Awesomely Yummy King Ranch Chicken

Let me explain this recipe.  This recipe turned into quite a journey for me.  I made King Ranch Chicken a few years ago and my husband & I were not liking the recipe.  The flavor was all off.  Bland.  Boring.  If you were ever lucky enough to have King Ranch Chicken from Celebrity Bakery, back when they were still around, I wanted it to taste like that.  A little kick, just enough, but not too much.

So I took a few years off, then found this recipe in my Southern Living Best Fall Recipes, so I thought it was time to try it again.  Now, this time the recipe had me making my own chicken broth, using a whole chicken, things I wasn't used to and thought I was crazy for attempting!!  I was cursing this recipe from the beginning, thinking "why did I think this was a good idea??!?"

Well, I'll tell you why!!  BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME!!  After I tasted the final product I thought, "Totally worth it"!  The boiling the whole chicken, making my own stock, shredding my own chicken. Totally, awesomely, worth it.  This stuff is good, friends!!  Like me, you'll thank yourself when you're done!!

For this recipe you'll need:

• 1 tbsp butter
•  1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium sized green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, pressed (I smashed and chopped mine - and used 3 cloves :)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin (I didn't have any cumin on hand, i.e. I forgot it the two times I went to Target this week, but it was just fine without it)
• 1 tsp chili powder (original recipe called for Mexican style chili powder, but I used regular)
• 3 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 12 (6 inch) fajita size corn tortillas, cut into 1/2 inch strips

You'll also need:

• (4 1/2 to 5 lb) whole chicken
•  2 celery ribs, cut into 3 pieces each
• 2 carrots, cut into 3 pieces each

Okay, this is the part that threw me for a loop.  I was not prepared for dealing with the "whole chicken".  But, I put my big girl pants on and did what I had to do.  "Remove giblets" apparently means sticking your hand in a freezing cold chicken carcass and taking out whatever you can pull out.  Yuck.  I did that.  But I didn't like it.  

I rinsed my sad little bird and put it in a stock pot (original recipe called for a Dutch Oven, but again, don't have a Dutch Oven so stock pot it was).  After bird was in the pot, I covered it with water and added my carrots and celery, brought to a boil over medium high heat; covered, and reduced heat to low.  Simmer for 50 minutes to an hour or until chicken is done.  It took me longer than an hour for mine to cook, just keep checking until it's done.  I didn't take an after picture bc I honestly thought it wasn't going to be edible.  That's the zero confidence I had in my chicken stock/chicken experiment.

But I continued to follow the directions, let it cool for 30 minutes, removed the chicken from broth, reserve 3/4 cup cooking liquid (I ended up using about 1 cup instead).  Strain any remaining liquid; reserve for another use - does anyone have any good ideas about how to store chicken broth?  Because this made a ton.  More on that later...

Okay, so I wasn't feeling super confident about my broth/chicken, but I decided to soldier on...

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, saute 6-7 minutes or until tender.  Add bell pepper and garlic, and saute 3-4 minutes.  Stir in reserved broth, soups, rotel, and spices.  Cook and stir for 8 more minutes.

Then it will look like this.  I have to admit, it was starting to smell good and I was starting to have a little bit of hope for this recipe.  Not a lot of hope, but some, nonetheless.  So I began shredding the chicken.  Whole chicken yield A. LOT. of chicken!  This was another teaching moment for me.  I bought the whole fryer chicken for 4 dollars this week.  That's a ton of chicken for 4 dollars!  Totally cheaper than buying chicken breasts or tenders or whatever!   If I can just get past the whole "this whole raw chicken grosses me out" thing, I'll be good.

Layer half of the chicken in a 13x9 baking dish - I greased mine with olive oil.

Then top chicken with half the soup mixture and a cup of cheese

Then top with half of the tortilla strips.  Repeat the layers once more, topping with one more cup of cheese.  Cover and put in 350 oven for 50 minutes... 

then uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more.  It was smelling GOOD at this point!!  I was hoping it was as good as it smelled!!

It came out looking bubbly and yummy!  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

For a side, I got out a can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained them, and put them in a pan.  Then, since I had a BOATLOAD of chicken broth in the fridge, I poured some chicken stock in with the pinto beans, added some season salt, pepper, and sea salt, and presto!  Yummy side!

Totally worth every minute!!  Next time I will make this on the weekend, but be assured, I will make this again!!

Family Favorite Chicken Spaghetti

This is one of our family's favorite dishes!  Everyone eats it and everyone loves it so that's win-win in my book.  It's pretty easy to make and it makes A LOT, so I know we will be eating a lot of this in the future :)  I start out by baking the chicken (the original recipe calls for using a whole chicken, but I use this method for all my recipes that call for cooked chicken, it's just what I've found works best for me)

I just use:

• boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders
• olive oil
• sea salt
• garlic powder
• pepper
• chili powder

After I spray the pan with olive oil, I drizzle olive oil over each piece of chicken, then sprinkle sea salt, garlic powder, pepper, and chili powder, on each piece.  Usually, I use sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder, every time I bake this chicken.  For dishes like this one & enchiladas, for example, I add the chili powder, too.  I just love all the extra flavor that all the spices add to each dish.

Bake chicken at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until juices run clear and it's cooked completely through.  After chicken has cooled enough, chop chicken into small pieces.

In case you're tired of my pretty ingredient pictures, here's one of those "reality" ingredient shots haha

For chicken spaghetti, you'll need:

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I usually just use as much as I have)
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 jar chopped pimentos
•  spaghetti noodles (two small bags of thin spaghetti noodles), cooked according to package directions

Saute onion and green pepper in olive oil

When green peppers and onions are almost cooked clear, add chopped chicken

add chicken broth,

add cream of mushroom soup & milk - I usually mix the milk and soup in the measuring cup before adding, to get all the lumps out of the soup

Continue mixing and heat until bubbly

After bubbly, add pimentos, chili powder, and pepper.  At this point I usually simmer the sauce until the noodles are ready.  I think the longer it simmers, the yummier it is, but it's good either way.  The funny thing is on this day, I could not get the pimentos open for. the. life. of. me.  And hubby had to work late so this batch went sans pimentos.  I tried everything, and that jar just wouldn't open!  

Once the noodles are ready, mix with sauce and add a cup of cheese (more or less if you like :).  Pour in a greased (I use olive oil spray, again) 9x13 glass pan.  Add the remainder of the cheese to the top, cover and bake in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.  Until cheese is melted and sides are bubbly.

It is delish!!  Hope you love it!  I usually top mine with chopped green olives, but hubby likes his sans green olives, so whatever you like, you can't go wrong!  I wish I had a picture of the chicken spaghetti when I served it, but it was Friday night, hubby was working late & this mama was worn out so this is the best picture I could get - ha!  Happy Eating!