4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
2 (8 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
12 (8 inch) flour tortillas
3 cups shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add chicken and bouillon and boil for 12 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through (no longer pink inside). Reserve 1 cup broth. Remove chicken from pan and dice; set aside.
In a separate large saucepan combine reserved broth, onion, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, bell pepper, diced tomatoes with green chile peppers and beans. Mix together and heat through, stirring often.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a 9x13 inch baking dish layer casserole as follows: 4 torn tortillas, 1/2 of diced chicken, 1/3 of soup mixture, more tortilla strips, remaining diced chicken, 1/3 of soup mixture, more tortilla strips and remaining soup mixture. Cover with cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.
(recipe contributed by Dione, photo in memory of whatshisname)
3 comments:
why do they call this 'King Ranch Chicken'? Half of my relatives call it that, the other half call it Chicken Tortilla Casserole. Inquiring Minds want to know.
Umm...You got me. I know it's a Texas thing. And I know there is an actual King Ranch in Texas because I googled it, totally expecting to find a story about "where the famous king ranch chicken began" or something. But there was nothing. I even checked their gift shop thinking maybe they'd sell the casserole there (kinda like they sell Swedish meatballs at Ikea). But the only casserole they sell in the gift shop is the:
Forest Covered Casserole Dish, which is a piece of beautiful, hand-decorated porcelain dinnerware with a picture of a proud buck and frolicking deer in a dense forest. Not exactly what I was looking for but perfect if you happen to be searching for a formal serving dish for your rustic lodge table.
So then I just drew my own conclusion… That somewhere (presumably six feet under) there is a bitter cook named Leroy tossing in his grave right about now because long ago he whipped up a batch of his grandmother's Chicken Tortilla Casserole and the Kineños went crazy for it (Richard King – founder of the ranch - needed workers and found them in old Mexico, when he happened upon a drought stricken village. He invited the villagers to come work for him and Captain King's vaqueros became known as Los Kineños, King's Men). So the Kineños proclaimed it the best food they'd ever tasted, what with being tired hungry and woozy cuz food had been pretty sparse after the drought. And the cook thought he'd finally achieved the fame he'd always dreamed of and he said, "I call it Leroy's King Ranch Chicken"
When Leroy got trampled by a herd of cows, the Kineños shortened the name to King Ranch Chicken and the rest is history… well actually it's not history… and that's why Leroy is pissed.
But anyway I prefer the name "Chicken Tortilla Casserole" because it's much more descriptive… much like I prefer Hot Pudding Cake to Hot Fudge Sundae Cake… because I always think hot fudge sundae cake should contain ice cream, hot fudge and at least one cherry. The same applies here…there's not a king or a ranch in king ranch chicken. There is chicken but it's not so much chicken as it is a casserole.
"So Dione," the slightly insane, mocking voice inside my head, asks, "If you prefer those names than why don't you use those names?!?" Well, because the thing is that along with my fear of cooking is my fear of messing with other people's recipes, including the titles. I just figure that if Joe Blow called it King Ranch Chicken he probably knew better than I do. Plus we all know that if I had to name it I would have called it "Chicken Thingies" or "Chicken Stuff". Both of which sound like something you might want to take a big hose to and power-wash out of the chicken house.
Which brings me to this question: why is it called "Grandma Bea's Hot Dish" when clearly it should be called something much more descriptive like "Whetacallum’s Hot Dish"? Oh and by the way, I always thought Grandma was saying, "Whattycomb." I never had a clue what it meant either but assumed it was a relative of the Honeycomb and that we'd learn about it in school eventually.
Mommmmmmmmmmmmmm, Dione's talkinggggggggggg again, MAKE HER STOP. I'm only 47. I'm too young to have to wear "Depends" underwear when I read her cooking comments. (Maybe I could wear those sexy diapers like that woman in the TV commercial wears with her sexy form-fitting red dress when she goes out dancing with her husband. “Hey, Chuck, I've got my diapers on--let's boogie.") OK, next time those Good's decide it's time for a family cookbook, I'm ready to roll: "Dione and Leroy's King Ranch Chicken," as contributed by Darin.
Courtney has been memorizing and reciting wonderful Latin familia children's poetry all this week as part of her speech class: "My mother and her flower garden, my mother's rolling pin made us tortillas with love,” etc.
And this is the heritage Courtney will have to hand down to her own children? "Dione and Leroy's King Ranch Chicken"? “My children, gather 'round while grandmama tells you a story of her auntie, her auntie’s friend Leroy, and the Kineños ..."
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