Chicken Florentine Casserole

This makes an elegant meal and it is quick to cook.  It does require a few pans but the end result makes this dish worth the clean up.  Bring this out in the casserole dish and let everyone serve themselves.  I suggest  that you cube the chicken.  I cut mine into strips and it would have been easier to serve, if I had cubed it.  But the meal was delicious and, other than the manner in which I cut the chicken, I was very pleased.

I used bacon in this but you could substitute oil for frying and ham in place of the bacon bits.  It is strictly up to you and what your family likes..You will not need to cook the sauce as long as you would if you were serving it as gravy.  It will finish cooking in the oven.

Sunday Pot Luck Casserole

This is a great casserole to take to a church pot luck luncheon.  It has all of the qualities that we love for such occasions.  This recipe is easy and can be made ahead of time, baked and then refrigerated.  Reheat before serving.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 Tablespoons of Sepay Groves Olive Oil
1 small Onion, finely chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped
1 Celery Rib, finely chopped
1/3 cup of Flour
1 2/3 cup of milk
1/2 cup of Plain Yogurt
4 cups of Cooked Chicken, Chopped
1 4-ounce jar of Minced Pimientos
1/2 sleeve of Saltine Crackers, Crushed
Salt and Pepper

Grease a 1 1/2 quart ovenproof casserole dish and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over Medium-High heat.  Add onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cook until vegetables are softened.  Add flour and cook for 2 minutes.  Add milk and cook until just thickened.  Season the sauce liberally with salt and pepper. Add the chicken , yogurt, and pimientos. Mix thoroughly and top with crushed crackers. 
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbly.  Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Deloris

Printable Recipe: https://sites.google.com/site/basilandrosemarys/sunday-pot-luck-casserole

Chicken Cobbler Casserole

Chicken Cobbler Casserole

We finally have colder, wet weather! It is the perfect time for casseroles. This is a glorified version of Chicken Pot Pie and tastes so much better. It takes a little more work but it is well worth it.
The next time you find whole chickens on sale, buy some.  Then when you get home, wash one and pull out the giblets.  Put the chicken, giblets, a peeled onion, peeled carrot, a couple of celery stalks, garlic powder, chicken bouillon, salt and pepper in the slow cooker. Cover it all in water and turn on high and cook for 4 hours or low and cook for 8.  Let the entire pot cool down and then refrigerate until the fat comes to the top. Skim off the fat. Remove the meat and freeze it.  Save the stock and freeze it. Discard the fat, skin and bones. Now you have homemade chicken and homemade stock at your finger tips.
However, I have used all of my pre-cooked chicken, so for this recipe I boiled two large chicken breasts with the onion, carrot, celery, garlic powder, bouillon, salt and pepper and let it cool.  I removed the bones and skin and then cut it up. The chicken breast were large enough to make 3 cups of chicken. So here is the rest of the recipe.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees

First make the crust.
1 cup of Flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of dry Basil
1/4 tsp of dry Thyme
1/4 cup of Sepay Groves Olive Oil (that is why the crust has a yellowish tint, this olive oil has a very green color)
1/4 cup of water

Toss the flour, salt, basil and thyme together. Combine the olive oil and water together but do not stir.  Pour the oil and water mixture into the flour and mix with a fork until all of the flour is moist.  Add more water, by droplets, if necessary.  Form into a ball and let rest.

Next make the filling.

2 to 3 cups of chopped Cooked Chicken
2 Tablespoons of Sepay Groves Olive Oil, divided
1/2 cup of each, finely chopped onion, carrot, celery, and yellow squash
1/3 cup of flour
3 cup of water
3 Chicken Bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon of Poultry Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
salt and pepper
Olive Oil for sprinkling on the top

Heat a large skillet over low-medium heat and add 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil.  Add vegetables and cook until tender but not browned.  Sift flour over the vegetables and stir. Add the rest of the Olive Oil. Continue to stir and cook for 3-5 minutes until the bottom of the skillet starts to brown. Add water, bouillon cubes, poultry seasoning and garlic powder. Stir and cook until thick and bubbly.  The flour will not be completely cooked at this point.  Taste the sauce for seasoning. Add salt and pepper, if needed.  Add the chopped chicken and set aside.

