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Southern Corn Casserole

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Southern Corn Casserole

This is the typical recipe that I've added a couple of things to. It is VERY easy and VERY delicious!
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Southern
Keyword corn, corn casserole, corn pudding
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Resting Time 10 minutes
Servings 8
Author misangela

Equipment

  • 9x9 or any 2 quart casserole dish

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 Tbl mayo optional, but gives a little acidity
  • 4 oz butter (one stick), melted COOL before adding to mix!
  • 1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
  • 1 can whole corn drained
  • 1 can creamed corn
  • 1 4 oz can diced mild green chiles, drained Use 2 if you'd like the chiles more prevalent
  • 1 med shallot, finely diced sub fine dice onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp salt (Dixie Crystal Kosher) taste before cooking, this can take up to twice as much salt!
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese or just cheddar
  • 2 scallions, finely sliced on bias, white and green topping, optional
  • 3/4 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese or just cheddar, topping

Instructions

  • Preaheat oven to 350°F and spray baking dish with food release (PAM).
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayo and eggs.
  • Slowly whisk in cooled butter, then whisk in Jiffy mix.
  • Fold in corn, cream corn, chiles, shallot, garlic, 1/4 C cheese and S/P. Mix until homogenous.
  • Pour mix into baking dish and top with scallions, then 3/4 C cheese.
  • Cover with foil and bake in 350° oven 45 minutes. Check to see if center is cooking well (140-145º). If not, recover and check again in 10 minutes. Cook until the center of the casserole reaches 150ºF, then proceed.
  • Uncover and bake at 375º for another 10-15 minutes. The casserole will puff up and become browned. It is done when the center is fully cooked. Look for 160°F with a thermometer. Be careful not to brown the cheese too much.
  • Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

It may take a few minutes longer to bake than stated. I've had variances up to 10 mins. Check the casserole as indicated. If you do not have a thermometer, you're looking for the center to be just barely jiggly. 
Get a thermometer! 
Put the baking dish on a sheet pan to prevent any spill over into your oven. 
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White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
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White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I whipped this up on a whim and it is so good, I just had to jot down what I did! This is one delicious dip! No cooking required with this pantry staple recipe.
Course Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle Eastern
Keyword bean dip, hummus, party appetizers, party dip, roasted red pepper, tahini, white northern beans
Prep Time 10 minutes
Author misangela

Equipment

  • Food Processor or Blender

Ingredients

  • 1 14 oz can Great Northern beans any white bean is fine
  • 1/2 12 oz jar Roasted Red Peppers or two if you roast yourself
  • 1/2 cup Italian Cherry Peppers, about 5-6 often labeled sweet and hot peppers
  • 1 tsp EACH, juice from red peppers and cherry peppers double the cherry pepper juice if you roast your own peppers
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbl tahini
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 Tbl olive oil (EVOO) stream in while puréeing
  • 2 tsp lime juice, about one lime to taste
  • S/P to taste

Instructions

  • Drain the beans and cut the roasted red peppers into 1" chunks. Mince garlic.
  • Put everything except olive oil into food processor and process on high until smooth.
  • Stream in EVOO with processor on.
  • When desired consistency is reached, add lime juice and S/P to taste.
  • This dip will firm up in the fridge.
  • Serve with EVOO on top. It is great with tortilla chips, crackers or crudité.
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Angela’s Lamb Birria

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Angela's Lamb Birria

This is a traditional birria recipe with all lamb. Lamb or goat are the preferred meats, but you can do a mix of lamb and beef or only beef if that is what you have. I highly recommend spending the money on lamb! This is traditionally a special occasion dish, due to the lengthy marinating time and long list of ingredients, but it is completely worth it!
You could make this dish in a slow cooker, see notes. You can eat this as a stew or shred it for birriaqueso tacos (in notes). This is a small recipe, for about half a cleaned lamb shoulder. Double it for a whole lamb shoulder.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword birria, birriaqueso, lamb, lamb tacos, mexican lamb stew
Prep Time 1 day 30 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Servings 6 servings
Author misangela

Equipment

  • dutch oven or slow cooker
  • blender or stick blender
  • fine sieve

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lb about half a lamb shoulder, in large chunks I like lamb trimmed of fat and silverskin, keeping just a small amount of fat for the braising, but you can leave all the fat and skim later if you wish. A typical boneless lamb shoulder is about 4-5# before trimming.

