Pork Chop Hot Dish (Casserole)

I am laughing at myself for titling this post "Hot Dish" because while I was walking and talking during my recent 5K, the woman I was walking with asked if I was from Minnesota because of my "accent".  "No," I replied, "but I guess that comes from going to a Lutheran church!"  Lutherans and Minnesotans (who also happen to be primarily Lutheran) call "hot dish" what the rest of the country calls "casserole".  Since I feel very Lutheran every time I make casserole, I am now going to call it "hot dish".  This was a good, stick to your ribs kind of meal that you can just throw in the oven.  Definitely not French, but it could be with portion control.  It was still comforting on a blustery night at any rate!  I burnt it a little, so learn from me and finish it either in the oven, or let the heat of the dish finish it.  Don't finish it under the broiler!

Pork Chop Hot Dish by Joie de vivre

6 boneless pork chops

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 can cream of celery soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 (2.8) oz. can french-fried onions, divided

1 (24-26oz.) package frozen, shredded hash browns

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

Yield:  6 servings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil.  Brown both sides of the pork chops.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the soup, milk, sour cream, pepper, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar chees, 1/2 can french-fried onions and stir until combined.  Add the package of hash browns and stir until coated.  Spoon hash brown mixture into a greased 9 1/2 by 11 inch baking dish.  Arrange browned pork chops on top, sprinkle with season salt, cover with foil, and place in oven for 45 minutes.  Uncover dish and broil until hash brown mixture is bubbly and slightly browned.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese and hash browns.  Either let cheese melt from the heat of the dish, or place dish back in oven for 5 minutes (make sure broiler is off or onions will burn!)

Quick and comforting

I almost feel like I need to apologize for this post.  We have been inundated with recipes that are "quick and easy".  So much so that some of us, myself included, take pride in cooking "slow and difficult".  However, sometimes, you just need the quick and easy.  You take your kid to soccer, you clean the bathrooms, you run a load of laundry, you've already had pizza twice this week and you have an hour before you need to be out the door again and have something on the table before you do.  My personal excuse this week was I was nursing a cold and had no energy after keeping the house in somewhat of a workable order.  What is a busy foodie mom to do?  Well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do...quick and easy.  This is for you sis.

Classic Tuna Noodle Casserole adapted from Campbell's Best Ever Recipes 125th Anniversary Edition

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed Cream of Celery or Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup milk

2 cups hot cooked noodles (I had macaroni on

 hand, they recommend egg noodles) - about 2 cups dry.

1 cup cooked peas (I actually substituted about 1/2 cup pico de gallo - it zinged it up and plus, I didn't have peas!)

2 Tbs. chopped pimento, optional

2 cans (about 6 oz. each) tuna, drained and flaked

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

2 Tbs. butter, melted

1.  In a 1 1/2 quart casserole, combine the soup and milk.  Stir in noodles, peas, pimento and tuna.

2.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes or until hot; stir

3.  In a small bowl, combine cheese, bread crumbs and butter.  Top tuna mixture with bread crumb mixture.  Bake 5 minutes more.

Southwestern Veggie Chili adapted from Taste of Home winning Recipes

The bread sticks on this dish were very pretty, but they ended up getting gummy, I would recommend just making the bread sticks by themselves and serving them on the side instead of baking them on top like I did.

I also had bunches of fresh veggies from our CSA basket, so the only canned things I used were the beans.

3 medium carrots, sliced

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 to 3 teaspoons of chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 Tbls. butter

3 Tbls. all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15 1/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained

1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilies

1 tube (11 1/2 oz) refrigerated corn bread twists

In a large skillet, saute the carrots, celery, onion and seasonings in butter until vegetables are crisp-tender.  Stir in flour until blended; gradually add the milk.  Bring to a boil;  cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.  Add the beans, corn, tomatoes and chilies and simmer for 20 minutes  uncovered while corn bread twists are baking.