Because She Asked....

Nearly two weeks ago, my friend Cherin wrote an interesting piece, calling for casserole recipes. I wasn't sure she would want mine, since mine involve green chile. For those of you who don't live in the Southwest or in New Mexico, let me explain. Green chile is what lobster is for people from Maine or jambalya is to people from Louisiana. It's a common ingredient here--actually a staple. Last summer I roasted my own, froze them, and have a stash that's rapidly dwindling. 

Which reminds me that this year, I'm not bragging about how much green chile I preserve. First because it's a lot of work and it took roughly 50 pounds of green chile to get enough for the winter. It would have helped if we weren't eating it as soon as it's roasted, but freshly roasted green chile is highly addictive! Second, because of my big mouth, I had people begging, pleading, threatening  me to send them my supply. Green chile has that affect on people who used to live here where the habit formed. Yes--green chile is not only addictive but habit-forming. People go through withdrawals when they don't have their green chile fix. Seriously.  Those people who were actually crying or threatening me if I didn't send them green chile were simply going through withdrawals. At the end of the roasting period, I only had 16 containers of green chile and I needed it to last me through winter. We've used up most of that. 

So next year--no bragging. I'm not telling people. No way. Not doing it!

Since I'm a typical dump cook--you know what I mean--dump a little of this in, pour a bit of that, add a handful or two of this ingredient....In other words, I rarely measure anything. I go by look, taste (mine or D's), and smell. So I told myself the next time I made chicken enchilada casserole, I'd remember to measure everything for Cherin.

Yesterday, other than cooking that big pot of chowder for D's group, answering student emails and phone calls in between getting papers graded, I put some chicken on that needed to be cooked. (I had two packs of chicken thighs that were getting close to the expiration date.) I cleaned them, put them in a pan, covered them with water and let them cook over medium heat for about 2-3 hours. This produces a rich chicken stock that can be filtered later.  Remove the chicken from the pan, peel the skins, and debone the pieces. Save the pieces for later shredding or cutting--whichever is preferred. To filter the stock, pour it through a strainer--with a bowl underneath to catch the stock. This removes the bits and pieces you really don't want in stock or broth.

To save yourself some time later, make your tortillas while your chicken is cooking.  

Now you're ready to make this dish! How exciting is that?

2 Cups cooked, shredded/chopped chicken
2 Cups chicken stock
1 onion, cut to strings 
1 TBSP butter
2 Cups Whole Milk
1/4 cup unenriched, unbleached flour
1/2 tsp dried, minced garlic or 5 cloves finely diced 
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Green Chile 
 Tortillas (homemade or 1 pack of flour or corn tortillas)
White Cheddar Cheese--finely sliced or grated

In a saute pan, melt butter and add onion strings. Cook them until they begin to carmelize. Add the garlic and breathe that heavenly scent of someone's cooking something good. Sorry--had a Pioneer Woman moment there.  I'm sure she won't mind. Cook until half the mixture is carmelized--it's yummy this way.

In a separate pot, add your chicken stock and your chicken. Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of milk.  Heat to nearly boiling, stirring frequently. In another measuring cup or bowl, add 1 cup of milk and the flour. Stir this until it's smooth and creamy. Add it to the chicken in the pot. Add your onions and spices. 

 

Chicken Stock 

Don't mind the flour on my counter--I wasn't following my own advice!

 This part is tricky since I'm using my roasted green chiles--the ones I did myself. The container I'm taking them from holds about 3 cups. Aren't they lovely? Trust me, these particular chiles are more than hot--they turn everyone into fire-breathing dragons! Anyway--you'll have to use your judgement here because everyone's taste and heat preference is different. I'm only using about half a tub for this batch. 

 

 Dice up the green chiles and throw them--ok--just add them to the chicken mixture. At this point, it should be about done. I let it simmer for another 30 minutes just blend in the flavors more. 

Now tear your tortillas. Yep, tear them. You are going to layer them in a casserole dish like so:

 

When you've covered the bottom of the dish, ladle some of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. It might be a bit soupy, but that's ok. The tortillas will soak most of it up. Add your cheese. 

Side note: I quit grating my cheese because it's all going to melt anyway. I just finely slice the cheese to where it's thin, almost like paper. It works for me. You can grate your cheese if you want--but DON'T use the pre-grated cheese. It's loaded with chemicals and preservatives and it really messes up the flavors of this dish. 

Repeat the process until the dish is completely layered and full. The last layer should be tortillas topped with cheese. Slide the dish onto a cookie sheet. Trust me--it will bubble over and the cookie sheet will save you either hours of scrubbing down your oven or a smokey house or both! Bake at 425 Degrees until bubbly and hot and the cheese is all melted.  Pull it out and let it set for about 5-10 minutes. Serve it up. 

This dish can be made ahead of time and frozen. By doubling the ingredients, you can easily freeze one dish for later. Homemade tortillas freeze equally well. Just don't nuke them---let them defrost with the bag opened.  Nuking homemade tortillas makes them hard, like crackers. 

