Cozy and Comforting

I am speaking of...the casserole of course. Doesn't the name alone take you back to being little and feeling warm and taken care of. The comforting memory of Mom popping this surprising bit of this and that into a warm oven and watching it bubble through the glass. The savory aroma as it comes out of the oven. The satisfying taste in your mouth without worrying what it will do to your hips. Too fattening you might protest. I beg to differ. During the forties and fifties when the casserole became so popular, people were far skinnier than we are today. You may disagree and you are allowed to.

Some of my favorite casseroles are King Chicken Casserole, Cashew Chicken Casserole, Potatoe Casserole, Chicken and Rice, Breakfast Casserole, Broccoli and Rice Casserole, and Squash Casserole. I would like to ask for a trade if I may. I will post some of these recipes, if some of you would post, in the form of a comment, at least one of your favorite casserole recipes. I really would like to add some more to my library, and I prefer to sample a tried and true recipe to an unfriendly group of words on a page.

Do not feel that any recipe is too simple or too difficult or too unhealthy or too anything else. I would love to hear from you.

Squash Casserole: Brown 3/4 lb sausage and 1/2 chopped onion. Drain. Cook 2 cups yellow squash diced. Mix sausage, squash, 1 tabsp. butter melted, 1/2 cup crushed crackers, 1 can cream chicken soup, 1/2 cup mayonaise, and 3/4 cup grated cheddar. Spread in casserole dish. Top with 1/2 cup buttered bread crumbs and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Bake at 350 for about 30 to 45 minutes.

King Chicken Casserole: Boil 5 or 6 chicken breasts then shred. Saute 1 large onion in 1/4 cup butter. Add 1 ten ouce can rotel, 2 cans crm chicken soup, and 3/4 cup shredded cheddar to onion. Heat through. Layer half soup mixture in casserole and top with 1/2 bag crumbled Doritos. Add remaining soup mixture. Bake at 350 for twenty minutes then sprinkle on 3/4 cup shredded cheddar. Bake another 10 minutes then add remaining bag of crumbled Doritos.

Cashew Chicken Casserole: Saute 1 cup celery and 1/4 cup chopped onion in 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in two cans crm chicken soup, and 2/3 cup chicken broth. Simmer 5 minutes. Add 4 cups cooked diced chicken and 4 tablespoons soy sauce. Cook over low heat five minutes. Stir in 2 cups cooked rice. Spoon into casserole dish and bake until liquid bubbles to surface about fifteen to twenty minutes. Sprinkle on 1 cup chow mein noodles and 1 cup cashew nuts. Bake another five or ten minutes in oven.

Chicken and Rice: Sorry, no measurements for this one. My own creation. Boil 3 lbs chicken breasts in large pot of water with a stick of butter. Shred chicken and set aside. In large bowl dump in three to four cups rice and pour in enough broth, cream chicken soup and sour cream to make extremely creamy (maybe even too soggy). Sprinkle in some onion salt and stir in chicken. Spoon into casserole and top with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted.

Breakfast Casserole: Layer in casserole; 2 slices cubed bread, 1 lb cooked sausage crumbled and drained, 6 ounces shredded cheddar. Then mix 6 beaten eggs, 2 cups milk, and 1/2 tsp dry mustard. Pour over layers. Let sit overnight. Next morning bake 45-50 minutes at 350.

Based on the fact that my poor fingers are so frozen that I have made four hundred mistakes on this page, and had to delete them, this is my self-sacrificial, gift of love to you. Don't be shy. Let's hear from you!