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King Ranch Casserole
Nb persons: 10
Yield:
Preparation time:
Total time:
Source: Rather Sweet Bakery in Fredricksburg
| Chicken and Stock: | |
| 1 whole | stewing chicken |
| 2 | carrots, unpeeled, cut into 3" pieces |
| 2 stalks | celery, cut into 3" pieces |
| 10 whole | peppercorns |
| 5 qts. | water |
| Roasted Chiles: | |
| 3 | New Mexican chilies |
| Cream Sauce: | |
| 1/2 c. (1 stick) | unsalted butter |
| 1 medium | yellow onion, chopped |
| 1 | red bell pepper, chopped |
| 8 oz. | button mushrooms, sliced |
| 4 | cloves garlic, minced |
| 1/2 tsp. | chili powder |
| 1/4 tsp. | cayenne pepper |
| 1 tsp. | salt |
| 1 tsp. | freshly ground black pepper |
| 1 c. | flour |
| 3 c. | chicken stock, above |
| 1/2 c. | heavy whipping cream |
| 1 (10 oz.) can | Rotel tomatoes |
| 3 | roasted, diced New Mexican chiles, above |
| Casserole: | |
| 18 | corn tortillas |
| 1 c. | shredded Monterery Jack cheese |
| 1 c. | shredded Cheddar cheese |
TO PREPARE THE CHICKEN AND STOCK: Place the chicken, carrots, celery, and peppercorns in a large stockpot and add the water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer the stock for 1 hour, uncovered. (The liquid level should drop by about 1".) Turn the heat as low as possible and simmer uncovered for at least 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the warm stock and refrigerate it. Us a large strainer to strain the chicken broth into a large container. Discard the vegetables and refrigerate the stock. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, discard the skin and pull the meat off the bones. Cut or shred it and set aside. Measure 3 1/2 cups of the stock for use in the recipe; save the remainder for another use.
TO ROAST THE CHILIES: Preheat the broiler. Broil the chiles about 2 minutes per side, until blackened and blistered on all sides. Remove from the broiler using tongs or oven mitts and enclose in a paper bag to sweat for 5 minutes. Remove the chiles from the bag and peel. Slice in half, and remove and discard the stems and seeds. (If you like your foods hot and spicy, keep some of the seeds.) Dice the chiles.
TO MAKE THE CREAM SAUCE: Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute on medium-low heat about 7 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute longer. Sprinkle the flour in the pan, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until the white of the flour is no longer visible. Whisk in 3 cups of the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in the cream and stir in the diced roasted chiles. Add the tomatoes. The cream sauce should be thick.
TO MAKE THE CASSEROLE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13" baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Place 1/2 cup of the stock in a bowl large enough to hold an unfolded tortilla. Stack the tortillas in the bowl, 6 at a time, until ready to layer in the baking pan. Make sure all of the tortillas are amply covered in the stock. Line the bottom of the prepared pan with a layer of 6 tortillas, making sure each tortilla overlaps the previous one by about 1/3. (A thick layer of tortillas will make it easier to cut the casserole once it's cooked.) Cover the tortillas with half of the cream sauce. Add half of the chicken and sprinkle with 1/3 of each kind of cheese. Add a second layer of 6 soaked tortillas, the remaining cream sauce and chicken, and another 1/3 of each kind of tortillas and the rest of the cheese.
Bake the casserole for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until hot, bubbling and lightly browned on top. Remove the casserole from the oven and let sit about 10 minutes. Cut into squares and serve. The cooked casserole can be refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 3 weeks.
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