Vann is adamant that I should keep a record of the "recipes" of all the dishes that I throw together when something has to be cooked to feed somebody. I just hate to waste anything, so I try to use up all my little containers of this and that as well as the tail end of every package of cheese, bread, chips, dips, whatever. It's a very unscientific way of cooking and it's hard to write an actual recipes. And anyway, I'll probably never have the same combination of leftovers twice; but I'm going to try for the sake of posterity. So here we go. This is what it looks like when cooked and half of it has been eaten.
In my opinion, it doesn't look nearly as good in this photo as it actually was.
Here's the recipe, so to speak. We'll call it:
"Mexican Chicken/Corn/Bean/Cheese, Etc. Casserole"
1. Remove remaining chicken from carcas of rotisserie chicken that you had for dinner yesterday. Chop and put in large bowl.
2. Add container of leftover niblets corn from the refrigerator (if it's not too old).
3. Add can of black beans from the pantry. (You were saving them for Sante Fe soup on Friday night, but what the heck; live for today.)
4. Add can of enchilada sauce from pantry. (You don't know how old it is and can find no date on the can, so take a chance.)
5. Remove all the grated cheese packages from the refrigerator, those you wouldn't throw away because they had a little bit of cheese left in the bottom. (You discover that, when you combine all the bits, you have almost a cup of grated cheese of various flavors and hues.
6. Chop a few olives (green if you don't have black, which I didn't) and add to bowl.
7. Chop a half onion, or whatever you have handy, and add to bowl.
8. Add two or three pats of margarine (butter if you're not afraid of fat). I guess it would be best to melt it first. I didn't.
9. Add a handful of Frito corn chips. Add another handful if that doesn't seem like enough (which it didn't).
10. Still all this up.
11. Find a casserole dish that looks approximately the size needed for the amount of stuff in your bowl. Spray this dish with cooking spray. Tump in all the stuff from the bowl and spread it evenly in the dish.
12. Stick dish in oven that has been preheated to 325 and let it cook for about 30 minutes.
13. While dish is cooking, see if you have two or three slices of cheese. Try for Pepper Jack, but if you don't have it, you might try Mozerella or Cheddar and let me know how it works. Chop your cheese up into small, about 1 inch, squares.
14. Just before the 30 minutes is up, take dish from over and lay the little squares of cheese all over the top. Put dish back in oven for about 5 minutes.
You can serve this casserole with salsa, sour cream, chopped onions, more shredded cheese, or whatever else you have available in your refrigerator.
BON APPETIT!
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On 02/27/2007, NIcole Reed said ...
I had to laugh out loud at your description of using up all the little bits of cheese in the bottoms of the shredded cheese packages! I can't tell you how often I do that! Great recipe and very funny post!
On 03/02/2007, Diane said ...
This is exactly the way I cook *when* I do cook. I call it The Pantry Recipe. Select and combine 10 appropriate items and serve at the proper temperature. My husband hates it when I do this - invariably he loves the result and knows he will *never* taste anything with exactly the same flavor again. Lightening never strikes twice in the same dish. You're very clever to write it down....
:Diane
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