Enchilada Casserole

This recipe is from Birmingham's Junior League Cookbook, Tables of Content.  I tried this dish at a recent meeting and then made it for friends after they had a baby.  It's a great recipe to make and take since it's a whole meal in one dish.  It's also a really easy way to make Mexican food at home - and who doesn't love that?!

Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 (14-oz) can diced Mexican-style tomatoes
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4-oz) can diced green chiles
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon sugar
10 (6-in) corn tortillas, quartered
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 cups (8-oz) shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
Squeeze any excess moisture from the spinach.  Brown the ground beef with the onion, garlic, cumin, red pepper, salt, and black pepper in a skillet, stirring until the ground beef is crumbly; drain.  Stir in the spinach, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chiles, lime juice, and sugar.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Dip the tortilla quarters in the melted butter.  Arrange 1/2 of the tortillas in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.  Spread with 1/2 of the ground beef mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 of the cheese.  Layer with the remaining tortillas, sour cream, remaining ground beef mixture, and remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Collard Greens Casserole

We've finally had some time to try some new recipes in the last few weeks.  Kent found and made this one, and it's definitely a winner!  Kent killed a turkey back in March, and we had been trying to figure out what to do with it.  So, we fried the turkey breasts like chicken and ate them along with this dish and some homemade chow chow.  It was definitely a Southern dinner!

Collard Greens Casserole
(from: yearofalabamafood.com)  
Ingredients

• 1 bunch of collard greens (Kent used seasoned canned greens - just try to get the water out)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 ham hock
• 1 pint water
• 1 pint chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 quarts cornbread batter (thin with buttermilk - Kent used Jiffy Mix)

Directions
Remove stems from collard greens and wash greens thoroughly, approximately 4 times. Cut greens into 1/2-inch strips.
Place onion and ham hock in a large pot with water and chicken stock. Cook 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Add more water if needed. Remove ham hock and let cool.
Add greens to liquid and cook approximately 45 minutes, or until tender.
Add crushed red pepper, white vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper.
Remove meat from the ham bone; chop meat into large pieces.
Place cooked greens into a cast-iron skillet or rectangular baking dish (if using canned greens, skip steps above and add drained greens to dish).
Sprinkle diced ham hock, 1 cup diced onions and tomatoes on top of collard greens.
Pour a thin layer of cornbread batter over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until bread topping is golden brown.
Serve with grilled okra, chow chow and hot sauce.

Vidalia Onion Bacon Pie

My mother-in-law made this recently when we were at their house for dinner.  It was great, and everyone loved it!  It's similar to the Sweet Onion Corn Bake that I also got from my mother-in-law a few years ago but has different flavors and textures.  Both of these are great ways to use up those big bags of Vidalia onions!

Vidalia Onion Bacon Pie
Ingredients:
Pie crust (we used a premade crust from the store)
1 tablespoon butter
3 medium Vidalia onions, slivered
2 eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (plus more for topping)
1 cup shredded white Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
4 slices thick, smokey-styled bacon, cooked and chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and saute 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly brown.  Drain if necessary.  Combine eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  Whisk well.  On bottom of pie, sprinkle half of the cheese.  Top with corn kernels, onions, and bacon.  Pour egg mixture over top.  Top with remaining cheese and freshly ground pepper.  Bake 40 minutes until top is set and browned.  Serves 8.

Chicken Tetrazzini

I've made this recipe several times and always really enjoyed it.  It reminds me of my days in the Tri Delt house - we used to have a very similar dish on a pretty regular basis!  Chicken tetrazzini is a meal all on its own, and  you'll definitely have enough for leftovers. 

Chicken Tetrazzini
Ingredients:
1 (7 oz) package vermicelli spaghetti or noodles
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken, diced (you can boil boneless chicken breasts ahead of time and cube or dice it)
1 large onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cups grated cheese
1 package slivered almonds (I usually leave these out)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook the spaghetti in chicken stock.  Drain and reserve 1/2 cup broth.  Saute the onion, bell pepper, and celery in butter until soft.  Grease the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish.  Cover with half of the chicken, half of the noodles, and half of the onion, bell pepper, and celery mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste and pour 1/4 cup of chicken broth over the mixture.  Add 1 can of soup.  Repeat layers.  Top with grated cheese and almonds.  Bake covered at 375 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes or at 325 for 1 hour.  (Recipe from Remembering Old Louisville School Days)

Tomato Casserole

Kent's great-aunt, Mary Alice, has been making a wonderful tomato casserole for years.  A few years ago we finally got the ingredients from her and have been working on our own version ever since.  This is a great casserole to throw into the usual dinner rotation.  It's as easy as making a green bean casserole but has a lot more flavor.  We took this dish to some friends last week who had recently had a baby, and it reminded me that I had never posted this wonderful recipe on the blog.  So here goes...

Tomato Casserole
Ingredients:
2 (15 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
French's fried onion rings
1 sleeve crushed Ritz crackers
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Saute the onions and pepper in butter until the onions become clear.  Mix the tomatoes (with most of the sauce), crackers, cheese, salt, pepper, sugar, and the sauteed onions and peppers.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Add the onion rings and bake 10 minutes more.

