Old School, Gourmet Substitute Teacher

I'm a Midwestern boy. Born & raised. A standard supper was Tater Tot Casserole. The only variations I knew of were whether there was corn or beans and whether cheese was on top of the tots or under. But I had a moment of Awesomevation (awesome innovation! thanks How I Met Your Mother & Barney Stinson!). What if I changed several variations. We take the old school and give it a little home-spun gourmet twist.

Southwestern Style Tater Tot Casserole

I started with minced chicken. You can use ground chicken or mince it with the food processor like we did with the Thai Basil Chicken. I went with the minced chicken. Saute for a few minutes until the pink is gone. Remove to a bowl.

In the pan, add 2 TB of butter, saute 1 diced onion. When soft, add some spices. Use a Tex-Mex blend if you have it, or mix cumin, coriander, ground chiles, garlic powder, paprika. All the spices to bloom in the hot, melted butter for a minute. Add 2 diced bell peppers, red & green are good. Plus 1 cup of corn kernels.

Saute the vegetables for 3-5 minutes, until soft. Sprinkle with 2 TB of flour, stir for 2 minutes.

Pour in two cups of chicken broth. Simmer until the broth thickens. Stir the chicken back into the mix. Pour into an 8x8 baking pan.

Top with tater tots and bake for 15-18 minutes. This cooks the tots and allows them to crisp up. Top with shredded cheese and bake for another 3-5 minutes until melted.

Serve hot.

I loved this variation! Can't wait to try it again.

Cheers

CHEERS! A tiny bit of a delayed celebration. Over the weekend, May 9, Eat With Me turned 5 years old. Yippee.

Sadly the past 6-9 months have really been slow for me. I still enjoy working on the blog, finding new recipes and certainly still love cooking. But I've been soooo tired. I'm going to keep going and see what I can do to improve my production schedule! I need to find my muse; I think she went on vacation and got lost on her way home. If you see her, tell her to get her butt back here!

"Kira? KIRA!!!??? Come Back! Zeus didn't mean to be a jerk."



In other news, last night we kicked it old school with Tater Tot Casserole.


The big difference though??? Instead of using the traditional can of "Cream of ____" soup, I made a my own roux based sauce and it was delicious!

1. Brown ground beef and 1 medium, diced, onion.
2. When cooked, drain off excess fat.
3. Season with salt, pepper and other spices you like. Add 3 TB of butter.
4. Add 3 TB of flour. Stir and cook for one minute.
5. Add one cup of broth (beef, chicken or combo of both). Stir and simmer.
6. Add 1-2 cups of frozen green beans or other veg (carrots, corn, etc.)
7. Dump into a baking dish, top with frozen potato tots.
8. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Dump on some shredded cheese, if you like. Bake for an additional 5 minutes.
9. Serve piping hot.

Enjoy!

I have a menu planned for the next 7 out of 8 days. Hopefully that means a good solid weeks worth of blog posts! Thanks for sticking with me for the past five years. It's been a lot of fun and I'm really proud of how far I've come with my cooking skills! And frankly, if I wasn't willing to learn to cook, I'd probably be eating the same five, boring things, instead of branching out and trying new recipes, new ingredients and new processes!

Life is insane...

The past few weeks have been OUT OF CONTROL. I will probably get some semblance of a normal life back next week...if I'm lucky. In the meantime, we need to eat!

Last night I threw together a pot of Chili-mac. My home version of a Hamburger Helper meal. Ground beef, onion, plenty of spices, canned tomatoes, pasta and done. One pot. Dinner in about 25 minutes. Easy.

1) Brown ground beef, drain fat.
2) Add onion, cook for a few short minutes to soften.
3) Add spices (Chili seasoning, cumin, cinnamon, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, etc.) Use what you like.
4) Add a can of diced tomatoes and 2-3 handfuls of macaroni. You can add additional vegetables if you like. Corn. Bell peppers...other?
5) Stir to incorporate. Add 1 can of water--use the tomato can.
6) Cover and simmer until pasta is cooked.
7) Serve hot and garnish with cheese & sour cream if you like.

