something easy, by way of Martha

Ciao ragazzi. Yes, I have been delinquent and I apologize. There are many reasons. One is, what I have been cooking, you already know. The seasons are turning, the spring is coming in and we are eating ramps, wild greens, and all of the other goodies. We begin to get ready for the end of the citrus season, and there will be "fun with kumquats" coming up again. (Remember: straight men can't say that word. Try them. You'll see). And some other recipes.
Another reason - now all of you who know Annalena personally, do not faint - is that Annalena has joined a gym. Yes, for many reasons, at the ripe old age of 51, Annalena has gotten over his anxieties from college, and for the first time, in over 30 years, has joined the masses. He has a trainer, named Emily, whom he already adores, and is hopefully on a path to better health, and reducing the odds of being sick and so forth. It will be a new journey, and the journey, not the end, is the goal, they tell me.
Oh well, enough explanation. Now, let's cook. Last week, I was interested enough, in the thought of making my own chicken broth, to actually do so. There were reasons conspiring to do this: my friend Matt L, who has many nicknames, sent us some homemade matzoh ball soup. The stock was homemade. I was intrigued. Chicken has a season, you know. And if you eat locally, chicken this time of year, means hen, or older fowl. The newly hatched eggs are just not old enough to be used as eating chickens yet. Older fowl: stock. And although I have expounded on the joys of good, storebought broth, I will be urging you to try your own, soon.
An advantage of making your own broth, or stock, is you have cooked chicken left over. And when you have leftover chicken, you have dinner. Or lunch. That's what we're making here today, a lunch dish, culled from one of Martha Stewart's publications. I do not subscribe to much of what this woman espouses, but this is a good recipe. It's easy. It's filling. It's delicious. And versatile. Make it. If you don't have left over chicken from making stock, get some cooked chicken. Remember how I told you never roast one chicken if two will fit in your oven? Hmmmm??

Okay , here's what you need. You need a package of tortillas, be they flour, corn, or whole wheat, or whatever. You need at least ten. Sometimes you'll get twelve in a package. You also need the meat (no skin) of a chicken. Don't be fussy. Just pull it off the bones. If you don't have that, what I suggest is that you get four pounds of chicken thighs, put them in a pot with a carrot, some celery and pepper, and cook them at a slow poach for thirty minutes. Take out the chicken and use it for this, and use the broth for rice, or something else. You now have your tortillas, and your roughly broken up chicken meat.
You also need a cup and a half of salsa. Make your own, if you like, but if you have a jarred variety you like, use it. We're going for convenience here. I used some left over habanero sauce, some left over mushroom sauce, and a bunch of cilantro, all whizzed in the food processor. You also need a small can of those green chilis that you find in the mexican food section. The chopped variety. You also need a cup of sour cream, or creme fraiche Finally, shred about two cups of cheese. Smoked cheddar, monterey jack, peppered jack, w hatever you like.

Preheat your oven to 375. Put 1/3 of your tortillas down in an 8x8 or 9x9 glass pan. Toss 1/3 of the chicken over it, together with a QUARTER each of the sauce, peppers, cream, and chilis. (in fact, you can mix them up and make it easier on yourself if you like). Sprinkle a quarter of the cheese over this.

Continue with two more layers. You will have sauce mixture and cheese left over, and pour it all over the last layer. Put the cheese on last. Get this into the oven, and bake for 30-45 minutes. The cheese will get bubbly and brown, and this will smell awfully good.

And you are done. You have a meal for four people with some veggies.

I imagine you could do this with cooked beef, too, or shredded pork, maybe even leftover ham. I like this. I always have jars of savory sauce around, and tortillas in the freezer. Go to town. Make your own variation, and share it with me, the way I shared with you.

Now, I have to go and deal with some very sore muscles . Oi. You gym rats, WATCH OUT