Just about everyone in my world loves pasta and Mexican food.  And when I can manage to combine them into a casserole, I am happy because there are a lot of days where I have limited time before dinner and I love to be able to pull a delicious looking dish out of the refrigerator, and toss a salad while it cooks.  Read more…

My husband’s family is a big, fun jumble of Louisianans…originally from the heart of the Louisiana rice farming country.  When their family gathers, you have to know how to feed a crowd—and they all do.

The girls (and some boys) that my husband grew up with all have stayed in or returned to Louisiana, have families of their own—and are all good cooks.  I recently asked one of them for a “tried and true” recipe—and got this gem in return.   She recommends serving this with pork tenderloin…and we thought it was yummy with roasted shrimp too.   If we’re lucky, she (and others in our wonderful family) will send more—and soon!  Merci, nos belle cousine!

Grits N Greens Casserole
(from “Hissy Fit”)

Serves 8

2 cups whipping cream or Half and Half
8 cups chicken broth, divided
2 cups grits – not instant or quick cooking
1 1-pound bag frozen mustard greens or collard greens
2 sticks butter
2 1/2 Cups Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

Butter a 13 x 9 or 2-quart casserole.  Combine the cream and 6 cups of the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Stir in the grits and cook over medium heat until the mixture returns to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat to simmer and continue to cook, for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the grits are done.  Stir frequently to keep it from sticking or burning to the pan.   Add a little milk if needed to thicken to the right consistency—which should be like creamy on-the-thin-side oatmeal.

While the grits are simmering, cook the frozen greens with the remaining 2 cups of chicken broth until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.  Drain the greens well in a colander, pressing with a spoon to get as much liquid out as you can.  Add the butter, 2 cups of the Parmesan and pepper to the cooked grits and stir until the butter is melted.  Stir in the cooked greens and spoon into the buttered casserole.  Top with the additional ½ cup of Parmesan and the crumbled bacon.  This can be served at room temperature or heated in a 350 oven until browned on top.

One of our family traditions is a big Sunday breakfast.  All of us love to laze around on Sunday mornings and then eat late in the morning.  That’s our meal until dinner—and so we usually make it pretty substantial.

Most everyone I know has a version of this casserole in their repertoire, and because it is easy to make, and very satisfying, this makes an appearance at our Sunday breakfast table several times a year.  It’s a great basic recipe and can be embellished and changed with great result.  The bread can be plain white, sourdough, or leftover baguette…the sausage can be mild or spicy or a mixture…the cheese can be cheddar, white cheddar, or just about any kind you like…and vegetables can be layered in too…think tomato, onion, and peppers…whatever you add, it comes out wonderfully—this recipe is nearly impossible to mess up.

Serve it alone or like I did yesterday, with cinnamon toast and fresh pineapple alongside.

Breakfast Casserole

8 to 10 Servings

8 slices of bread cut into cubes
1 pound sausage, casings removed and cooked
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded
6 eggs
4 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
A dash or two of hot sauce (optional)

Butter a 9” x 13” rectangular or oval baking dish.  Place the bread cubes in an even layer on the bottom of the dish.  Evenly layer the cooked sausage and then the cheese over the bread.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk and then add the milk, salt, pepper, dry mustard and hot sauce (if using) and whisk until the mixture is well combined.  Pour the mixture evenly over the bread, sausage and cheese.  Cover the dish and refrigerate it overnight.

An hour before you’re ready to cook, remove the casserole from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook the casserole for one hour.  Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

This year during the holidays, my neighbor and I were musing about what vegetable side dishes we were going to serve for our respective holiday dinners.  We laughed as we kept veering off the subject to talk about desserts, or breads, or appetizers, or stuffings, or potatoes, and had to keep reminding ourselves that the topic at hand was VEGETABLE side dishes—why were we having trouble staying on topic?  And I realized that as much as I love vegetables, I didn’t have nearly as many winter vegetable options in my repertoire as I would like.  So now that the holidays have come and gone, one of my resolutions is to remedy this situation and find all sorts of great things to do with vegetables—especially for holidays and other festive occasions.

