The Hot Dog Cookbook - Hot Dog Bean Bake, a la Kraut - Labor Day 2017

Date I made this recipe:  September 4, 2017 – Labor Day

The Hot Dog Cookbook – Frankfurter – Weiner – Franks – Coneys by William I. Kaufman

Published by Doubleday & Company Inc.

© 1966

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC

Recipe: Hot Dog Bean Bake, a la Kraut – p. 59

Before I go one step further, I must point out to you that William I. Kaufman published many cookbooks including this one:  The Catholic Cookbook. This is the first time I've seen an "official" cookbook meant to help Catholics cope with dietary restrictions during Lent and other church holidays, and not the usual and customary spiral bound book published by churches everywhere.  I'm intrigued.  Of course, I have to have it, but right now, it will cost me a cool $50.00 to buy it off Amazon so I'm going to see if I can find it for less; forgive me "Father."

Also, I love how the book is stamped inside "Louise Adelia Read Memorial Library Hancock, New York."  My husband and I returned recently from a road trip through NY state and were not far from Hancock.  A couple of days after leaving that area, we went into the New York City where I purchased this hot dog cookbook.  I love how that all accidentally came together.

Once we got home from our trip the first week of August, summer sped by as it is wont to do and like it or not (not), Labor Day was upon us and which meant I had to decide to observe or not observe Labor Day with a cookbook.  I've mentioned before that cooking on major holidays is a challenge for me as I have too many cookbook that might fit a particular observance but not this year! 

This year, I was updating my cookbook list with my newly-acquired titles, and as soon as I saw The Hotdog Cookbook, I let out a sigh of relief as it was the perfect thing for Labor Day because as we know, Labor Day signals the unofficial end of summer and therefore hot dogs.  Please note though, that summer ain't over until it's over which is Friday, September 22, the first official day of autumn.  I cringe as I write this!

Okay, I've established that this year's Labor Day "cookbook" was a gimme, but finding a recipe was not easy given the breadth of my hot dog recipe choices: 

• Appetizers
• Soups
• Main Dishes
• Sandwiches
• Salads (Salads?)
• Cookout

Appetizer hot dog offerings were the usual and customary cocktail dogs and chafing dish dogs along with "Gourmet Hot Dog Dip" – p. 5 and "Hot Dog and Cheese Canapés" – p. 5.  Pass.

The Soups chapter gave me pause with recipes for "Hot Dog Vegetable Chowder" – p. 9, and "Hot Pot of Barley and Hot Dogs" – p. 9.  Again, no.

We'll come back to Main Dishes so we can continue on to Sandwiches.  Happily, this chapter is back on track with recipes for "Chili Topped Hot Dogs" – p. 69, and "Coney De Luxe" – p. 69.  I almost made the Coney recipe but it called for ¼ wheat germ and I don't know what that adds to the recipe, but it caused me to put it in the "no" pile.

Two recipes from that chapter that were also out were "Hot Dog Spread" – p. 73 as the mixture of ground hot dogs, chopped hard-boiled eggs and salad dressing plus a few more ingredients sounded completely unappetizing, as did the recipe for "Hot Dog and Cucumber Spread" – p. 73  Ick.

Speaking of "Ick," the Salad chapter gave me the most pause.  Here, it seems like the guy is just throwing hot dogs into salads because he could and not because it makes sense. 

As an example, the recipe for "Cabbage, Apple, and Hot Dog Salad" – p. 77, is basically a coleslaw with apples, green peppers, mayo and hot dogs.  A "Baked Hot Dog Potato Salad" – p. 7, is a casserole more than a salad, and it's basically a hot potato salad with green beans (green beans?) and hot dogs.

This then, forced my hand back to the Main Dishes chapter with the hopes that I could find something that wasn't ridiculous to make.

"It was the best of [hot dog] times, it was the worst of [hot dog ] times."

"Hot Dog Pilaf" – p. 17, are you kidding me?  Hot dog "pilaf?"  Eesh.  "Asparagus and Hot Dog Stroganoff" – p. 18 is another one that bit the dust.  I just...sigh.  And "Curried Macaroni and Hot Dogs" – p. 39 is ridiculous.  Just ridiculous.  The winner of the "Are you kidding me?" contest, and it is easy to see why, is a recipe for "Hot Dog Crown Roast" – p. 38, where 18 hot dogs are arranged so as to resemble a pork crown roast, complete with the traditional stuffing in the center.

Never will I ever....

Now I know that I was "asking" for it by purchasing this hot-dog focused cookbook, but still people.  Still. 

Happily, a few more sensible choices were left but even then, I was just not feeling some of the options and for once, neither was Andy.  I mean, they were okay but they were also the usual and customary:  "Barbecued Hot Dogs" – p. 32, not to be confused with "Hot Dog Barbecue" on p. 45.  I could have gone with "Hot Dogs with Pork 'N" Beans" – p. 57, but frankly (pun intended) my mother's dish was better.

In the end, we settled for what I call "Hot Dogs, Deconstructed," which is to say Hot Dog Bean Bake, A La Kraut. To me, this was the best of both worlds.  You had your hotdog, you had your baked beans and you had a sauerkraut topping all rolled into one.  It seemed perfect and it was nearly perfect except the sour flavor of the sauerkraut completely overwhelmed the other ingredients.  If I made this dish on Food Network's Chopped, I would have been chopped for not showcasing the other two ingredients, hot dogs and beans.

Still, all is not lost here because you can save the day with few adjustments.  At least I think you can!  The recipe calls for these ingredients:  hot dogs, pork and beans, chili sauce, sauerkraut and dill weed.  Were I to make this again, I think I would have added some brown sugar to the mixture and possibly even a small amount of mustard and ketchup, particularly ketchup to offset the sourness of the kraut.  Plus, the amount of kraut you use here (1 pound, or in my case, a half a pound) is way more than most of us would ever put on our hot dogs and that is what prevented it from being a great dish. It wasn't bad, but wow, my lips puckered!

Nevertheless, I have once again completed the compulsory portion of our Labor Day weekend was is to say, I made hot dogs!  Until next year....

