Friday, July 13, 2018 « 9
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We were at our weekly hikemaster meeting, discussing the parking situation in the park, reviewing the visitor shuttle schedule, and asking if it is our place to say something to someone who is shortcutting the trail. Just before we adjourned, Wendy raised her hand. She wanted to invite us all to her cabin next week for a potluck. She planned to fix KingRanchChickenCasserole and we were encouraged to sign up to bring salads or pies. Pies! I love to make pies. While I contemplated whether I should make a fruit pie, a mud pie, or a cream pie, Wendy passed around a sign-up clipboard and repeated that she would make KingRanchChickenCasserole and we can bring the rest. What did she say she was she going to serve? I couldn’t make it out. King something. She rattled off the name of the dish as if we’d all grown up eating it every week in the school cafeteria. But I didn’t buy the school lunches so I didn’t know about King-whatever casserole. Who knew what Wendy was talking about? “Not I,” said the Nebraskan. If I were from Texas, I’d have known what Wendy was planning to serve at our hikemaster potluck. It’s what is served at potluck dinners all over Texas: King. Ranch. Chicken. Casserole. Never heard of it. “What?” the Texans in the group said. “Of course you’ve heard of it! We grew up on it! ” they said. But I grew up on homemade macaroni and cheese made with real Velveeta. (None of that fake Velveeta for the Donohoes, by golly.) A week later I took my coconut cream pie to Wendy’s, set it with the other pies and an assortment of green salads and when everyone got there, I eagerly scooped up a serving of King Ranch Chicken Casserole. It was creamy, tomatoey, and sort of Mexican-ish with lots of browned cheese on top. I asked for the recipe, which is the right thing to do at a potluck. All the Texans at the potluck knew about King Ranch Chicken Casserole because in Texas, it is served at every school lunchroom, potluck, funeral, church social and roadside diner in the state. The recipe varies from kitchen to kitchen but the basics are the same: cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, RoTel diced tomatoes, green chilies, bell peppers, onion, chicken, and tortillas on the bottom with melted cheese on top. The recipe can be found in untold Junior League cookbooks and is in no way, shape or form associated with the King Ranch in Kingsville, TX, one of the largest ranches in the world. Founded in 1853 by Richard King, it consists of 825,000 acres, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island. (I wonder if they eat King Ranch Chicken Casserole in Rhode Island.) King Ranch was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and is famous, but not because of the casserole named after it. The casse-
role is made with chicken—not beef like that raised on the ranch. In the 1950s, housewives were drawn to the convenience of casseroles that called for easy, inexpensive ingredients—canned soup— and that’s how King Ranch Chicken Casserole originated. How it got its name remains a mystery. Not from Texas? Want to give it a try? Here is Wendy’s recipe, one of the many variations out there (each one claiming to be the original). Serve it at your next potluck and earn favor with every Texan you know. King Ranch Chicken Casserole 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 white onion, diced 1 red bell pepper, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 (10 ounce) can RO-TEL diced tomatoes with green chile peppers 1 cup chicken broth 2 tablespoons sour cream 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder 1 cooked chicken, torn into shreds or cut into chunks 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese 10 corn tortillas, cut into quarters Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Sauté onion, red bell pepper and green bell pepper in hot oil until warmed through, about 2 minutes. Combine onion-pepper mixture, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, sour cream, cumin, ancho chile powder, oregano, and chipotle chile powder together in a large bowl and stir until sauce is well combined. Spread a few tablespoons of the sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Spread half the chicken over the sauce. Spread about half the sauce over the chicken and top with 1/3 the cheese. Spread a layer of tortillas over the cheese. Spread the remaining chicken over the tortillas and top with almost all of the remaining sauce, reserving 1/2 cup sauce. Top with 1/3 the cheese, remaining tortillas, the reserved 1/2 cup sauce, and remaining 1/3 cheese. Bake casserole in the preheated oven until bubbling, about 40 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to broil. Broil the casserole until top is golden, 2 to 3 minutes more. You may let The Thunker know what you think at her e-mail address, donoholdt@gmail.com. © 2018 Sarah Donohoe
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