Loving Corn Pudding!

I had some ham I wanted to make for dinner tonight. I often make a big ham with gravy and freeze slices with the gravy for those nights when I don't know what to make. Its an easy dinner then. I felt like having cornbread but didn't feel like making cornbread. I remembered seeing recipes for Corn Pudding. Now Ive never had that. So I wandered online to see what I could find.

Many are made with packaged corn muffin or bread mix. I didn't want that. I really wanted from scratch. There's not many out there that sounded good tho. So I took the one I thought was pretty good and of course tweaked it my way. My bf said it was yummy and I should make it again, I agree. While we liked it, we felt it needed just a touch of sweet to it so we drizzled a tiny bit of honey on our servings. It was perfect!

And so I used buttermilk in it because I love the flavor of that with cornmeal. And it calls for canned corn but this was really made from scratch tonight.  I used a pt. of corn I canned this summer when I got a bunch fresh from the farms.  It was a great combo. Here's my version which I bet is closer to what they used to make in the country many yrs ago. 

 I love this so much I'm going to have whats left for breakfast the next day or so. I think topped with fruit, warmed and then topped with butter and maple syrup it would be a yummy breakfast. I cant wait!

Corn Pudding Serves 6

6 tbsp butter
3/4 c cornmeal
1 c boiling water
3 lg eggs
2 c buttermilk (you could use reg. milk)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp  pepper
1 can corn kernels (or one pt. of homemade canned)
Honey for serving (next time I may add some to the recipe)

Heat oven to 375F. Put 2 Tablespoons butter into 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Place in oven to melt.

Put cornmeal in a medium bowl. Add boiling water and whisk until smooth. Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter and stir until melted.

In another bowl beat eggs until blended. Beat in buttermilk, then stir in B.powder, salt, and pepper. Beat or whisk into cornmeal mixture, stir in corn. (mine was canned with the milk from the corn like creamed corn so you could just use a can of that if you want. It will be very moist)

 Pour into melted butter in baking dish and bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake 35-40 min longer or until puffed and golden brown on top. Drizzle with honey when served.

Shepard's Pie

I was trying to think of something to make for dinner that was easy last night. I wasn't feeling well, woke up hurting that morning. So dinner was one of those, oh geez, I have to do that again type things. I was at a loss. I remembered a recipe I had yrs ago for Shepard's Pie. I swear I wrote it in my own personal cookbook too. I searched everywhere for it and couldn't find it. I know that's weird and I know when I least expect it, it will pop up again. That happens a lot to me lol.

And so I searched online and found a few but I felt like they were missing something, so I chose the one I liked best and did what I always do....I tweak it to make it my own. Here's my version....not far off from others but I will say it was so yummy, I am looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today. BTW I forgot to take a picture of it so what you see is from online but mine did look like that.

Shepard's Pie 4 servings

    3 lg potatoes, peeled and cubed
    1/2c. sour cream or softened cream cheese
    1 large egg
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
    1 3/4 pounds ground beef
    1 carrot, peeled, quartered and sliced
    1 med. onion, chopped
    1 lg. garlic clove, minced
    4 mushrooms, chopped
    2 tablespoons butter
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    1 cup beef stock or broth
    2 teaspoons Worcestershire
    1/2 cup frozen peas
    1 teaspoon sweet paprika
    1/2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves


Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes.
While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with beef . Season meat with salt and pepper. Brown  meat for 3 or 4 minutes. When meat has lost most of its color, add chopped carrot, mushrooms, garlic and onion to the meat. Cover and cook veggies with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove lid and stir in peas, paprika and parsley. In a second small skillet over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. ( I use Knorr Beef paste so I added a tsp or so of that to a cup of water instead) Thicken gravy 1 minute. Add gravy to meat and vegetables.

Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Mix sour cream and egg together.  Add the sour cream and egg mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth.
 
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fill a small rectangular casserole with meat and vegetable mixture. Spoon potatoes over meat evenly. Top potatoes with cheese and bake until potatoes are evenly browned. Top casserole dish with more chopped parsley and serve.


*ground lamb can be substituted. I love lamb but the bf doesn't so I used beef. If there's too much grease left in the pan when browning, remove it before you add the veggies.