Hot Dog Bean Bake, A La Kraut – makes 5 servings

1 pound hot dogs

2 cans (1 pound each) pork and beans with tomato sauce

¼ cup chili sauce

1 can (1 pound) sauerkraut, drained

½ teaspoon dill weed

Cut 5 hot dogs into bite-size pieces and combine with beans and chili sauce in a 1 ½-quart casserole.  Cover with sauerkraut and sprinkle with dill weed.  Bake in 350° oven for 30 minutes.  Top with whole hot dogs and bake additional 15 minutes.

Ann's Note:  As suggested above, I think the addition of some brown sugar and perhaps even some mustard and ketchup might help cut the tanginess of the sauerkraut.

"The Casserole Queens Cookbook" - Tuna Noodle Casserole for Good Friday 2017

Date I made this recipe – April 14, 2017 – Tuna Casserole for Good Friday

The Casserole Queens Cookbook by Crystal Cook & Sandy Pollock

Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-307-71785-6; copyright 2011

Recipe:  Tuna Noodle Casserole – p. 53

"Love it or hate it, the tuna noodle casserole is an American classic."

The Casserole Queens Cookbook authors Crystal Cook & Sandy Pollock

Exactly!  I could not agree with our authors more.

I love tuna noodle casserole but only if it contains peas.  No peas, no casserole, this is my rule.  And no potato chips, also another rule.  And although I've eaten tuna casserole with chow mein noodles or rice as the base, I prefer noodles because the other two ingredients just seem weird to me. Happily, this dish hit the jackpot with tuna, peas, and noodles (the Holy Trinity?) and life was good.

Now I love tuna casserole year-round but this year, I thought it might be a hoot if I could find a recipe for Good Friday when Catholics everywhere refrain from eating meat. You probably know that "thou shalt not eat meat on Fridays applies to the entire Lenten season, but Good Friday is the day you need to land all your jumps, so to speak, no exceptions.

Let's talk for a minute about my issues with this rule namely, if meat is verboten, then most people turn to fish and I do not like fish. These days, there are a million other things besides fish to eat that will satisfy this rule, but back in the day ('60's and '70's), finding a decent substitute was a nightmare.  McDonald's introduction of the Filet-O-Fish Sandwich in 1965 (all locations) helped some but I don't remember eating it during Lent, not that I would have anyway.  I know they do blockbuster sales of this sandwich during Lent but I just cannot go there.  Nope.

Briefly then, please take a walk down memory lane with me as I look back (not necessarily "with fondness") on Lenten Fridays and Good Friday, starting with Sacred Heart Catholic School.  I've noted in previous blogs that the food at this small school was wretched and although I cannot say for certain what we ate during Lent, I'm remembering a very tasteless and not-very-cheesy macaroni and cheese. Bleh.

I have no recollection of fish but I'm thinking that the school didn't dare serve us fish because nobody would eat it and our nuns had a huge problem with children not eating what was presented to them which was, I might add, one food item and one food item, take it or...take it.  We were never given an option of refusing the daily menu item and if Sister(s) caught you trying to throw it out, there was hell to pay, I'm not kidding.  As an aside, if nuns had tats, one would likely say "Remember the starving children of Biafra," and the other, "I hate children."

At any rate and moving on, the food at my combined public junior high and high school was thankfully a vast improvement, and I have memories of being served a really good Shrimp Burger on Lenten Fridays.  One of these days, I'm going to have to try to recreate that version to see how close I can come to my fond memory.

Then there was college and let me just take this opportunity to confess my sin regarding my college cafeteria.  Whereas these days, colleges and universities provide endless meat-less options year-round, back then my college served fish on Friday or lasagna.  Yes, I know, it's an odd combination, but there you go.  Since I don't like fish under normal circumstances, there was no way I was going to eat it in a college cafeteria (fish + heat lamp = not good) so I didn't, choosing the lasagna instead.

Well my mother was a by-the-book Catholic and so when she inquired about my fish on Friday options, I lied my pants off:  "Mother, it's a public university.  They are not beholden to serve fish on Friday and so they don't.  They offer lasagna.  With meat." [Insert look of maternal horror here.]

My mother thought about it for a minute and then recommended that I ask the local priest for dispensation (basically permission to stand down on the fish option) and so once again, I perpetuated a fraud on the church and on him and my mother and sheesh, I should have been hit by a lightning bolt (the nuns always said we would be if we lied) but instead, got my wish to have Lenten Lasagna on Fridays.  Just call me Garfield.

Turning our attention to the home front, during Lent our family ate fried shrimp, fish sticks (Mrs. Paul's - always) and canned salmon and canned mackerel that my dad "doctored" up with his great-tasting BBQ sauce that covered up the taste of the fish, thank goodness.  Canned salmon and mackerel were okay but they came with a lot of bones and I always feared chocking to death on one or more of them.  Not that I should have worried really, because Catholics had St. Blaise, the patron saint of throats (I'm not making this up).  If you were Catholic and got a fish bone stuck, no worries because St. Blaise would take care of you.

Slight problem:  The Feast of St. Blaise[1] fell in early February and Easter didn't come around March or April meaning you were without "coverage" during Lent.  Well, if that wasn't incentive to give up fish, I don't know what was and so I decided I decided that it was best to stay away from dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones and so haven't had either canned product since then.  As they say on the Food Network show, Chopped, "You left a lot of bones in your fish and for this reason, we had to 'Chop' you!"

This brings us back to and leaves us with, canned tuna. I love canned tuna and so was all giddy about my recipe selection but my husband was the opposite. The look on his face when I announced what we were having was priceless which is to same raised-eyebrow skeptical.  Well, every day can't be gourmet day in our house, now can it?

In the end, he deemed it "not bad" which I consider to be high praise and so was relieved that my recipe choice worked.  It's possible he had a bad childhood experience with the casserole in which case I can see his point, but I was the opposite.  I have fond memories of all kinds of casseroles – tuna or non-tuna - from church potlucks and other social gatherings. That said, I am not fond of eating tuna sandwiches made by others; it's my mom's very basic recipe or forget it.  I don't like finding "foreign" ingredients like pickles or chopped hard-boiled eggs in my tuna salad.  Do not.

