casserole | Adventures in Thyme

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

April 8, 2015 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Cheeseburger Casserole

I’m always game for a juicy burger n’fries, but the bread is sometimes a turn off. So if you find yourself wanting a yummy burger but firing up the bbq isn’t a good solution, you’ll enjoy tonight’s recipe. A cheesy, bacony “burger” with fries all cooked in one dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground Beef
1 lb ground Pork
8 slices of Bacon fried bacon, slivered
1 Egg, beaten
1.5 cups of Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp dried Garlic
Roux (4 Tablespoons butter & 4 Tablespoons flour)
80z shredded Cheddar Cheese (we used goat cheddar)
Bag of frozen Tater Tots

Set your oven to 400 degrees and let’s get cookin!

Fry the bacon in a skillet until done. Remove bacon and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Pour off most of the bacon grease and then add the beef and pork back into the skillet and fry until done. While the meat is cooking mix together the ketchup, Worcestershire, liquid smoke, salt, thyme, oregano and garlic, and set this aside. Carefully spoon the meat into a large bowl and set aside to cool.

In a frying pan melt the butter over medium low heat and then slowly add the flour, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly until golden brown. This will help bind the burger together. When the roux is ready remove from the heat, pour in the liquid ingredients from the step above and mix well. To the cooled meat mixture add the beaten egg and also mix well. Now add the ketchup-roux mixture from the pan into the meat and combine. Time to assemble!

Into a baking dish pour in the meat mixture and level with a spoon. Now add your layer of shredded chedder, then layer on the slivered pieces of crunchy bacon. Finally add rows of tater tots until the casserole is covered.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 mins or until the tater tots have cooked. Serve immediately with burger fixin’s: tomatoes, lettuce, onions, avocado and a splash of tabasco – if you dare!

Turkey Noodle Casserole

December 5, 2014 by Dan Leave a Comment

Turkey Noodle Casserole

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas on the horizon, the nagging question is: “What to do with the left over turkey?” This versatile bird can easily adapt to any occasion, even the humble leftover dinner. Here’s a lovely dish tailor made for an overlooked drumstick or those turkey bits left behind on the serving tray.

12 oz Pasta (pick your favorite kind and cook in salted water until still a little chewy, retain some of the water)

1/2 cup chopped Carrots
1/2 cup chopped Celery
1/2 cup chopped Onion
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Flour
2 cups Chicken Stock
4 oz. Chevre (or other soft white cheese)
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup water from cooking your pasta
2 cups Turkey cut into bite sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Butter a 9×13 baking dish and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large skillet melt your butter over medium low heat. When the butter is melted add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until the onion is translucent. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the vegetables in the pan and stir to coat evenly and combine with the butter. Cook stirring gently 4 to 5 minutes. Don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pan or it will burn. Add 2 cups chicken stock a little at a time, stirring to combine well before adding more. Let this simmer for a few minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the pasta and stir well, then add the turkey, cheese and sour cream. Stir to combine well and melt the cheese. Taste the mixture at this point and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the mixture into your 9×13 baking dish and bake 30 to 40 minutes. The top will brown a little and the casserole will be bubbly.

For another possibility, use shredded cheddar cheese and ham in place of the chevre and turkey. Add the cheese and sour cream before the pasta and ham and stir until the cheese melts and combines with the sauce. Then add the pasta and ham. Cook as above.

Enjoy

Wild Rice & Chicken Casserole

October 30, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Wild Rice and Chicken Casserole

The holidays loom before us; many are already planning the meals that will be shared with friends and family. So today we’re offering a very customizable recipe that will benefit from holiday leftovers. Tonight we’re using store bought ingredients, but I’ll notate where you can use those yummy leftovers to your advantage and the relief of your refrigerator. Our best advice is as you stand in your kitchen channel your favorite Iron Chef and go for it!

Wild Rice & Chicken Casserole

Leg & Thigh meat from Roasted Chicken cut or pulled into small bite sized pieces (substitute: Turkey)
1 6 oz box Wild Rice mix, cooked (substitute: any rice with seasoning to taste)
1 10 oz package of broccoli florets (substitute: leftover crudité)
1 heaping teaspoon flour
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup almond milk (substitute: rice milk, milk, cream)
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 cup grated pecorino cheese (substitute: parmesan)
~3 pats of butter
optional: nuts (we used almonds but if you have walnuts that would work too)

We used a small convection oven set to 350 degrees and a casserole dish. Use some of your butter to coat the inside of the casserole dish. I use a sandwich sized zip baggie to hold a pat of butter and swirl around inside. Whatever is left of the pat will be added to your dish later – no waste!

