Last night at the homeless shelter.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

Second night of a three night gig there. The main dish was Chicken and Rice casserole. Here's the recipe I used:

Chicken and Rice Casserole
(double or triple for the large aluminum pan)

Melt one stick butter. Mix together with one can each of cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and cream of celery soups, plus one jar green chile sauce. (I use Garcia’s Kitchen fire roasted).

Pour into casserole dish along with 1 ½ cups uncooked regular rice. Stir. Top with three half boneless chicken breasts cut up into bite-sized pieces.

Cover with foil, bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Note: 10-15-18 I made two of these in glass/ceramic dishes (about 8 x 13), then poured into a large aluminum pan. A third would have fit in nicely. One jar Garcia’s, another jar of Santa Fe hot. I cooled it down, refrigerated, brought to shelter where it remained refrigerated another hour or more, then got put into the oven to warm up. When it was finally served the edges were a bit crunchy which was quite nice. The hot green chile gave it a nice kick. I think this would freeze well.

I of course think my version was the best. I do know that the people there loved all versions.

On Sunday night we did ham (30 pounds of ham steaks were purchased at a good price, cut up and warmed in the oven) and scalloped potatoes. I was the only scalloped potato person who made the real thing. Some of the others made it more complicated than it needed to be, adding lots of extra, and in my opinion weird ingredients like sour cream. We also did sauteed cabbage (red and green cabbage cut up and sauteed in sesame oil with some caraway seeds). Not something I'd care for, but it was well received. I actually did the cabbage cooking, a small batch at a time so it would be freshly made as it was served.

Oh, and thanks to all the feedback I got about making scalloped potatoes, I wound up making up two half-sized aluminum pans: sliced the potatoes, made the sauce (butter, chopped onions, flour for the roux. Ground black pepper, marjoram, celery seed, and thyme. About 8 cups of warmed up half and half added to the roux and seasonings. Cook long enough to thicken up nicely.) which I poured over the raw sliced potatoes, then refrigerated. Oh, yeah, about four globs of butter on the top. At the shelter, baked as I would at home, half hour covered, one hour uncovered. Someone remarked that mine were the only ones that actually looked like scalloped potatoes.

[irisblue]

1. I was thinking of making King Ranch Chicken this weekend

From wiki>>King Ranch chicken is a popular Tex-Mex casserole. Its name comes from King Ranch, one of the largest ranches in the United States, although the actual history of the dish is unknown and there is no direct connection between the dish and the ranch. Recipes vary, but generally it has a sauce made of canned diced tomatoes (commonly the Ro-Tel brand) with green chiles, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, diced bell pepper, onion, and chunks or shreds of chicken. The bottom of the casserole is lined with corn tortillas or tortilla chips, then layered with sauce and topped with cheese. I put rice on the bottom of my casserole. 🍽 🐔

Very similar to yours. Thanks for doing that.

[procon]

2. Sounds very homey and filling in addition to being tasty, too.

I don't get around much anymore, but I liked to fix a bigly amount of dried beans for serving large crowds, they're very economical and work well in a wide variety of recipes. There's so many different varieties you'll never get bored trying out some dried beans.