Thursday Are For Cooking….
Leftovers
It’s casseroles this time. The holidays are coming up and you will have leftovers galore, including ham and chicken and turkey and that can be either sliced or diced or just plain nibbled on.
The first, because I love bacon, is bacon mac and cheese. You will need the following:
2 cups of cooked short pasta. Penne is good for this. Those ridges hold lots of sauce.
1 garlic clove, minced (smashed flat with a spoon)
2 tablespoons of butter
¼ teaspoon of black pepper
2 cups of milk
3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup (or more) or crisp, crumbled, crunchy bacon – I have found LOTS of bacon is good for this, as it is mixed in with the pasta as well as sprinkled on top.
Cook the pasta according to the package directions until it is al dente. Put it in a 2 qt baking pan (line with foil for easy clean-up).
To make the roux base for the cheese sauce, over a low flame melt the butter in a saucepan, sauté the garlic in it until softened, add flour and pepper, stirring all the while, until the roux is smooth. Then slowly add the milk and stir until it thickens, then add 2 cups of shredded cheese and keep stirring until the cheese is all melted and blended in.
Add half of the bacon and stir into the cheese sauce. Then shut off the heat.
Pour the cheese sauce with bacon over the pasta and give it a mix with your spoon.
Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
Uncover the casserole, sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese and bacon on the top of the casserole, and bake at 350F for another 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with side dishes, of course.
This next recipe, Shepherd’s Pie comes from Spend With Pennies. Since I love shepherd’s pie, I’m including it here. It’s an easy recipe and it originally comes from Ireland. Filling, tasty and quick to fix. https://www.spendwithpennies.com/shepherds-pie-recipe/
1 pound ground lamb or beef
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
10 oz frozen peas and carrots defrosted
10.5 oz can corn drained
10 oz can tomato soup or mushroom soup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups prepared mashed potatoes (boxed instant stuff is okay)
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded (optional)
Heat the oven to 400F.
Cook lamb or beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat and let it cool.
Stir in soup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, basil and pepper. Spread into the bottom of a 2 qt casserole dish. Sprinkle with peas, carrots and corn.
Spoon mashed potatoes over the filling, and top with cheese if you want that included. .
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly. This will give you 4 to 6 servings, with side dishes. You can also substitute diced tomatoes canned in sauce for the tomato soup.
And finally, since no one ever thinks of dessert as a casserole candidate, this one is easy to prepare. You will need:
1 clean plate covered with foil for easy clean-up
1 square chocolate cake cut into three layers
Chocolate mousse or chocolate pudding (box mix is okay)
Swiss Miss dark chocolate instant cocoa
Whipped cream
Mini chocolate chips
Ice cream – chocolate, vanilla or mint chocolate chip
This is how you put this mess together:
Put one layer of chocolate cake in the baking pan
Spread chocolate mousse or pudding over it in a ½ inch layer
Sprinkle lightly with the Swiss Miss dark chocolate cocoa
Add a layer of whipped cream
Sprinkle whipped cream with mini chocolate chips
Repeat the above for the next layer.
Top with the last layer of chocolate cake
Refrigerate until after dinner, add a layer of whipped cream to the top and sprinkle with more Swiss Miss dark chocolate, then serve with chocolate, vanilla or mint chocolate chip ice cream and a hot beverage.
That was easy, wasn’t it?
Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and enjoy the gifts we sometimes take for granted.
You’ve outdone yourself, Ex. These all look great. Thanks!
The shepherd’s pie is as easy as falling off a log. You can make it in small batches and freeze it for later use.
The cake will not last long.
Neither will the bacon mac & cheese.
Love a casserole with a crusty top. Burn it with a torch if you have to but I gotta see some brown in the crust. Bacon will do it.
“….top with cheese if you want…” Well, duh huh, Mi’Lady cheese, like bacon, goes with everything. It is the LBD of the food group. God created cheese just before He created bacon.
Mama made a very similar, if not the same, bacon mac & cheese dish. She did use more bacon, usually a cup or more, and on many times, ham. A baked ham from the smokehouse made many a meal,including ham bone soup with beans. Our bacon was usually smoked and sliced thick. She would use some of the bacon drippings in the rous, most likely to help spread the flavor throughout and to save on the bacon itself.
First hard freeze was hog killing time. Oldest sister always had issues with the butchering after having helped to feed the pokers thru out the year: she considered them pets. Didn’t bother us boys none at all, we liked pork chops, hams, ribs, bacon, sausage, and brunswick stew.
Tanks for the post.
The amount in the receipt is flexible. It can always be increased on an as needed basis.
Ex..sent this link to daughter and brothers. We gonna plan the shepherds pie for the day after Christmas. Baby girl says she has all the ingredients in stock. She asked when we might be able to transfer the Thursdays are for cooking new recipes over to the recipe link on the Home Page. (dodges a thrown skillet as he grabs the chocolate cake on the way out the door)
Be sure that you tell her to adjust the seasonings to suit the personal tastes of the family.
And have a great Christmas.
I love this thread. I would add a recipe, but I’m dealing with the sudden passing of my best girl eight days ago. I loved cooking for her because I wanted her to have the best. Flying out to Florida to spend some time with family.
Condolences Sea Dragon. God’s Peace be unto you and the family. My nephew lost his Lady in Dakota this week. It’s never easy, but especially hard this time of year. I’ll be flying into Tampa Saturday. Former bubble headed boomer SnL & I will raise a glass to you and yours.
Very sorry for your loss, Sea Dragon. Safe journey to family; you’ll go with lots of thoughts and prayers from your “other family” here.
You have my condolences, Sea Dragon. Have a safe trip.
Ex,
Your recepies and presentations are:
Elegant!
Merry Christmas
Thank you, Mr. Pete. I try to make sure that I credit the people who put the recipes online in the first place.
One of these days I will post a recipe for braised oxtails, done the way they’d have been presented to Washington at the City Tavern in Philadelphia, when he was on his way to New York to be sworn in as our first President.
Ex-PH2 ok so I was digging around here and found a cookbook I bought in Burlington CO a few years back that I am going to give to my grand daughter as she does quite a bit of cooking. It is called Magic and memories and recipes go from 1905 to 2005 and are shared recipes from families to the public. lots of good sounding recipes in there shared from all their recipes. There are 6 or so that are inside boxes on the pages that seem a little out there but since you seem to be the main chef of the site and probably involved in cookouts that have a large turn out as to folks I thought I would share one of those in one of those boxes,
It is called Mothers Elephant Stew
Submitted by Elaine Bowling Alexander
1 Elephant (medium sized)
2 Rabbits (optional)
salt and pepper
Cut the elephant into bite sized pieces. This takes about 2 weeks. Add enough water to cover and simmer about 4 weeks over kerosene fire until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. This will serve about 3,800 people. If more are expected, the two rabbits may be added. Do this only if necessary as most people do not like to find a hare in their stew.