The Hot Tamale Pie

Last night's dinner was a simple, tasty one. Tamale Pie. This is a throwback to the days when I was cooking Rachel Ray on a regular basis. I think this was a Rachel Ray recipe, anyway. If it was, I feel it's a strong example of what she does right and where there could be improvement. As is, the recipe is easy, fast, anyone can try it and make it work. Dinner in a snap. Prep, toss in the oven, clean up, serve and enjoy. Where there is room for improvement is in the flavor department. The recipe can come off as a little bland, at least for me. So, you will need to start experimenting with flavors to bring the dish up a notch of two. Add some additional spices to base. Last night I added some shallot, coriander and chipotle chile powder. Combined with the onions, garlic, peppers and cumin, we now have a great base. The cornmeal topping, well, that is really bland if you don't play around. I cooked my topping with cream, chicken broth, Adobe seasoning, plenty of black pepper and at the end, stirred in some cheese. Now we're talking!

Of the few times I've made this, last night was spot on. We were very pleased.

You'll notice in the photos, I made the Tamale Pies in individual ramekins. With half the recipe I had 6 individual pies. I do this more as a convenience for saving extras for lunch. Just cover, reheat and go. It is also helpful with portion control. Except we each ate TWO instead of one! We didn't have a side, give us a break! Anyway, you have beef, tomatoes, corn, onions, peppers and lots of good, rich spices. Basically, a solid chili, without the soupy base.

Top the pies with cooked cornmeal/grits and sprinkle a little extra cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Enjoy.

A quick heart attack recipe

White Cheese & Sausage Pasta
from Culinary in the Desert

I made this for dinner last night. It was good! Gut bomb good! Spicy from the sausage. Ridiculously creamy and gooey from the cheese and bechamel sauce. Stupid Good. I more or less followed the recipe; even though I didn't have it in front of me, so some of the quantities were off and I ad libbed a bit. Added some shredded white cheddar cheese (1/2 cup) as well as the mozzarella and parm.

Instead of using another baking dish, I made sure to boil the pasta in an oven-proof pot. After I drained the pasta, I dumped it back in the pot and poured the sausage/sauce mixture over, stirred and baked. Saved us a little extra clean up. I used a half pound of spicy ground pork sausage, not turkey sausage. I don't think it matters much. But use the spicy if you like some good heat. If not, use regular, but add a little red pepper flake. You want some heat to cut through all the creamy, cheesey goodness.



4 cups dry rigatoni or any other short tube-shaped pasta
8 ounces hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
2 TB butter
3 TB all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
3 ounces fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400

In a large pot of boiling salted water, add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium heat, add sausage - cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Add butter to the same skillet and allow to melt over medium heat - whisk in flour and allow to cook, whisking, for a minute or two. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring, until thick, about 8 minutes - remove from heat.

In a large bowl, toss together the sauce, cooked sausage Parmesan, crushed red pepper and salt. Scoop the mixture into a 7" x 11" baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Scatter the top with mozzarella. Bake until bubbly and the top is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Delicious

Saturday night's dinner was delicious. We ate a ton of it. Very satisfying. Filling and just all over good. A Pasta Frittata is a great way to use up leftovers, if you have them. This is virtually the same version as the last time I made only. Almost. The recipe called for marscapone and creme fraiche. I subbed in cream cheese and sour cream. Perfect. I used a variety of fresh and dried herbs as well. The chicken was from a few nights ago when we had pesto. Basically, all I had to do was boil the pasta, toss it all together and bake it for 25 minutes. Yum.

The tomatoes were not perfectly ripe. That was the one downside. After I diced them, I set them on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkled them with salt. The salt did two things that I think added to the final awesomeness. 1) some excess water was drawn out, this will keep your dish from getting too wet during cooking. 2) the salt directly enhanced what flavor was in the tomatoes. If I hadn't done that I think the tomatoes would have been water bombs in this casserole and not appetizing.

This is a keeper.