Dry Rub

  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp dry mustard optional
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 1 tsp ancho powder Substitute smoked paprika.
  • 2 tsp garlic salt sub kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper

Braise and Sauce

  • 1 Tbl oil to cook chiles
  • 1 dried guajillo chile, cut open and seeded, remove stem see notes about dried chiles
  • 1 dried New Mexican chile, cut open and seeded, remove stem
  • 1 dried pasilla chile, cut open and seeded, remove stem
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 stick cinnamon about 2"
  • 2 tsp whole black peppercorns about 10-15
  • 1 tsp whole cloves about 6-8
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram optional, if skipping double the oregano
  • 1 tsp dried oregano Mexican if you can find it
  • 3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced about a cup
  • 1 small onion, diced about 2/3 cup
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ Tbl apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • 1 tsp ancho powder Cayenne is NOT a substitute! Use smoked paprika if you can't find ancho.
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup water plus more if needed

Toppings

  • chopped cilantro
  • finely diced onion
  • lime slices
  • pickled radish or onion see notes
  • crumbled cotija cheese see notes

Instructions

  • The day before, mix up the dry rub and thoroughly coat the lamb. Put in a plastic zip bag in the fridge until you are ready to cook the next day. You can marinate for a few hours if you're in a pinch, but the longer, the better.
  • Heat a skillet over high with about a Tbl of oil. Sauté the lamb pieces on all sides. Set aside.
  • In a small saucepan, put about 2/3 cup water and bring to a simmer.
  • In same skillet, add more oil and turn down heat to med hi. Add the chiles. Cook until the chiles turn a little darker, it just takes about 2 minutes, do not burn the chiles.
  • Put chiles in the simmering water until they are called for in the recipe.
  • In the same skillet over med hi, add pepper, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, thyme, marjoram and oregano. Stir until fragrant, about 3 minutes.
  • Add onions and garlic, turn down heat to medium and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
  • Add romas and chiles with the simmering water. Cook until the whole mixture is thickened. About 8 minutes.
  • Turn off heat and add apple cider vinegar, cumin, ginger and ancho.
  • Put this braising mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Push through a fine sieve to create a smooth sauce for braising. Add 1/2 cup water if cooking in oven, if using a slow cooker, skip the water.
  • Put the lamb in a dutch oven and cook at 300°F for about 3 hours. OR put in a slow cooker on HI for 6-8 hours. If cooking in oven, check at halfway point to see if the sauce is too reduced; if so, add more water. It should be saucy, not dry.
  • Remove lamb from sauce and shred. I leave it larger for stew and shred small for tacos. You could even do stew for dinner and then tacos for leftovers. Check seasoning (salt) and adjust.
  • I keep the sauce separate to control the consistency of the lamb. Check seasoning (salt) and adjust. If it needs more acid, add a bit more vinegar. If you've got a lot of fat, skim fat before serving, otherwise it will be too greasy. The fat will come right off if you refrigerate the sauce.

Notes

I highly recommend seeking out dried chiles for this dish. There is not really anything that can substitute for dried chiles. Many chain groceries carry them now, and most towns will have an ethnic market of some sort. If all else fails, you can order from Amazon, but you'll end up with extra - which I hope will inspire you to try other Mexican dishes! You can store the dried chiles in an airtight bag in the pantry. 
For stew, I'd serve with rice and top with cilantro and onions.  Limes on the side. Add as much sauce as you like.
I really like pickled veg with this dish to cut the richness. I made a quick pickle of red onion and radish for the stew. Cut very finely about 2/3 cup veg and pickle in 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar,  1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 2 Tbl water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and a few whole allspice or pickling spices. Heat brine to simmer, take off heat and add veg. Let sit until cool. 
For birriaqueso tacos, add sauce to shredded lamb until nicely moist, but not too wet. I use small corn street tacos that I've charred over a burner just a little (ALWAYS cook the tortillas!). Assemble with a little sour cream, the shredded lamb, crumbled cotija cheese, pickled veg (same recipe as above), diced onion and chopped cilantro. Lime on the side. 
Photo courtesy @mylatinatable
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Angela’s EASY Madeleines

Almond Madeleines recipe is here.

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Angela's Easy Madeleines

This is a plain Madeleine recipe - which is actually LEMON! There is also an Almond one on this site. I've taken the rather fussy Julia Child recipe and made it super easy.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine French
Keyword easy madeleines, lemon madeleines, madeleines
Servings 36 MINI Madeleines
Author misangela

Equipment

  • Two MINI Madeleine pans or regular sized pans. This recipe is for MINI, you'll get about half as many (18) regular ones. SEE NOTES.
  • Gallon ziplock or pastry bag with large plain tip.
  • Cooling rack.
  • Wire strainer to sift confectioners sugar.

Ingredients

  • 2 Large eggs, beaten
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups A/P flour
  • 4 oz butter (one stick), cut up
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice only about 1 tsp juice needed and a Tbl of zest
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • confectioners sugar to coat after baking

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°F.
  • Whisk together sugar and flour.
  • Put butter in microwave dish and melt - do not boil, use half power. When mostly melted, whisk briskly to ensure it's all melted and it will cool properly. It takes about 1-2 minutes.
  • Beat eggs.
  • Using a strong spoonula, stir together flour and eggs. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add extract, lemon zest, lemon juice and stir again.
  • Make sure butter is just WARM (if not, whisk it a bit and it'll cool down) and stir into batter. Stir thoroughly until batter is fully smooth and integrated.
  • Put batter in freezer for about 10 minutes to cool. Remove, stir again, put back in freezer for about 5 more minutes.
  • Thoroughly spray Madeleine pans with food release OR brush with butter.
  • Put batter into a gallon ziplock (or pastry bag with plain large tip) for easy dispensing into the madeleine pan. Fill madeleine cups about 3/4 - about 2 tsp for a MINI pan or about a Tablespoon for regular sized pan.
  • Make sure oven racks are in the center two. Put one pan on each rack. Set timer for 10 minutes for MINIs and 15 minutes for regular sized. Rotate pans at halfway point for even cooking.
  • When madeleines are browned to your liking, put on a cooling rack and cover with confectioners sugar. (Use a wire strainer to shake sugar through.)

