Good Morning.
For the first dozen years of my life, the evening meal consisted of meat, potatoes, a vegetable, and dessert. This meant stuff like roast chicken, baked ham, or a pork chop, mashed, baked, or scalloped potatoes, peas, asparagus, corn, green beans, spinach, or beets and pie, cake, or pudding. We also had some kind of baked fish, maybe rice, and ice cream for dessert. We had salad that was always iceberg lettuce, tomatoes ,and cucumbers with a bottled vinaigrette-type dressing, but there was no such thing as romaine or mandarin oranges in a salad and no Thousand Island or blue cheese dressing. The only noodle thing we had was mac and cheese made from scratch and scrumptious and tuna casserole that was okay but not great. Spaghetti came out of a can for lunch, pizza was just being discovered in the United States, and the term pasta with its myriad shapes was a long way off.
After the MPVD era, I was introduced to something called the casserole. In the Midwest it was called a hot dish, but wherever it turned up, it was a combination of meat or seafood, some kind of starch (usually noodles) and something to hold it all together like a sauce that was often made from canned soup. Cheese was a popular ingredient and the leftovers were great. The casserole was thrown into a variety of baking dishes, some oblong and shallow, others round and deep. It cooked in the oven instead of on the top of the stove, making it convenient once you got the thing together. You added a salad and maybe a loaf of garlic bread or some rolls and you had dinner.
Today I offer casseroles, warm, comforting, and admittedly caloric, and we begin with Mexican
Spoon Bread Dish.
1/2 pound ground beef
1 large egg, beaten
1 6.5 oz. package corn bread mix
1/2 can corn, drained
1/2 can cream-style corn
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 4 oz can. green chilies, finely chopped
More cheddar
Brown the hamburger in a skillet and crumble it with a fork. Drain the grease. Combine the egg, corn bread mix, corn, sour cream, and butter in a bowl and mix well. Stir in the ground beef, half a cup of shredded cheddar, and the chilies. Place in an 8x8 inch baking dish, sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle more cheese on top and bake for another 10 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a knife in the center. It should come out clean.
Next we have Hot Chicken Salad.
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup cooked white rice
1 10 oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 16 oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained
1/3 cup chopped white onion
1/3 cup sliced, not slivered, almonds
3/4 cup mayonnaise
6 slices white bread
Unsalted butter, softened
Cook the chicken breasts. I'd saute them in a bit of olive oil. Cut them into bite-sized pieces.
In a bowl, mix up the chicken pieces, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, the cooked rice, soup, mushrooms, onion, almonds, and mayonnaise. Spread this mixture in an oblong baking dish.
Butter one side of each of the bread slices, then tear them into small pieces and place on top
of the dish. Bake at 350 degrees for half an hour until the top is golden. Serve for lunch or
dinner.
For seafood lovers, we suggest a crab casserole. This one is a snap to make and delicious.
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups whole milk
2 cups seasoned croutons
8 oz. shredded cheddar
1 tbsp. dried minced onion
1 tbsp. dried parsley from a jar
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat in bite-sized pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Parmesan cheese from a jar
In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, croutons, cheese, onion, and parsley. Add the crab and sprinkle the whole thing with salt and pepper. Grease a casserole, any shape, place the crab
mixture into it, and top with parmesan. Bake at 325 degrees for an hour and serve.
For our meatless, fishless friends we offer a dish with broccoli and cauliflower.
1/2 cup panko
1/2 cup plus a bit more parmesan
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 1/2 tsp. Italian herbs
1 16 oz package frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 16 oz. package frozen cauliflower florets, thawed
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup finely chopped white onion
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 1/4 cups whole milk
4 oz. cream cheese, cut into pieces
Combine the panko, two tablespoons of parmesan, melted butter, and Italian herbs in a bowl and set aside. Make sure the vegetables are in manageable pieces and cut them up if necessary. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet. Saute the onions until tender and translucent. Add the flour, garlic salt, and pepper, and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the milk and cook until thick
and bubbly. Stir in the cream cheese and about a fourth of a cup of parmesan and stir until smooth. Add the vegetables and coat them with the sauce. Place in a two-quart casserole and top with the panko mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. I'd add a big loaf of fabulous
bread and maybe a salad or fresh fruit or a salad with fresh fruit and call this a very nice dinner.
Finally we have a scrumptious Butternut Squash, Bacon, and Apple Casserole.
3/4 pound bacon
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into one-half inch cubes
1 tsp. thyme
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/8 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup vegetable broth
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 can biscuits
1 egg, beaten
Freshly ground pepper
Cook the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towel, and set aside. Leave enough bacon grease to coat the skillet and discard the rest. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add the squash and seasonings and cook for ten minutes. Add the wine and broth. Snip the bacon into small pieces and add to the skillet along with the chopped apple. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce, and simmer for twenty minutes. Place in an oblong baking dish sprayed with cooking spray, and top with the biscuits. Brush the biscuits with beaten egg and sprinkle with pepper. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown.
This dish is a perfect side for Thanksgiving and also a great main dish. It screams fall but it'd work well right now. We just got ANOTHER five inches of snow overnight. I have paid more for snow removal this winter than I have for utilities. I am not kidding and I am not pleased.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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