Casserole #15 - Lemonchick's Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #15 - Lemonchick's Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole

    So, I've had a lot going on, and I finally just this morning, made casserole number 15. Overall, it has just not been a good year and not a good year for the blog either. Part of the reason is that I feel as if I am writing this only for myself. If you see this and try this or any of my other recipes, please let me know. It would make me happy and feel like someone out there is paying attention. 

    This is a recipe of my own creation, and I hope you like it. Substitute diced potatoes for the tater tots if you like.  You can also use turkey sausage, hot/mild/maple sausage (I used hot sausage). It's okay if you don't do the layers exactly as I wrote below; mix it up! I'm very, happy with how this turned out, and I hope you love it. 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb sausage, browned and crumbled

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/3 cup diced tomato (canned or fresh)

1/4 cup diced pickled jalapeno (or fresh)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp chili powder (or your favorite spicy seasoning)

1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese (divided use)

7 or 8 eggs

1/8 cup to 1/4 cups milk

16 tater tots

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake tater tots until crispy. In a large skillet, begin browning sausage. Chop onion and dice the jalapeno. Add onion and jalapeno to sausage. Sprinkle salt, pepper and chili powder (if desired) to mixture in skillet. In a medium sized bowl, beat eggs with milk and add paprika. Spray a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Layer half of the tater tots in casserole and spoon sausage mixture on top. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese over top of this layer, and add the rest of the tater tots. Pour egg mixture over all. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup cheese on the top. Bake for about 30 minutes and cover the casserole with foil to help prevent further browning. Cook for about 15 more minutes, until egg mixture is completly cooked. Remove from oven, cool slightly and serve. 

Tater Tot Casserole

Tater Tot Casserole

Charley The Muffin Man watching me take pics of this Tater Tot Casserole. 

Uh-oh, Charley The Muffin Man is getting closer to the Tater Tot Casserole

Casserole #14 - Meat-Noodle Casserole

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #14 - Meat-Noodle Casserole

    This recipe was submitted to the Favorite Recipes From Southern Kitchens - Meats: Favorite Recipes From Progressive Farmer Readers cookbook by Janet Lynn Wilson of Jacksboro, Tennessee, and the cookbook was published in 1967. This recipe is in the Ground Pork section and calls for lean ground pork. I modified and used ground turkey. You could use ground beef as well.  It was good, but could use more seasoning; consider adding chili powder to taste and/or garlic (powder or minced fresh). My friend who was my taste tester liked it and had a second helping! My modifications to the recipe are in italics. Also note that I re-wrote the directions. 

Ingredients:

8 oz noodles (Use your favorite: macaroni, egg noodles, dumpling style, bow-tie, etc)

3/4 lb ground meat (lean pork, hamburger or turkey) *Ms. Wilson used lean ground pork

2 small onions, chopped

2 cups diced celery

1 small green pepper, shopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tbsp minced garlic (optional)

1 10oz can condensed tomato soup

1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup grated cheese *Ms. Wilson used American cheese and only 1/2 cup

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain and rinse with cool water. In a large skillet, brown meat, drain and add onions, celery and green pepper. Add minced garlic if using. Cook until vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper and additional seasoning if you are using.  Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray.  Mix together tomato soup and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Alternate layers of meat and noodles in the casserole dish, starting with meat mixture. Over the first layer of noodles sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Finish with a layer of noodles, and pour the tomato soup over top. Sprinkle the last 1/2 cup of cheese on top. Bake for 45 minutes. *The original recipe gives the yield of 6 servings. 

