Unexpected Company Casserole

Anyone home?

There you are, minding your own business and thinking about all the things you have to get done ...... and the door bell chimes or the phone rings and you've got company at the door or coming over soon!! Immediately the mind begins to race - will they still be here at dinner time? What do I have in the cabinets/fridge/freezer to feed these folks? Well, fear drop-in company no more because here is a 'comfort food' sort of casserole that you can throw together in minutes and serve in an hour from the time you put it in the oven.

The original recipe came from Campbell's Soup and I've modified it a little bit. Also, I doubled it for a 9 x 13 pan (8-10 people) and that is the quantity I'll give - just cut the ingredients in half if you want an 8 x 8 pan or 12 x 7 (4, maybe 6 people). We serve this with something like cinnamon apples and a dinner roll ..... voila! easy, tasty, hot dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup
• 3-1/2 cups of water
• 1-1/2 cups of long grain white rice
• 2 teaspoons of onion powder
• 4 cups frozen vegetables (note: a 1 lb. frozen bag of carrots, green beans, corn & peas is perfect. You can use whatever vegetables you like.)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• chicken - you will need enough chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces (& cooked) to cover the bottom of the 9 x 13 pan or whatever size pan you are using. 
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. If you have made your chicken chunks ahead & frozen them, just thaw in the microwave and use; otherwise, cut chicken breasts (fresh or frozen that has been thawed) into bite-sized chunks. Add a tablespoon or two of oil to a large pan and add the chopped onion and chicken chunks, cook until chicken is just done. The onion should be soft and translucent. (see 'cooking notes' on chicken for comments on fresh, frozen, make ahead, etc.)
3. Put the Cream of Chicken soup in a large bowl, add the water, then stir/whisk until all is mixed and smooth.
4. Add onion powder, frozen veggies, rice and chicken chunks/onion and stir until combined. Make sure the veggies are separated since frozen veggies like to clump when they hit the warmer soup mixture.
5. Spoon casserole into a 9 x 13 pan.
6. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10 minutes.
7. Put cheese on top and return to the oven until melted. You can also run it under the broiler until the cheese is melted.

Cooking notes:

• I found the casserole to be too soupy after 45 minutes which is why I give it another 10 minutes in the oven uncovered. After that, it 'sets up' quite nicely after being removed from the oven and allowed to rest for a few minutes.

• The chicken can be handled a variety of ways. Of course, you can always use fresh chicken if you have it available. I use frozen chicken breasts, thaw them in the microwave, then cut into chunks. This is a particularly good way to use those odd not-quite-a breast pieces left in a bag of frozen chicken breasts. You can also just plunk whole (thawed if using frozen) chicken breasts on top of the rest of the casserole - this is what the original recipe did - 4 whole chicken breasts on top of the soup/rice/veggie mixture. If the chicken is chunked, it is much easier to serve and less chicken will go farther in the casserole. To make ahead, take your cooked chicken chunks and freeze them .... when company pops in, just thaw in the microwave and they are ready for the casserole.

• Cheese - this is the most problematic item (in my opinion) to keep on hand for unexpected guests. Since cheese is so easy to put on everything, it tends to disappear quickly! The chicken can be frozen and a box of rice, cans of soup and frozen veggies are not an issue, so what to do about cheese?  It turns out cheese can also be frozen - either freeze a bag of grated cheese or freeze a block of cheese and then grate it as you need it. It can be thawing while the casserole is in the oven for 45 minutes. Frozen cheese may change consistency somewhat, but it is perfect for cooking. You can freeze it in the original packaging (preferable) or wrap it in plastic wrap, then put it in a freezer bag.

 (Photo: Merlot)

Grits & Greens Casserole

I found this recipe in a novel ..... but all I remember is that the novel was a pretty good one and not the name of the book or the Southern Belle who did the cooking. This interesting dish combines two Southern classics .... grits and greens and it is definitely 'comfort' food rather than 'health' food.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whipping cream or half-and-half
• 8 cups chicken broth, divided
• 2 cups grits - not instant or quick cooking
• 1 lg. bag frozen collard greens
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 1/2 cups parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup cooked and crumbled bacon

Directions:

1. Grease 13 x 9 casserole.
2. Combine cream and 6 cups chicken broth and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in grits and cook over medium heat until grits return to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer, and stir frequently to keep from burning 25 - 30 minutes.
4. Add milk if needed to thicken to proper consistency. If you are Southern, you know what that is. If not, think of slightly runny oatmeal.
5. While grits are simmering, cook frozen collards with remaining 2 cups of chicken broth until tender, about ten minutes.
6. Drain well in colander, squeezing out remaining liquid.
7. Add butter, parmesan, and pepper to cooked grits and stir till butter is melted.
8. Stir in cooked greens and spoon into greased casserole.
9. Top with additional parmesan and crumbled bacon.
10. Dish can be served at room temperature or heated in 350 degree oven until browned on top.

