King Ranch Casserole

My husband get the news magazine The Week. I like it, but I hardly ever have time to read its articles about international and U.S. news, BUT I never miss its Leisure Section which always has a great "Food and Drink" section. They usually have recipes from famous restaurants. I haven't tried to make any of them since I've pretty much not cooked anything worth mentioning all year. Russ thought we should made it when our pastor came to dinner tonight. He went and bought all of the ingredients, and I did the cooking. Success! It was an easy recipe and was delicious. Everyone had seconds. The artice said that King Ranch Casserole "might be the most famous casserole in Texas." Now something tells me that most Texans don't use Wolgang Puck's chicken broth in their version, but I can see why Texans love it. It is sooooo bad for you but tastes sooooo good!

Not much left!

King Ranch Casserole

12 (6 -inch) corn tortillas
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 jalapeno chilies, minced
2 tsp cumin
2 (10 -oz) cans Ro-Tel tomatoes
5 tbsp flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved lenthwise and
cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
4 cups Cojack cheese
salt/pepper
21/4 cups Fritos, crushed

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Lay tortillas on two baking sheets, lightly coat both side with cooking spray, and bake slightly crisp and browned, about 12 minutes. Cool slighly, then break into bite-size peices.

Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onions, chilies, and cumin until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook until most of liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add cream and broth, bring to summer, and cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in chicken a cook until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Off heat, add cilantro and cheese, and sitr until chees is melted. Season with salt and pepter.

Scatter half of tortilla pieces in 13 by 9 inch baking dish set over rimmed baking sheet. Spoon half of filling evenly over tortillas. Scatter remaining toritlla over filling , then top with remaining filling.

Bake until filling is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle Fritos evenly over top and bake until Fritos are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool casserole 10 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.