Unstuffed Cabbage.....

My mom makes Stuffed Cabbage rolls and I love them. Ive made them over the yrs and they are close to moms but not quite. But it still tasted good. The part I hate tho is rolling each one. When I don't have a lot of time its tedious. I saw a recipe for a stuffed cabbage skillet dish that used most of the ingredients but was quick. I thought that was a great idea and maybe one day Ill adapt my own recipe a bit more to do that.

But since I grew up with this, I really feel the best cabbage rolls are the ones that take time to cook in the oven. One day awhile back I started to make this only to find that half of the head of cabbage I had, had these dark lines running on some of the cabbage veins. Well of course I don't know what it was, I thought perhaps it got too cold in the grocery store cuz it was weird..it really was only on half the head. So I didn't use the leaves that had that on it. But because of that I didn't have enough to make the whole recipe right.

It was then I remembered that skillet dish I saw and thought...hey  I don't need all the cabbage. Ill just layer it and make it the same. It worked out great and honestly is faster to put together and easier to serve. I tweaked this recipe a bit more now and last nites dinner was the best Ive ever made. So sorry mom its not quite like yours, but its really good!

 Unstuffed Cabbage Casserole 8 hearty servings

1.  1 lg. head of cabbage
     1c. white rice

Remove the core and put either on a plate to microwave or in a pot of water with some vinegar in it to boil. You have a choice here. Mom used to cook it on the stove and peel off the layers as they cooked. They do get cooked much more this way and are easier to roll. But to me they just take too much time. So I microwave the whole head for about 10min. Let it cool a bit so you can touch it and remove whatever leaves you can that are cooked.

Put back in the microwave and do another 5min. Keep doing this till the leaves are done thru. The center part doesn't matter too much where the leaves are small. You will use this chopped  to top the casserole with anyway. While you are cooking the cabbage, cook the rice till done and set aside for the stuffing.

2. While this is cooking make the stuffing.
    2- 2 1/2lbs of ground beef
    1 onion, chopped fine
    3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
    1 tsp. salt or more
    1 tb. Hungarian Paprika
    2 tsp. dried parsley (feel free to use fresh if you have it)
    1 tsp. dried thyme
    1/2 tsp. cayenne
    2 eggs
    the cooked rice 

Saute onion in a little butter, when soft add the garlic and saute a couple minutes more. Put meat in a lg. bowl, add all the rest of the list and mix a bit to distribute the spices a bit. Then add in the cooked onions and garlic and the rice from step  1. Mix well.

3. Layering
    Stuffing mix from step 2
    Cabbage from step 1
    8oz. sauerkraut
    1 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes with sauce ( or plain tomato sauce even a plain spaghetti sauce like Classico with basil)
    1/2 c. ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour about 1/4 of the can of tomatoes on the bottom of a lg. casserole dish or 13 x 9 in. pan. Mix half the sauerkraut with that and make sure its spread pretty even across the bottom of the pan. This is to distribute the flavors top and bottom and to keep it from sticking.

Next make a nice layer of cabbage leaves. I cut out the thick main rib cuz it takes too long to cook. Then I just fit the lg. leaves across the bottom to cover. At this point assess how many leaves you have cuz you want a nice layer of cabbage for each. I had a very lg. head so this time I made 3 layers of cabbage to two layers of meat. But you can just put them on the bottom and the top if you don't have a lot and it will work too.

Then top with a layer of the meat. Remember if you are making two layers to just use half...otherwise put the whole thing in there. Top with more cabbage and repeat if your doing  several layers, finishing with cabbage. Top with the chopped inner cabbage leaves you saved and the rest of the sauerkraut. Mix the ketchup in the remaining tomatoes and pour over the top of the casserole covering it all. If the sauce is thick you could add a bit of water to it before you bake it.

Cover with foil and bake for at least 2 1/2hrs. Check to see if it  is drying out. It shouldn't with the meat juices and cabbage but if it does, add a bit of water and return to oven. You do not want this dry. I test the center to see if the cabbage there is tender. When it is, its done. Cut into lg. squares and serve. You could serve with a nice crusty rye bread and butter.

