Chicken Broccoli Casserole, April 9, 2016

Saturday, I'd planned to make chicken & broccoli casserole with baked sweet potatoes and Old Bay slaw. However, we got home so late from swimming and the grocery that I decided just to do the casserole with boxed almond pilaf (I like Near East brand best) and a green salad. The casserole was completely delicious, the sort of thing people used to bring to carry-in dinners at church.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

24 oz. frozen broccoli, chopped sort, cooked & well-drained

3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 c. mayonnaise

3 tbsp. milk

Juice of 1 lemon

Generous 1/2 tsp. curry powder

Salt & pepper

2 c. shredded extra-sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the broccoli in a layer in the pan. Mix soup, mayo, milk, lemon juice, curry, salt, & pepper. Pour a little over the broccoli. Top with a layer of chicken. Cover with remaining sauce. Finish with a layer of cheese. Bake 1/2 hour. Serves 8-10.

Cheesy Tuna & Shells, September 17, 2015

After making Jeannene sick with an overly spicy, overly greasy burger the other night, I was glad she liked last night's tuna casserole! I thought it was really yummy, too. I served it with a Caesar salad and apples.

Cheesy Tuna & Shells

1 tbsp. butter or olive oil

1/4 green pepper, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 can cheddar cheese soup (I use Healthy Request)

1/2 c. drained diced tomatoes from a can (or fresh, if you have them)

7 oz. tuna, well-drained 

2 c. cooked shell pasta

Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter or heat olive oil in pan. Add peppers and onions and sauté until onion is translucent. Add the rest and mix well. Bake in a casserole dish about half an hour. Serves 4. 

Lasagna Casserole, August 5, 2015

I've had some "easy" or "quick" lasagnas that aren't any good at all, but this one is. It's more like a lasagna-flavored Johnny Marzetti. Just add a big salad and, if you like, some good bread (we like Pugliese).

Lasagna Casserole

1 package spaghetti sauce mix (1 1/2 oz. size)

6 oz. tomato paste

1 1/2 lb. ground beef, browned

1 tsp. salt

A good grinding of pepper

12 oz. macaroni, cooked

8 oz. pizza sauce

16 oz. ricotta

16 oz. shredded mozzarella

1/2 c. grated parmesan

1/4 c. chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare spaghetti sauce according to directions on package, adding the tomato paste. Mix with ground beef, salt, & pepper. Simmer 20 minutes. Mix macaroni with pizza sauce, ricotta, & mozzarella. Add spaghetti sauce. Put in 13x9 baking pan. Top with parmesan & parsley. Bake 1/2 hour. Serves 8-10. 

Memorial Day Dinner on the Grill: Steak, May 25, 2015

Usually, Jeannene is the one who buys steaks. I like them just fine, but they are really her thing. When she cooks, it's very frequently steak or pasta. So, she was terribly surprised when I came home with two beautiful porterhouse steaks the other day. She was nosing through the grocery bags and spied them, then pulled them out and said, in amazement, "When did you get so good at picking steaks? Wow, you got a really good deal on these!"

Yesterday evening, she reveled in the lovely weather as she grilled the steaks, rubbed with garlic salt, Maldon salt, and pepper, to perfection on our patio. I stayed inside, making white bean mash and a corn casserole that Jeannene loved. She said, "Now, this is Def Corn Five!" I was glad I'd made something that made up for her disappointment at the previous night's casserole. The recipe came from the Deen Brothers and can be found here.  Personally, I'd've liked it better if I'd mixed the corn all the way into the cream cheese before baking and maybe added some garlic salt to it, but it was pretty good. The mash is a nice alternative to mashed potatoes. All you do is cook some minced garlic, lemon zest, and chopped fresh rosemary in a bit of olive oil until fragrant. Then, add a drained can of cannellini beans and heat through, mixing well. Finally, mash the beans with a wooden spoon or potato masher.

Jeannene's Birthday Dinner, February 18, 2015

In our family, the birthday honoree gets to choose whatever they want for dinner, whether that's out to the fanciest restaurant, their favorite home-cooked dinner, or even junk food from the gas station, as our youngest chose several years in a row as a teenager. Jeannene decided this year that she really wanted my chicken enchilada casserole for dinner and chocolate ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for dessert. She loves corn and she loves Dole's chipotle cheddar chopped salad, so I had natural choices for sides. I also picked up some fresh pineapple, one of her favorite fruits. She always says, "It tastes like candy!" and I always crack up because, to me, it tastes nothing like candy! I think it cracks her up that I say, every time, "It does not taste like candy!" I also had chips and homemade guacamole waiting for her when she got home from work.