Twice Baked Potatoes

I have always loved twice baked potatoes! I've used these ingredients to make twice baked potatoes in the past, but usually end up changing the amounts around a little bit to get the right consistency. Sometimes I add buttermilk or heavy cream if I have it. I have also used the same ingredients (doubled) to make a casserole. You can always add a little extra flavor by adding seasoning or an herb (like dill or rosemary) and a different cheese (like Parmesan). If you use small potatoes and half them, they could make great appetizers!

Twice Baked Potatoes
Ingredients:
4 large russet potatoes, each about 3/4 pound each, scrubbed and dried
2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup sour cream
1 scallion, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the potatoes directly on the rack in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Pierce each potato in a couple spots with a fork and continue to bake until tender, about 30 minutes more. Remove potatoes from the oven, and turn the heat down to 375 degrees F.

Hold the potato with an oven-mit or towel, trim off the top of the potatoes to make a canoe-like shape. Carefully scoop out most of the potato into a bowl. Take care to leave enough potato in the skin so the shells stay together. Mash the potato lightly with fork along with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the butter and sour cream. Stir in the scallion and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Season the skins with salt and pepper. Refill the shells with the potato mixture mounding it slightly. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the potato filling.

Set the potatoes on a baking sheet, and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note 6/27 - I made this as a casserole last week. The flavors were great, but I had forgotten that the potatoes can be really difficult to mash. You may want to consider using a food processor if you want really smooth potatoes!

Sweet Potato Casserole

One last Holiday recipe - just in time! Merry Christmas!

Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients:
3 cups of mashed, cooked sweet potatoes
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of melted butter
2 eggs, well-beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/3 cup of milk

Method:
Combine ingredients and mix well. Spoon into a greased 2 quart casserole. Cover with topping and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Topping -
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of plain flour
2 1/2 tablespoons of butter
1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Method:
Mix all ingredients well. Sprinkle on potatoes just before baking.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole and Italian Chicken Salad

I love when I can take one item and make two different meals out of it. It's always good when you can spend some time at the beginning of the week cooking so that you won't have to do as much later. To make these two recipes you will need one "family sized" package of chicken breasts (they go on sale pretty frequently so we usually buy two and freeze one.) Take a large pot of boiling water and put in all of the chicken breast. They will need to cook for 20-30 minutes. When they turn completely white take them out with tongs and cut them in half to make sure they are done all the way through! Once they cool, shred all of the chicken by hand. I usually use half of the chicken for each recipe.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole:
Using a large casserole dish, cover the bottom with half of the chicken from above.
Then add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of sour cream and 1 or 2 cans of either cream of mushroom/chicken/celery soup stirring together - you can use whichever soup you like best. (I usually add lesser amounts of sour cream and soup because I like mine to be firm, but some people prefer it to be creamier.) Mix in half of a sleeve of Ritz crackers.

Cook for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. Then pull it out of the oven to cover the top with half of a sleeve of Ritz crackers. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. This usually lasts for at least 2 dinners for 2 adults.

Italian Chicken Salad:
This is great to take for lunch at work, but it's great for dinner too! It's different than southern chicken salad because it doesn't have the signature ingredient of mayonnaise!

The ingredients are harder on this one because I usually do it by sight and it's really about what you like to add in it. So these are some suggestions...
In a large bowl, combine the chicken and any of the following:
red/yellow/green bell peppers, chopped coarsely
red onion, chopped
parsley
basil
slivered almonds
drained capers
grated Parmesan
sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (my favorite ingredient!)
salt and pepper

Then top with a vinaigrette dressing.
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
3/4 cup of good olive oil
salt/pepper
(Stir vigorously - you may also add finely chopped herbs)
You may not need all of the dressing.

*Another great option for chicken salad is to purchase it from Costco. My friend, Caroline, brought some over this weekend - it was so good and had an amazing flavor because of the way they roast the chicken. Chicken salad makes a wonderful snack on crackers and is great for any meal!

Sweet Onion Corn Bake

Kent and I love to have casseroles as side dishes with dinner. But casseroles can get old if you don't have enough in the rotation! So it's always good when you can add a new one to your cookbook. This one comes from one of Kent's mom's cookbooks and is so good with any meal!

Sweet Onion Corn Bake
Ingredients:
2 large Vidalia or sweet onions thinly sliced
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (14 oz) cream-style corn
1 pkg. (8 1/2 oz) corn bread/muffin mix
4 drops hot pepper sauce

Method:
In a large skillet, saute onions in butter until tender. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, milk, dill, and salt until blended; stir in 1 cup of cheese. Stir into the onion mixture; remove from the heat and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the egg, corn, corn bread mix, and hot pepper sauce. Pour into a greased 13in x 9in x 2in baking dish. Spoon onion mixture over top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until the top is set and lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. (Yield: 12-15 servings)

From: Taste of Home - their website has some other great recipes
http://www.tasteofhome.com/