Notes

If you have regular sized Madeleine pans, this recipe will make about half as many (~18 or so).  The cook time will be at least 15 minutes, perhaps more if you like them medium brown like I do. 
There is another recipe on this site for Almond Madeleines. 
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Oven Risotto with Mushrooms

This recipe is not really risotto, but it’s LIKE risotto! Risotto is a method and this recipe does not follow that method very much. But it is still a nice nod to labour intensive risotto and has good flavour. Enjoy!

Oven Baked Risotto
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Easy Oven Risotto with Mushrooms

This is a spin on a recipe I ran across at Epicurious. Theirs was way too fussy, so I stripped it down and made it easy! If you love risotto and are intimidated by the fussy recipes, try this one! It's easy and really delicious! Butternut squash variation in notes!
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Keyword baked risotto, mushrooms, risotto
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Author misangela

Equipment

  • Shallow dutch oven roasting pan or oven proof skillet
  • sheet pan

Ingredients

  • 8 oz Shiitake mushrooms, de-stemmed & cut into 1/2" pieces sub cremini, but shiitake has better texture
  • 1 Tbl olive oil to lightly coat mushrooms
  • S/P to lightly coat mushrooms
  • 1 large shallot, quartered then sliced sub 1/2 cup small diced onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced about 1 Tbl
  • 1 Tbl olive oil
  • 2 Tbl butter salted
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice reserve juice
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves about 2 tsp, sub 1 tsp dry thyme
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or more if you like
  • 1/2 tsp each S/P
  • 1 cup arborio rice (risotto)
  • 1/2 cup dry vermouth sub white wine
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken broth sub veg broth to make vegetarian
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 2 tsp fresh basil, finely chopped sub 1 tsp dry basil
  • 1 Tbl fresh parsley, finely chopped try to use fresh herb here

Instructions

  • This recipe can be made in one pot if you have a skillet type dutch oven or an oven safe skillet with a lid (or you can cover with foil). If you do not have these, you can start the risotto in a saucepan, then transfer to a 9x9 square dish or pie plate to bake, covered in foil.
  • Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  • Prep mushrooms and toss in olive oil & S/P on a sheet pan (use parchment paper or cover pan in foil for easy clean up). Put in oven to roast for about 20 minutes.
  • While mushrooms are roasting, prep the rest of the veg.
  • Put vessel over medium heat and add olive oil and butter. When hot, add in shallot, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes and lemon zest. Cook shallots until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Do not brown, just sweat.
  • Add rice and S/P. Stir and turn heat up to Med Hi. Stir rice for about 2 minutes then add vermouth. Stir another 2 minutes then add chicken stock and turn up heat to Hi.
  • Bring to fast simmer and cook rice for about 10 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally. The broth should reduce by about 1/3. Check mushrooms; you want them roasted and a bit dry, but not burnt. If done, remove from oven.
  • Turn off heat and add parmesan, basil, parsley and half the reserved lemon juice. Stir thoroughly.
  • Mushrooms should be done by this point. If they were not before.
  • Risotto should still have some broth on top. If not, add just a bit more broth for the baking. If using a skillet, dot mushrooms on top of risotto and cover. If using a saucepan, put risotto in oven proof dish, add mushrooms and cover with foil.
  • Bake (in the 375º oven) for 20 minutes. Check midway to see if risotto has gotten dry, if so, add just a little broth to keep moist.
  • Risotto is done when the broth has been absorbed, but it is not dry. The grains should be cooked either al dente (half way) or all the way. I like mine cooked through, but not mushy.
  • Check for seasoning and drizzle the last of the lemon juice over the top. Dot with more fresh parsley if you like and serve with lemon wedges.

Notes

This risotto can be a side dish, but I like it as the main. It is Italian mac n cheese and SO satisfying!  Although it's not really risotto, it is close enough for the ease of preparation! 
The mushrooms can be left off this dish, but they do offer a nice textural element.
If you'd like to add butternut squash, simply add about a cup of small diced butternut squash to the roasting pan with the mushrooms. Add to risotto with mushrooms. Easy! 
The trick to risotto is keeping it moist. It should be loose enough to pour, but not watery. If your risotto is too dry, add stock; if it's too loose, bake uncovered for a bit longer.
Cooking the risotto in a saucepan first is the method I used for this recipe. I then poured into a pie plate and baked, covered with foil. If you use the one skillet method, your cook time on the stove and the stock amount may vary. The stovetop cook time could be a bit less since the risotto has more surface area and it may require up to 3 cups of stock. Keep this in mind.
As always, DO try to use fresh herbs and do try to use shiitakes. Both will give you a better end product. But, use what you've got! Better to substitute than not cook at all. :)