How to Bake Cowboy Chicken Casserole

Serves: 8-10

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 1 hr 20 mins

Ingredients needed to make Cowboy Chicken Casserole:

• 2 lb boneless chicken breasts, skinned
• 1 lb white button mushrooms, rinsed, wiped, stems trimmed and quartered
• 2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed, deseeded and finely chopped
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 cup bell peppers, stem chopped off and finely chopped
• 1 can (14 oz) chopped tomatoes
• 2 cups onions, finely chopped
• 1 can (14 oz) diced green chilies, drained
• 4 tbsp all purpose flour
• 8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
• 8 oz Pepper Jack cheese, grated
• 12 tortilla chips
• 1 ½ tbsp fresh lime juice
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp Southwest seasoning
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter

Cooking instructions for Cowboy Chicken Casserole:

• Place the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and sprinkle 1 tsp salt, peppercorns, oregano and chopped cilantro over them.
• Pour in a splash of wine, lime juice as well as chicken stock and stir them all together along with garlic and bay leaves.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and bring it down to a simmer to cook for 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and let the meat stand in the cooking liquid for about 45 minutes.
• Drain the chicken out and shred them into fine shreds using a couple of forks.
• Tip the cooking liquid into a fine mesh sieve and strain it into a bowl; set aside.
• Warm up your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over high flame until it starts foaming and throw in the mushrooms.
• Sprinkle ¼ tsp salt as well as dash of black pepper over them and sauté for several minutes, stirring often, until juices ooze out from the mushrooms.
• Continue to stir fry for another 6 minutes until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms brown.
• Dust the flour over the mushrooms and stir them all together to coat well.
• Cook fir a minute and stir in milk until it forms a smooth sauce, free of lumps.
• Simmer the sauce until it turns thicker and stir in 1 ½ cups strained cooking liquid until well combined.
• Continue to simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes, until the flavours are infused into the sauce and it thickens further.
• Arrange the tortilla chips onto the base of 9’’x13’’ casserole pan and crumble them into smaller bits.
• Spread them across the pan in a thin layer and pour a cup of the reserved liquid over them.
• Set aside to let the liquid seep into the chips and scatter the shredded chicken on top of the first layer.
• Top it up with layers of bell peppers, onions and jalapenos and sprinkle half of both kinds of cheese over them.
• Season with a dash of Southwest seasoning, ground cumin plus chili powder on top and spread the mushroom sauce over them.
• Top it up with green chiles and tomatoes and finish it off with rest of the cheese on top.
• Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until it is heated through and the cheese melts.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons