King Ranch Casserole
Submitted by Sue Lowes on Dec 21, 2012

Creamy, spicy and cheesy casserole with chicken.

Servings:
Group

Complexity:   
Easy

Total Time:
2 hours

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3&1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 mild green chiles, roasted, peeled (stems and seeds discarded) and diced
1 ten-ounce can Ro-Tel
18 corn tortillas
1 cooked chicken (poached or roasted), meat shredded
1 cup shredded Jack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar

Directions:
Melt the butter in a large saute' pan over medium heat. Add the vegetables and saute' on medium-low about 7 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle in flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and stir until the white is no longer visible. Whisk in 3 cups of the stock, 1 cup at a time, until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir in chiles and tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with butter. Pour remaining 1/2 cup of stock into a bowl. Stack the tortillas in the bowl, 6 at a time, to moisten, then line the bottom of the pan with the tortillas, making sure they overlap each other by about one third. Cover the tortillas with half the sauce. Add half the chicken and sprinkle with a third of the cheese. Add a second layer of soaked tortillas, the remaining sauce and chicken, and another third of the cheese. Top with the remaining tortillas and cheese.

Bake for about 1 hour, until bubbling and lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Cook's Notes:
This is the "from scratch" recipe. Most King Ranch recipes use canned soups, etc., so this one takes a little more time.