This recipe is one of my first great finds.  It is adapted from a recipe I found in a back issue of Gourmet magazine.  The bulk of the preparation time is in the thawing of the spinach and the slicing of the squash—those two things are easy, but take a little time—after that, this is a cinch to make.  It is also a really good dish to make ahead of time.  If you do this, just put foil or plastic wrap over the parchment paper and put the whole thing in the refrigerator.  When you are ready to bake, take the casserole out of the refrigerator in time to let it return to room temperature before baking, take the foil or wrap off, and proceed to the baking step.

The result of your efforts will be a rich-tasting, creamy, bubbly treat that everyone (including some kids who don’t yet love spinach…) will love and think you are a genius for making.  Just don’t bring it to my house next year for the holidays—it will already be on the table.

Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Casserole

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Preparation Time:  1 hour
Cook Time:  45 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

4 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and thoroughly squeezed to     remove as much moisture as possible
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 large butternut squash, peeled, quartered, seeded and then very thinly sliced either in     the food processor or using a mandoline
1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Thoroughly squeeze the thawed spinach to remove all extra moisture and place in a mixing bowl.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan and sauté the onion and the garlic until they are softened and transclucent.  Add the onion mixture, the salt, pepper, nutmeg and heavy cream to the spinach and stir to combine.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Place a layer of squash, a layer of the spinach mixture and a sprinkling of Parmesan in the dish.  Repeat the layering 3 or 4 times until you run out of ingredients—but end with squash as the top layer.  Spread the remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the squash and then dot the top of the casserole with thin slivers of the remaining butter.  Cover the top of the casserole with parchment paper (parchment won’t lift the ingredients off, the way foil will—if you have to use foil, be sure it doesn’t stick to the top layer).  Bake the casserole for 30 minutes and then remove the parchment.  Cook for another 15 minutes until the top is nicely browned.

My neighbor recently asked me for this recipe.  I had brought it one night for a “Mexican Night” party at her house and she liked it.  Her family is originally from India—and I have enjoyed some wonderful Indian dishes at her home.  We have talked about the fact that there are similarities between “southern” cooking around the world—love of spice, chilies, the slow cooking of certain legumes and vegetables—the seasonings vary, but many of the methods and types of ingredients are similar.

Just about every household in Texas has a recipe for some version of this casserole. It is a long-time favorite with my Texas friends and relatives.  It’s a pleasure to share it with my neighbor and with anyone else out there who enjoys a little heat.

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Serves 6 to 8

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  30 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour

Ingredients:

12 6-inch corn tortillas
Olive oil flavored cooking spray
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 jalapeno chilies, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 10-ounce cans Ro-Tel tomatoes (choose the level of heat you like, I use 1 mild, 1     medium)
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 cups chicken broth (I use low-sodium)
1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed from the bones and cut up (about 3 cups)
4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
2 cups tortilla chips, crushed

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place 6 tortillas on each of two baking sheets and spray lightly with cooking spray on both sides.  Place in the oven and bake until lightly browned and crisp, depending on the heat of your oven, for 5 to 10 minutes—keep an eye on them so they don’t get too brown.  Remove from the oven, cool until you can handle them, and break them into pieces.

Heat the butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Cook the onions, chilies and cumin until lightly browned, about 8 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.  Add the cream and the broth; bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the chicken, the cilantro and the cheese and stir until the cheese is melted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Layer half of the tortilla pieces in a 13 x 9 rectangular or oval baking dish.  Spoon half of the filling evenly over the tortillas.  Repeat with the remaining tortilla pieces and filling. Sprinkle the crushed tortilla chips over the top and bake the casserole for about 20 to 30 minutes until the edges are bubbly.  Cool  for 10 minutes before serving.