For those who want traditional tho here is moms recipe:

Moms Stuffed Cabbage Make about 26 rolls

1 head of cabbage (about 3lbs.)
(soften cabbage in lg. pot with water and 1 tb. vinegar)

1 medium onion , chopped
1/4lb. butter
(saute onions in butter)

In lg. mixing bowl:
2 lbs. chopped beef
1 1/2 c. rice (mom uses Minute rice, I hate that stuff)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 (8oz.) cans tomato sauce (mix in well with above ingred.)

Fill softened cabbage leaf with meat mixture:

In lg. pot:
Cut up excess cabbage leaves and put on bottom of pot. Layer stuffed cabbages in pot.

Pour over cabbage:
2 (8oz. ) cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato soup
1 can water
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. water or more to cover cabbage

(I also remember mom topping it with sauerkraut altho it doesn't say so in her recipe)

Cover and bake in oven 2 1/2hrs. in 350 degree oven or till done. (We use a lg. covered enamelware pot for this) 

Next take that can of tomatoes and add a half cup of ketchup. (mom always does this and I like that flavor, you could however just add water instead if you like). Stir it well and pour it over the top layer, spreading it out all over. 

Chicken Alfredo Casserole

This recipe came about because of Costco. They carry a Chicken Alfredo dinner premade. Costco isn't near me so when I go its an all day thing. By the time I get home and unload I'm tired. So I would grab one of these dinners to heat up while putting all the stuff away. But theirs is very basic. So I would add broccoli. and sometimes other veggies and even top it with cheese. But the sad part it the casserole is so big and there's only the two of us here, so most of it got tossed after dinner. My bf doesn't like leftovers very much. And so I stopped buying it but we did like it. 

And so I created my own. Now this is the quick version but of course you could make it right by making your own Alfredo sauce and pesto and fresh baking a few chicken breasts too. I often use my Balsamic Chicken recipe for this. I just bake two extra chicken breasts to have on hand for this. But really I use a lot of things that I plan to have on hand to just toss this together fast.

I often make a roast chicken and strip off the meat to freeze. If I do that then I just take a cup or two of the meat to use for this, thawed. If you have a store bought rotisserie chicken, that would work too. But you do want chicken that was roasted or baked with garlic or herbs. Poached is just too bland.

I will use frozen broccoli if I have nothing else. Ive added roasted red peppers, artichokes, spinach and even peas. But you do have to be careful because if you add too much, you run into having lots of leftovers, which I try to avoid. I can't seem to get this dish small for just the two of us. But at least I have it down to four. And if you find it might not be enough for you cuz you have folks with hearty appetites, then make a nice salad and some garlic bread to serve with it. 

Chicken Alfredo Casserole Serves 4

1/2 box of penne or rotini
1 stalk of broccoli, peeled and cut into bite size pieces or about 1c frozen
1 jar (15oz.) Classico Alfredo sauce or the equivalent of homemade
About 2c. cooked, chopped chicken
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
Jar or homemade pesto
S & P

Sliced provolone cheese or mozzarella
Grated Parmesan

*Optional: marinated artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed, roasted red peppers, peas, asparagus, frozen spinach

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Get a lg. pot going for boiling water for the pasta, toss in some salt. When water is boiling toss in the pasta. If your using fresh broccoli, toss that in now also. If your using frozen, wait till pasta is almost done, then put it in the same pot too. Frozen broccoli will just disintegrate if started when the pasta is.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil in the bottom of a 13 x 9in. pan. When pasta and broccoli are done, drain then toss in the baking pan.

Add the tomato, chicken, and any other veggies you might want. Asparagus needs to be cooked first, frozen peas or spinach can just be tossed in as they will thaw and cook when its in the oven.

Pour Alfredo sauce over all this. I add about a half jar of water or milk or half and half to it and shake it well to get any stuck sauce off the jar. Also as this bakes it sucks up the sauce. Extra liquid helps keep it from doing that. Add about two good spoons of pesto. Stir this all up and then taste. Some pestos are not very strong or flavorful so this is to YOUR taste. If it needs more add it but just a bit at a time. Basil can take over this dish real easy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir the whole thing well.

If you wish, you may top with slices of mozzarella or provolone and then sprinkle with Parmesan. I like provolone because it has a bit more flavor.

