Tamale Casserole

So I'm good at doing the recipes, just not so good at finding the time to update the blog with my results! So I'll be posting a few of my recent trials today (I hope!) and hope you enjoy reading about them. The first one is a tamale casserole recipe from one of the new cookbooks I picked up recently, Taste of Home's Dinner on a Dime. This recipe came in very handy for using up some leftover ground beef and fresh corn (stripped from the cob) I had in the fridge and hubby really liked it. It makes quite a bit, so if you only have a few people, plan on freezing some for later like we did or plan on feeding a crowd. Here's a link to the cookbook:

The Recipe:

Tamale Casserole

This casserole really heats up dinnertime. It's a family-pleasing main course guaranteed to put a little kick in your menu.

-Kathleen Reid, Petaluma, California

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, drained
• 1 can (2 1/2 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 envelope reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• 1 cup (4 oz) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 1 cup salsa

1. In a large nonstick skillet, cook beef and jalapeño over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the corn, tomatoes, milk, cornmeal, chilies, olives, egg white and taco seasoning until blended.
2. Transfer to a 13x9x2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350°F for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with salsa. Yield: 8 servings.

Editor's Note: When cutting hot peppers, disposable gloves are recommended. Avoid touching your face.

My Results:

Well, as I mentioned, I had some leftover fresh corn to use up, so I substituted 2 cups of the fresh leftover for the frozen, thawed. I also didn't use reduced-fat items since I didn't have those on hand but instead used the regular versions. And I didn't have any olives on hand so I left those out completely. Here is a photo of my ingredients, minus the milk, which I forgot to put in the photo:



I used two jalapeño peppers from our garden in this recipe as they were pretty mild. Diced them up without the seeds and cooked them along with the beef until it was no longer pink, then drained as directed. Meanwhile, I combined the milk with the taco seasoning to dissolve it, then added the egg white, then the cornmeal and finally the tomatoes, green chilies and corn. Once the meat was browned, I tossed it with the other ingredients and poured it all into the 9x13-in pan which I had sprayed with Pam, then baked as directed. Here it is in the oven:


And here it is resting for the requested 10 minutes (which was terribly hard since it smelled so good!)


We served it with salsa as suggested, but also sour cream since that's how I like my Mexican food :) Here's it is all ready to eat...


And boy was it yummy! This is definitely a keeper recipe and one we'll likely do for the freezer as well. This would make a great "take to someone in need" casserole as well since it's not only delicious, but really easy to make and relatively inexpensive as well. I believe you could divide this into two 8x8 pans just as easily as one 9x13 and freeze one before baking if you have a smaller family like we do. I purchase disposable 8x8's from the dollar store and could easily see doubling this recipe to make 4 casseroles I could freeze for giving away. Anyway, just some ideas for future use. Hope you like this one and be sure and let me know if you give it a try!

Hot days - Salad lunches

Today was take two on The Habanero Cookbook. We decided to give it another shot with the Crab and Cantaloupe Salad with Habanero Yogurt and boy was it worth it! Now, this was a good salad! Here's another link to the cookbook on Amazon if you're interested:



And here's...

The Recipe:

Crab and Cantaloupe Salad with Habanero Yogurt

Dressing:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 habaneros, seeds and stems removed, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• pinch of white pepper

Salad:

• 1 lb cooked crab meat
• 1 small cantaloupe, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 small purple onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour to blend flavors.
Toss crab, cantaloupe and avocado with dressing. Top with the onion rings and serve.
Yield: 4-6 servings

My results:

YUM! This salad was really really good...I was a little unsure how the flavors of crab, avocado and cantaloupe would blend with the dressing, but it was very good. I think next time I would add an additional avocado since there was quite a bit more crab and cantaloupe than avocado, but other than that, it was a great hit. Hubby and brother-in-law both enjoyed it as well. Here is a picture of my starting ingredients:



You'll notice I didn't use "fresh" lime juice as I didn't have any limes on hand (used them for the Yoda Soda the other night!) and we used pre-picked crab (called "special" crab meat in the fish area of the market). The notes on this recipe said you might choose to only use one pepper, however I had my fire-mouth husband taste the pepper and since he said they weren't super hot, we went with two. Your peppers may vary, so either taste them beforehand or try one and add an additional if you think you can handle it. Ours was just right with a little heat but nothing super spicy and a nice rounded flavor.

Here is a photo of the finished dressing as it was "sitting" for an hour to meld:


I chose to combine some of the dressing with the crab meat to "loosen" it up (as it had been packed in it's little plastic container) and then placed the cantaloupe and avocado mixture onto the plates, topped with the crab and dressing mixture and then drizzled a little more dressing over all. This made for a pretty presentation as well as a good way to keep the ripe avocado from breaking up too much from tossing. There was a bit of the dressing left over which would probably be good on regular green salad, or perhaps on a grilled chicken breast. It was a very good dressing with hints of cilantro popping out and the heat from the habanero there but not overwhelming. Here are the completed plates, ready to be served. Because this was our full meal, we only got three servings out of it, but if you were serving this as a side or even as a light lunch with rolls, etc. it would definitely feed 4-6.


All in all this was a big hit and one we'll definitely do again. It was perfect for a hot day in South Texas (our 30th day of breaking 100F!) Please let me know if you try this dish and what you think of it and be sure to check in tomorrow for another cookbook adventure!

Hot Cold Pate

So anyone who knows my husband knows his affinity for hot foods, as in spicy, not heat hot. While we were perusing the local used bookstore the other day, we came across a cookbook that was right up his spice-loving alley called The Habanero Cookbook by Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach. He has a pretty good collection of spicy cookbooks, but this one even had a few recipes in it that appealed to me, including today's trial recipe, Salmon-Habanero Pâté. For those interested in locating a copy of the cookbook, here's a link to it on Amazon.com:




The Recipe:

Salmon-Habanero Pâté

Serve this pâté as a spread with crusty bread or crackers and garnished with hard-cooked egg wedges, tomatoes and olives.

• 1 habanero, seeds and stem removed, minced
• 2 tbsp Dijon-style mustard
• 1/2 lb cooked salmon, either canned or fillets
• 3 tbsp light rum
• 2 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
• 3 tbsp minced onion
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• salt, to taste

Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

My results:

Let me first say that my initial review of this recipe isn't great. It calls for 8 oz (1/2 lb) cooked salmon and a can of salmon is only 6 oz., so I started with just that much in my experiment and found that the spread was way too loose and really lacked any of the wow factor we had been hoping for. There was no true salmon flavor nor really any other flavor standout and it left us all feeling a bit underwhelmed. So we (hubby and I) decided to up the salmon quotient by adding an additional can of salmon, bringing the salmon total to 12 oz (4 oz more than the recipe calls for). This helped the consistency a good deal, although it was still too liquid-y to be considered a "spread" in my opinion, more of a "dip". The flavor was also improved by the additional salmon, although I still didn't get a strong taste of salmon or any other flavor. All in all I would say this recipe is just "ok" and definitely not something I would waste ingredients on again. It wasn't "bad", but when there are so many "good" recipes out there, why waste time, ingredients and energy (not to mention calories!) on something that is just "ok"... Here are photos of the finished dip, both with and without flash:





Here's hoping that the other recipes we try from this cookbook will more than make up for this lack-luster beginning! Be sure and check back tomorrow to see what we decide to bring on from the cookbook collection!

Edited to add:

After setting for 24 hours the flavors had a chance to meld and this dip was much better. Hubby said he liked it and while it still wasn't a favorite of mine, it was much better the second day...