Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Cheesy Mushroom and Broccoli Casserole

A lot of classic casserole recipes are easily adapted to vegetarian versions by eliminating meat and replacing chicken stock with veggie stock. I found a recipe for a cheesy mushroom and broccoli casserole from the Food Network website that made a great veggie dinner with a few adjustments (indicated in red).

Cheesy Mushroom and Broccoli Casserole
  • 3 tablespoons butter, plus extra for casserole dish
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 pound shiitake or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/4 cup onions, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream (I used milk)
  • 1/2 cup chicken stock (I used veggie stock)
  • 1 (10-ounce) box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (I used 1 bunch fresh broccoli, parboiled for a few minutes)
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar-Monterey blend
  • 3 cups cooked rice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter casserole dish (I used a 9 inch square pan and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray). In a large pot, melt 3 tablespoons butter and flour over medium heat until golden in color to make a quick roux. The roux should resemble the color of peanut butter. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, milk and stock. Add broccoli, 1 cup of the cheese and rice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour into buttered dish and top with remaining shredded Cheddar. Bake until cheese is melted and golden, about 20 minutes.

A few notes: I think this turned out really well but I was surprised that even with all that rice and milk, the 1/2 tsp cayenne still gave it quite a kick. It was a little too hot for Alex. One thing I took advantage of for this recipe was using the timer on my rice cooker. I set it up in the morning and the rice was ready when I got home, which really saved time. Putting this dish together really only took a few minutes.

Later in the evening, I was busy cooking again, this time for the Penn Alexander School bake sale. Alex and his friends are obsessed with a treat that I make which they have dubbed the "super-snack" - basically a double decker brownie layered with chocolate chip cookie. I made a double batch and apparently they sold out right away...I really need to consider a bakery truck parked right outside of the school...

Chocolate-Chip Brownie Double-Deckers (aka Super-Snacks)

Chocolate Chip Layer

1 ½ sticks butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips


Brownie Layer

1 ½ sticks butter

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ cups sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla

¾ cup flour


Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. For chocolate chip layer, melt butter and whisk in brown sugar, then cool. For brownie layer, melt butter and whisk in cocoa. Stir in sugar, salt and then eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour just until blended and spread brownie layer into prepared pan. Finish chocolate chip layer by stirring in egg and vanilla. Then stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until blended. Stir in chips and drop spoonfuls over brownie layer and spread to cover. Bake 35-40 minutes until set (but don't overbake or they will be dry). Cool and cut into 24 pieces.


2 comments:

  1. Your casserole looks strangely like Broccoli Rice Bake - one of about 5 vegetarian entrees in rotation in the dining halls while I was at Syracuse. It looks good, and I'm sure it's better than dining hall food. Maybe I'll have to try this out and get over my fear of Broccoli Rice Bake. :)

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  2. this all looks incredible! i can't wait for tomorrow!!!

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