Ultimate Chicken Casserole

"This is a great comfort-food recipe that is easily put together. The original recipe calls for curry powder, which adds a really distinct flavor." (Reprinted in the RTD, from Betty Crocker's Living with Cancer Cookbook)

Ingredients (makes 8-10 servings):

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 pounds chicken breast tenders (not breaded)
• 2 (10 oz.) packages frozen broccoli spears, thawed and drained
• 1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 1 (10-3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon curry, if desired
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 (1.8 oz.) can French-fried Onions
• 1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenders, working in batches if necessary, and cook chicken 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is lightly browned and no longer pink in the center.
3. In an ungreased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish, layer broccoli spears, water chestnuts and browned chicken.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, milk and curry powder. Pour mixture over chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle with cheese, bread crumbs, onions and almonds.
5. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer, or until broccoli is tender.

Cook's note: To make ahead, cover baked casserole with aluminum foil. Freeze no longer than 2 months. To reheat, remove the casserole from the freezer one hour before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake in covered baking dish for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 minutes or until hot.

Overnight French Toast

With apples, nuts and syrupy brown sugar, this breakfast casserole is a real treat. I've made it for company several times. You do have eggs in it, but there is no meat so serving bacon or sausage on the side is a nice addition.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
• Loaf of French or Italian bread
• 5 eggs (can substitute Egg Beaters)
• 1-1/2 cups milk (can substitute skim milk)
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Quarter, core, peel and slice the apples into 1/4-inch thick wedges.
2. Cut the bread into 3/4-inch angled slices.
3. Combine sugar, butter and syrup in a heavy sauce pan & heat until syrupy.
4. Pour the syrup into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish.
5. Layer sliced apples on the syrup in the baking dish.
6. Sprinkle the nuts on top of the apples.
7. Fit the bread slices tightly over the apples and nuts.
8. Blend eggs, milk and vanilla and pour over all.
9. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until lightly brown on the top and done.

Serves 6

Baked Cheese, Egg & Sausage Breakfast Casserole

(Aunt Lee)

The very first time I had this casserole was when visiting Aunt Lee as a little girl in Vermont.  My mom especially loves the sauce that you serve with it. Since you do all the cooking and put the casserole together the night before, it's ready to pop in the oven first thing in the morning. It's a big timesaver if you have company and the preparation the night before gives you a chance to relax and enjoy your guests at breakfast. I'm awarding "bonus points" to this casserole for two reasons: your family/company can wake up to the delicious smell of it baking and it definitely meets my definition of "comfort food".

Ingredients:

• 8 slices bread, cubed
• 1 lb. cheese (Velveeta), shredded
• 1 lb. sausage, cooked & crumbled
• 8-10 eggs
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. dry mustard
• paprika to taste
• 4 cups milk

Directions:

1. Line buttered (greased) 9 x 13 pan with bread cubes.
2. Sprinkle with cheese & sausage.
3. Mix remaining ingredients & pour over the casserole.
4. Refrigerate overnight.
5. Bake covered 50 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Uncover & bake 10 minutes.

Sauce:

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• chopped pimento

Mix & heat, do not boil. This makes more than enough sauce for the recipe.


My recipe notes:

• I have found that whenever a casserole calls for cubed bread (and many breakfast casseroles do), a heartier bread, something like Pepperidge Farm, holds up better and works best.
• I used 10 eggs and my casserole cooked over the edge of my pan so I'm only going to use 8 eggs next time.
• A cookie sheet under your pan is probably a good idea.

Chicken Casserole (with Rice & Stuffing)

This recipe came to our kitchen via a recipe from my sister-in-law's mother, Janet.  My mom raved and raved about how good that "chicken and rice casserole" was until she finally got the recipe, but she had never tried to make it.

A couple of weeks ago, everybody had a rough day and mom decided she wanted this casserole for dinner (note: in my opinion, this dish qualifies as "comfort food"), so I set out to make it happen. We had all the ingredients and it was a very easy casserole to put together; although, it's more "adventurous" than you would expect because there are no quantities listed for some ingredients - you more or less have to wing it.  You can either go on a safari through the bush on your own with this recipe, or you can check out my notes (at least what I remember .... it's been a while) below the recipe for what I did when I made it.