Greek Casserole

The other night before the fridge collapsed and died in front of us, I went grocery shopping. I came home with bags and bags of stuff to get us through about 10 days. Sadly, we lost a lot of that food. However, I did manage to squeak out one amazing recipe. This is a keeper and I look forward to making it again!

Greek Pastitsio
with "meatloaf" mix instead of lamb (I don't like lamb!)

Brown the ground meat. Season with salt, pepper and cinnamon. Add some onions, red wine and tomato paste. Simmer and bubble until delicious.

Mix the ground meat mixture with cooked pasta, in this instance I used ziti. Tubular pasta would be best.

Keep the pasta mixture in an oven proof dish. I used my Dutch oven. Top the pasta with a cheesey, cream Béchamel sauce.

Bake until golden brown and delicious.

Serve hot! Enjoy.

A quick note, I cut the recipe in half. That was enough for two people to have two hefty servings each and I believe there was one left over for lunch the next day. Also, as noted, I used a package of "meatloaf" mix from the store (beef, pork and veal). This worked great and had a wonderful flavor. If you don't like lamb, try it. Also, I'm sure you could use ground turkey, chicken, beef...whatever. It's a great dish and versatile.

Pastitsio
from Everyday Food

This is the ultimate Greek comfort food, a hearty casserole of cinnamon-spiked ground lamb baked with penne and a Parmesan cheese sauce.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 8

Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound penne, cooked and drained
2 pounds ground lamb
2 medium onions, diced
1/2 cup red wine
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 TB butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3 cups milk
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta, and drain; reserve. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, over medium heat, cook lamb, breaking apart pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 6 to 8 minutes. Add onions; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer to a colander; drain fat, and discard. Return lamb to pan; add wine. Cook over medium heat until almost all liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in tomato paste, cinnamon, and 2 cups water; simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (***This step only took about 3-5 minutes, I probably had the heat too high, but there were no adverse affects...save yourself the time, when the mixture has thickened, move on...no need to force it to simmer for 20 minutes!)

4. Make Parmesan Cheese Sauce while mixture is simmering: In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; whisk in flour until incorporated, about 30 seconds. In a slow steady stream, whisk in milk until there are no lumps.

5. Cook, whisking often, until mixture is thick and bubbly and coats the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in cayenne, if desired, and Parmesan.

6. Add pasta to lamb mixture; transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Pour sauce over the top, smoothing with the back of a spoon until level. Bake until browned in spots, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool 15 minutes before serving.

Good, but...

This is chicken tetrazinni...it was good...but...


...it was a tad dry. I made a mistake with the recipe. I cut all the ingredients in half...except the pasta. Which made a dry baked pasta dish.

Will I make it again? Sure. But I will make it properly!

Chicken Tetrazzini
from Everday Food

INGREDIENTS
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 TB butter
1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced inch thick (optional)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 can (14.5 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 pound linguine, broken in half
1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed and drained (or other green veg-I used green beans)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for pasta). In a large saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over high heat. Add mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until tender and browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and set aside.

2. Make sauce: In same saucepan, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add flour; cook, whisking, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, gradually add milk, broth, and wine. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and add 2 cups Parmesan and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Cook pasta 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente; drain and return to pot. Add sauce, chicken, peas, and mushrooms. Toss well to combine. Divide between two shallow 2-quart baking dishes; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Freeze (see below) or bake until browned, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

4. To freeze: After placing pasta mixture in baking dishes and sprinkling with Parmesan (step 3), cool to room temperature. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze up to 3 months.

To bake from frozen: Bake, covered with foil, at 400 degrees, until center is warm, about 2 hours. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes more. Serve.

To bake from thawed: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Bake, covered with foil, at 400 degrees, until center is warm, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until top is browned, about 20 minutes.

Casserole

OK...so you don't always have time for completely from scratch meals. Sometimes you are just hungry, busy and need to get moving on to the next task. Sometimes you just want to relive your Midwest upbringing with a "Hot Dish."

Tater Tot Casserole!

