MONDAY RECIPE POST - MAKE-AHEAD GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Even though there are many recipes available for this particular dish, my recipe comes from Food Network.  (I forgot to take a photo of this dish.  I will add one the next time it is made.  In the meantime you can see a photo on their website here.)  

Make-ahead Green Bean Casserole 
6 to 8 servings

1-1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 pound of button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to keep this vegetarian)
1/2 cup of half-and-half
Freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 cups prepared fried onions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Add the green beans and cook until crisp-tender, but still a bright green.  This takes about ten minutes.

Drain and shake off any excess moisture; set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat.

Add the onions and cook, stirring until soft, about 8 minutes.  

Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt, and continue to cook, stirring until they are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated, about ten minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir until all the flour has been absorbed, about 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth, half and half, 3/4 teaspoon of salt and several grinds of pepper.

Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  This will take about 5 minutes.

Remove pot from the heat, add the green beans and stir into the sauce until they are well-coated.  

Transfer the mixture to a 3-quart baking dish.

Let it cool to room temperature, and then wrap well with aluminum foil.  Label and date.  You can freeze up to 2 weeks.  (I didn't have to do this as I made it up the day before, and left it in the fridge overnight.)  

To serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

If frozen, discard the foil from the casserole.  Cover with new foil and bake until warmed through, about 45 minutes.  Uncover and top with the fried onions.  Continue to bake until the casserole is hot and bubby, and the onions have crisped slightly.  This will take about 20 minutes more.  

Serve and enjoy.

Cook's Note:

You can serve right away instead of freezing.  Just top the green bean mixture with the fried onions just before putting in the oven, and bake until the casserole is hot and bubbly, and the onions have crisped slightly, 25 to 30 minutes.  

This was on the table at Thanksgiving, and is a Gregg favorite.  His mother was a great cook and she used to make it for him when he was growing up, along with many other delicious meals.

I also learned a lot from my own mother, and I wish I could tell her now how I thought her a terrific cook.  Our mums are unsung heroes in many ways.  My Mum's Sunday Roasts were incredible, and I will be thinking of her when I make her Standing Rib Roast and Yorkshire Pudding, along with all the fixings for our Christmas meal.  

(Mum would have enjoyed this green bean casserole, especially if they were made with Dad's fresh-from-the-garden green beans.  We had one of those little cutters which fashioned them into French-style, the only way I like beans now really.  I enjoyed working at the kitchen table as she fixed the rest of our dinner. These simple chores she gave me are good memories.  It may also be a childhood nostalgia memory for me, but I have never tasted anything better than Mum's cooking, nor Dad's fresh-from-the-garden vegetables.)

Gregg gave me a big thumb's up when I asked if he would like me to make this again for our Christmas Meal.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope your week is a great one.

MONDAY RECIPE POST - PALEO CAULIFLOWER MASH

Cauliflower Mash - Paleo - serves 2
by Gus

I found this recipe here.

This is a healthier alternative to Mashed Potatoes, even though we are not on a paleo diet. We love mashed potatoes in our family but on the ever hunt for cooking healthier, we fit things into our menu quite often.  Of course, they have to taste great.  We are kind of picky that way.

Preparation time:  5 minutes
Cooking time:     10 minutes
Total time:           15 minutes  

1 cauliflower, cut into florets
1-4 tablespoons organic coconut oil (can be substituted using butter/ghee)
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
Salt and Pepper

Steam or boil the cauliflower so that it is tender.  Drain in a colander and place into a food processor with the oil and garlic.  Blend until smooth.

Serve and enjoy!

Guy added the following cooking tips.

"If you want this paleo mashed cauliflower to be super smooth with no lumps at all, then simply push it through a sieve using a spoon.  This may take some time but the end result is a lovely silky smooth cauliflower mash.  If it does end up taking you too long, then be sure to reheat it by placing it back into a pot over low to medium heat.

If you don't have a food blender, then you are still able to mash the cauliflower by hand.  This will take a bit longer and will also be harder to get it nice and smooth.  You can use the tip I mentioned above once you have mashed it to get it to a similar silkiness to the food processor method.

If you are not a fan of garlic make sure you remove it!  The recipe will still taste pretty good without it.  