The casserole turned out just great and we ate about half of it when it came out of the oven. The rest was put in the fridge for dinner the next night. We ended up with company the next night and I pulled out the leftover casserole, poured maybe 1/4th of a cup of chicken broth over the top of the stuffing to add a little moisture, then covered it with foil and re-heated it in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. It came out really hot .... and it was still delicious.

Here's the recipe ..... it's a good one to make ahead and freeze or for feeding a crowd:

Chicken Casserole (with Rice & Stuffing)

(Janet)

Use 9 x 13 pan
Freezes well
Serves 6 - 8
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken or 4 chicken breasts
• Onion
• Celery
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 small package of Pepperidge Farm Dressing
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup milk
• white instant rice (brown 'instant' rice also works great)
• chicken broth

Directions:

1. Cook chicken in celery & onions.
2. Cut chicken into small pieces.
3. Cover the bottom of the dish with one layer of instant rice.
4. Pour 1 cup of broth over rice.
5. Put chicken over rice.
6. Mix the soups and milk together and pour over rice/chicken.
7. Melt butter and with some broth, mix with dressing, enough to make it moist.
8. Cover the top of the casserole with dressing.

Cooking notes for quantities I used:

• 4 chicken breasts - frozen ones that we thawed
• 1 whole small-medium onion
• 2 stalks of celery
• We didn't have white instant rice, but we had brown and that turned out just great. I covered the bottom of the dish nicely with it.
• I used more than 1 cup of broth over the rice - I felt like I should use enough to assure that all of the rice was 'sitting in broth' ..... the last thing I wanted was dry, hard rice in the casserole.
• 1 (16 oz.) package of Pepperidge Farm Dressing which made more than enough to top the casserole and I just added broth until I liked the consistency of the stuffing - it wasn't too soggy, but I didn't want it to be too dry, either.

Scalloped Tuna & Potato Casserole

Hands down, my all-time favorite casserole .... what else can I say? Mom made this when we were kids and if asked what I wanted her to make for my birthday or some other special occasion, it was always the "Tuna Mustard" casserole.  I hate to admit that I can eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner ..... and I have to admit that I have in fact done this with leftovers, which are as good, if not better than the casserole right out of the oven.

Over the years, I have begged mom for the recipe and have always gotten the old "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" .... nothing that was very helpful in trying to come up with amounts so I could make something even close to my favorite dish. And then .... I struck pure gold!! I was going through some of mom's ancient, tattered recipe files and I found an old handwritten recipe for 'Scalloped Tuna & Potato Casserole' from my Aunt Helen.  Mom says this is 'the recipe' with the exception of one ingredient that was not included - sugar.

My Granny had a cooking 'secret' and I know what it was (thanks, mom!) .... a little sugar improves most dishes & she would add a little sugar to most everything. I'm not talking a lot of sugar, but just a little to bring out the flavor. The sugar is essential to this casserole since the mustard tends to have a bit of a "bitter" edge for lack of a better word to describe it.  A tablespoon or two, maybe 3 added to the sauce takes that edge off the mustard and makes the sauce what it is ..... a small pond in a pot of golden yellow deliciousness.

The recipe posted is the original, but there are a couple differences from the original in the way we make the recipe today:

• we dice our onions, but the sliced onion preparation called for in the recipe is fine, if you prefer them that way.

• we don't use a double boiler for making the sauce, but have everything sitting by the large pan where you are making the sauce & ready to go - once you start stirring, don't stop until the sauce is nice and thick and you can take it off the burner.

• when assembling the casserole, we don't pour all of the sauce over the top, but spread a little over each layer of potato, tuna and onion. For example, if you have two layers, pour half the sauce over the 1st layer & the rest over the top.

So, without further ado, here it is ...... my very, very, very favorite casserole:

Scalloped Tuna & Potato Casserole

( a million thanks to Aunt Helen for writing this recipe down many years ago!)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups thinly sliced pared potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 Tablespoons prepared mustard (French's regular mustard)
• 2 cups milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 (7 oz.) can tuna (or one cup flaked) - add a second can of tuna for a richer dish .... and we always do
• 1 cup thinly sliced, peeled onion
• sugar to taste ( 2 maybe 3 tablespoons)

Directions

Cook potatoes in boiling water 10 minutes and drain well.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in the top of a double boiler over direct heat.

Stir in flour, then mustard.

Add milk, salt & pepper & stir over boiling water until smooth & thickened.

Arrange potatoes, tuna, and onions in alternate layers in a greased 2 quart casserole.

Pour sauce over all and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.



Makes 6 servings.

If cooking only for two, use 1-1/4 cups milk and half each of the remaining ingredients. Use a 1 quart casserole.

To feed a crowd (or to make a casserole for me!) double the recipe & bake in a 9x13 sized dish.