Ground beef, chopped onion, frozen corn, frozen green beans. Seasoned with salt & pepper.

Mix all of the above together with a can of "Cream of..." soup and cover with Tater Tots. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. Cover with shredded cheese if you like.

Enjoy.

When I was a kid, we used to have this all the time. One of these days, I might try to re-do the casserole without the processed foods. Maybe create my own tots somehow. I can do the "Cream of..." very easily. I mean really...this is Shepherd's Pie by way of the 1960/70's, simplified for the busy homemaker.

Hot Tamale Pie

Last night's dinner was the Tamale Pie I made awhile back. Two plus years back! You can find the recipe here.

This really is an easy dish, cheap to make and fairly quick. There are plenty of options for changing things up. The way I made this last night improved the flavor and made for a very delicious casserole dinner.

Start with some ground beef, onions, jalapeno. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, and some chili powder of your choice. I have some smokey chipotle chili powder with brought a lovely mild heat and slight smoked flavor. If you prefer, you can use ground pork, chicken, turkey. Your choice.

Add some corn and let simmer and bubble for a little bit while you move to creating the base of the dish.

Mix some cornmeal and some water in a dish. Season liberally with salt & pepper. You do this step to prevent lumps in the cornmeal. You don't have to take this step, but it's helpful. Then you bring some water to a boil and pour this mixture in. Simmer and stir for a few brief minutes to make a creamy base. Add a pat of butter for extra richness. You can use some chicken broth/stock if you like, instead of water for more flavor.

Pour your cornmeal porridge in the bottom of a baking dish and spread evenly. Allow to set for a minute.

Sprinkle the cornmeal base with shredded cheese. This is an optional step, but a tasty step.

Spoon the meat/tomato mixture over the cornmeal base, spread out.

Add some more cheese and place in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375 until...

melty, gooey and all sorts of cheesey.

Serve hot and enjoy.

500 Posts Old

WOW! I had no idea Eat With Me would be 500 Posts Old today! Sweet. We just celebrated our second year together and now this. Reason to celebrate.

Well, today was commencement at the U and with all it's excitment, I'm a little pooped out, so how about we have dinner together?

On Sunday, I caught an episode of Giada on the Food Network. She was making lunch specials and one particular dish caught my eye. I had most of the ingredients to try Chicken and Orzo Frittata, but not all, so we'll call this a variation on a theme. And it tasted like MORE!

Pasta Frittata

1 cup tubetti pasta (or other small shapely pasta)
3 eggs
1/4 cup marscapone cheese
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 small onion, diced and sauted until soft
Small handful of fresh garden herbs
1/2 cup diced tomato
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus 2 TB (reserved)
Salt and Pepper
Heavy pinch of cayenne pepper

Boil your pasta until al dente. Preheat your oven to 375.

Whisk together the eggs, marscapone, creme fraiche, parmesan, salt, pepper and the herbs you choose. Set aside.

Shredd or chop cooked chicken into bit size pieces.

When pasta is cooked, drain and allow to cool. When cool, fold together the egg/cheese mixture, chicken, onions, tomatoes and pasta.

Pour into a square baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved parmesan on top. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, turn on your broiler and cook for another 3-5 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

I don't know if I've seen this pasta before. It looked fun, so I picked it up!

Eggs, marscapone and creme fraiche.

Assembled and ready to bake.

Ready for dinner!

This was pretty easy and great basic casserole ready for whatever your pantry and fridge have for you. Giada's recipe called for orzo; I used the tubetti. Use what small pasta you have. Giada called for ricotta; I accidentally bought marscapone. Scallions; sauted onions. Parsley; fresh herbs from the garden (basil & thyme). Roasted red bell pepper; diced tomato. I added the parmesan on my own. As much as I dislike it, broccoli might be good. Or even, yuck, mushrooms. Artichoke hearts? All sorts of veg will work well. Mozzarella instead of parmesan. Sour cream instead of creme fraiche. Vegetarian; take out the meat. Thaks for the headstart Giada.