Week 43 - Cheesy Rontini Casserole

Cheesy Rontini Casserole 

Week 43 of 52

Vegetarian Entree #6

    Yeah, so I created this recipe and I have to say I wasn't super pleased with the results.  It was something I "threw together". I've been dealing with several issues and just put this together, because I didn't want to put the pressure on myself to find a recipe I liked. The cool thing about this recipe, is you can modify amounts (use more or less) and you can modify the ingredients. For example, don't have black beans, use pinto? Use diced tomato with seasoning, rather than plain diced tomato. Modify seasonings as you wish. Make it your own. 

Ingredients:

2 cups rontini noodles

1 can black beans, drained

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 can corn, drained

1 cup shredded cheese (I like colby jack)

1 recipe white sauce (below)

salt

pepper

garlic powder

spicy/creole seasoning

1/2 cup or more panko bread crumbs

1 tbsp butter, melted (more if you use more bread crumbs)

White sauce 

    1/4 Cup butter (melted) 

    2 cups milk

    1/4 cup flour 

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/8 teaspoon pepper 

• Make a medium white sauce by melting butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour and once it is bubbling, slowly pour in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened. Season with salt and pepper. 
• One trick I've used for white sauce, is to heat the milk in the microwave for a one to two minutes before adding. It has helped it to thicken quicker in the past. 

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook your noodles to al dente, drain and pour into a bowl. Mix in the beans, tomatoes and corn. When you've made the white sauce, stir in the shredded cheese and stir until melted. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, spicy or creole seasoning or your favorite blend, to taste. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Mix together bread crumbs and melted butter and sprinkle evenly over the casserole. Bake for 30 minutes.  Serve with hot, toasty, French bread or rolls and a salad. 

Cheesy Rontini Casserole

Cheesy Rontini Casserole

Week 41 - Fried Fish & Swamp Gravy

 Fried Fish & Swamp Gravy

Week 41 of 52

Meat/Fish Entree #6

    When I picked this recipe, I had no idea of the story behind it. I found the recipe I used in a tiny cookbook I bought at a Buccee's gas station store North of Dallas. It's titled Texas White Trash Cookbook. The author is Betty Ann Stout. I picked it purely because of the name, because "Swamp Gravy"?? I had to know what it was. So, Swamp Gravy is a stew like dish that starts with oil drippings from frying fish. It is indigenous to the area of Colquitt, Georgia. It is a very, simple dish, without much seasoning, but that's one of the things that is so great about it. If you have seasonings you can add them, in addition to the salt and pepper called for in the recipe, by all means do so. I added garlic powder and Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and drizzled hot sauce over my serving. The other thing that is so great about this dish, is that you can make it pretty inexpensively, depending on the cost of fish. There are not many ingredients, you don't need much of any of the individual ingredients, this made a huge amount and it is filling. So, if you're looking for a budget friendly recipe to feed several people, check this out.  My modifications in italics. I would definitely make this again. 

Ingredients:

Catfish, cleaned and dressed (I used boneless tilapia fillets, because I couldn't find catfish; I prefer fillets, so that's what I will use in the future)

Cornmeal (I used a package of Gladiola brand cornbread mix)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning

Oil

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped (I used 3 medium sized)

1 large onion, chopped

1 14oz can whole kernel corn (It doesn't say to drain, but I drained the corn)

1 14oz can cut okra (I couldn't find just okra, so I used what I found, which was Trappey's brand cut okra and tomatoes)

28 oz can crushed tomatoes (Do not drain; save the can for measuring water)

water

Directions:

    I'm going to give directions for using fillets. I rinsed off my tiliapia fillets and patted them dry. Pour about an inch and a half or so of oil into a large skillet and heat. The oil is ready when a sprinkling of cornmeal sizzles in the oil. Pour your cornmeal/cornbread mix into a gallon size zipper top plastic bag. Add salt, pepper and extra seasoning as desired to the cornmeal/cornbread mix. Add fillets to the plastic bag and shake. Coat each piece of fish individually; remove and set aside. When your oil is ready, gently place fillets (no more than two at a time) into the hot oil. Fry for three to four minutes (until golden brown) on each side. Remove to a plate with a towel to catch grease. I actually ended up transferring fillets to a pan and placed in my oven to keep warm, while I made the Swamp Gravy. Continue until you've fried all of the fish. 

    Pour out most of the oil from the fish (into a metal coffee can and save for frying fish in the future), reserving a tiny "skim" of oil on the bottom. Mine had bits of cornmeal in there also. Place back on the stove.  Add all of the vegetables. Use the empty tomato can to measure out 28 oz of water and pour that over the vegetables. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally until the potatoes are softened and the mixture has thickened. I ended up using some corn starch to thicken it up, because it wasn't as gravy like as I wanted. To serve, place a fillet on a plate and cover it with Swamp Gravy. Add extra seasoning as you like. You could serve hush puppies or cornbread with this, but it was plenty filling for me by itself. 

Fried Tilapia & Swamp Gravy

Nom, nom