Tonight's Dinner: From Scratch King Ranch Casserole

I adapted this a bit from a book called Kitchen Life by Art Smith (Oprah's personal chef). I have his other book too. I think it won a James Beard award a few years back.

The usual recipe for this has cream-of-mushroom soup in it which adds a lot of sodium. I've been trying to cook with less sodium as the doctor told Steve to watch his salt intake. I thought this really tasted less salty, which was fine with me (and I'm a salt-maniac). I really liked it, although it was quite time consuming to put together. Great for a day when you don't care much about that kind of stuff.

There are several steps (the usual cream-of-mushroom soup step saves 2 steps actually if you do that) but it is so worth it.

Just delicious. I had two servings!

                     *  Exported from  MasterCook  *

                    Real King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Recipe By     : adapted from Kitchen Life by Art Smith
Serving Size  : 6    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Casserole                        Main Dish
                Poultry

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
                        nonstick cooking spray
  10                    corn tortillas
   8                    boneless skinless chicken thighs -- cut in bite size pc
  14      oz            chicken broth
   1      14 oz can     fire roasted tomatoes -- drained
   1      7 oz jar      roasted peppers -- drained well
   1                    poblano peppers -- roasted & chopped
   3      tb            unsalted butter
   1      small         red onion -- chopped
  10      oz            white button mushrooms -- sliced
   1      ts            medium hot red chile powder
   2 1/4  cups          milk -- as needed
     1/2  cup           all-purpose flour
                        salt and pepper -- to taste
   1 1/2  cups          shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Position rack in oven in center and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Arrange tortillas on cooking rack. Directly on rack. Bake until slightly dry and leathery (do not toast). This should take 6 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Combine chicken and broth in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over HIGH heat. Reduce heat to MED-LOW, cover, and simmer until chicken no longer shows signs of pink when pierced with the tip of a knife. This should take about 10 minutes (was a very more minutes for me). With a slotted spoon, remove chicken to a bowl. Reserve cooking liquid. Add tomatoes, red peppers and poblano chiles and mix well.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a large skillet over MED heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until it softens, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until they release their liquid and they are tender, about 10 minutes. Add chili powder and cook for another minute until the mushrooms are dry.

Pour 1/2 ucp milk into a glass measuring cup (4 cup is good). Add flour and whisk until dissolved. Add reserved broth and enough milk to make 4 cups total. Stir into the mushrooms and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to MED-LOW and simmer, stirring often, until slightly thick, about 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange 5 tortillas in the bottom of the baking dish. You may have to cut one into quarters to fill all the empty spaces. Top with half the chicken, half the sauce (that includes the tomatoes and peppers), and half the cheese. Top with remaining tortillas, chicken, sauce, cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, then serve hot.

Serve garnished with salsa and sour cream, a sprinkle of cilantro would be nice too.

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NOTES : Risa's notes:

This is very time consuming but worth it. DO NOT use a can of cream of mushroom soup instead of making the mushroom sauce. The flavor and salt will be overwhelming.