Baked Beans

The basis for this recipe appears on p. 392 of our 1981 edition of the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. Since SWMBO can not digest muscle protein, we do not put actual bacon in it, and we start with vegetarian pork & beans. Also, our proportions are a bit different. Here is what we did for Sunday brunch last weekend:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Put a heavy skillet on the stove to warm up.
• Quarter & slice one medium red onion.
• Sauté the onion in about 3 Tbsp. bacon lard at least until translucent if not until caramelized.
• Stir together:
• the onions,
• 2 28 oz cans of Bush’s vegetarian baked beans,
• ¼ c. ketchup,
• ¼ c. brown sugar,
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, and
• 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard.
• Bake in a 9 x 13 pan for 90-105 minutes at 350°F.
• If everyone can eat meat, this would be the time to cover with about ¾ lb. of crisped & crumbled bacon.
• Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

This looks like a lot when you start, but I think that for seven adults and five kids we could have made even more.

Egg & Cheese Casserole

This recipe appeared in a Blacknall Memorial Presbyterian Church cookbook under the name “Jean Corey’s Egg Casserole” and with the recommendation that “this casserole has become a tradition and a favorite for the Thursday morning Women’s Bible Study spring brunch.”

Here at the House of Chez Casa, for a large brunch we sometimes make two: one with breakfast meat (sausage, small ham cubes, vel sim.) and one vegetarian. Conveniently, a recipe and a half makes two 9 x 9 pans’ worth. Just stir up everything else, pour half into one buttered 9 x 9 casserole dish, add meat to the stuff still in the bowl, mix that up, and pour into the other buttered dish.

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Beat 10 eggs in a large bowl & set aside.
• Melt 1 stick (8 Tbsp, ½ c.) butter in a saucepan.
• Stir in
  • ½ c. flour, 
  • 1 tsp baking powder, and
  • ½ tsp salt.
• Add the flour mixture to the eggs & mix well.
• Add
  • 1 lb. shredded cheese (Jean’s recipe calls for Monterrey Jack; I prefer a very sharp cheddar),
  • 1 pt. small curd cottage cheese (I often have to make do with a 12 oz. container), and
  • 8 oz. large green chiles, drained, diced, seeded (Jean also rinses for a milder flavor; I often just open diced chiles, strain them & dump them in; sometimes I don’t even strain them).
  • Optional breakfast meats (often a tube of breakfast sausage, scrambled up ahead of time) should also be added at this stage.
• Pour into a 9 x 13 pan.
• Bake for 40 minutes.
• Let rest for 5 minutes. (Jean’s recipe calls for baking 30 minutes and no rest. I think her oven may run a bit on the hot side. We have made this in three different ovens, and all of them needed 40 minutes to set and then a rest.)
• Serve with salsa.

That’s it. It’s always a crowd pleaser. And it’s even better with the sausage!

Michelle’s Meatloaf

This started as a simple recipe cut from a box of Quaker Oats. The Doctor has made a couple of changes, all for the better.

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Combine well in a large bowl:
   • 1 lb. ground beef (preferably ground chuck)
   • ½ lb. ground pork
   • ¾ c. uncooked oats
   • 1 egg, beaten
   • ¼ c. chopped onion
   • 1 c. salsa (look for something gluten free to make your friends happy)
   • 1 tsp salt
   • ¼ tsp ground pepper
3. Press into a standard 8x4x2 loaf pan (ungreased)
4. Top with the rest of the salsa (½ - 1 cup by measure (be careful; some salsas are jarred by weight instead of by volume))
   If you want a more BBQesque topping, mix the remainder of your salsa with ¼-½ c. brown sugar before spreading on top of the loaf.
5. Bake at 350ºF for about one hour.
6. Let stand/rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!