Friday food

Today marks the beginning of our school district's spring break, but the temperature is decidedly winter-ish. No problem (for me). I even liked seeing the fluffy snowflakes fall yesterday. Let's face it: cold weather demands comfort food. And what's more comforting than a hot dish (or casserole, for you more worldly, sophisticated types)?

Minnesota author Beatrice Ojakangas, who a while back wrote an exemplary book about Scandinavian baking (no, I don't like to bake, but I do like to read about baked goods), has a new book out that fits the bill perfectly: The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever.

More than 500 casseroles! I was in heaven. Talk about compelling reading. And for those of you who disdain casseroles because they use copious amounts of canned cream soups, I should point out that the author notes that she does not use canned soups in her recipes, except to list them as an alternative. She either makes sauces from scratch, or does without them.

You should see the chapter on breakfast casseroles.

As good as those sound, the chicken chapter really enthralled me. I chose for my first try a recipe called King Ranch Chicken.

 

It starts with corn tortillas, brushed with oil, and baked for 12 minutes. While those are baking, saute chopped garlic, onions, poblano pepper, and ground cumin in melted butter.

So already we have oil and butter. And guess what! Cheese is coming soon. Now do you see why I picked this recipe??

Once those are soft and your kitchen smells pretty tasty, it's time to add a can of tomatoes and green chiles. Or, if like me you didn't have that particular variety of canned tomatoes, a can of tomatoes and part of a can of diced green chiles. Oh, and some chicken. After all, it's in the name.

 

That's the chicken and veggies in the foreground, with a pan of broken baked corn tortillas in the bake. I may have overdone them, just a little, not irretrievably.

 

Once the chicken is cooked through, you'll add chicken broth and a bit of flour. After cooking for a few minutes, it's time to remove the chicken and veggies from the liquid and spread them out over the broken tortilla pieces. Then--then! It gets better!

You add cream!

So now we have oil, butter, and cream, and we still haven't even gotten to the cheese!

 

See? See??

You're practically done at this point. You stir the sauce until it's thickened, season with salt and pepper, and finish assembling the hot dish. Casserole. Whatever. To do that, you sprinkle 2 cups of shredded Colby Jack cheese over the chicken and veggies, followed by fresh cilantro. Pour the sauce over. Sprinkle more broken up corn tortillas. Then--then! Another 2 cups of cheese! Followed by crunched-up salted tortilla chips (from the store, or at least that's the assumption I made and used Tostitos). Bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with more cilantro. Devour.

 

A big hot pan full of bubbly comfort food goodness. March winter has nothing on that.

King Ranch Chicken

From The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever, published by Chronicle Books (2008)

12 corn tortillas (6 inches)

Corn oil for brushing

1 tablespoon butter

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

2 medium onions, chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced tomatoes and green chiles with their juice

1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, halved lengthwise and cut into ½-inch slices

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

4 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Salt

Pepper

2 cups salted tortilla chips, crushed

Preheat the oven to 450˚F.

Spread out the tortillas on 2 baking sheets and brush both sides with corn oil. Bake for 12 minutes, shifting the pans halfway through baking, until the tortillas are crisp. Remove from the oven, cool, and break into pieces (about 1 ½ to 2 inches wide).

Reduce the oven temperature to 350˚F. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and spread half of the toasted tortilla pieces over the bottom. Set aside the rest.

In a heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and add the garlic, onions, poblano pepper, and ground cumin. Sauté for 2 or 3 minutes, until the mixture is aromatic and the onions are softened. Add the tomatoes and chiles with their juice and the chicken and cook, stirring, until the chicken is no longer pink. Stir in the flour and slowly add the chicken broth, stirring to remove any lumps. Cook for 3 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and cooked vegetables from the skillet and spread evenly over the tortilla pieces in the baking dish.

Add the cream to the liquid in the skillet and cook, stirring, until the sauce has thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Sprinkle the chicken and vegetables with half of the cheese and half of the chopped cilantro. Pour the thickened sauce over evenly. Top with the reserved toasted tortillas, then with the remaining cheese, and finally with the crushed tortilla chips.

Bake, uncovered, until the filling is bubbling, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cilantro.

Comments

[Amy]

You can't go wrong with King Ranch chicken! mmm...

[PainterWoman]

I remember my Aunt making this in the early 60's. It's still a favorite (even with a soupy base). And, I'm actually in the same state as the King Ranch. YUM.

[kate]

If not for the chilis and copious amounts of cilantro ... but I can improvise on that. Cheese, chicken, cream and butter? I'm in!!!

By the way, hot dish is not a term in use here, even those of us who aren't so worldly and sophisticated use the term casserole :)

[--Deb]

Hey, I have that Scandinavian baking book!

[rudee]

I'm so rumbly in my tumbly. Yum.

[Guinifer]

I knew Miz T would say that.
How long did the prep work take?

[Carole]

I've made this before and it's wonderful!

[Jeanne]

Well that looks yummy.

[Chris]

*drools*

[Miss T]

I *must* get that book!