Put in heated oven and bake for about 20min. The casserole is done when its just beginning to brown on the edges and its bubbling. If it looks like its getting dry, cover with foil. 

Taco Bake

I made this for dinner tonight, its not my usual fare. My bf loves boxed mac and cheese. I eat it now and then but could live without it. In fact I hate the boxed stuff so much I tease him and ask him if he wants paste in the box for dinner tonight. He also loves tacos and lately the tortillas are just too much for us. Getting old here and the flour tortillas sit like lead in our tummies. So most times I made taco salad so we can enjoy the flavor but not suffer. Then I came across this recipe.

I found it in some old magazines I was going thru. Again its not the type I usually make but my back is hurting and I didn't want to spend a ton of time in the kitchen so I thought Id try this tonight. As usual I never leave it completely alone. I added a few things and over time I may change it again. But this is what I made tonight. I made my own taco mix, its ez.


TACO BAKE SERVES 6

1 pkg. (14oz.) mac & cheese mix
3/4 c. sour cream (I used fat free)
1 1/2c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. salsa

TACO SEASONING MIX     

2 tsp. instant minced onion
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. crushed dried red pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. instant minced garlic

Combine all ingredients, seal and store. This equals one of those pkgs.

TACO FILLING:

1 lb. ground beef
1 small can of green chilies
1/2 can of tomato paste
1c. water
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning Mix or the homemade equivalent.

Brown beef, drain off excess grease. Add water and seasoning mix. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes till thick. Stir occasionally. Makes filling for 8 to 10 tacos.

First preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make mac and cheese according to pkg. directions. Add sour cream to completed dinner. I used fat free sour cream trying to lose some of the fat in this meal. I also drained well the ground browned beef before adding the rest of ingred.

Layer half the mac & cheese on bottom of casserole, then top with meat mixture spreading evenly. Top with remaining mac & cheese and pour salsa over all. Bake for 15 min. till cheese is melted and casserole is heated thru.

I served this with a quick salad of chopped avocado, tomatoes and onion with lettuce. I used a homemade Italian vinaigrette that I make. I just sprinkle some garlic powder, oregano, S & P over all the veggies. I drizzle olive oil over all and mix well, then taste. Adjust seasonings then sprinkle on some red wine vinegar to taste and toss.

The day after Halloween - the breakfast

Lil man stayed overnight here after Trick or Treating in the neighborhood. His folks went to a party. And so I made some breakfast for us. Ive been wanting to try this recipe out, since I had some blueberries in the freezer I needed to use up. Ive been meaning to do it all week but kept forgetting to put it together so it could soak overnight. Last nite after dinner I decided to do it with lil man helping me put it together.

This is really easy, basically just layers, let it soak and bake the next morning. Its almost like dessert, a bread pudding. So while I cut up the bread......and I often have either sour dough or a nice Italian bread around, lil man cut up the cream cheese and helped assemble this. I like to make hearty french toast and so I use a good sturdy bread when I make it. I decided to do the same with this. You basically layer bread, cheese, blueberries, more bread and pour the custard mix over it all and let soak over nite. My proportions were off because I used more bread trying to use it up. I also added more eggs and milk. To the egg mixture I added some cinnamon and a bit of vanilla. I do that to my regular french toast too.

So while this was baking, I baked off some bacon to go with it. I warmed up some maple syrup too altho you could do without it. But because there is so very little sweet with this......I like it with the syrup, better. Maybe next time if I have more blueberries Ill make a blueberry topping. I certainly have leftovers and Ill be packaging them up to have later on.  I quick warm up in the oven or microwave, will be great. I do that to my leftover french toast too. This way I don't have to cook them all the time.

Fresh Blueberry-stuffed French Toast Casserole 

Assemble this simple casserole 12 to 24 hours ahead, or just before baking.


Ingredients:
4 large slices sourdough bread, crust removed and cubed
8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
2 cups fresh blueberries
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons powdered sugar


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375*F. Arrange half the bread cubes in an 8-inch square baking dish. Distribute the cream cheese cubes evenly over the top of the bread. Distribute the blueberries over the top.


2. Top with the remaining bread cubes.


3. Beat eggs, milk and cinnamon together and pour over. Bake for 35 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.