Trisha Yearwood's Chicken Tortilla Casserole

[Artful]

Saw this on TV and we had to try it tonight - very good
www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/chicken-tortilla-casserole-recipe/index.html


Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt
Chicken Gravy, recipe follows


Chicken Gravy:
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and the flour turns light brown in color. Gradually whisk in the stock and milk and continue to stir while cooking over medium heat. When the mixture thickens, after about 5 minutes, whisk in some salt and pepper.

1 cup canned green chiles, chopped and drained
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cooking spray
Twenty-four 6-inch corn tortillas
3 cups shredded Cheddar

Directions
Add the chicken to a large stockpot, cover with water and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken and set aside. Reserve 3 1/3 cups of the broth (1 cup is for the chicken gravy, supplement with boxed stock if you don't have enough.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13- by 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large saucepan, combine 2 1/3 cups of the reserved broth, the Chicken Gravy, green chiles, onions, garlic, sour cream, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.

Spread 1 cup of the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Arrange a layer of 6 tortillas over the mixture, and then top with 1 cup shredded chicken and 1/2 cup of the Cheddar. Repeat this layer three more times, ending with cheese. Spread any remaining mixture over the cheese. Make sure all of the tortillas are covered or they will get very hard during baking. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

we'll be making it again - I think we'll change it up a bit for our own spice tastes
And next time I'm going to carmelize the onions before adding to the mix.

[wch]

Looks good- though as you say, I would have to adjust spices to my taste.
Thanks!

[MaryB]

Looks a might bland.

[Bodydoc447]

My mother's recipe for a chicken tortilla casserole:

Chicken Enchilada Casserole


1 chicken, boiled and diced
1 onion diced and sautéed in butter
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup sour cream
2 cans diced green chiles
1 ½ dozen corn tortillas torn into pieces
2 cups grated cheese-cheddar, mild or sharper

Mix all ingredients except tortillas and cheese. Layer mixture with tortillas and cheese. Bake at 350*F for 30 minutes or longer.



Doc

[Artful]

Ok, 2nd go around of this - Modification of original recipe..
In my saucier/small wok heat 2 Tbsp Oil
When hot add 1 onion diced turn down to medium heat
simmer until translucent then up the heat to brown on edges
after reasonable browning add 1 large or two small galic cloves mashed and diced
after all nice heated and aromatic removed from pan to plate
added 1 stick butter (8 tbsp) to wok/saucier melt stirring to pick up fond of onion/garlic
slowly stir/whisk in 8 tbsp flour (I use unbleached but use what ya got I say)
heat stirring frequently until cooked the flour thru
then slowly add 1 can chicken broth
and 1 cup cream and 4 oz of milk
keep heat on medium stirring until all lumps are removed
put your onions and garlic back in the sauce
add 1 can of Hatch fire roasted green diced chiles and juice
add 1/2 bottle of Goya recaito (verde pesto sauce)
Take Both Breast off the largest Deli Chicken you can find
remove the skin and shred/chop/cut up into small bits
If you think you want more chicken add meat from legs, thighs and wings.
Small Bits, That's a relative term but you want some in each bite...
add the chicken to the pot and stir in.
- you were stirring your sauce this whole time to keep from scorching - right?

NOW -
Take your 13x9 pan and spray with pam or grease it up
add a layer of corn Tortillas on the bottom
spoon in a layer of your chicken sauce
sprinkle with a layer of shredded cheese
(mexican mix or just cheddar/jack)
Then . . . -
repeat until last layer comes up almost to top of pan

quarter two tortillas and place like stepping stones
on top of pan to delineate 8 portions and cover those markers with cheese.

Bake at 350 - at 25 min take out of oven and turn oven off
place slice of tomato on each stepping stone
and sprinkle with fresh garden herbs
- Cilantro, Parsley, crushed dry peppers...
whatever floats your boat.
put back in oven too cook tomatoes if you wish (3-5 min then take out)
and cool on counter 5-10 min is good unless you have an asbestos mouth.

Garnish with sour cream an sauce of your choice
suggest fresh salsa or Goya recaito.

[buyobuyo]

I made this a Friday night and it came out really good. I'm not sure how the original recipe comes up with 24 tortillas unless like in Artful's recipe mod-post above they put down a layer before the initial 1 cup of sauce but the original recipe doesn't say that, so I only used 18 tortillas. I also used green chiles from my garden that I had roasted, peeled, and stored in the freezer. I didn't weight/measure the amount before I seeded and chopped it. The bag weighed over half a pound when I froze it initially.

[Artful]

Hmm, fresh roasted chiles sound much better than the canned ones. Glad it turned out well for ya.

I did snap a pic of my last one...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v355/rowdyfisk/th_678A1539.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rowdyfisk/media/678A1539.jpg.html)
click to enlarge

[Artful]

3rd times the charm
- Modification of original recipe..and previous modificied recipe
No Deli chicken on hand today so took 4 individual frozen chicken breasts and
put on cookie sheet in 350 degree oven to thaw/cook
While that was going ...
In my saucier/Medium/Large wok heat 2-4 Tbsp Oil,
depending upon the size of your pan
When hot add 1 med onion diced turn down to medium heat
simmer until translucent then up the heat to brown on edges
after reasonable browning add 2 large garlic cloves mashed and diced
after all nice heated and aromatic removed from pan to plate
added 1 stick butter (8 tbsp) to wok/saucier melt stirring to pick up fond of onion/garlic
slowly stir/whisk in 8-10 tbsp flour (I use unbleached but use what ya got I say)
Cook until changing from blond to dark tan in color. (go darker if you want but I don't like mine too dark)
you still got oil on the onions so when you add it back to your roux, it'll be OK.
put your onions and garlic back in the sauce
keep the medium heat stirring frequently and slowly add 1 can chicken broth
and 16 oz heavy cream (Yeah I know NOT heart healthy - use milk if ya want but not the same)
keep heat on medium stirring until all lumps are removed
add 1 can of Hatch fire roasted green diced chiles and juice
1 can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes & green chili and juice
add 1/2 bottle of Goya recaito (verde pesto sauce) or salsa of your choice...
Add small Small Bits of cooked chicken, That's a relative term but you want some in each bite...
add the chicken to the pot and stir in.
- you were stirring your sauce this whole time to keep from scorching - right?

NOW -
Take your 14x10 1/2 pan (Yep, it got bigger)
and spray with pam or grease it up
but just a thin smear of sauce without much chunks on bottom
add a layer of corn Tortillas on the bottom
spoon in a layer of your chicken sauce
sprinkle with a layer of shredded cheese
(mexican mix or just cheddar/jack)
Then . . .
about the middle layer after you put in the chicken sauce
sprinkle with some adobe spice and mixed season spice of your choice
(dried spices on hand - sometimes sold as mexican mix, pizza seasoning, Asian grill stir fry, Italian season, etc.)
- or just put in some dried onions, oregano, Cilantro, Turmeric, Cumin - whatever you like.
Add cheese above the spice layer
then repeat layering until last layer comes up almost to top of pan or you run out of sauce

Bake at 350 - at 25 min take out of oven and turn oven off
place slice of tomato on each portion
and sprinkle with fresh garden herbs
- green onion, Cilantro, Parsley, crushed dry peppers...
whatever floats your boat.
put back in oven too cook tomatoes if you wish (3-5 min then take out)
and cool on counter 5-10 min is good unless you have an asbestos mouth.

Garnish portions with sour cream an salsa or hot sauce of your choice

Getting better each time!