While the oven is warming up, into a small saucepan add the remaining butter pats, stock, milk, rosemary, thyme and poultry seasoning, bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and whisk in flour. Set aside.

In your casserole dish gently combine the chicken pieces, cooked rice and the broccoli, then pour the stock mixture over the top. Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese over the top and add some nuts. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 mins. Then remove the foil and bake an additional ~10 mins or until the top is browned.

Serve with a little extra cheese on the top. Enjoy!

Shells Casserole

March 12, 2014 by Ginger Leave a Comment

Shells Casserole

I love pasta shells – little boats of yummy goodness that can be filled with mixtures from sweet to savory. Today’s offering welcomes back crispy pancetta bits, and cheese. Does it get any better? Actually it does…

Ingredients:
1 box of jumbo pasta shells
1 lb hamburger
1 container pasta sauce of choice
~5 oz of cooked spinach, drained (you can either use a box of frozen spinach or 1/2 bag of frozen organic, I place it in a bowl and pour a cup of hot water over it to defrost, then squeeze out the liquid later)
~2 cups shredded Mozzarella (vegan mozzarella is pictured above)
~1 cup shredded pecorino or parmesan
1 package of sliced pancetta from the deli (you can normally find this in the fine cheeses area). Dice/chop the pancetta for easy frying.
1/4 tsp cinnamon
~ 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F while you prepare the dish.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender but not completely soft – remember, you’re going to be baking this later! When the pasta is done remove and cool with cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. While the water boils heat olive oil in a skillet and brown the sliced pancetta. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel to drain.
4. Add hamburger to fry pan and brown in pancetta oil.
5. Drain hamburger and place in a large bowl, add pancetta, mozzarella, spinach and cinnamon. Mix well. Add salt to taste.
6. In a large baking dish pour ~1 cup of the pasta sauce in the bottom and spread evenly. Then carefully stuff a shell with ~2 tablespoons of hamburger mixture.
7. Pour remaining pasta sauce over the shells when finished. Place in oven and cook until the pasta bubbles and shell tips begin to turn brown (or the cheese is well melted).
8. Serve with crusty bread, a glass of vino, a good movie, the possibilities are endless…

Italian Crescent Casserole – it’s a winner!

March 5, 2014 by Ginger 1 Comment

Italian Crescent Casserole

This recipe won a bake off competition back in 1978 and is posted, in it’s original form here. We’ve changed it up a bit by changing out the cheese for dairy free versions and using Bison meat instead of regular hamburger. The recipe is very easy and open to modification, so whether you add Pepper Jack cheese, or maybe use Turkey meat, you’ll save this recipe to eat again and again.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat (we used Bison)
~1/8 cup of finely chopped sweet onion
1 cup pasta sauce (we used “Traditional” but a brand heavier on garlic would be awesome!)
~2 cups shredded cheese – we used Vegan Mozzarella and Vegan Monterey Jack)
1/4 cup dairy free sour cream
1 can Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls (TIP: keep this in the fridge until you need it)
1/2 cup grated Pecorino cheese (but you could use Parmesan)
~3 tablespoons butter or margarine (2 tablespoons need to be melted)
~1 tablespoon of herbs (we used a combo of rosemary, thyme & sage)
1 9″ pie pan

Preparation (please read all instructions first as you can be multitasking during the different preparation stages if you’re fast):

While your oven heats to 375 degrees F, melt a tablespoon of butter in your fry pan and cook your onions till translucent, then add meat stirring as needed until the meat is cooked through. Remove any excess grease and add the pasta sauce and herbs. Cook until the sauce begins to bubble and then reduce heat.

If you have not already done so, shred your cheese (mozzarella/jack) into a bowl and mix in the sour cream. In a separate bowl, add your shredded pecorino (or parmesan) and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix well – this will be used as a spread later.

Pour the meat mixture into the bottom of your pie pan and carefully layer the sour cream mixture over the top. Get the crescent roll container out of the fridge, open, and then lay the triangles over the mixture – arranging these so the points are in the center is the easiest!

Finally, carefully spread the butter-cheese mixture on the crescent rolls. Place in oven and bake approximately 30mins or until your oven cooks the rolls to a golden brown.

Enjoy!