So speaking of my mother, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out if mom ever made tuna casserole for us when my brother and I were younger, and I don't think she did.  She made tuna salad sandwiches and cold tuna pasta salad (with peas!) but I'm not remembering a casserole.  Interesting.  On the other hand, this made sense as my dad wasn't fond of casseroles and so we only had them if he was out of town for work or mom just needed to make something in a hurry which was not often.

This concludes then, my walk down Lenten Lane and Good Friday observances and fish on Fridays.  No doubt it was enlightening as all get out but let's turn our attention back to today's featured food:  Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Faithful readers of my blog know that the rule of casseroles is (generally) they must contain Cream of "X" (usually mushroom) Soup or they are not a casserole.  This is not my rule but I do tend to follow it religiously (pun intended) although there are times when exceptions must be made for the good of the country and casserole!

So brace yourselves kids:  this casserole does not contain Cream of "X" soup.  Instead, the author provides what I think is a tasty (and almost identical) substitute and that is chicken broth and heavy cream.  It also substitutes Parmesan cheese for the usual and customary cheddar cheese and that turned out fine as well.  Happily, this recipe includes peas or I wouldn't be talking to you about this casserole right now as I would not have made it! 

The only issue I had with making this dish was that you are to cook the noodles in the broth and cream mixture instead of boiling the noodles and then adding them to the other ingredients.  While the taste was fine, I thought the noodles were a tad gummy which is to say they were done but not quite.  I worried that cooking them too much longer wouldn't achieve the result I was hoping for (i.e. a more thoroughly-cooked noodle) and so decided a "tad" gummy was better than quite overdone.  You might want to consider par-boiling them first (see package directions for cooking time) so that they are almost done before adding them to the pan; adjust your cooking time accordingly from 8 minutes to something other than 8 minutes.  I might go that route if I had to do this over again.  You might want to consider doing the same with the peas as I felt they were also a little underdone.  Do note that the other time I made a recipe like this on the stovetop, I experienced similar results which makes me wonder what the secret is when it comes to stovetop cooking.

Once you get over the hurdle of cooking everything together so that the ingredients are blended (do watch for potential boil-over though) and done to taste, you move the mixture to a baking pan and cook it in the oven for another 8 minutes or so and then you are done.  What I liked about this method is that I avoided one of the frequent "fails" of casseroles and that is over-baking such that the whole thing ends up dry and unappetizing.  This mixture remained moist and creamy and the small amount of leftovers I had the next day were perfect.

This recipe calls for seasoned bread crumbs and I sort of followed the recipe below except I used "canned" bread crumbs instead of day-old bread and it worked out just fine.

Although this cookbook is not very big,  most of the recipes looked delicious so who cared?  The Table of Contents breaks out the recipes into the following categories:

• Fun for the Whole Family.  Neat-O!
• The Savory Gourmet
• Meet the Lighter Side of The Casserole Queens
• Sides that Take Front and Center
• Rise and Shine!  Casseroles to Start the Day
• Desserts Fit for a Queen
• From Scratch.  Yes, You Can (includes recipes like the seasoned bread crumbs)

The Tuna Noodle Casserole recipe came from the "Fun for the Whole Family" chapter that included other interesting and fun casseroles such as a "Corn Dog Casserole," "World's Greatest Pot Pie," and "'Keep Austin Weird' Spam Casserole."  I do realize that many of you are thinking "ew" when it comes to Spam, but many of us of a certain age grew up eating it and don't think it's weird at all.  (By the way, the authors point out that "Austin" is Austin, Texas, and not Austin, Minnesota where Spam is made.)

I debated making the "Shrimply Delicious Shrimp and Grits Casserole" but we just had grits, and thought also about "Baked Four-Cheese Pasta" but decided we should do something a bit lighter – ha!  The other chapters yield a whole bunch of great-sounding recipes, including desserts, should you want to go exploring.

All in all, this was a good recipe and it ticked off most of my must-have boxes for a tuna casserole.  As previously mentioned, Andy seemed satisfied with my efforts so this was a win-win.

And that is how we observed (not really) Good Friday, 2017.

Tuna Noodle Casserole – Makes 8 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs (recipe to follow)

1 (10-ounce) container sliced button mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

1 ½ teaspoons paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon salt, plus more for taste

3 ½ cups chicken broth  (Ann's Note:  if you want to make your own, instructions are included on p. 200.)

1 cup heavy cream

1 (8-ounce) package wide egg noodles

2 (6-ounce) cans water-packed solid white tuna, drained well and flaked

1 ½ cups frozen peas

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (8 ounces)

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Freshly ground pepper

For the seasoned bread crumbs (makes 3 cups)

1 loaf day-old bread (Ann's Note:  you can also use canned bread crumbs if you have them on hand.  If you use the loaf of bread, you'll be grinding them in the food processor anyway to achieve the same result.)

2 tablespoons dried thyme or oregano

2 tablespoons dried basil or parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 475F.

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat.  Add the bread crumbs and toast until just golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes.  Transfer the crumbs to a small bowl and set aside.  (Ann's Note:  bread crumb instructions follow.)

Melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium sauté pan set over medium-high heat.  Add the mushrooms, onion, paprika, cayenne, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms and onion are golden brown, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the broth and cream, and then add the noodles.  Increase the heat to high and cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring often, until the noodles are nearly tender and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 8 minutes.  Ann's Notes:  As I mentioned above, you might want to par-boil the noodles and the peas before adding them to the sauce to ensure they'll be done.  At 8 minutes, mine were just a bit chewy.  I also suggest that you keep your eye on the sauce as I felt like it might boil over or scorch; it didn't but better safe than sorry.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the tuna, peas, Parmesan, and parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top.  Bake until the edges are bubbly, about 8 minutes.

To make the seasoned bread crumbs

Ann's Note:  In the interest of time, I used canned plain bread crumbs and then added the spices accordingly.  If you follow this method, note that the authors suggest storing them in the freezer to keep them fresh longer.

Preheat oven to 300F.

Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes and pulse in a food processor to make coarse crumbs.  Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and dry them out by baking for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.  Allow the crumbs to cool completely.

Return the dried crumbs to the food processor.  Add the thyme, basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then pulse until the crumbs are finely processed and well mixed with the seasoning.