Disclaimer: The measurements in this recipe are not exact--but they are approximately close!  

When You Gotta Feed A Crowd...

Please tell me I'm not the only one...

My very much loved husband, D came home from work last night with this announcement: "Guess what I forgot?!?!?!?" I was in the middle of one of my online teaching sessions, so my mind was not really on what he forgot. I replied, "Your flashdrive?" He said, "Nope. I forgot that tomorrow is Sigma Xi Day." He went on to tell me how he ran into one of the professors who mentioned she was looking forward to the luncheon he would be providing.

Flip back a couple or more years ago: My husband was asked to join Sigma Xi, which is a national research honors society. The society--similar to other honors societies/clubs encourages students to do reseearch in their fields. At this university, the members hosted once a month seminar days, where students and professors give presentations on their research. The members usually provide "light snacks/refreshments." At the time my husband joined, they were wondering how to draw more people to the seminars. They discussed it at several meetings. In the meantime, the person who usually made sure there were light snacks on hand for the seminars was unable to do provide this service for the immediate future. My husband volunteered to help out.

That's where I came in.  I explained that if you want to draw a crowd, you needed good, wholesome, tasty FOOD to bring in people. So our first venture into providing FOOD--not snacks--for the next seminar involved in making tuna wraps. Those went over oh so well--compliments floated like rose petals over the group. Word got around. The next seminar we provided chicken wraps. More people attended the event. Word got around. More and more people were attending the seminars. Where the society was lucky if it drew 20 people before, now they were having 30-40-50 people easily. Sigma Xi was gaining popularity with students, faculty, and staff.


I decided that wraps--while easy enough--were boring in the fall and winter months and at every seminar. I added soups and pasta salads to the menu. I figured a little variety would go over well. Let me tell you, the variety went over extremely well. Now we were feeding between 50-75 people easily at the various seminars.  The one time that D forgot about an upcoming seminar until the morning of--say two hours before the seminar--he ran out and grabbed the usual vegetable plate and dip and chips and salsa and a package of cookies. Later that day he saw a poster announcing the seminar. Below the presenter's name and topic was the words, "Light refreshments provided." Someone had scribbled out "Light" and replaced it with "Lame."  

So last night when D announced his little bit of forgetfulness, my first thought was, "Soup--a nice hearty soup that's easy and delicious." About the same time, D said, "Well I thought we could make your chicken corn chowder to feed everyone." Perfect.  It's simple and I love simple. 

So if you ever have to feed a crowd in the winter or fall...here's how to do it.

A big stock pot--at least a 16 quart one. 
5-8 lbs of potatoes, peeled and cubed
7-9 chicken breasts--deboned & skinned, cubed
2 whole onions, peeled and cut into strings (cut them from tip to root)
6 carrots, sliced
7 stalks of celery, sliced
2 one-pound bags of frozen corn 
6 cups of whole milk
1 stick of butter--not margarine
5 TBSP unbleached, unenriched flour 
2 TBSP Onion Powder
1 TBSP Dried, minced Garlic
1 TBSP Dried Parsley Flakes 
1 TBSP Coarse Black Pepper
2 tsp Kosher Salt 
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Garlic Powder

Add the potatoes to the stock pot, adding enough water to cover them. Cover and crank up the heat until the water boils. Add your carrots. Turn down the heat, crack the lid so a bit of steam escapes. While this is cooking, add two tablespoons of butter to a saute pan or skillet. When the butter had melted, add your onion strings. Cook until the onions are starting to carmelize. Add the Dried Garlic. Stir and cook until the onion is carmelized.  Place into a separate bowl and set aside.

Add the cubed chicken pieces to the same skillet and cook thoroughly. I like to brown the chicken pieces just a little bit, but it's not necessary.

While the chicken is cooking, add your celery, spices, and carmelized onions to the potato-carrot base. Stir until well combined. Mix the flour and one cup of mix in a separate container until well combined. Add to potato-carrot base. Stir and mix everything. Heat until mixture forms a rolling boil. Reduce the heat, and add the milk and rest of the butter, mixing well. 

Add your cooked chicken and frozen corn, stirring until everything is thoroughly mixed. Let it simmer on low heat until ready to serve, stirring occasionally.

 

At this point, you can add some flavors. We added a large tub of green chile because we live in the Southwest and it's a common ingredient. However, if you can't get green chile where you live, you can add cooked and crumbled bacon, if you aren't worried about offending non-pork eaters. Because of dietary restrictions that many people have today--I leave out the bacon when feeding a crowd.  

If you need it to feed a family, you can reduce the amount of the ingredients down to fit your family's needs. It can also be expanded to fit larger crowds. Because of the weather we are having--all snowy and icy roads, I expect only about 30-40 people will make it to today's seminar. 

My friend, Cherin of LanyardLady asked for recipes for casseroles nearly two weeks ago. While this recipe doesn't qualify as a casserole, but it can be frozen.  In fact, I believe it tastes better after it's been frozen.  

Now, if you ever have to feed a crowd--you will have this to fall back on! Enjoy!