I'm traveling, so I don't have the exact casserole recipe with me. It's pretty simple, though. You preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place 3 corn tortillas in a 13x9 pan. Top with layers of diced tomatoes, shredded cooked chicken, chopped green chiles, sliced black olives, sour cream, and shredded extra-sharp cheddar. Repeat the layers, using 9 tortillas in all. Bake for half an hour to 45 minutes, until the top is all bubbly & browned.

My Year in Food: Chicken Casserole, December 3, 2014

I'd intended to make steak last Wednesday, but my sweet wife was suffering with a toothache and requested something soft. I gave her a choice of chili or chicken casserole and she chose the latter. I'm always a fan of a good church lady-type casserole. Unfortunately, this one I found online tasted a little bland to me. It was fine and served its purpose, a nice, soft, comforting dinner for the hurty-mouthed one. I think some worcestershire sauce would really do the trick with this, but I think the biggest difference would be made by subbing a can of cream of chicken soup for the sour cream the original recipe specified. The sour cream made the consistency fluffier, but I think it also blotted out some of the flavor. So, what I offer here is untested, but seems to me like it would be an improvement. If you try it and it's horrible, please do let me know. I had green salad and apple slices with it, a very little kid sort of supper.

Chicken Casserole

Meat of 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded or cubed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can  cream of chicken soup

1/2 onion, chopped (or, if you have a bunch of already-chopped leeks from another project cut up, try that, as I did)

2 oz. ch. pimientos

1/2 c. frozen peas

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder

16 oz. egg noodles, cooked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients well and place in a greased 13x9 baking pan. Cover and bake 30-45 minutes, until heated through. Serves 6. 

La Luna Cooks Gooseberry Patch: Cranberry Yam Bake

Cooked carrots are one thing. Yams are quite another. While I suspected I wouldn't eat much of the maple-glazed carrots, I knew for certain, that I wouldn't have more than the tiniest bite of the cranberry yam bake. In fact, I was quite relieved when I saw that the half-recipe I was making called for only 1 cup of cranberries---less tart deliciousness wasted by being polluted with yams. The wife, on the other hand, was dancing with anticipation at the yams and was dreading the sourness of the cranberries ruining her yams.

When my mom was a baby, my grandmother related to me, the only food she wouldn't eat was sweet potatoes. Me, I am like my mama. I have never liked yams or sweet potatoes. Nor, I suspect, could I tell you the difference between the two. I know I've heard that true yams are rarely sold in the States. Otherwise, I could muddle my way through a faked explanation, but it's better, if you're curious, to read this: http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-yams-and-sweet-potatoes-word-of-mouth-211176. Me, I just know I don't like them.

Or do I? When I made the recipe, I felt revulsion at even putting my tongue to the little portion on my fork. Amazingly, it was delicious! Perhaps because it was more akin to dessert than to a vegetable, given the oat streusel both mixed in with the canned yams and sprinkled on top (under a layer of toasted mini-marshmallows)? Perhaps because I accidentally forgot to halve the amount of butter I put in the streusel topping, forcing myself to go back and add the other half of all the rest of the streusel ingredients, too, resulting in twice as much brown sugary, cinnamony goodness as the recipe actually calls for? Perhaps the fact that it was studded with jewel-like bursts of translucent cranberry zing in contrast to the yams' opaque richness? Whatever made the difference, I had a hard time stopping at one serving. My mom did, too. My wife? She loved it despite the (oh, horrible of horribles!) cranberries.

We'll be hosting Practice Thanksgiving on the 22nd and this dish is tops on my list of possible dishes to serve. It's a wonderfully different twist on the usual Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. And, if you get distracted by the making of another dish (apple raisin carrot salad, in this case) and burn the marshmallows during the broiling process, it's really easy to lift off the gooey, blackened mess and toss on another round of mini-marshmallows to try again. Paying attention this time.

Sausage & Rice Casserole

Some nights are made for cozy dishes like casseroles. When my sweetheart arrived home from work, the kitchen was all full of good smells from dinner and candles glowed cozily in the living room. The temperature has taken a definite downturn and it feels unquestionably of Autumn beyond the confines of the house. This sausage and rice casserole is my adaptation of one from the classic River Road Cookbook, put out by the Baton Rouge Junior League and relied on by cooks throughout the South. I served it with lima beans & a green salad. Easy peasy.

