Shannon is Learning How to Make Casseroles!

I’m not talking about the condensed-soup, or from-the-box kind, I’m talkin’ real-deal, home-made, from scratch, healthy, one-dish, hot meals.

My casserole adventure began with a batch of homemade carrot soup that I added too much cayenne pepper to, it was just too hot to eat straight-up, so I decided to use it as an ingredient in something else, a casserole! So I looked at a bunch of different casserole recipes and discovered several common factors:

1. Thick soup was somehow involved.

2. There was a starch element (potatoes, rice, etc)

3. There were other ingredients, such as vegetables and meat.

4. There was some sort of topping, like cheese or crumbs.

5. Everything got cooked before it all got mixed together and put in the oven.

So I cooked up a mixture of wild and white rice in the rice cooker, sauteed some chicken and vegetables, then mixed it all up, grated cheese on top, and threw it in the oven on a low temperature. The low temperature was my only mistake, it needed a much higher temperature to actually get the heat all the way through that thick mass of food. I kept pulling it out and checking it, frustrated with its failure to heat up quickly. 45 minutes later I turned up the temperature, walked away for 20 minutes, and came back to happily discover a bubbling, steaming casserole! Perfect!

My second attempt (there was a LOT of that soup to use up) wasn’t nearly as good as the first, too many extra carrots added in (the soup really was enough carrotness for one dish), but I am interested in trying again with another creamy, homemade soup.

So there is a bit of insight into how Shannon cooks. Very intuitively, very independently, very experimentally, with a lot of reckless abandon, know very well that in the end, I will eat pretty much anything, so no matter how bad it is, at least I won’t go hungry, and at least I will have learned something new.

Perogies with Sausage and Chard

I made this for dinner tonight and found it very tasty. Canadians will be familiar with the mighty perogy and it’s wondrous comfort-food qualities. Friends in the US, however, may not be, which I think is supremely sad (and mildly surprising given the US’s predilection for fried potatoes in various forms). Perogies, for the uninformed, are little dough pockets filled with mashed-potato goodness that often includes cheese or onions. They are Ukrainian in origin and once they are made (a long, laborious process, I usually just buy the frozen ones) they are traditionally cooked by boiling, though they can also be fried or baked. I find the baking method to be a consistently successful and simple method of preparation.

Here is a lovely way to serve perogies. I often serve them with sausage and onion (sausage & saurkraut are traditional friends of perogies) and today decided that a bunch of chard would be a great addition to my frying pan of sausagey-oniony goodness.

Ingredients
4 large, traditional sausages, any type, removed from casings
1 large or 2 small onions, halved & sliced
1 bunch chard, stems & ribs separated from leaves, and separately chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp water
18 perogies, baked
sour cream (if desired)
Method
1. In large frying pan, fry sausage until almost cooked, add onion and cook until soft.

2. Add chard stems & ribs to fry pan, cook until soft. Add chard leaves & water, cook until soft.

3. Serve perogies atop sausage mixture, top with sour cream as desired

Serves 3

Blue Cheese Tenders

If you like Blue Cheese Dressing then you will love this! I even know some who abhor blue cheese but actually ended up liking this. I make this dish all the time for potlucks and it is a hit!

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 lb. Chicken Breast Tenders (cut into bite size pieces)
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Clove Garlic, finely chopped
1/3 Cup Blue Cheese Dressing
Hot Cooked Farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
Crumbled Blue Cheese, if desired

Directions:

Heat oil in a 10-inch skiller over medium-high heat
Cook chicken, lemon juice, and garlic in oil for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center.
Stir in dressing.
Cook 2-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until hot.
Served over farfalle.
Sprinkle the blue cheese over the dish, if desired.

Makes 4 Servings.

Note: I usually always end up using more dressing than it calls for. Furthermore, I always sprinkle it with blue cheese.

Penne with Mushrooms, Italian Sausage, and Broccoli

(From Best of Weight Watchers Magazine Vol. 1. 2002)

This has become one of my very favourite crowd-pleasing recipes. For a potluck last week where I knew there would be a vegetarian person, I substituted the sausage with Yves’ vegetarian “ground round” in “spicy Italian” and substituted vegetable broth for chicken broth, and it turned out quite nicely – not the same as with sausage, in my opinion nothing beats animal fats for tastiness – but it was still very good and other than the cheese, which can be omitted, it was a vegan dish. It is also a low-fat dish for those who are concerned about that sort of thing, or if one has guests that might be concerned.

Add-ins:
I always add-in additional spices: rosemary & thyme, I find this really perks up the dish, fresh rosemary is especially lovely. I also tend to add in a small onion, chopped, at the stage where the mushrooms are cooked, which also adds to the flavour. I also have made this with rotini instead of penne, which is just as good.

Cooking tips:
I cook the broccoli with the pasta by putting a steamer above the boiling pot of pasta, thereby saving both time & electricity by cooking both at once. Also, if you aren’t terribly worried about counting the points on this recipe, the mushrooms and onion are quite tasty when you cook them in the leftover fat from the sausage. At the end of the recipe I often find there isn’t enough room for everything in my skillet, so I combine it all in a large bowl, which works just fine.

Ingredients
1/4 pound hot Italian-style turkey sausage, casings removed
10 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned & sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups cooked broccoli florets
4 cups cooked, drained penne
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
crushed red pepper, to taste (optional)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions
1. Crumble the turkey sausage meat into a large nonstick skillet and cook until golden brown. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and let drain on a paper towel-lined heatproof plate. Pour off and discard any fat in the skillet. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are golden brown and all the juices have evaporated, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the broccoli and the drained sausage; cook until warmed through. Stir in the penne, broth, lemon juice, and the crushed red pepper (if using); cook just until heated through. Serve sprinkles with cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Rosemary Lamb Chops with Swiss Chard and Balsamic Syrup

I have made this twice now with great success. Both times I served it with mashed yams, I find the sweetness of the yams compliments the tangy chard and balsamic quite nicely. It seems quite complicated and fancy but is really quite simple. I recommend following the recipe quite closely as there are details that make the whole process much simpler. I add extra garlic to both the chard and the chops. I also rub the spices into both sides of the chops instead of just sprinkling them on.

For balsamic syrup
3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns

For chard
1 bunch Swiss chard (1 lb)
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon water

For lamb chops
8 rib lamb chops (1 1/4 lb total), trimmed of all fat
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Make syrup:
Simmer syrup ingredients in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart nonreactive saucepan (see cooks’ note, below) over moderate heat until just syrupy and reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 8 minutes. Pour through a sieve into a small bowl, discarding rosemary and peppercorns.

Sauté chard:
Cut stems and center ribs from chard, discarding any tough portions, then cut stems and ribs crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Stack chard leaves and roll into cylinders. Cut cylinders crosswise to make 1-inch-wide strips.

Cook onion and garlic in oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to soften, about 4 minutes. Add chard stems and ribs, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until stems are just tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and water and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

Broil chops while chard cooks:
Preheat broiler. Sprinkle chops with garlic, salt, rosemary, and pepper, then broil on a lightly oiled broiler pan, 4 to 5 inches from heat, turning over once, for medium-rare, 6 to 7 minutes total. Serve chops and chard drizzled with balsamic syrup.

Cooks’ note:
Stainless steel and enameled cast iron are nonreactive, but avoid pure aluminum and uncoated iron.