To assemble, grease an 8 cup casserole dish and place a small amount of the filling on the bottom of the dish.  Divide the dough into two balls.  With one of the balls, pat out pieces of dough, by hand, until each forms a 3 to 4 inch circle and is about 1/4 inch thick.  Place on top of the thin layer of filling , repeating 2 or 3 times with the dough.  Gaps in the dough are okay. Pour the rest of the filling on top. Then pat out the rest of the dough and cover the top. Sprinkle with a little Olive Oil and bake 30 to 45 minutes or until the crust just starts to brown. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Deloris

Brulee'd Bourbon Sweet Potato Casserole



Brulee'd Bourbon Sweet Potato
Casserole

 You may think that this recipe is gilding the lilly but it is wonderful.  I do not know if "brulee'd" is even a word but I do love what it implies. A crust of brown sugar that has been broiled to harden. When struck with the edge of a spoon, it cracks. This was one of the best sweet potato casseroles that I have ever eaten and I am proud of  this recipe.  I hope that you try it.
You can bake the sweet potatoes before hand and then refrigerate until use.

3 pounds Sweet Potatoes, (there will be leftover)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup of Molasses
1/4 cup of Bourbon
4 Tablespoons of Butter or Margarine, softened
1 large Egg
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
1/4 cup of Brown Sugar(reserve)

Bake the sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for about 1 hour or until the flesh is tender.  Let cool and mash the sweet potatoes. Butter an 8 cup casserole dish and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat together 3 cups of  mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, molasses, bourbon, butter or margarine, egg and vanilla. Spoon into the prepared dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Carefully remove from oven and turn broiler on.  When it has heated to 500 degrees, sprinkle the reserved brown sugar over the casserole and place under the broiler. Keep an eye on the brown sugar.  Not all of it will melt. This takes about 7 minutes in my electric oven. If you have a gas oven, it may go a bit quicker. Once the majority of the sugar appears to change to a more liquid state, remove and let the casserole cool at least 10 minutes before serving.  Assign someone the honor of cracking the sugar crust.

Enjoy!

Deloris

Mediterreanan Casserole

This is a great casserole for the upcoming holiday season.  It makes a very large pan and it skips the pasta.  It serves 10 to 12 as it is but add a side of pasta and salad and it can easily serve 18.  It is a little time consuming but it freezes well, just wait to add the bread crumb mixture until you are ready to bake.  If you freeze it, be sure to thaw it prior to cooking.



Meat Mixture
3 Tablespoons Butter
2 large Onions, grated
1 1/2 pounds of Ground Beef
4 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste
1 cup of Red Wine plus extra for deglazing
1 teaspoon of Nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Cream Mixture
6 cups Milk
1 cup or 2 sticks of Butter
1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Cornstarch

Zucchini Mixture
1 1/2 pounds of zucchini, thinly slice, but not paper thin
1 cup of Unseasoned Bread Crumbs
3 Cups of grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
6 large Eggs at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter for meat mixture over low heat in a large skillet.  Saute onions until soft.  Add beef slowly, and cook over high heat, crumbling meat with a spatula, until brown.  In a 2 cup Measuring cup,  measure 1 cup of wine and add tomato paste.  Whisk until smooth, then add to meat.  Reduce heat to low, add nutmeg, pepper, salt, and cinnamon and mix.  Cover and reduce heat, let simmer for about 30 minutes, remove lid and let cook until dry but not scorched, stirring frequently.  Add remaining wine, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup and remove from heat.
While beef mixture is simmering, in another large container, scald milk and set aside.  Melt butter in a 4 quart saucepan over low heat.  Slowly sift in flour and cornstarch, whisking constantly so that the mixture does not become lumpy.  Add a dash of nutmeg.  Slowly add milk, whisking constantly and add another dash of nutmeg.  Cook until thick as the consistency of heavy cream, whisking constantly.  Remove from heat and cool.
To assemble the casserole, add 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan Cheese and 1/4 cup of bread crumbs into the the meat mixture.
Grease sides and bottom of a 16" X 10" X 2" oven proof dish. Sprinkle with enough bread crumbs to cover the bottom and sides.  Spread half of the slices of zucchini over the bread crumbs.  Sprinkle 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Spread meat mixture on top.  Beat eggs, well.  Mix the other half of the zucchini with the beaten eggs and spread over the top of the meat mixture.  Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Pour cream sauce over all.  Mix 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle over Cream Sauce.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Sit back and wait for the applause.

Enjoy!

Deloris