Meatless Mondays

I thought that I would make Mondays a day that you can count on me to post a recipe without any meat in it. No my friends, don't think vegetarian. We are afterall a family of carnivores. Think great side dishes, desserts, breads, etc. Any recipe that is meatless.

The recipe that I am going to post today is for my Chipotle Corn Casserole. I made this a few years back to take to a neighborhood 4th of July party and man was it a hit. One man at the party let me know that he was going to have some for dessert too. You know, there are some flavors that I feel were just made for each other. Chipotle and Corn is high on that list. Other examples might be mushrooms and thyme, lamb and rosemary, peaches and almond, chocolate and coffee, peanuts and Coca-Cola (I am still a GA girl at heart). You kind of get the idea. Some flavors just set each other off beautifully. So here goes the recipe. If you like things with a little bit of spice, this is definitly a must try.

Chipotle Corn Casserole

2 large eggs
1 ½ c. sour cream
(2) 15.25 oz cans of corn, drained
12 oz. Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
12 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
½ c. bread crumbs (store bought)
4 oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
1 T. Chipotle Pepper powder
1 c. chopped sweet onion (Vidalia if possible)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 glass or ceramic pan. Mix all of the above ingredients together, reserving ¾ of a cup of each cheese to sprinkle on top later. You may have to use your hands to get it all well mixed. Place mixture into buttered pan, and bake 30 – 40 minutes, or until set. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and bake an additional 5 - 10 minutes, until cheese has melted. Makes 10+ servings.

Note: If using a deep casserole dish, bake at same temperature, for a longer time. (45 min. to an hour.)

Rainy days and Chicken and Dumplings

It is a gloomy rainy day here in the Low Country. They expect it to be this way for the rest of the weekend. I remember that when I was a child these were my favorite days to pull out a coloring book, and start my next masterpiece.

I guess things haven't changed a whole lot. The main difference now is that instead of a coloring book it is a cookbook, and rather than crayons and markers, it is measuring cups and spatulas. Rainy days now make me want to bake. Honestly, baking is not one of my strong points. It does not allow me the creative freedom that other sorts of recipes do. Precision is not one of my strong points. But still a batch of lunchroom rolls sure does sound good on a day like today.

Dinner tonight will be plain and simple. A big pot of chicken and dumplings. They warm your tummy and your soul in such an amazing way. For those of you who are newer friends, you may not know that I was raised by my Great Grandparents. Chicken and Dumplings always make me feel close to my Nanny again. She could stand over the stove and cook dumplings for the whole mess of us. One batch would finish, everyone would get a serving, and she would be back at the pot adding more dumplings. I know I have seen her make as many as 4 batches in the same pot. The chicken was just kind of an afterthought sitting on the side for you to pick at if you wanted to. Though I make my dumplings a little different than she did (I actually put the chicken into the stew), the love that goes into them is the same.

I think that the love we put into our food is truly what makes it exceptional. When I cook, I sincerely care about how that food is going to make the person eating it feel. You should know that if I cook for you, it is because I care about you. Sick friends get homemade chicken noodle soup, sad friends get chocolate cake. Really good friends get all kinds of recipes to test. That is just how I was raised.

Not keeping up with my recipes

This week has not been so good as far as pushing out the recipes goes. My goal of 5 a day has definitely not been achieved!!! So far this week we have made:



Hamburger Pie
Sauteed Mushrooms
Garlic Monkey Brains
Southern Sweet Tea (yes, there are plenty of people who don't have a clue how to make this)
Roasted Asparagus
Pound Cake
Chicken Salad



That only yields us about 2 recipes per day. So today, I am going to do a little bit of catch up. Here is what I will be making:



Fried Catfish
Asian Coleslaw
Collard Greens
Hush Puppies
Red Velvet Cake
Banana Pudding
Pickled Onions (which are actually quite tasty)



I think that I might start posting a recipe of the day (only on the days that I choose to blog of course), so here goes:



Hamburger Pie

1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion diced
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
2 premade pie shells

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef and onions over medium heat. If beef has a lot of fat, drain it off. Stir in the soups and salt and pepper. Beat the egg and add to the mixture stirring quickly to incorporate. Put one of the pie shells in a pie plate, add the meat mixture and cover with other pie shell. Crimp edges and cut a few slits in the top of the crust. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes (until shell browns). Allow to cool 10 minutes before cutting or you will have a mess.

You can also add some mushrooms or green beans to the recipe to up the vegetables.

Hope you will give it a try, as it is actually quite good!