Meat-Noodle Casserole

Gozleme (Flat Bread With Spinach)

            Gozleme (Flat Bread With Spinach)

    I really love trying cuisines from all over the world. This is a delicious recipe I found in a cookbook I bought after attending a cooking demonstration at the Dialogue Institute in Richardson, Texas. The cookbook is titled Turkish Culinary Art - A Journey Through Turkish Cuisine. I found a lot of recipes I would like to try from this cookbook published in 2014. The recipe does not list amounts for the seasoning, so my suggestion would be "season to taste". I will list  amounts I used/modifications will be in Italics. It takes a little bit of time to make the Gozleme, but it was easy and I will definitely make this again.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bag baby spinach, about 9oz, washed and chopped

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 cup feta cheese

15-20 flour tortillas (You may have a lot more filling than tortillas like I did, so buy two packages of 12 tortillas and make as many as you like.) 

water

butter

cooking spray or oil

Directions:

Mix onions, spinach and seasonings in a large bowl. Mix in feta cheese and stir until combined.  Place a tortilla on a clean work surface (I used a large cutting board). Place a small spoonful of the spinach mixture onto one half of the tortilla. Brush a bit of water along the edges of the tortilla and fold tortilla over the filled side. Use a fork to seal/crimp the edges of the tortilla.  Flip and crimp the other side, before laying the filled tortilla on a large baking sheet. Continue filling until you have used all tortillas. Lightly oil or spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray. Lay filled tortillas on pan (I used a cast iron pan) and cook until browned on each side. Remove from pan and lightly brush with butter. You can bake these in an oven at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes if desired. 

Gozleme

Casserole #2 - Acapulco Casserole

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #2 - Acapulco Casserole

    Finally writing about this recipe, which I made almost a month ago. Life has been a whirlwind since the beginning of the year.  I found this Acapulco Casserole recipe in the Woman's Day - Plain & Francy Ground Beef Cookbook published in 1978. There are a ton of recipes in this book and I'd love to try more of them. I like that substitutions exist for ground beef. Maybe you don't eat red meat or maybe you just want a healthier meat substitute. For this recipe, I used ground turkey. Use whichever ground meat you prefer. I would say that I used a 3-quart casserole dish, instead of a 2-quart dish and I'm glad I did, because it was really full and I've no idea how it would have fit in a 2-quart dish. That said, although I liked this dish, it would be better to eat fresh; eat leftovers quickly. I had so much that I froze some of the casserole and I didn't like the texture of the tortillas in the casserole after it had been frozen.  I'm always glad I try a recipe, even when it is not a favorite. I did like the taste of this, so try it! Serve with a side salad. 

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 lb - ground beef/turkey/chicken/pork

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 clove garlic (I love garlic, so I added more like a tablespoon of minced garlic)

1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp chili powder

16 oz red kidney beans, drained

16 oz creamed corn

1 cup tomato sauce

8 flour tortillas

1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese (I used my favorite, Monterrey Jack)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Brown meat in a large skillet. Drain fat when meat is browned and add all ingredients, except for tortillas and cheese. In casserole dish, layer meat sauce and tortillas; you can start with a tortilla on the bottom. Break up tortillas if needed before starting a new layer, so they will cover the meat sauce. Continue until you've used all of the sauce with sauce as the top layer. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Makes six to eight servings. 

Acapulco Casserole 

Acapulco Casserole 

Acapulco Casserole

Casserole #1 - Fiesta Tamale Bake

 The Year of Casseroles

Casserole #1 - Fiesta Tamale Bake

    This recipe comes to us from 1988's Better Homes and Gardens - New Casserole Cook Book. The original recipe calls for canned tamales, which I know are maybe all that some people might be able to find. I however live in Texas, where fresh tamales are usually pretty easy to find. I decided to buy fresh. I liked the tamales and the meat sauce from the recipe. However, I liked them better separately than together. The meat sauce was really good; I decided to freeze the leftover sauce and will enjoy it with macaroni or rice.  I'm glad I made this recipe. The original recipe says four or five servings. While I didn't count how many servings, there was a lot of food. I am confident you could definitely serve at least six. 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb bulk pork sausage

1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 cup onion, chopped (about 1 medium)

1/2 cup green pepper, chopped

16 oz can tomatoes, chopped (or buy diced tomatoes); do not drain

6 oz tomato paste

1/4 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives (I didn't use these)

1 tbsp chili powder

15 oz canned pork or beef tamales (I used 6 fresh tamales)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (I used my favorite cheddar jack)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet cook sausage, hamburger, onion and green pepper until the meat is browned and the vegetables are tender. You could cook these separately if you like and then combine them. Drain grease from skillet. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, olives (if using) and chili powder. Pour meat mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Arrange the canned/fresh tamales on top of the meat mixture. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 5 to 10 more minutes. 

