Casserole Season

Fall is officially here. Sweater weather. Leaves changing. Football watching. Pumpkin EVERYTHING! And we cannot forget, casserole season. I guess I don't really need it to be fall for that, but the cooler weather does make me want to crank up the heat in the oven.

I love casseroles. It's kinda my thing. I can take pretty much any dish and convert it into a casserole. If I need to feed a crowd, I look to my 9 x 13 in pan. Here are two casseroles that I've made recently for feeding a room full of Packers fan.

Biscuit-topped Cowboy Casserole

Ingredients

-2 lbs lean ground beef
-1 onion, chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 small shallot, chopped
-2 cans (4 oz) diced green chiles
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 can of corn
-1 cup of Acini di pepe pasta, dry
-2 cups of coby-jack cheese
-1 cup sour cream
-chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper to taste
-1 box of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuit mix + ingredients listed on box
Or
-1 tube of refrigerated biscuits

In a large skillet, brown beef, onion, garlic and shallot over medium heat until meat is brown and onions are translucent. Add green chiles, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, corn and seasonings and cook about 10 minutes. At the same time, cook pasta, drain and set aside. Add coby-jack cheese and sour cream to meat mixture and stir until cheese is melted. Mix in pasta. Pour into a 9 x 13 in pan.







Make Cheddar Bay biscuits according to instructions on the box. Drop biscuit mixture on top of casserole, making 12 small biscuits to cover the top. Alternatively you could use refrigerated biscuit dough and place on top.

Cook in a preheated 400 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and casserole is bubbling.


Ok, my next recipe doesn't have casserole in the title, but I would still call it one.

Beef Stroganoff. Comfort food at it's finest.



French Onion Beef Stroganoff
Lovingly adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

-3-4 lb beef chuck roast
-1/2 cup butter
-2 onions, cut into long strips
-3-4 garlic cloves, minced
-1 bay leaf
-2-3 sprigs of thyme
-12 oz baby bella mushrooms, cut into slices
-1/4 cup red wine
-2 cups beef broth
-1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 bag of egg noodles (about 5 cups dry)
-1 cup sour cream
-2 cups grated Gruyere
-1/4 cup fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste

Cook the chuck roast in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Let roast cool, slice into bite sized pieces and set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper and cook until onions are caramelized, about 20 minutes.

Add mushrooms and saute until cooked. Discard bay leaf and remove thyme leaves from stem and discard stem. Add beef to skillet.
Add wine, beef broth and Worcestershire to pan and simmer until slightly reduced.



As this is reducing, cook eggs noodles according to package. Drain and set aside.

Remove beef mixture from heat and stir in sour cream.
Stir together noodles and beef mixture in a large dutch oven until combined.

Top with Gruyere cheese and bake in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes until cheese is melted.














Happy Fall.


Happy full belly's.


Happy Casserole-ing.

Beet Hummus

Beets are quickly becoming my new favorite vegetable. Healthy, not to mention a beautiful color, and now currently in season.
Most of the time when I buy beets, I like to make them into a breakfast hash or pickle them, but I recently found a recipe for beet hummus that sounded like something I had to try.

Beet Hummus

Ingredients

-8 medium sized beets, scrubbed clean, roasted, peeled and cubed
-1/2 of a 15 oz can of chick peas (garbanzo beans)
-2-3 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
-5-6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
-4 garlic cloves
-1-2 tbsp olive oil
-pinch of cumin
-salt and pepper to taste

To roast beets, cut tops off, place beets in tin foil with a drizzle of olive or vegetable oil. Cook in 375 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour until a knife can be inserted and removed easily. Cool.

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.



I think I also really like beets because they go along so well with goat cheese. So I like to serve this whipped goat cheese recipe with the beet hummus, to make it that much more delicious.



Whipped Goat Cheese

Ingredients

-7 oz fresh goat cheese
-3 oz cream cheese
-1/3 cup heavy cream
-2 tbsp olive oil.

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Add salt to taste.


Serve both together with pita chips or a fresh baguette. Enjoy fresh or make a head of time, can be stored in the fridge for a few days.

Winter Meals - Soup and Bread

It's cold. I know it's cold, you know it's cold. Even if you're not Wisconsin like I am, everyone has been plagued by horrendous cold lately.
I'm actually grateful that we get to experience the glory of all 4 seasons, winter gives me an excuse to just hunker down and stay inside for the weekend. And with my self proclaimed quarantine this weekend, since I caught a cold while traveling, I decided to make soup to warm me up and heal my cold.
My travels had brought me a week prior to Goa, India. While vacationing there, I was lucky enough to visit a spice plantation and brought back with me some wonderful (and cheap!) spices. I picked the following recipe because it called for some of the spices I had picked up on my excursion.


Spiced Bean Soup with Rice and Tomato
Adapted from this recipe 

- 2 medium onions
- 5 garlic cloves
- 5 slices of bacon
- salt and pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 16 oz frozen lima beans (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 brown rice

Chop bacon into 1/2 inch pieces. Saute bacon in large saucepan over medium heat until crisp and remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Process onions and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add onions and garlic to bacon grease, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Add cumin, coriander and allspice and cook until onions start to brown, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook about another 5 minutes or so.


Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, approximately 20-25 minutes. Add lima beans and simmer, partially covered, an additional 20 minutes until rice and beans are soft. Add crumbled bacon as a garnish or right back into the soup pot.  


Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
   



Now I know lima beans aren't everyone's favorite, but give them a chance! I feel like they are that childhood food that you love to hate, just like Brussels sprouts. But we all now love Brussels sprouts (because they are trendy and delicious) and I believe you can love lima beans too.



So I've been hoarding bananas in my freezer for a couple months now, vowing that I'll make banana bread soon. Finally I was able to fulfill this promise to myself. I dug out my Kitchen-Aid mixer, thawed a few ripe bananas and got to baking.

Cookie Butter Banana Bread

- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3/4 cup Trader Joe's brand cookie butter (you can also use Nutella)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda & salt.

In a stand mixer, cream sugar and butter together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added. Add mashed bananas, milk and vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined.

In a small microwave save bowl, add cookie butter and heat for 15-30 seconds. Stir to evenly mix and add 1 cup of banana bread mixture and mix well.

Spoon cookie butter mixture alternately with plain banana bread mixture into loaf pan. Swirl batters together with a knife.

Bake 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan for at least 15 minutes and then remove from pan to cool on wire rack.





If you haven't tried this Trader Joe's cookie butter yet, I suggest you run out and buy some. It is wonderful.

The only way to make eating this bread more delightful is to slather in with butter. This is how I like to eat most baked goods.