Broccoli Casserole Rewind

My favorite vegetable is green beans. My Daughter in Love Danielle loves broccoli. She wondered what my green bean casserole would taste like if I used broccoli instead of green beans. We decided to try it Christmas Day as one of our side dishes. It was wonderful. I have rewound the recipe, taken out the green beans and added frozen broccoli florets.

Ingredients:

2 packages of frozen broccoli florets, steam in the bag, cooked to package directions
1/2 cup onion, diced fine
2 Tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce (secret ingredient that rocks this recipe)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup of sour cream
2 cups of cheese
1 large container of French fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a skillet on the stove. Add flour to pan to make a roux. Cook for one minute. Do not burn! Add onion, salt, soy sauce, sugar and sour cream. Stir to blend. Add broccoli and toss in mixture to coat. Pour into a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Top with cheddar cheese. Distribute onions on top of cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. I usually check halfway through the cooking time to make sure the fried onions are not getting too brown, if they are, tent with foil.

***Tip: This dish can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated without the onion topping on it. Take it out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you need to bake it. Right before baking, add the French fried onions. This can be a big time saver when trying to prepare a holiday meal.

Orange Glazed Sweet Potatoes

This is a recipe from my past. My Aunt Juanita gave this recipe to my Mom between 40-50 years ago. Losing my handwritten recipes was heartbreaking but I knew I had put the recipe in a school or church cookbook. My dear Aunt didn’t remember the recipe. I sure remembered it. You have two options, use sweet potatoes or yam patties. I used yam patties because that’s what my Mom always used. This old vintage recipe is a keeper.

Ingredients for Glaze:

2 big navel oranges, zest only

2 cups orange juice, I used pulp free

1/3 cup white granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons corn starch

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook until thickened.

You may use raw sweet potatoes or frozen patties (if you buy or use frozen patties, thaw them before using in this recipe). It’s easy to find the patties at your grocery store during the holiday season. They freeze well too if you want to make this recipe for Easter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For raw sweet potatoes, cook in boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender. Cool, peel and slice. Place sliced in a baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the glaze over the slices and bake for 30 minutes.

For prepared patties, place patties in baking dish. Pour the glaze over the patties, bake for 30 minutes.

Almost Mom’s Scalloped Potatoes

You are probably asking why almost. This difference between this recipe and my Mom’s is that I used my food processor (but it’s not required) and I left the skins on my potatoes. I grew up eating these potatoes, loved it when she made them. It was usually holiday time like Christmas or Easter. 

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 Tablespoon butter, plus more for baking dish

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon corn starch or flour

5 average size potatoes, I used Russet 

1/2 cup onion, diced very fine (I used my food processor)

Pepper to taste

4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, or whatever cheddar you prefer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking dish (I used a long shallow pan) by rubbing the bottom and sides with butter. This will add more flavor to the potatoes as they are baking. 
Make your white sauce by combing milk, cream, butter, salt and corn starch. Stir to blend in pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue keeping it at a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring to prevent scorching. Set aside. 

I used my Kitchen Aid Food Processor which has a slicing preference to how thin or thick you slice things. I kept mine in thin, like potato chip thin. That can also be obtained by using a mandolin but if you aren’t able to slice thin, I suggest you parboil the potatoes so they will be done and not undercooked in the casserole dish. 

Working quickly, potatoes do discolor, lay a layer of potatoes in your casserole dish. Sprinkle pepper, add onions, white sauce and cheddar cheese. Repeat each layer, I made 4 layers in my pan. Tent with foil and bake for 55 – 60 minutes until hot and bubbly. I removed the foil the last five minutes of baking. Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

If you love sweet potatoes, you will love my recipe for Sweet Potato Soufflé. This can be made 2 days before you cook it. If you make it ahead, leave on countertop for 20 minutes before baking.

3 cups of mashed (drained if using can) sweet potatoes. (Bruce’s Cut Sweet Potatoes, one 40 once can, is recommended if using canned)
1 cup sugar (if canned sweet potatoes are used, reduce sugar by 1/2)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour into an 8 x 8 *baking dish that you have sprayed with Pam.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix and crumble on top of potatoes. Bake for 35 minutes.

*Double this recipe to make 9 x 13, triple will make 9 x 15.

This dish is fabulous leftover. I have made it both ways with canned and baked sweet potatoes. You CANNOT tell the difference. I have made this recipe for decades for my family. One of their favorites at Thanksgiving.

***Tip: This dish can be made a day or two ahead and refrigerated. Take it out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you need to bake it. This can be a big time saver when trying to prepare a holiday meal.