If you are finding the mash a little too thick for your liking, you can add some almond milk to help thin it out a bit.  I would recommend adding roughly 1/4 cup of almond milk but make sure you slowly add it until you get the consistency you prefer.

If you're interested in other cauliflower dishes, then be sure to check out the super cauliflower rice (found here).  Like this dish the rice is fantastic as either a side dish or to go alongside a protein or similar in a meal."

What did we think?  This turned out a truly delicious side dish.  Tell you the truth we were both surprised how much we enjoyed it.  We like cauliflower a lot but normally have had it steamed in florets, or with cheese sauce as in cauliflower cheese.   It is a keeper and we will be making it again.

Mine came out thinner than I expected and that's probably the way it should be as it is a lot lighter in every way than potatoes.  I actually used two heads of cauliflower as I wanted leftovers to heat up the next day and only used four tablespoons of butter, but I may try cutting down on the amount, which was what I used instead of the coconut oil (I didn't have in my pantry supplies. It will go on the shopping list).  Gregg just said he enjoyed it very much and not to mess around with the ingredients.  He loved it as is.  And there are leftovers for tomorrow.

The photos show it sprinkled liberally with freshly ground black pepper. 

If you are following a Paleo diet here is what I read online.

"Still others say that specifically butter can be part of the Paleo diet, because it differs from other milk products, specifically low fat or skim milk products, in that its higher fat content could potentially lower the glycemic load.   They recommend using only grass fed butter which has then been clarified."

Macaroni and Cheese with Sliced Hot Dogs

This should say Penne and Cheese as when I went to look for a box of elbow macaroni in the pantry, all I came out with was a 12 oz. box of gluten free Penne pasta.  The 'gluten free' was a surprise as we normally have regular.  I must have picked up the box by mistake.  

I felt like I was making this for a child again as I also added sliced hotdogs.  Well, big kids enjoy their hotdogs too.  I asked Gregg, would you like hotdogs for a change a couple of nights ago and there were a few left over, so we tossed them into the pasta.  Talk about getting back in touch with your inner child.  It was so good!

Macaroni and Cheese - 4 to 6 servings

12 oz. box of Penne pasta, or you can use elbow macaroni
2 cups grated Cheddar Cheese
4 hotdogs, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup buttered fresh breadcrumbs


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the Penne in salted water according to package directions.

In the meantime grease a medium sized casserole dish with cooking spray or a little butter.

Saute the sliced hotdogs until they are nice and brown. 

When the pasta is ready, drain thoroughly and then put the drained pasta back into the pan you used to cook pasta.  It is usually advised to pour cold water over the top of the drained pasta and then drain again, but I am never patient enough to do this step.  

So, now that you have it all back in the pan, mix in the seasoned salt, cayenne pepper and then the grated cheese.  When it is nice and gooey, fold in the sliced hotdogs.  

Now you can put the pasta in your casserole dish.  

Mix the half cup of milk with the egg and pour that over the top of the pasta.

By this time I have already taken any day old bread, how many slices depends on how big the loaf is (I used three small slices of sourdough this time).  Toss the slices in the blender and press the pulse button until you have relatively fine breadcrumbs.  They don't have to be too fine.  Mix in the melted butter.  Spread the breadcrumbs evenly over the pasta.

Pop in the 350 degree oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top.

~~~~~~

What did we think of our meal?  Comfort food at its best.  

We had been out for several hours and wanted something fast to put on the table.  Gregg likes to get in the kitchen, which makes it a lot of fun to put a meal together when there is two of us cutting the work in half.  He cooked the hotdogs while I was putting the casserole ingredients together, and he also made the salad.

Salad was whatever we had on hand: lettuce, leftover peas from yesterday's dinner, diced tomatoes and diced sweet red pepper.  He also grilled some onions in a little olive oil, mixes in the veggies and puts this mixture on top of the lettuce.  It is nice and warm and wilts the lettuce a little.  Very tasty and you don't need to add any extra dressing.

I wouldn't alter anything about this meal because it is yummy.  

You can alter the veggies for the salad to whatever your favorites may be.  

You can leave the hotdogs out or add another preferred meat.  

The possibilities are endless.  

I didn't use a recipe as this is something I have been putting together for many years, whenever we have wanted some good old fashioned comfort food.  We never seem to cook it the same way twice.