortillas. Layer on half the chicken. Add half the onion, bell pepper and jalapeno. Sprinkle on half the cheese and pour on half the wacky soup mixture. Then repeat the layers, beginning with the rest of the tortillas, and ending with the rest of the you-know-what.
• Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake until bubbling, another 15 minutes.
• Look at that! Serve it with a salad and a dang hearty appetite.
• To make ahead and freeze: Fold foil over the unbaked casserole and freeze until solid. Then, lift the foil-topped casserole out of the pan, wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and freeze until needed. When ready to bake, remove the plastic wrap, put the foiled-topped casserole back into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and thaw. Bake at 350 degrees F following the baking instructions above.

KING RANCH CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Saute onion, red bell pepper, and green bell pepper in hot oil until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
• Combine onion-pepper mixture, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, sour cream, cumin, ancho chile powder, oregano, and chipotle chile powder together in a large bowl and stir until sauce is well-combined.
• Spread a few tablespoons of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread 1/2 the chicken over the sauce. Spread about half the sauce over the chicken and top with 1/3 the cheese. Spread a layer of tortillas over the cheese. Spread remaining 1/2 the chicken over the tortillas, and top with almost all of the remaining sauce, reserving 1/2 cup sauce. Top with 1/3 the cheese, remaining tortillas, the reserved 1/2 cup sauce, and remaining 1/3 cheese.
• Bake casserole in the preheated oven until bubbling, about 40 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to broil. Broil the casserole until top is golden, 2 to 3 minutes more.

KING RANCH CHICKEN (COTTON COUNTRY COLLECTION COOKBOOK)

Steps:

• Boil hen (leg quarters) until tender in water seasoned with onion, celery, salt and pepper.
• Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and reserve all stock. (I usually freeze the chicken until ready to make the casserole and freeze the stock in separate containers to use not only for this recipe but all recipes that I use that involve chicken stock/broth.).
• Chop onion and bell pepper (or remove the frozen stuff from the freezer), combine soups (I usually put in the chili powder and garlic salt in this step because otherwise the putting together of the casserole gets messier), and grate cheese (see above note in ingredients).
• Just before putting casserole together, soak the frozen tortillas in boiling chicken stock until wilted. (You will probably need around 10-12 tortillas for the batch. They do not need to soak very long, or they will become mush!).
• Start layering casserole in a 9x12 inch baking dish (or a disposable aluminum casserole pan) in this order: Tortillas "dripping with stock", chicken, onion, bell pepper, sprinkling to taste with chili powder and garlic salt (see above note), soup mixture and cheese. Repeat the layers, being sure the tortillas are ozzing (I know it's a typo, but that typo is one of the reasons why I love this recipe) with the stock.
• Cover the casserole with the Rotel tomatoes and all the juice.
• Juices in the casserole should be about half of the depth of the dish, if not add a little more stock.
• May be made and frozen several days ahead (or make two and freeze one), but always make at least one day ahead and refrigerate so that the flavors will blend.
• Bake casserole uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes (It may take a bit longer). Serves 8 to 10.
• Secret: a well-seasoned stock.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 11 by 7 by 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Sauce: Melt butter in medium heavy skillet over moderate heat. Add garlic, red pepper, and cumin and stir-fry 1 minute. Blend in flour, add broth and milk, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth -- about 3 minutes. Stir in sour cream, salt, and black pepper to taste; set aside. Filling: Melt butter in large heavy skillet, over moderate heat. Add onion, green pepper, green chilies, mushrooms, tomatoes, and pimiento, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften and flavors meld-10 to 15 minutes. Tortillas: Pour oil to depth of 1/2 inch in small heavy skillet, set over moderate heat, and heat until ripples appear on skillet bottom. Holding tortillas by tongs, dip one by one into oil just long enough to soften, 5 to 10 seconds. Drain on paper towels.
• To Layer: Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared baking dish, then build up layers this way, distributing each evenly: 1/2 chicken and 1/3 sauce; 1/2 each filling, cheese, olives, and scallions, and 1/2 remaining tortillas, chicken, filling, cheese, olives, scallions, and finally, remaining sauce. Bake, uncovered, until bubbly- about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve at once.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preparation: 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 sauté for a few minutes. Raise the heat to medium. Quickly sprinkle in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to mix. Pour in a small amount of the chicken broth, stirring constantly to remove lumps, and allow the flour to "cook" briefly. Gradually add the remaining chicken broth and the buttermilk and continue stirring until sauce has thickened, 7 or 8 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside. 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 sauté the chopped onion, poblano, mushrooms and tomatoes 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 6 of the softened tortillas, overlapping as necessary. Layer the remaining ingredients in the following order: Half of the chicken/vegetable mixture One-third of the grated cheese Half of the sauce The remaining 6 softened tortillas The remaining chicken/vegetable mixture One-third of the grated cheese The remaining sauce The remaining cheese Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F until casserole is heated through and bubbly. Makes about 8 servings.

KING RANCH CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Steps:

• In a large skilled over medium-high heat, sauté bell pepper and onion 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken and next 7 ingredients; remove from heat.
• Layer one-third of torn tortillas in bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top with one-third of chicken mixture and 2/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice. Bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes.