Grits ‘n Greens Casserole

Posted on March 4, 2010 by Susan

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.

Posted in Pasta and Grains, RECIPES, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Breakfast Casserole

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Susan

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.

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New England Corned Beef Dinner

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Susan

This dish is usually referred to as New England Boiled Dinner, and for years I made it the traditional way—in one pot—beginning with the beef and onions, cooking that for 2 to 3 hours and adding cabbage, carrots and potatoes to the pot for the last hour.  Voila!  Dinner.

I now make the dish this way—heightening the taste a bit by slow-cooking the beef and then roasting the carrots and potatoes separately so that they are brown and caramelized and a great complement to the mild, smooth cabbage.   Served with a good mustard or horseradish cream sauce, this is equally perfect as a Sunday night supper or something you come home to after a long day out.  And the leftovers make terrific sandwiches or a heartwarming soup.  I also like to make this in a slow cooker—put it on in the morning and forget about it until it’s time to roast the vegetables, but it tastes just as nice made in a Dutch oven—and I’ve included the times for both.

New England Corned Beef Dinner

Serves 6

1 3 to 4 pound corned beef (seasoning packet discarded)
2 large yellow onions cut into quarters
1 ½ cups of water
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges
5 to 6 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
8 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into quarters
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a slow cooker (or a Dutch oven if you don’t want to use the slow cooker) place the onions in the bottom to cover.  Lay the beef on top of the onions.  Pour the water over.  Sprinkle the top of the beef with the pepper and the garlic powder.  Cook on high heat for 8 hours (or on top of the stove in the Dutch oven for 2-3 hours) until the beef is very tender.  Add the cabbage—just arrange the wedges right on top of the beef– for the last 2 hours (if using the slow cooker) or the last hour (if using the Dutch oven) and continue to cook until the cabbage is tender.

An hour before you plan to eat, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Place an oven rack in the lower third of your oven.  Toss the potatoes and carrots with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the vegetables in a roasting pan and roast on the bottom rack of the oven for one hour, stirring after 30 minutes.

When the meat is done, remove it from the pot to a cutting board and let rest while you plate the vegetables.  Slice the beef on the diagonal and serve it all with mustard and/or horseradish cream sauce.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

½ cup sour cream
2 heaping tablespoon fresh grated horseradish
2 tablespoons of heavy cream

Combine the sour cream, horseradish and heavy cream and let chill in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving.

Posted in Beef, Main Course | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

White Cheddar Potato Gratin

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Susan

This potato dish makes an appearance on our table a few times a year—usually for a special occasion.  We’ve enjoyed them with our Easter ham, or our Thanksgiving turkey, or our Christmas roast tenderloin, and on the occasional birthday—they are made by special request.  It’s kind of a contradiction that given the importance of the occasions, and the pleasure with which it is met, this dish is very simple to make, rustic in appearance and totally comforting in taste.

The key to the consistency of this dish is to thinly slice the potatoes.  I use a mandoline (a kitchen tool I would really miss now that I use one a lot), which makes really quick work of this.  It takes a little while to layer the potatoes nicely, but I recommend doing it—it looks and tastes better when it’s symmetrical—I don’t know why, it just does.

The classic rendition of this dish is made with Gruyere cheese and is also seasoned with nutmeg (called Gratin Dauphinois) and we love it that way too.  But the white cheddar appeals more to our kids’ taste, and is easier on the budget.

White Cheddar Potato Gratin

Serves 8 to 10

Preparation Time:  30 minutes
Cook Time:  1 hour
Total Time:  1 ½ hours

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, finely minced
4 pounds Yukon gold or other waxy potatoes
4 cups half-and-half
4 cups grated White Cheddar cheese
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 x 13 rectangular or oval baking dish.   Pour the half-and-half into a medium sized saucepan and add the minced garlic, then heat on low while you prepare the potatoes.

Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/16 inch slices using a mandoline or a knife (if you want to drive yourself crazy).  (You could probably use a food processor slicer blade too—but I haven’t tried this myself.)

Layer the potatoes, just slightly overlapping in the bottom of the buttered dish.  Sprinkle with a little of the salt, pepper, and about ½ cup of the cheese.  Then spoon a ½ cup of the warm half-and-half and garlic mixture over.  Repeat these layers until you’ve used all of your potatoes or the reached the top of the dish, whichever comes first.

Bake for an hour or until the top of the gratin is golden and bubbly and the potatoes pierce easily with a fork.

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Roasted Fennel

Posted on February 23, 2010 by Susan

On a cold night, nothing is a better accompaniment to the main dish than a roasted vegetable.  And a vegetable that makes frequent appearances on our plates in the wintertime is fennel.  Roasting softens the anise flavor of the fennel, and brings out a rich, buttery taste that makes this crunchy, fresh-tasting vegetable into a comfort food.  This is wonderful with any meat or as part of a vegetarian meal.

Roasted Fennel

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 fennel bulbs
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Kosher Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position one of the racks in the lower third of the oven.

Wash and trim the fennel bulbs, (you can save the stalks and fronds for soup…) and slice the bulbs in half and then again into slices.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Place the fennel slices on the baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil.  Turn the slices to lightly coat them with the oil.  Sprinkle the slices with the salt and the pepper.  Place on the lower rack in the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until they are beginning to lightly caramelize on the bottom.   Turn the slices and cook for another 15 minutes to caramelize the other side.  Serve immediately or it can stand for 10 minutes or so while you get the rest of dinner ready.

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review – The Making of a Chef

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Susan

This isn’t a new book—it was first released in 1997, but my nightstand stack is high and I’m not always current.  But new doesn’t matter with this story.  Reading Michael Ruhlman’s The Making of a Chef is a really great “armchair” way to fulfill a lifelong fantasy that I’ll bet a whole bunch of us avid home cooks share Continue reading →

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