Sausage & Rice Casserole

1 lb. sausage (I used Bob Evans pork sausage, but you could sub any sort of sausage---even turkey sausage or veggie crumbles)

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 c. rice (I used jasmine; brown rice would be great, as would wild rice, but cooking times would need to be adjusted)

2 c. beef broth (I actually used 1 can of the 98% fat-free, reduced-sodium sort with enough added water to make up 2 cups)

1 can cream of mushroom soup (again, 98% fat-free, reduced sodium is just fine)

2 cans cream of chicken soup (healthier is just as tasty, again)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown the sausage. Drain. Add veggies & cook until tender. Meanwhile, bring the rice and broth to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 14 minutes. Fluff with a fork and stir into sausage mixture. Add soups and stir well. Spoon into a greased (I use cooking spray) 13x9 casserole and bake half an hour. Serves 6-8.

Salmagundi Casserole

As fall arrives in the Northern Hemisphere, my thoughts begin to turn to casseroles that will stick to our ribs and keep us warm. In a rainy, chill Michigan April, this casserole did the trick admirably and I believe it will be a cold weather staple in our house. It only needs a big, gorgeous salad and a loaf of warm bread to make a wonderful meal. The spices will make your house smell completely homey. Serves 4-6.

Salmagundi Casserole

1 c. rice

1 tbsp. oil

1 onion, minced

1 green pepper, chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground beef (I use the extra-lean)

16 oz. tomato sauce

1 1/2 c. corn

1 c. chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread rice evenly in the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking pan. Heat oil in a pot. Cook the onion, green pepper, and salt in the oil until tender, 5-7 minutes. Add spices and cook until fragrant, just a minute or two. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add beef and cook until browned. Add tomato sauce, corn, and broth. Bring to a simmer. Carefully pour over the top of the rice. Cover tightly with foil and bake 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. 

It's Getting Cozy in Here

Just in the last couple of days, fall has begun nibbling at the edges of our days and I have started wanting to make casseroles and pork chops and stews. Jeannene was delighted with tonight's dinner, saying it made her feel secure, like when she was 7 years old and her mommy would make Johnny Marzetti (in our family, it was called "goulash"). I served the pizza casserole I made with veggies (baby carrots, celery sticks, green pepper strips) & dip (I like to get the multi-pack of the Marzetti minis) and fruit salad.

Pizza Casserole

16 oz. 90% lean ground beef

1/2 c. finely chopped onion

1/2 c. finely chopped green pepper

15 oz. can pizza sauce

15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes 

1/2 c. parmesan

A good shake of Italian seasoning

16 oz. macaroni, penne, or other smallish pasta (whole grain is good), cooked

4-6 oz. turkey pepperoni (you can use regular, but I think turkey's just as good & lots healthier)

1 c. shredded 2% mozzarella 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray. Likewise, coat a skillet & heat it. Brown the meat, with the veggies, in the skillet. Add sauce, tomatoes, parmesan, and Italian seasoning. Add the pasta & pepperoni. Top with mozzarella. Spread in the 13x9 and bake 1/2 hour. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving. Serves 10-12. (You could halve this & cook it in an 8x8)

A Riff on Fruit Salad

1 container cubed pineapple

2 kiwis, peeled & cubed

2 bananas, peeled & chunked

A handful of grapes, halved

A bit of Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Toss everything gently together in the bowl your grandmom used to make Jell-o. Try to keep your wife from eating all the bananas out of it before anyone else gets any.

Deviled Tilapia Gratin

After a month or so on the road, it felt wonderful to be able to cook in my very own kitchen Sunday night! I made a simple but delicious meal of fish gratin, a big green salad, and Italian bread.

Deviled Tilapia Gratin

12 oz. tilapia (orange roughy, flounder, grouper, or even tuna would work, too)
1 1/2 c. dry white wine
1 c. mini pasta shells (or macaroni), cooked
8 oz. Trader Joe's yogurt dip (you could sub plain yogurt or even sour cream)
1/2 c. thinly-sliced celery
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
Cayenne pepper
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp. fine dry breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. snipped fresh chives
1 tbsp. butter, melted
Paprika (I don't recommend the smoked variety)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring the wine to a boil in a large skillet. Add fish, cover, & simmer about 5 minutes for each half-inch of thickness. Remove from pan & cut into bite-size pieces. Mix yogurt dip, celery, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, salt, pepper, & cayenne. Toss with fish & pasta. Spoon into 4 gratin dishes (or an 8x8 baking dish). Toss remaining ingredients, except paprika, together and evenly sprinkle over casserole. Sprinkle paprika on top. Bake 15 minutes (25 if using 8x8). Serves 4.