Store in an airtight container for up to six months.

---

[1] During mass on the Feast of St. Blaise, parishioners walked up to the front of the church as if taking Communion, except the priest blessed your throat while an alter boy held up two unlit candles that were secured together in the shape of a V.  Said unlit candles then framed your throat, warding off evil spirits or evil bones or just evil, period.  Every time I think about this ridiculous custom, I just crack up laughing.  My husband thinks its an odd stories, but my Catholic friends think it is hilarious and it is.  I mean really people.  Really.

"Soul Food - Classic Cuisine From the Deep South" by Sheila Ferguson - Cheese and Sausage Grits Casserole for Black History Month

Date I made this recipe:  February 25, 2017 – Black History Month

Soul Food – Classic Cuisine From the Deep South by Sheila Ferguson

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

ISBN: 1-55584-420-0; copyright 1989

Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, NYC

Recipe:  Cheese and Sausage Grits Casserole – p. 61

So February was Black History Month and even though I had the entire month to make a recipe from a related cookbook, please note that I snuck this one in under the wire.  Of course, getting it posted in the month of February was another matter all together.

While I don't necessarily keep a list of cookbooks to purchase, I was on the lookout for this after reading about the book and its author a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) and finally found it two years ago at one of my favorite cookbook bookstores, Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in NYC.  As per usual, when I shop at Bonnie's, I find the coolest books and this was one of them.

This cookbook, written in 1989, is full of yummy recipes and great stories submitted by Sheila and her relatives. And sure, there were a fair amount of "no-go" recipes like "Pig's Feet," "Chit'lins," and lordy, lordy, "Braised Squirrel," but I was prepared to overlook that because of the breadth of her other offerings.

As a "for instance," "Roland's Home Fries" (p. 41) was in the running for a long time but when I realized that my recent breakfasts out with friends were heavy on the home fries, I passed.  Still, I would love to make it sometime because it sounded easy and fabulous.

On pages 60 and 61 you'll find four recipes for all kinds of grits including one for a "Sweet Grits Soufflé."  Today's recipe, Cheese and Sausage Grits Casserole, was found on page 61.  I like a book that has four grit offerings for every flavor palate out there.

Also in the running was "Aunt Odessa's Macaroni and Tuna Bake Casserole," (p. 122) and I also pondered that long and hard before going back to the grits.  I love mac and cheese, and I love tuna casserole so this likely would have been a hit even though it was missing my favorite tuna casserole ingredients – peas.

And then I considered two salads, one, a classic macaroni salad, the other, a potato salad, (both on p. 132) but these are more summer than winter dishes and Black History Month waited for no one!

See what I mean?  And those were just a few of the options from this cookbook a cookbook that covers soul food recipes from A-Z, as evidenced by the following categories:

• The High and Mighty Breakfast
• Down-Home Breads
• Grits, Grits, Grits
• Fine Feathered Fowl
• Critters That Swim  ("Critters?"  that "Swim?"  Happily, she mostly means fish.  Mostly.)
• The Almighty Pig
• If You See It, Shoot It (I almost spit my coffee just now!)
• Beans 'n' Rice
• Kissin' Cousins (a variety of recipes from people who are not kin but should be)
• Soulful Salads
• God's Green Acres
• That Glorious Sweet Potato
• Sweet Thangs
• Cakes and Cookies
• Pickles and Drinks (Huh.  I don't know as I'd ever put these two together in one chapter, but I suppose she was getting to the end of things and had to wrap it all up. )

Also included in this book is a chapter called "So What Is Soul Food," "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing! The Black Way of Talking," and a "Future Reading" page.  Books in the "Future Reading" section aren't necessarily African-American but most have to do with southern cooking or southern specialties.

Now although it's not necessarily a requirement that a cookbook author have some cooking cred, I was surprised to see that author Sheila Ferguson is a singer first, cook, second.  Her dust jacket bio says she was lead singer of the legendary pop group The Three Degrees ("When Will I See You Again?"); these days, it looks like she is enjoying a solo career.  So the fact that she pulled together a really good cookbook is amazing – kudos!

Before I head on to the easy and tasty recipe, I have to tell you that my friend, Ann, will likely not touch a drop of this recipe and that's a damned shame.  Years ago, she spent some time at Florida State University and our northern gal of Scandinavian descent did not cotton to grits at all.  Can't say as I blame her as the few times I had grits while down south during childhood family vacations were not fond food memories for me, either. I n fact, I thought they were awful.  But over the years, I've really taken to them which is a good thing as I am able to leave my horrible grit-eating past behind me and embrace the suckers.  That said, it should be noted that there are "grit" grits which I like, and that are a lot like polenta, and then there are hominy grits which I loathe.  I make it a point never, ever to order the latter.

Although this is an easy dish, there is one adjustment that I made and that is to the sausage.  The recipe directs you to use a ready-made (read:  already-seasoned) product like Jimmy Dean sausage but I just could not, not only because of the preservatives and other additives, but because a roll of that stuff was way more than I needed.  So I Googled to see what sausage seasonings closely approximated Jimmy Dean's and added them to the ground sausage I purchased (in the quantity I needed, no more, no less). I'm including the sausage spices below.

This was a very good dish and a great way to close out Black History Month.  As an FYI, about a year ago, I purchased a fabulous and fascinating book called The Jemima Code by Toni Tipton-Martin.  This book (not a cookbook per se) explores two centuries of African-American cookbooks and Soul Food – Classic Cuisine From the Deep South is one of the included books.  I am currently going through my collection list to see which cookbooks from The Jemima Code I already own and which ones I need to acquire.  It's a process to be sure but meanwhile, enjoy this casserole!

Cheese and Sausage Grits Casserole – p. 61

1 lb ready-made sausage meat (Ann's Note:  I suggest you skip that and add the spice mix below to make your own sausage.)

1 cup uncooked grits

4 cups lightly salted water

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 cup butter

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup milk

1 small clove garlic, minced

Ann's home-made sausage spice (*These are for a half pound of sausage; double the ingredients for a full pound).  Add the following mixture to your ground sausage:

¼ teaspoon parsley

1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage

1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon sage

1/8 teaspoon coriander

½ teaspoon salt

*If you want it hot, add some red pepper

Form the sausage meat into patties and fry it up crisp and golden brown.  Be sure you pour off all the excess fat as you're frying. Drain your patties on paper towels, then crumble them up in a bowl.  Preheat your oven to 350.

While you're doing all this your grits can be cooking.  You've got to boil them up in the salted water for about 5 minutes, exactly as it states on the box.  When they thicken up to the consistency of porridge, remove them from the heat and stir in grated cheese. Cover and let them stand for a couple of minutes.  Now stir in your butter, eggs, milk, and garlic until well blended.  Stir in your sausage meat.  Taste and adjust your seasonings.

Pour into a well-buttered 1 ½ quart baking dish and bake in your oven for 1 hour or until lightly browned and bubbling.

"Full Color Chinese Cooking - 30 Recipes" & "Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is" - a chicken soup and a chicken casserole for the Chinese Year of the Rooster!

Date I made these recipes:  February 19, 2017 – Belated Chinese New Year—the year of the Rooster!

Full Color Chinese Cooking – 30 Recipes by Constance D. Chang

Published by Shufunomoto Co., Ltd. Tokyo, Japan

© 1969; fourth printing August 1970

Purchased at Goodwill

Recipe:  Chicken Noodle Soup – p. 25

Fowl Cooking – Chicken, That Is by Virgo Paynter Miyamoto

Published by Mutual Publishing Company

© 1989

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe: Cock-a-Doodle-do-da Casserole – p. 144 (Chicken with a veggie mix of artichokes, olives, pimento, green pepper and onion, topped with soup, sour cream and cheese – yum!)

Thank goodness the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Rooster – lasts the entire year because if not for that, I might not be able to do what I am doing which is to finally get around to telling you in the month of March what I made (late) in February. 

As always, life gets in the way of me making other plans!

So the Year of the Rooster – woo hoo!  Unlike the zodiac calendar we're all familiar with - Aquarius, Pisces, Libra, etc., a Chinese zodiac calendar is broken into years and each year is assigned an animal.  The animal signs are: rat; ox; rabbit; tiger; dragon; snake; horse; goat; monkey; rooster; dog, and pig, and these animal signs repeat every 12 years.

So, for example, if you were born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972 and so on, you are a rat – ha!  If you were born in 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, and (coming up), 2029, you are a rooster! And just like the zodiac signs we are familiar with, rats and roosters and the other animals have lucky numbers, unlucky numbers, lucky colors, personality traits, other "animals" to avoid and so on.

Here's an example: People born in a year of the Rooster are "very observant, hardworking, resourceful, courageous, and talented.  Roosters are very confident in themselves."  Rooster lucky numbers are 5, 7, and 8 and red is an unlucky color.

I have to say, much of this amuses and so every now and then, I do a deeper study into these signs although I often disagree with what I read.  One thing I read while "researching" these "year of" signs almost made me spit my coffee onto my keyboard and it was a chart titled "Famous Dogs." Ha!  Hahahahahahaha.  Let me assure you that this list did not include Lassie or Rin Tin Tin (but did include Winston Churchill so that's cool).

It should go without saying that celebrating the Chinese New Year means making Chinese food and I did that by cooking from one of my Chinese cookbooks, but I also had to – just had to - make something from this hilarious cookbook I purchased in Hawaii last year:  Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is.  There's a reason why this book was so fitting and so let's get to it.

You may not know this, but the island of Kauai has a poultry problem.  Many islanders raise chickens (and roosters) but when Hurricane Iniki roared through the islands years ago, those chicken coops were destroyed and the chickens went rogue and then multiplied, such that you cannot go anywhere, and I mean anywhere, on the island without tripping on a chicken. 

So we should not have been surprised, and yet were, when at 5:00 a.m. on the first morning of our most recent stay, we were rudely awakened by a rousing "Cock-a-doodle-doo" by a you know who! I wish I was able to capture that Kodak moment i.e. the look on our faces when we heard it.  I remember commenting that I felt like we were in an episode of the TV show, Green Acres!  Later that day, while relaxing by the pool, I heard a "cheep, cheep, cheep" and looked down in time to see a mama chicken and her little chicklets strolling by my beach chair on their way to the...pool?

Fast forward then to last year when we were on the Big Island and once again, on our first morning there were awakened by a rousing "Gobble, gobble, gobble" of a wild turkey, not to be confused with the alcoholic beverage, Wild Turkey which we drank after this happened.  After folks.  Once again, the look we gave each other was priceless more so because good lord, are fowls on the move?  Have they grown tired of the overcrowded Kauai and are now looking for more space in which to grow and raise their families on the Big I? (Think House Hunters Chicken [version]:  "Well, Kauai's chicken coops are 'a little small' so we're looking for more space.  We'd like to stay in the same neighborhood but would move to the bigger island if need be...")  At any rate, we shall just have to go back soon to monitor the situation.

Okay, so, with all that in mind, it was time to pull some recipes and I had no trouble finding recipes containing chicken.  These recipes don't go together at all but they contain our "secret" ingredient and that's all that matters.  By the way, unless you own a chicken farm (my paternal grandparents did), you will not find rooster (as in the Year of the "Rooster") in a grocery store, likely because it's a pretty tough bird and I don't mean "street" tough, I mean tough to eat.  So roosters are out and really, we should redub this year "The Year of the 'Hen.'"  I may need to send a letter to the Chinese government.

And so folks, let's review my two dinner selections – Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Dah Casserole from Fowl Cooking...Chicken, That Is, and Chicken Noodle Soup from the Full Color Chinese Cooking cookbook.  Think of these as a Tale of Two Chickens and by all means, feel free to make and serve these separately lest your palate and your family members get confused.

Now I could have made something Chinese-related from the Fowl Cooking cookbook, but given our experiences in Hawaii, I just could not pass up the opportunity to make the hilariously and appropriately named Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Dah Casserole.  This dish is what my mother would call a "company" casserole, not that my mother ever served any guest in our home a casserole as she favored company classics like a beef roast or Swiss steak or baked chicken. This was a yummy casserole though because in addition to the requisite chicken, it contained ingredients we casserole lovers cherish:  cream of chicken soup, sour cream and parmesan cheese.  It also includes artichoke hearts, noodles, and a few other ingredients.  We quite liked it.

As to the [Chinese] Chicken Noodle Soup, it was easy to make, the vermicelli noodles were a fun addition, but it fell flat on flavor. (Well, did I find my "f" key on the keyboard, or what?).  The recipe called for three "spices" – salt, pepper and MSG.  Now most of us know that MSG has been dubbed the evil empire of seasoning since it can trigger migraine headaches and I sure didn't want that, but I think of an appropriate substitute and I wish I had because it needed a little extra "something" to liven it up a bit.  I suppose one could use soy sauce but maybe something like star anise?  Or maybe fish sauce?  Well, play with it.

This then, concludes my post on the Chinese New Year – The Year of the Rooster.  I hope it's a good year for you all but just know it will be a while before I get around to making another dish in honor of the occasion as next year is the year of the dog and....no.  Nope.  Enjoy your chicken!

Cock-A-Doodle-Do-Da Casserole – serves 8 to 10

4 cups cubed cooked chicken

¾ cup dry white wine

2 cans (10 oz. each) cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

1 pkg. noodles, cooked and drained

2 cans (14 oz. each) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 can (14 oz.) pitted ripe olives, halved

½ cup chopped pimento

½ cup slivered green pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Mix wine, soup, and sour cream and set aside.  Butter a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. 

Starting with the noodles, layer the noodles, chicken, artichoke hearts, olives, pimento, green pepper and onion.  Add the wine, soup, and sour cream mixture.  Top with the Parmesan cheese.  Refrigerate overnight if desired.  (Ann's Note:  Nope, not desired!)

Bake in a 350F oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Turkey cubes may be substituted for the chicken.  The casserole can be made ahead of time and frozen.

Chicken Noodle Soup – 2-6 servings

2 oz. vermicelli or noodle

2 ½ oz. chicken breasts (Ann's Note:  I wasn't sure whether to use raw chicken breasts or not so I erred on cooking the chicken separately and then adding it to the dish at the very end to warm it up.)

12 snow peas

¼ cup dried mushroom, soaked and shredded (Ann's Note:  dried mushrooms are expensive so I used fresh.)

1/3 cup caned bamboo shoots, cut into strips

¼ cup carrot, cut into strips

7 cups chicken stock

1/3 cup ham, cut into strips

1 tablespoon salt

Pepper

MSG (monosodium glutamate)  (Ann's Note:  see discussion of MSG above)

Cut chicken, snow peas, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots and ham into thin strips.

Drop vermicelli into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes.  (Ann's Note:  this is less time than normal for fully-cooked vermicelli.) Drain, rinse and drain again.  Set aside.

Bring chicken stock to boiling point.  Add chicken meat, ham, snow peas, mushroom, bamboo shoots and carrot.  Cook for 2 minutes. Add seasonings and cooked vermicelli and boil for 1 minute over medium heat.

"The Mondale Family Cookbook" by Joan Mondale (Walter F. "Fritz" Mondale was Jimmy Carter's Vice President) - Inauguration Day 2017

Date I made this recipe:  January 20, 2017 – Inauguration Day     

The Mondale Family Cookbook by Joan Mondale (Minnesotans Walter "Fritz" Mondale and the late Joan Mondale were Vice President and Second Lady under President Jimmy Carter, 1980-1984)

Published by the 1984 Mondale for President Committee, Inc.

© 1984

Recipe:  Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole – p. 44

Although I have been known to pull a cookbook off my shelves to observe an event – a food holiday, a national holiday, or a "holiday" holiday - this time around, I hadn't planned to make anything for Friday's inauguration and yes, I know – shocking.  I just had a lot going on and just wasn't in the frame of mind to go on a search and destroy mission through vast cookbook list to find just the "right" one.

And then fate intervened.  This Christmas, I acquired several books and so I finally carved out a few minutes to update my cookbook data base (read:  Excel spreadsheet – so fancy!).  One of the books I acquired was The Mondale Family Cookbook and I was all set to put it on the shelf when it dawned on me I could make something for Friday's Inauguration and so I did. 

Was that incredible timing, or what? 

Because during an inauguration, like the one we had today, a President and a Vice President are sworn into office, and 40 years ago on January 20, 1977, Minnesotan Walter "Fritz" Mondale (of the "cookbook" Mondales!) was sworn in as President Jimmy Carter's Vice President. 

Since I was in college during this election and eligible to vote for the first time, I remember well the Carter/Mondale administration.  But with the exception of some sweet little adorable five year old who can name every President and Vice President, and who appears on talk shows to show off her prowess, most of us cannot normally recall Presidents, much less their second in commands.  And so let's test ourselves on how well we remember these dynamic duos, okay? (Hint:  You're looking for the names of 45 Presidents and 48 Vice Presidents.)

"All right then - pencils up, eyes front and...GO!" [Minutes, days, hours later] "And....time's up, pencils down."

How'd you do?  I'm guessing fair to middling.  Will it help if I show my work? 

Since I know for sure that my knowledge of our earliest Presidents and Veeps is fuzzy, I decided to test my knowledge starting with Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), our 32^nd President.   Why FDR?  Several reasons: 1) most of my history classes focused on the Great Depression and WWII which was when FDR was in office; 2) my dad grew up during the Depression and was a Marine in WWII, and 3) I have a better chance on my own history test if I start with what I know and that's the start of what I know!

Well, almost.  FDR served three terms (1933-1945) in office (bonus points if you knew this and also knew that he was the only president to serve three terms) but I have no recollection of Vice Presidents One and Two so I cheated and Googled and they are John Nance Garner (1933-1941) and Henry A. Wallace (1941-1945).  Please make a note of this.

When it comes to FDR's third Vice President though, I have this on lock and load:  Harry S. Truman.  My dad loved Harry S. Truman and his whole "The buck stops here" approach.  My dad was also a Marine during WWII and credits Truman with seeing to it that he came home from the Pacific theater so there's that.  (Bonus points if you knew that FDR oversaw V-E Day (Victory-Europe Day), but died before he could see the end of the war in Japan known as V-J Day (Victory Japan Day).  Harry S. Truman brought an end to the war in Japan after stepping into the Presidential seat held by FDR.

After finishing out the rest of FDR's third term, Truman ran for election, won, and became the 33^rd President.  (Bonus points if you recall the surprise outcome to the election and another bonus point if the word "Dewey" rings a bell.)

Okay then, so Harry S. Truman was President and his Vice President was....give me a second...and...nope.  The guy's name was Alben W. Barkley.  For some reason, I had [the name] Adlai Stevenson rolling around my head but dear heavens, Adlai Stevenson was Grover Cleveland's Vice President and they served from 1893-1897.  Please note that I was only off by 48 years.  I think I'll award myself a half point for remembering the name even if I couldn't place him with the correct President!

After Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower became President (I knew that so point for me!) and Richard Nixon was his Vice President.  Not that I recall Nixon being his Vice President so that's a deduction. (But I get points for knowing that Nixon became President eventually, and I also get points for knowing – because I watched it firsthand – all about Watergate.)

After Eisenhower, President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson served in office (2 points for me), and after Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson became President and Minnesotan Hubert H. Humphrey was his Vice President, and people, I am on a point roll! (By the way, I was not living in Minnesota at this time nor when Carter and Mondale were in the White House.)

Unfortunately, Johnson's Presidency was a rocky one (bonus points if you know about the Chicago Democratic convention and the Vietnam War), and so he decided not to seek reelection ("I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."  Major bonus points awarded if you not only knew he said this but came up also with the exact quote; I came so close but didn't nail it).  This left the field open for Democrats Hubert H. Humphrey and the late Bobby Kennedy (among others) to run, but it was Republican Richard Nixon who won the day.

Richard Nixon's first Vice President was Spiro Agnew and then after Spiro stepped down, it was Gerald R. Ford who was from my home state of Michigan.  And I cannot pass up the opportunity to tell you a small story about Spiro Agnew.

While in law school, I took a Corporations Law class and during one class session, we reviewed a court case involving Spiro Agnew.  Since I attended law school later in life, the only people in this class who were not 26"ish" (the average age) were me, my friend, Melissa, and our professor who was only a few years older than the two of us.  In fact, the professor attended Kent State University during the famous Kent State Massacre, so award yourself bonus points if you know about that tragic event. 

Anyway, so the professor started the case review by asking if anyone in the class knew who Spiro Agnew was.  And Melissa and I were all "Oh, oh, Mr. Kotter!  Mr. Kotter!" (I reference the TV show Welcome Back, Kotter from the 70's – starring John Travolta) because of course we knew who he was, we lived through that era.  But nobody else in the class did.  Nobody.

"Oh people...people....[sigh]. Nobody knows?" I have never seen a professor so dejected.  Can I just say though, that for once, I felt pretty chuffed that I was old enough to know this information instead of feeling like a mom/den mother?

Moving on.  After Nixon resigned, Gerald R. Ford became President and his Vice President  was....dammit...it was....I know I know this and....nope.  Answer: Nelson Rockefeller.  Right about now is when I started to feel like I was on the TV show, Jeopardy, in that I knew Nelson Rockefeller's name had to be in the "Vice Presidents" (for 10) category someplace but I just couldn't figure out where!  My initial thought was Ronald Reagan which as you will see, is wrong, wrong, wrong!

Still, I rallied and now things started looking up because  after Ford, Jimmy Carter was elected President and our aforementioned Walter F. (Fritz) Mondale his Vice President. 

After Carter, Ronald Regan was elected President and his Vice President was George H. W. Bush.  Then Bush (senior) became President and Dan Quayle was his Vice President.  Bush (senior) was followed by Bill Clinton whose Vice President was Al Gore. 

After Clinton came George "W" Bush and his Vice President was Dick Cheney, and after that Barack Obama and his Vice President, Joe Biden, and today Donald Trump and his Veep, Mike Pence were sworn in.  Whew, right?

And before I get to the reason we are really here – The Mondale  Family Cookbook, let me just share a few other facts that I uncovered in my research:

*11 out of 48 Vice Presidents were from New York State including Aaron Burr, famous for engaging in a [gun] duel with Alexander Hamilton (he of the Broadway blockbuster Hamilton – An American Musical).  And four out of the 11 New Yorker's later became President:  Martin Van Buren; Millard Fillmore; Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt.

*To my surprise, six of the 48 Vice Presidents hailed from Indiana, including the recently sworn-in Mike Pence.  I guess I wasn't expecting Indiana to yield so many.  On the other hand, 13 states produced one and only one Vice President including the 13^th Vice President, William R. King who hailed from Alabama. 

And with that, we conclude today's – Inauguration Day 2017 – history review and test.  Please tally up your scores, (keep it honest folks,) pass your papers in, and to those of you who scored low, you know what you need to do!

So onto the book we go! In 1984, Mondale decided to run for President and so the 1984 Mondale  for President Committee, Inc. published this cookbook, The Mondale Family Cookbook, likely as a fundraiser or thank you gift for donors. The book contains family and friend photos, a Mondale family tree (loved that!), and recipes from the family and their friends, as well as recipes and menus from the Vice President's House.  And it was from one of those menus that I selected today's casserole recipe.

But first, I must mention – must – the "recipe" that cracked me up the most when I saw it:  "Hot Dogs and Tab (the soft drink)" from family friend, James A. Johnson. To make this recipe, you heat the hot dogs in a pot on the stove and then pour yourself a Tab and ta da, instant dinner! 

As tempting as that recipe was though, it wasn't exactly Inauguration-worthy and so I had to pass, settling instead on the Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole that was served to former First Lady "Lady Bird" Johnson, widow of President Lyndon B. Johnson, when she visited the Vice President's House, January 10, 1979. 

Still folks.  Still.  I cannot say that I've ever associated a Minnesota casserole with a Vice Presidential dinner and that is because casseroles are usually reserved for:

a) a Lutheran church basement funeral repast

b) a neighborhood pot-luck

c) a bridal or baby shower

d) all of the above

But this was 1979 and "fancy" casseroles were making the rounds of many a dinner party and those with wild rice, like the Mondale casserole, are fancier still.  You should know that wild rice is not rice at all but rather a grass/grain and has the distinction of being the official Minnesota State Grain. Perhaps this is why it ended up on the dinner table? (Dress to impress, cook to impress?)

That said, as any Minnesotan (or transplant like me) knows, a bona fide, true blue, all-American, specifically-Minnesotan casserole (or, as the natives say, "hot dish") contains at least one can of Cream of "X" soup, where "X" equals Mushroom, Chicken, or Celery.  There are no exceptions to this rule, and in fact, if this requirement has not been codified, i.e. made into law, it should be. 

Other popular casserole ingredients (although not necessarily mandatory) are Tater Tots and Velveeta cheese.  And it is ingredients like these that have people diving at the pot-luck table time and time again.

In fact, so popular are casseroles to these parts, that United States Senator Al Franken (D-MN) hosts an annual Minnesota Congressional Delegation Hot Dish Off (like a Bake Off, only not) every year and let me tell you, last year's results were interesting. http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/documents/2016HotdishRecipes.pdf

Last year's results were interesting because Representative Tim Walz's (D-MN-1^st District) winning recipe, Turkey Taco Tot Hot Dish contained not a single can of Cream of "X" soup.  Not one. And he wasn't alone as five – FIVE! – out of 10 submissions did not use soup.  Well, that's downright...un-Minnesotan!  How did it come to pass that we elected these people?

I am speechless.  Really.  How is this even possible? No soup (for you)?

And so a shout out to the following people who followed the rules (and possibly state statutes) and used at least one can of soup:  Senator Al Franken; Representative Collin Peterson (who made his casserole using rabbit.  Hmmmm.  Interesting choice, that.); Representative Betty McCollum; Representative Keith Ellison, and Representative Erik Paulsen who used three cans of soup, one of which was Cream of Mushroom, cream of Mushroom being the "official" casserole go-to around here, "don't ya know."

So that's impressive and the rest of you have your work cut out for you!

Now then, so used am I to seeing Cream of "X" soup, that I thought that was what the Mondale's Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole called for but folks, it did not and now I have further proof that I need to get my eyes checked.

The Mondale's recipe, as served to Lady Bird Johnson, called for 1 can of Mushroom Soup (not a "Cream of" in sight) and ½ cup consommé.  Technically, that's a violation and I'm sorry former Vice President Mondale, I'm going to have to "ding" you for that.

Frankly, I'm a little confused by these two ingredients as it's basically beef on beef.  Campbell's makes a can of "Beefy Mushroom" soup that I imagine is somewhat gravy-like, and then to that you add more beef broth in the form of consommé?  Well it puzzles is what it does but who am I to argue with a former Veep?

Still, because of my misread, I used Cream of Mushroom and the consommé, and all was well with the world and the dish was really tasty.  Very tasty.  But brown people, very brown.

And I only mention the color because it's in sharp contrast to the usual and customary white food of which many Minnesotans of Scandinavian descent are quite fond.  In fact, it is usual  and customary to see a holiday dinner of boiled potatoes (white), white fish (or actual Whitefish, a Lake Superior delicacy), pickled herring (ew – but white), lefse, a white crepe of sorts made with potatoes, and the ever-famous but never-popular, lutefisk which is white fished soaked in lye and then dried, I kid you not.  Never, ever will I eat that – never, and herring is out, but I can deal with the rest of it so long as I can add a splash of color known as Lingonberry jam!

Similarly, the Mondale's feast was a mixture of brown and white as follows:  Oysters Casino (oysters are white/gray); Roast Duckling with Kumquats (duck is brown); Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole (totally brown); Baked Cucumbers (sans the skin, cucumbers are white); Small Croissants (white/golden); Poached Pears (white) with Sabayon Sauce (sabayon sauce contains eggs – white and gold), and then in a complete about-face, they added a Bibb Lettuce and Watercress Salad with Slices Avocado – green, green, totally green and the dinner party was saved! I am kidding, of course, as it all sounds lovely and delicious and the very brown Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole was mighty tasty even though I defaulted to the Cream of Mushroom Soup.  Old cooking habits are hard to break!

So that's the story of my accidental inauguration dinner, a look at Presidents and Vice Presidents through history, and a further peek into the crazy casserole times of native Minnesotans.  And by the way, lest you think my history lesson was all for naught, everybody should have a few interesting anecdotes tucked away as nobody likes a boring dinner party guest.  In fact, when I took a class on [Geoffrey] Chaucer in college, my professor insisted that all of us learn to recite the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in the original Olde English, for the express purpose of impressing party guests. (I can still recall the first eight lines and then after that I'm a bit lost, sort of like my Vice President recollection!)

And so when you get that call and subsequent party invitation from the Vice President's office? You're welcome!

And now to end our little historic look-back at the office of the President and Vice President, I wanted to let you know that Walter and Joan Mondale returned eventually to Minneapolis where he still resides; Joan passed away in 2014.  Joan was a well-known artist (pottery) and I completely forgot until I read her bio on Wikipedia that she was nicknamed Joan of "Art."  She compiled all the recipes in this book.

Walter continued on in law and politics and in 2013, was keynote speaker and honoree at a Law and Inequality Symposium titled Civil Rights & Civil Justice: 50 Years Later, at his law alma mater, the University of Minnesota Law School.   I was in that audience then (I'm a fellow attorney) and marveled the entire time how up close and personal I was to a former Vice President of the United States. 

Would that I had known about the Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole though.  Would that I had known.

Minnesota Wild Rice Casserole – six servings

¾ cup long-grained rice

¼ cup wild rice

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons diced celery

2 tablespoons chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped green pepper

1 pound ground beef

1 can (10 ½ ounces) mushroom soup (Ann's Note:  Not CREAM of Mushroom Soup.  Mushroom soup.)

½ cup consommé

½ pound fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced

¼ cup slivered almonds

In separate pots cook the long-grained rice and the wild rice according to directions on packages.  While they are cooking, sauté the vegetables in the butter.  Add the ground beef and brown.  Stir in the mushroom soup, consommé, mushrooms, and almonds.  Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.  In a casserole, combine the rices with the vegetable-beef mixture and keep warm in a 250 oven until served.