Grandma Marge's Hominy Casserole

Today I have been busy thinking about our big party that we are throwing this weekend.  We are so excited and can't wait to see all of our friends!  My husband and I call our gathering "The Feast".  This is our fifth year and I guess you could say it's kind of a tradition now - it's a party our friends come to expect and look forward to, as do we.

We call it "The Feast" because we generally grill a REALLY large piece of meat (picture a whole turkey, a ham or different huge roasts), my husband home-brews a bunch of beer (he is an excellent homebrewer, if I may brag), we have a bonefire outside with smores, and everyone brings a dish to share (dessert, side-dish, appetizer, ect.).  Which brings me to the point of my blog post: I was scanning through my recipes that I have stored on my computer and thought this would be a great dish to make for a party!  It's slightly different with the use of hominy, yet still mainstream enough that the majority of the guests would enjoy it.

So if you are looking for a dish to take to a pot-luck that is not your basic old standby - give my Grandma Marge's Hominy Casserole a try.  My Grandma would have been "oh so flattered!"

Grandma Marge’s Hominy Casserole

4 cans (15 ounce each) drained white hominy

1 Tablespoon olive oil

3 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 large container sour cream

1 large onion sliced

3 cloves garlic minced

1 cup chopped green chile or more (depending on your taste)

Grated Monterey jack and cheddar cheese

Paprika

Sauté onion and garlic in oil until tender crisp. Add soup and simmer 15 minutes. Add hominy, sour cream and green chile.  Pour in casserole dish and top liberally with cheese. Sprinkle with paprika and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly!  30-45 minutes. Serves 8.

Cottage Mama's Note:  Chopped ham or fajita chicken might be good to addition for a main dish casserole.

PS:  Picture above is from our feast several years ago!

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Chicken "Divine"

Ok, so it's been rather chilly out lately and cold weather makes me think of casseroles.  My brother Ben, the chef, is anti-casserole due to their homey nature (not fancy enough for him), but I can't resist a warm, comforting cheesy casserole.  Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!!  It's the perfect food for the cottage home and the perfect food for your home too!

I would imagine many of you have heard of the classic dish, Chicken Divan.  Perhaps your Mom made it or your Grandmother - it's been around since the 1950's, I'd say.  If you're not familiar, it's made with cream of mushroom soup, broccoli, chicken, cheddar cheese, ect.  It is quite a tasty dish; however, I have an updated version of this classic that is just diviiiiiiine - it's called Chicken "Divine" and its from the Bride and Groom First and Forever Cookbook.


There are several reasons why I love this casserole;
1 - It can be made a day ahead of time - definite plus for the busy Cottage Mama.
2 - You can freeze it and just pop it in the oven during the week on a busy day when you have no time to cook (adjust cooking time accordingly).
3 - It is a wonderful dish to take to someone who is ill or has just had a new baby.
4 - It's comfort food at it's best and will warm you from the inside out!

My Mom's friend, Judi gave Brett and I this cookbook for our wedding and it has been a "go to" book for me ever since.  I haven't tried a single recipe that didn't turn out excellent.  The first year we were married I hosted my in-laws for Thanksgiving (nerve-racking, right?) and I used many recipes from this book and they all turned out to be a success.  If you have an upcoming wedding or shower to attend, I highly recommend this book as a gift - your friends will definitely thank you for it!

Chicken "Divine"

Ingredients:

2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen broccoli florets, thawed

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine (such as Chardonnay)

1 jar (16 oz) alfredo sauce, such as Classico

2 cups (4 oz) grated smoked gouda

1/2 cup milk

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 cups cooked penne, macaroni, or orecchiette pasta

2 cups shredded roast chicken

1/4 cup italian style bread crumbs

Paprika for sprinkling

Directions:

Serves 4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, thyme, kosher salt, and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, about 5 mins.  Add the wine, increase the heat to high and cook until all the liquid has evaporated, 2 to 3 mins. Remove from heat.  Stir in the alfredo sauce, 1/2 cup of the cheese, the milk and nutmeg.  Then stir in the cooked pasta, broccoli, and chicken and mix thoroughly.

Transfer to an 8-in square baking dish.  Top with the remaining 1.5 cups of cheese and the bread crumbs. Sprinkle with paprika, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 mins.  Uncover and bake until golden brown, 10-15 mins. more.

Do-Ahead:  This casserole can be made 1 day in advance and refrigerated.  It can also be assembled and then frozen.

Cottage Mama's Note:  About 3 cups dried penne pasta yields 4 cups cooked.

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Fun With Leftovers!

Ok, so it was Monday night and my family had just left after coming into town for my daughter, Matilda's baptism, and I was thinking.........what are we going to have for dinner?  We had many leftovers in our fridge after having company stay with us and having just had a big baptism party.

Like I said in one of my previous posts, I am really trying to be better about not wasting food so I had to figure out how to use up all of these little bits of leftovers.  We had 1.5 bowls of Taos Taco Soup left, about 1/6 of a roast chicken (Crock-Pot Chicken ) and a big tupperware full of mashed potatoes.  So here's what I came up with - Southwestern Shepherds Pie!

Ingredients:
Leftover Taos Taco Soup
1/6 Roasted Chicken (shredded)
3 cups homemade mashed potatoes
2 chopped green onions
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Garnish - Chile powder, Sour Cream, Cilantro, and Tortilla Chips

Mix shredded chicken with remaining Taos Taco Soup and spread into the bottom of a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.  Mix mashed potatoes and green onions together and spread on top of Taos Taco Soup.  Sprinkle cheese on top of potatoes and sprinkle chile powder (for a bit of extra flavor and to make it look pretty).  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and everything is heated through.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top, a sprinkle of cilantro and a few tortilla chips.

Yipee for not wasting any food and for coming up with a new recipe!!!  Enjoy! Pin It

Semi-Homemade

I was searching my cupboards, freezer and fridge this past week trying to think of something for dinner with what little we had on hand.  I've been trying to be really good lately about using what we already have and grocery shopping less.  

Isn't it amazing how much a trip to the store adds up?  And I always feel so bad when I waste food or have fresh food go bad.  So I've been trying to buy a lot of frozen and can goods to remedy this problem.

So here's what I came up with - Fiesta Green Chile Burrito Bake.  I remembered seeing a similar idea to this semi-homemade recipe in my Real Simple magazine several months ago.

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

Black pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 oz. package shredded cheese

4 oz. chopped green chile

Frozen Family Pack Bean and Cheese burritos (I used El Monterey)

Chile powder - for garnish

Saute garlic in olive oil until soft.  Then add butter and flour (making a roux) - cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add 2 cups milk, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Once the mixture begins to thicken, add 6 oz. cheese and green chile.

Lay frozen burritos in a single layer in a 9 x 11 glass baking dish.  Pour cheesy green chile mixture on top of burritos.  Sprinkle 2 oz. cheese and chile powder on top.  

Bake for 45 mins. or until heated through.

Additional notes:  

1) Would be delish with sour cream and green onions on top.  Also great to serve with Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (Santa Fe Style) and tortilla chips.
2) I also added frozen tri-color bell peppers (from Trader Joe's) on top.

3) To make the dish even easier (I didn't have it on hand at the time) but you could forgo making the roux (butter, flour, garlic and olive oil) and adding the milk by just using a can of cream of chicken soup instead - thin with some water, then add cheese and green chile.

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