The Blog is Back ... with Cheese. Again.

Tonight, after a stressful day at work, and several days of philosophizing over what to do in life and how much money to waste and what to do to make our most inner beings happy, I made up a dish.

MACARONI AND MEATBALL AND CHEESE CASSEROLE

Yes, I realize that there are too many "ands" in that, but whatever.  After ingesting no mind-altering substances for nearly a month, I decided that a glass of wine was in order ... and that I should start blogging again and stop worrying about money and which manilla folder I should put paperwork for X, Y and Z in.  My husband, who recently crashed a motorcycle, was my top priority, but now that he can wash his own hair again, I feel like I can relax a little bit.  For those of you who know my loving husband, he is doing great after getting a giant pin in his elbow and a massive skin graft on his knee.  His bike, unfortunately, is still totaled.  And I am almost qualified to be the nurse that changes the bed pans.   

I also wanted to share that I tried my mother's sweet and sour recipe again--only this time with pork.  It wasn't quite there, but better.  The extra gob of ketchup helps a lot, but I didn't get the sauce to thicken up like I remember it.  I'm almost thinking I should add the cornstarch at the end, like I normally do when I use it in other recipes.  Next time I'll try that and report back.  For the recipe, see this post. 

So back to this casserole.  Easy stuff.  I had some of my favorite meatballs frozen from my last batch ...

1 lb ground meat
1 clove garlic minced
1 egg
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2-1/4 tsp. parsley (I use the equivalent amount in dried usually)
salt and pepper
1 c. breadcrumbs (I use Panko style)
3/4 c. lukewarm water
1/2 c. olive oil

1.  Mix the beef, garlic, egg, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
2.  Mix in breadcumbs.
3.  Slowly add in water.
4.  Make balls and fry in oil until brown; drain.
5.  Simmer in sauce for 15 minutes.

Normally I cook half of them all the way, and then I freeze the other half after the browning process.  The best way to do this, is place them on a cookie tray or something else flat and put them in the freezer until they stop being soft enough to stick together, then throw them all in a freezer bag.  When you thaw them out later, you can toss them in the pot of sauce until hot.  Try it.  Its amazing.

So for the casserole, I cooked the meatballs in the sauce, proceeded to accidentally slice them with the wrong side of a jacked up paring knife, and layered them with cooked macaroni noodles, shredded cheese and my favorite jarred pasta sauce in a casserole dish, dumped a bunch of cheese on top and placed it in the oven at a random temperature--like 350ish?--for about ten minutes.  I would have used the broiler, but my Corning-wear clearly states not to put it in the broiler on the bottom of it and I wouldn't want to break the rules.  Or my baking dish. 

The casserole turned out yummy, and was a much needed break from boring old spaghetti and meatballs, with basically the same ingredients. 

PS:  I promise to post more!! :)

Chocolate Cheesecake Squares ... preview.

We have both had a crazy, busy week .. but we promised desert! Actually, I promised cupcakes, but instead we brought some very yummy chocolate topped cheesecake bars. Here's is my preview ... Sara's Review is soon to come:

Chicken & Rice Casserole

Tonight we embark on our first food mission.  Well, our first official food mission.  Sara and I have been cooking together for several months now, and the time has come for us to begin documenting our adventures.  Cooking together, for us, has been something that keeps us sane.  We call it our therapy.  There are no husbands and no children in the kitchen when we cook.  Mostly its because no more than two people at a time will fit in either of our kitchens, but we like to believe its because we don't allow them to bother us when we're in the zone.

So here we are, beginning our journey by preparing one of Sara's mom's favorite recipes.  Sara grew up eating her mother's Chicken and Rice Casserole, and now it's her turn to make it for her kids.  I don't have any kids, so my husband was my personal test subject.  And he loved it.

Tonight we dove into Frankie's recipe, as published in her 1994 church fundraiser cook book.  Total preparation and cook time was around an hour.  Step one was to cook the rice--and a good reference point is that one cup of uncooked long grain rice makes three cups of cooked rice, exactly what we needed for this recipe.  Next was the sauce.  After sauteing the onions in the butter, we added the pre-combined flour and spices, mixed, and then added the evaporated milk.  We doubled the mushrooms, partially by mistake and partially from a unrequited love of mushrooms (and it was a fabulous idea). 



While the sauce was thickening, we chopped up the chicken and threw it in a pan with some oil until it was cooked throughout.  Once we had all of our ingredients prepared, we layered the pan first with rice, then the bag of broccoli, followed by the chicken, evenly topped with sauce and sprinkled with cheese.  We used an entire bag of pre-shredded cheese and I personally thought it was a bit much, but three of the four people eating tonight disagreed with me.  Oh well.



 

Now we ask ourselves the five glorious questions that you ask yourself about a recipe:

1.  How did it taste on a scale of 1 to 5?
We both gave it a 4.  It was comfort food all the way, but not quite gourmet. 

2.  How difficult to make was it on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most difficult?
Easy peasy ... we both scored it a 2.  Basic enough so that even a beginning chef could master this.

3.  What was the price range to make it?
Less than $20--pretty affordable for a dish that serves 6 or more.  

4.  Would you make this again?
Yes.  This is a good dish to comfort you on a rainy day or to forget about a crappy day at the office.  Usually I have these types of foods lying around, which makes it easy to throw together in a pinch.  And its even better the next day. 

5.  What would you do differently next time?
I would add less cheese ... Sara would remember to defrost the chicken first.  We really liked it with double the mushrooms and would suggest this. 

If anyone decides to give this recipe a try, we would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions!