I Speak of Dreams

Pizza Casserole? Pizza Casserole! It's Pretty Good -- Even for Breakfast

I'm kind of over pizza. I don't know why. But I still like that ... flavor. And so I went looking for some ways to capture the pizza flavor but without, you know, those boxes. 

Essentially, a pizza is a yeast-dough flatbread topped with a seasoned tomato sauce... and stuff. So if you want to replace the flatbread with something else, but keep the sauce...and stuff, here's how.

So I did this in two steps today. First I prepared the casserole and refrigerated it (because reasons) and then I baked it.  Note that this is an assembly recipe: you could double the amount of meat, for example, without making the recipe not work. This is not true for say, bread recipes or confections or other kinds of recipes where the amounts matter for the success of the recipe. 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Estimate:

• About 30-40 minutes elapsed time for the preparation, noodle-cooking  and browning steps (your mileage may vary; I'm a pretty speedy chopper) 
• 40 to 60 minutes of cooking time. 
  
  Stuff You Will Need:
• Large mixing bowl
• Large skillet (or two)
• Chopping tools: knives, cutting boards
• Big mixing spoons. 
• 9 x 12 (is ) casserole dish, well greased

Shopping (or Pantry) List 

• 6 ounces uncooked noodles (typically, 1/2 a box) I prefer Veggie Rotini
• 1 to 1/2 pound lean ground beef or turkey (I used turkey cause I had some)
• (optional) 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage (uncooked) (If your family likes sausage on their pizza, then decrease beef to 1/2 pound and add in 1/2 pound Italian sausage)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 oz sliced pepperoni sausage, coarsely chopped (in my MegaMart, the smallest sliced pepperoni package is 6 oz.)
• 14-16 ounces pizza sauce (the sauce I like comes in 14 oz bottles).
• 1/4 cup tablespoons milk (I used 2%)
• 1 1/2  cup shredded mozzarella cheese. Set 1/2 cup aside for topping, added at the end of the cooking period.  

Optional Ingredients for Shopping or Pantry List

• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1 small can sliced black olives (optional)
• 1/4 julienned sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

Assembly Instructions

1. (if cooking immediately) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cook the noodles as usual in a large pot.
3. While the noodles are doing their thing, use a spoon or portion scoop to make little clumps of sausage (if using) and brown on all sides. You are kind of going for little balls, but don’t stress. I portioned the sausage all at once, and browned it in 2 stages. Crowding the pan slows down the browning.'
4. While the sausage is browning, mince the garlic and chop the onion.
5. The noodles will probably be done by this time. Drain and
6. Add noodles to the large bowl, and toss with the pizza sauce, milk, and 1 cup of the cheese. 
7. Have a plate and paper towels ready to receive the browned sausage. I used a slotted spoon to remove the browned sausage, leaving the fat in the pan for the next round.
8. Portion the ground beef or turkey just like you did the sausage, and proceed with the browning. I used a separate plate for the turkey but it did not require draining.
9. When the sausage and turkey or beef are browned, on comes the onions and garlic (and bell pepper if you are using them) to the skillet. You might want to reduce the heat a little. Sauté until just translucent and set aside. 
10. Coarsely chop the sliced pepperoni. You don't want tiny bits but you don't want whole rounds, either. 
11. If you want to shorten the preparation duration, you can be sautéing the onions and garlic while the meat is browning. I didn’t need to and I wanted the sausage flavor with the onion/garlic mixture.
12. If there is a lot of fat left over after the onion and garlic has finished cooking, drain into a heat-proof container and refrigerate... to use for example to grease the pan for scrambled eggs. Yum, sausage flavored eggs. 
13. To the noodle/sauce/cheese mixture in the big mixing bowl,  add the meats and vegetables (including the olives and tomatoes if using) and toss well, just like you would for a tossed salad. 
14. At this point, you can put a pause in the action. You can refrigerate the bowl of prepared casserole (bowls fit better into my refrigerator that the casserole pan) or go directly to baking. I'd hold the refrigeration action to less than a day, though. 
15. Transfer the mixture from the mixing bowl to the baking dish.  I have a lasagna pan that I use for these kind of dishes; any approximately 9 x 12 pan that is fairly deep will work. Cover with aluminum foil and bake as follows.  
16. If you are going directly to the baking step, you might want to allow 40 minutes overall: 30 minutes for cooking covered, then the next step. If you are doing the refrigerated version, I'd allow 60 minutes overall. 
17. For the last 10 minutes of cooking, uncover the dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella over the casserole. Bake for the last 10 minutes and remove from the oven.
18. Personally I always allow casseroles to rest for 10 minutes or so before serving. 

How Many Will this Serve?

I think you could safely say at least 6 normal adults, with maybe leftovers. Adolescent boys, now.... well, at least two. Maybe.  

Tweaks:

1. If you are making this for a tomato-loving family, you could (a) double the amount of pizza sauce for a more liquidy casserole -- or use diced canned tomatoes. I didn't, because my bunch likes tomatoes as a condiment, not a standout ingredient. 
2. If your bunch likes other kinds of pizzas (Hawaiian was a favorite at one point) just delete the ground beef and sausage, add in the ham and pineapple for that example. 
3. A wholly vegetarian pizza casserole: delete the meat parts and add in about 2-3 cups of cooked vegetables of your choice. 

 

I Was Going to Make Deviled Eggs, But...

(Photo by Marshall Astor from San Pedro, United States [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons )

So we had 2 dozen eggs sitting around for a week, so I thought, deviled eggs!  I looooove deviled eggs. 

So instead of boiling the eggs, I thought I'd try out baking them instead. I used Alton Brown's directions.  This turned out  to be, in the words of my people, "Not a good plan."

First off, the eggs were very difficult to peel. The whites stuck tight to the shell, leaving me with many not-perfect little white cases for the deviled eggs. Why oh why? I thought old eggs were easier to peel and almost guaranteed perfect little eggs. 

I turned to the internet. J. Kenji López-Alt , writing at Serious Eats' The Food Lab, explained The Hard Truth About Boiled Eggs: 

Slow-cooked egg whites bond more strongly with the membrane on the inside of an egg shell.

The next problem came when I sliced the eggs open. I had followed Alton Brown's directions, but I'd propped the eggs, wide-side-down,  in my silicone mini-bundt cake mold (the miffin tin was in use as a sorting device).  The egg yolks looked like this, only with the undercooked part at the bottom. Oh well, the undercooked yolks were solid enough; the evidence would disappear in the salad.

Although I have a Cuisinart  food processor, I diced* the eggs with a knife, and then diced enough celery to equal 3/4 of the volume of the eggs (by eyeball), added some diced red onion, a little diced red bell pepper, a bit of sweet relish, about a teaspoon of Blenditup Southwest Spice Blend, and some mayonnaise. Seriously the spice blend was the only thing I actually measured.  

 

I ate a bit right away -- in a cup, because I did not have any non-stale bread in the house. The texture was just right, but the flavor was a little bland. Oh well, the spice blend takes a little while to bloom, I know from using it before, so I set it to refrigerate over night. 

Oh, oops again. The next morning, when I went to make an egg salad sandwich, the egg salad was more like soup. If I had put it on bread, the bread would have turned into a soggy inedible mess in a femtosecond,  even with a mayonnaise layer on the bread. 

Or even this problem.

D'oh. Since I hadn't made egg salad in a while, I had forgotten that the crunchy bits tend to bleed lose water by the process of osmosis, because the saline concentration in the mayonnaise/spice blend mix is higher than that in the celery, onion, and bell pepper bits.  

So I stirred up the egg salad, and spooned it onto some romaine ribs, kind of folded them like a package, and ate with gusto. 

 

What are the take-aways?

1. If you want pretty peeled eggs, steam them according to this instructional from J. Kenji.
2. If you are going to make egg salad with crunchy vegetables to be served a day after preparation, figure out how to deal with the extra liquid that will be released by the crunch factor.

I may have some additional thoughts. Stand by.

 

 

Meyer Lemon Curd

Meyer Lemon Curd

 

You’ll need:

 

A double boiler, bain marie, or McGyver-style: heat-proof bowl (metal is best, or heat-proof glass; just make sure it’s heat-proof) and a saucepan big enough to hold the bowl over, not in, simmering water.

 

A container for the finished lemon curd (I prefer a glass bowl)
Enough plastic wrap to cover the container

 

1/4 pound of butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs; you’ll be using only the yolks.
4 to 6 Meyer lemons, depending on size

 

How to select the lemons: rub the rind and smell the fragrance. Choose the ones that are most Meyer-like (sweeter and more floral than regular lemons).

 

Cut the butter up into small slices or cubes, and put back into the refrigerator to chill.

 

Goal: end up with 1/3 of a cup of juice and at least 3 tablespoons of zest. I am for about a 50-50 mix, because I like the texture of the curd with lots of zest; your mileage may vary.

 

Wash the lemons with soap and warm water; rinse well and pat dry.
Working over a bowl or plate, using a microplane (best) or citrus zester, remove just the outer rind. If you’re not sure how, here’s a short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2phFht2JMA. Measure the zest.

Then, juice the lemons. If you don’t have quite enough, you may add up to 1/2 tablespoon of water. If you have too much juice, set aside for another idea, lemony meringue tarts.

 

Carefully separate the eggs so there’s no yolk in the whites. Set the whites aside.

 

Start the water simmering in the saucepan. Check that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.

 

Place the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl, and whisk briskly for about a minute, until smooth. Try not to incorporate too much air. In a thin, slow stream, whisk in the lemon juice, then the zest. Continue until mixture is smooth.

 

Place the bowl with the mixture over the simmering water and reduce the heat. Whisk the mixture over the heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (the last time, it took about 9 minutes). Be sure to whisk pretty constantly.

 

Remove the bowl from over the hot water, but leave the saucepan on the stove (you might need to reheat the mixture a little.)

 

Whisk in the butter, working one piece at a time. Each piece must be melted in completely before adding the next. This last time, I had to put the mixture back over the hot water for the last few pats of the butter.

 

When all the butter is melted in, transfer the mixture to your clean container and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down onto the warm surface of the curd. Refrigerate.

 

It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 14 days, but I’ve never been able to make it last that long.

 

 

Enjoy

Stockton Salad

My daughter, Jumper Girl, calls this "Christmas Salad".   I ate it all before I took a picture.  

Ingredients (for one greedy person or four folk as a starter)

• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• 1 small avocado
• 4 green onions
• 1/2 to 1 cup canned mandarin oranges
• Your choice of vinaigrette (see suggestion)

Method

• Separate the lettuce into leaves, rinse thoroughly, and dry
• Tear leaves into bite-size pieces; place in serving bowl
• Wash and slice the green onions into rounds as thin as you can manage, up to the point where the white becomes mostly green.  Place in serving bowl
• Using a sharp knife, halve the avocado. Use the knife to separate the halves. Whack the knife into the seed and twist free.
• Using a table knife, slice then cross-slice the avocado meat into bite-size dice. Working over the serving bowl, invert the avocado's skin, which will make most of the dice fall into the bowl.  Use the table knife to free the clingy bits.
• Drain the canned mandarin oranges, reserving the juice (see suggestion) and add to serving bowl

Suggestion re vinaigrette

I usually put this together in a jar with a lid:

• 1/3 cup (5 tablespoons) liquid (I use about half water and half of the canned mandarin orange syrup
• 1/3 cup (5 tablespoons) vinegar (I use rice wine vinegar)
• 1/3 cup (5 tablespoons) oil (I use 3 tablespoons bland oil, like canola, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons of a nut oil like hazelnut oil, plus a generous splash of sesame oil)
• 2 or 3 grinds of pepper
• 2 or 3 shakes of a salt blend like Lawry's
• about 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

Shake hard, and use to dress the salad just before serving

 

 

Three citrus cranberry relish (make at least a day ahead)

One day ahead 3 citrus cranberry relish

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• pinch ground allspice
• pinch ground nutmeg
• 2 clementines (small, sweet oranges sold as "Cuties" in California) with flawless skin
• 1 serving (4 oz.) Dole Mandarin Orange Fruit Bowl packed in juice
• 1/2 small navel orange OR 2 T frozen orange juice concentrate (my preference)
• 1 12-ounce packages fresh cranberries
• 1/2 to 1 cup sugar

Tools

• Food processor
• Zester or microplane
• 2 cup container (I prefer a glass bowl with cover), but a jar is fine.

Method

1. Wash the cranberries and pick through them, discarding any stems or damaged berries.
2. Wash the unpeeled clementines thoroughly (I use soap and water, with copious rinsing)
3. Fit the chopping blade to the food processor and make sure the blade is seated properly.
4. Place the spices, 1/2 cup of sugar, and the clean cranberries in the bowl of the food processor.
5. Open the fruit bowl and empty, juice and all, into the bowl of the food processor.
6. Working over the bowl of the food processor, zest the clementines, then peel, discarding the peel.
7. Separate the clementines into segments and check for seeds. Remove the white strings. Place in the bowl of the food processor.
8. (If using frozen orange juice concentrate): place the concentrate in the bowl of the food processor.
9. (If using a navel orange): Working over the food processor bowl, peel 1/2 of the orange, using a sharp knife, on the stem-to-navel hemisphere, so you remove the outer edge of each section. The juice should drip into the bowl. Discard the peel. Using a sharp knife, cut each section free, as you would with a grapefruit, and allow the sections to drop into the bowl, removing any seeds.
10. Put the cover on the bowl and pulse, briefly, pausing to push down the mixture as necessary. Your goal is for the mixture to be of uniform size, but not a purée.
11. Refrigerate overnight, and add sugar if necessary or to taste.

Will keep in refrigerator up to 7 days

Sean Timberlake's Three-Day Pickled Cranberries

Three-day Pickled Cranberries. 

Yield: 1 1/2 cups 

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice berries
• 1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/8 teaspoon whole juniper berries (or 2 berries)
• 1 12-ounce packages fresh cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into chunks

Tools

• 1 quart or larger stainless steel or enamel saucepan (do not use aluminum or copper).
• 1 2 cup container (I prefer a glass bowl with cover), but a jar is fine.

Method

1. Place the allspice berries, cloves, black peppercorns and juniper berries in a water-permeable, heat-proof container, such as a large tea strainer or a square of cheesecloth.
2. Wash the cranberries and pick through them, discarding any stems or damaged berries.
3. Place the apple cider vinegar, sugar, spice packet, and cinnamon in the saucepan and bring to a full boil.
4. Add the cleaned cranberries, and bring back to a full boil. Cook until the berries pop, about 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and remove the spice packet.
6. Allow to cool, then place into into your chosen container.
7. Refrigerate for at least 3 days.

Will stay good in the refrigerator up to 3 months.

Source: http://blog.cookingchanneltv.com/2013/11/26/pickled-cranberries-not-your-grandmothers-cranberry-sauce/, which also has canning instructions.  

If you like Sean's writing, check out Hedonia, his blog.

 

 

 

Jacques Littlefield's Memorial Chili Dog Doritos Casserole--2013 Edition

Today is the 64th anniversary of Jacques' birth. He had a real taste for...well not haut cuisine. 

Original recipe narrative, which is much funnier

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/011758.html

Chili-Dog Casserole by Sean Craven

Ingredients:

• 1 12 oz. bag of Ranch-flavored Doritos
• 1 16 oz. package of Nathan’s Famous hot dogs (skinless)
•  4 15 oz. cans Dennison’s original chili con carne (or Hormel or Wolf)
• 4 cups pre-shredded orange cheddar cheese, any brand (cheaper is better)
• 1/2 lb. extra-sharp cheddar (white, if you can get it), sliced thin
• About a quarter-cup of French’s yellow mustard 

(optional if your diners like spicy)

• 1/4 lb pepper cheese, Havarti or jack; reduce sliced extra-sharp cheddar to 1/4 lb.
• Vlasic pickled nacho rings or pickled jalapenos (add to your taste to the hot dog layer)

Tools

• Mixing bowl
• Saute pan
• Lasagna pan or pan measuring about 13 in x 9 in x 2 in.

Procedure

Serving time minus several hours (or even day before)

• Slice the hotdogs lengthwise into quarters, then thinly crosswise (about 1/4" wide)
• Saute the hotdogs briefly to brown
•  Remove to bowl, add the mustard, and toss. You can do this the night before, if you wish.

Serving time minus 1 hour or more

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Open one bag of Doritos and crush roughly -- you want large, flat pieces.
• Take out a large handful of chips and set aside.
• Open the bags of shredded cheese. Take out a handful and set aside.

Assemble the layers as follows:

One:

• Doritos (scatter just enough to cover bottom of pan)
• Shredded cheese, about a cup, scattered evenly over previous layer
• One quarter of the hot dogs, scattered evenly over previous layer
• One quarter of the sliced cheese, layered evenly over previous
• One can of chili, spread as evenly as possible over previous layers

Two:

• Doritos (scatter just enough to cover previous)
•  Shredded cheese, about a cup, scattered evenly over previous layer
• One quarter of the hot dogs
•  One quarter of the sliced cheese
• One can of chili, spread as evenly as possible over previous layers

Three:

• Doritos (scatter just enough to cover previous)
• Shredded cheese, about a cup, scattered evenly over previous layer
• One quarter of the hot dogs
•  One quarter of the sliced cheese
•  One can of chili, spread as evenly as possible over previous layers

Four:

• Doritos (scatter just enough to cover previous)
• Shredded cheese, about a cup, scattered evenly over previous layer
•  One quarter of the hot dogs
•  One quarter of the sliced cheese
• One can of chili, spread as evenly as possible over previous layers

Topping

The Doritos should be all used up. If not, no worries. Return reserved Doritos to bag and crush very finely, to crumbs. Put reserved cheese in Doritos bag & shake until crumbs & cheese thoroughly mixed.

Spread Doritos - cheese mixture over top of chili.

Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes, until center is hot.

Serve. And honey? This is how I feel.

----

Today, Jacques's longtime pal Sue D. and I went out to lunch at a local Chinese cuisine restaurant. We did not order lemon chicken, but we did talk about how much it was his favorite dish.

Fingerling potatoes, how I love you

For the last couple of weeks, I've been mostly going out for meals.  It is a long story of no interest.

Anyway, I was at the MegaMart this afternoon, and spotted a 1.5 pound bag of fingerling potatoes. I bought them, I scrubbed them, and I steamed them over water scented with bay leaves and onion powder.  

I ate them hot two ways: with just a brush of butter and lemon, and then another set with a bead of store-bought mayonnaise* and a grind of fresh 3-color pepper.  

Both were delicious.

The remainder went in the refrigerator to chill and do fun things with tomorrow, like dill-cumin yoghurt. 

Boiling fingerlings makes the little ones soggy and the big ones still kind of...crisp. Steaming is the perfect answer. 

-----

*yes, I can make mayonnaise, and for some applications it is superior.  But we are talking tastes of childhood here, and only Best Foods will do.  

Tomatoes for beginners: Tomato water

You know how ski resorts grade their runs, beginner (green circle), intermediate (blue square), advanced (black diamond), and expert (double black diamond)?  

To me, tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes, are a double-black diamond foodstuff. Think about it.  You put a little smooth round thing, almost tasteless, in your mouth and bite down.  KAPOW!  An explosion of at least four textures and tastes: the smooth tough skin, the slightly-crunchy pulp, the jelly surrounding the seeds, and then the seeds themselves.

What if you want to try out how a tomato tastes without all the fireworks?  There's something for that: tomato water.

The Recipe Aisle: In which I waste two perfectly good portabella mushrooms on a bad dressin

I really love portabella mushrooms (mature, farmed Agaricus bisporus, as in the image, image source ).  I especially love them grilled.   And the best grilling marinade is a raspberry vinegar.

I thought I had at least a cup of raspberry vinegar in my pantry when I went to the market this afternoon.  I was wrong.    

 

 

So I thought I could substitute this Wishbone commercial product, 

"Superfruit Berry Vinaigrette"

Yuck.  No.  Totally wrong.

It smells and tastes like tutti-fruiti bubblegum, and somehow, the grilling just intensified the artificiality of the flavor.

This would be equally inedible fresh, on salad.

Inedible.  I am sorry, mushrooms, but it's the compost heap for you.