Fiesta Tamale Bake

Appetizer #2 - Amy's Crazy Corn Dip

The Year of Appetizers 

Appetizer #2 - Amy's Crazy Corn Dip

    This recipe is in The Women's Council of Realtors - Southwest Dallas and was submitted by Amy Deckert of First American Home Buyers Protection. There is no date, but I'd guess it's either in the 90's or early 2000's. It calls for white and yellow corn, but there's nothing wrong with using two white or two yellow (Like I did). Get as close to the size for the cans as you can. I liked this. Initially I ate the dip with crackers, but I also ended up enjoying it over rice and even by itself. *I actually made this two weeks ago, but just haven't been able to post until now.

Ingredients:

15 oz can white corn, drained

15 oz can yellow corn, drained

10 oz can Rotel, spicy or mild (I used a generic brand)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder (I used 1 tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

one handful or as (much as you want, really) cilantro, chopped

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Mix together the corn, Rotel with the seasonings and stir in the cream cheese. Make sure everything is well combined and stir in the cilantro. Pour into your baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips or even use it on top of rice like I did. 

Amy's Crazy Corn Dip

Week 36 - Barley, Black Bean and Corn Burritos

 Barley, Black Bean and Corn Burritos

Week 36 of 52

Vegetarian Entree #5

    Let me start with the fact that you can make this Barley, Black Bean and Corn mix and make a burrito bowl like I did, or you can make burritos. Depending on your serving sizes, you could get at least 8 or 9  servings of two burritos each. With a couple of good sized scoops on bowl of rice, you could probably get about 8 bowls. I liked this recipe, as it was fairly easy to put together and it is a slow-cooker recipe.  The recipe comes from the Southern Living - Slow Cooker Cookbook published in 2002. Notes/Modifications in italics.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 10 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis (not drained)

1 cup uncooked fine barley 

2 cups vegetable broth (the recipe calls for chicken broth, but, um, that doesn't make it vegetarian)

3/4 cups frozen corn (whole kernel)

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (I used bottled lime juice)

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I didn't have cumin, so I used extra chili powder)

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (Plus extra for decoration)

shredded cheddar or monterrey jack (Optional)

shredded lettuce (optional)

salsa (Optional; I used medium heat)

sour cream (Optional)

18 tortillas if you are making burritos

2 cups cooked white rice if you are making bowls

Directions:

Add the first eleven ingredients to a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker and combine thoroughly. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hrs or until the barley is tender. I cooked the full five hours. Stir in cilantro. 

Bowls: Place a couple of scoops of cooked rice into a bowl and top with the Barley, Black Bean and Corn mixture. Add spoonfuls of sour cream and salsa. Sprinkle cheese over top, followed by a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. 

Burritos: Heat tortillas evenly on both sides on low to medium heat on a cast-iron comal, griddle or skillet. Basically, whatever you use to cook pancakes, you can use to heat tortillas. You want the tortillas to be warm and flexible. If you overcook them, they'll get too crispy to roll. Heat tortillas one at a time. In the center of each tortilla, spoon some of the Barley, Black Bean and Corn mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and roll up. The recipe in the book says to make a bed of lettuce and lay the burritos on the lettuce, but nope, that is not for me. Top with salsa, sour cream and chopped cilantro. 

Barley, Black Bean and Corn Bowl