Eleven years ago, I wrote my first food column for The Greenwood Commonwealth.
I will be forever grateful to Commonwealth Publisher Tim Kalich for giving me the opportunity to try something new after my son left for Mississippi State, and I was suffering from a major case of “empty nest syndrome.” From that first endeavor, I now write for three newspapers and two magazines. I love every minute of it!
Having the opportunity to work on the movie “The Help” while they were filming was a dream come true. That experience as a food stylist has opened other doors for me in an avenue of public speaking and doing various cooking demonstrations.
I even threw in writing a cookbook to boot.
One of my favorite parts of all this craziness has been the opportunity to meet so many people I would not have met otherwise.
I do get amused at some of the questions that I have been asked about cooking. There are really a lot of people out there who know absolutely nothing about cooking. I have a sassy streak that really wants me to tell them to stay away from the kitchen and, certainly, not to turn on the stove!
Here are some of my favorites:
• I usually write ground beef in a recipe. One day, I wrote ground chuck, and a reader sent me an email asking me what in the world was ground chuck, where you find it and what kind of animal that is.
• I had a recipe for Snickers bar fudge. A lady sent me an email asking if she should unwrap the candy bars before she chopped them up.
• I had a recipe for an ice cream sandwich dessert. A lady sent me an email asking me if she should unwrap the ice cream sandwiches before she layered them in the dish. (See the above Snickers bar story. It may have been the same lady!)
• I had a recipe for chicken salad that called for canned chicken. A lady sent me an email and asked me how in the world you get a chicken in a can.
• I had a recipe for red pepper crackers that uses regular saltine crackers. A lady at a program asked me if the crackers were homemade. I told her they were. She wanted to know how in the world I got all those little holes in each cracker so perfectly the same.
You might be thinking that I made these up. Trust me, I did not. I’m not that creative.
My latest adventure is writing for Maroon and White Nation. A website devoted solely to Mississippi State sports fans. I will be writing a series of articles each week about tailgating for the upcoming football season. If you love the Bulldogs and love to tailgate, look me up each week in The Junction.
Hope you enjoy today’s recipes. Thanks for reading.
FRITO PIE CASSEROLE
2 pounds ground beef
2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (15-ounce) can ranch-style beans, drained
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) corn, drained
1 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1½ tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
2 (10-ounce) bags Fritos corn chips
1 (8-ounce) package shredded cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a large baking dish with Pam. In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown and crumbly; drain. Stir in tomato sauce and next eight ingredients. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes. Arrange corn chips in prepared pan, and top with beef mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
REUNION CASSEROLE
1 pound ground beef
1 pound spicy pork sausage
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups (8-ounce) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 (11-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can tomato soup
1 can (8-ounce) tomato sauce
1/3 cup sliced pimiento–stuffed olives
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (8-ounce) wide noodles, cooked and drained
In a large skillet, cook the beef, sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in a cup of the cheese and green pepper, corn, soup, tomato sauce, olives, garlic, salt and noodles.
Transfer to a greased 13-by-9-inch greased baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until bubbly.
BAKED SPAGHETTI
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (4-ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1 (2¼-ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained
2 teaspoon ground oregano
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 (12-ounce) package spaghetti, cooked and drained
2 cups (8-ounce) shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup water
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
In a large skillet, sauté onion and green pepper in butter until tender. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, oregano and ground beef. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Place half of this spaghetti mixture in a greased 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Layer with half of the vegetable mixture and a cup of the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers. In a small bowl, combine soup and water until smooth. Pour over casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
n• Contact Lee Ann Flemming at lafkitchen@hughes.net.
