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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Slightly Fancy-Pants King Ranch Chicken

Sunday was a rainy cool day - I know amazing for Texas in September, right?  I had the desire to whip up a King Ranch Chicken Casserole.  I'm sure I have a recipe in my three ring binder cookbook, but I decided it would be easier to just search Google for a recipe.

Well, finding the recipe was easier, but making the casserole took a little longer, but was worth the time and effort.  When I typed in King Ranch Chicken on Google I found a blog post by Homesick Texan from 2007 and two versions of the recipe.  I printed out both the Fancy-Pants version and the regular version and headed for the kitchen to check out the fridge and the pantry to see if I had the ingredients for the Fancy-Pants recipe.  Because Slightly Fancy Pants is just my style. smile I also loved the name and was intrigued.

If you have time, hop over and read her post (after you read mine first of course!) I'm now following Lisa's blog and will certainly be making more of the recipes on her site.  She also has a cookbook for sale.  If you want the old school recipe just click the link below and jump over to the Homesick Texas.  It's delicious too I am sure.


The Shredded Chicken

Butter, Onion and Bell Pepper

The Sauce - Almost Done

All the Layers in the Dish

Pop it in the Oven!

Cheesy Brown Goodness
 (maybe a little too brown oops!)

Dinner is Served!



Here's the recipe by Lisa at Homesick Texan
Slightly Fancy-Pants King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of chicken, without skin and bones
4 teaspoons of lime juice
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 an onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 10oz. can of Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained (or you can use a can of regular diced tomatoes and a 4 oz. can of diced green chiles, or if tomatoes are in season, can use two cups of diced fresh tomatoes with 1/4 cup of diced green chiles, such as a jalapeno)
4 teaspoons ancho chile powder (or chili powder)
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 cup of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of half and half
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
3 cups of grated pepper jack and cheddar
10 corn tortillas
Salt and pepper to taste.


Method:
1. Season the chicken with the lime juice, 2 teaspoons of ancho chile powder and a dash of salt. In a skillet heated on medium, cook the chicken in the olive oil on each side for about 10 minutes.
2. When chicken is done (after about 20 minutes), shred it with two forks and set aside. Taste and see if it needs more salt and pepper. Should yield about 3 cups.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium, and add the onions, red bell pepper and poblano pepper. Cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add the garlic, flour, cumin, cayenne pepper and 2 teaspoons of ancho chile powder, and cook for 1 minute.
5. Add the chicken broth and cook on low until mixture is thickened, a few minutes. Stir in the half-and-half and Ro-Tel cover the pot, and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Uncover the pot, and add the sour cream, 2 teaspoons of lime juice and 1/4 cup of cilantro, and add salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
8. Heat up the tortillas (you can do this by adding a bit of oil on an iron skillet and then cooking the tortillas for about 30 seconds on each side).
9. Ladle 1/2 cup of the sauce onto the bottom of an 11 x 7 inch baking pan.
10. Layer half the tortillas along the bottom of the pan (on top of the sauce). To make sure entire pan is evenly covered, you can rip some of the tortillas into strips to fill any gaps.
11. Add half the chicken, half the remaining sauce, half the remaining cilantro and 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese.
12. Repeat the layering, leaving the cheese layer on top.
13. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes or until brown and bubbling. Serves 6-12, depending on how big a portion you distribute. Goes great with sour cream and cilantro on top.


Much Love & Laughter, 

 Laura

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Poofy Cheeks

2 comments:

Sandra@Beneath this Roof, Within these Walls said...

I love King Ranch Chicken, although I have never made the slightly fancy pants version~~sounds delicious!

Maureen Wyatt said...

Looks delicious! It's cool enough here for some of these comfort foods. Thanks. ~ Maureen