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Friday, September 26, 2008

Savory Hamburger Casserole

Savory Hamburger Casserole (original, from 1958):
Cook 8 oz macaroni according to directions on package.  Brown 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms, and 1/2 lb hamburger in 3 tbsp cooking fat.  Add 1 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp paprika, 2 tbsp flour, and blend.  Gradually add 1 1/2 cups milk, stirring constantly until thick.  Stir in one cup sour cream and 3 tbsp minced parsley.  Add the drained macaroni.  Place all in a casserole and top with 1/2 cup buttered cracker crumbs.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.  Serves 4-6.
That was the original recipe verbatim from the book.  Sounds good?  But, obviously I made a few changes to give it a little "Farmer*sWife" style.  And, who adds cooking fat to their ground beef now days???
Farmer*sWife Savory Hamburger Casserole:
Boil macaroni noodles (I don't think I used a whole 8- 12 oz.  I had some left over.  I just add them to the mixture until I get the noodle/meat ratio I prefer.)
Brown 1 pound (half a pound, that was a laugh) ground beef with 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1/3 cup or so chopped bell pepper, and (I added almost a cup of pureed frozen peas and carrots to hide veggies from the kids....you can't taste it if you cook "with" the meat and seasoning instead of adding later). [I left mushrooms out of this one.]
Season meat in your own fashion.  I use salt, pepper, season salt/Lowrys, garlic salt or minced garlic.  TASTE.  Add, what's missin'.
Cup of milk or so.  Might need a little more.  Cubed velveta -- enough to your personal liking.  Cup sour cream, stirred in at the last after the cheese has melted.  TASTE.  Add, what's missin'.
Add drained macaroni and mix thoroughly.  TASTE.  
Pour into casserole pan (I hit the dish with not-stick cooking spray.  Clean-up is a snap when putting left over casserole away.  I always do this.) Top with grated American Cheese.
Roll out a third of a pack of butter crackers and about half a pack of saltines.  I put them in a gallon sized zip lock and roll them with a rolling pin.  Flipping often, until the crumbs are fine.  Add more crackers and repeat, if needed.
Top casserole with cracker crumbs and gently press into the cheese a little.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins or until bubbly and crackers are golden!  
Num-num-Yummity!

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6 comments:

Knight said...

That sounds fantastic. I love how you sneak in the vegetables for the kids. They will never know if they can't see it!

Anonymous said...

Oooh I have some hamburger in the fridge for tonight and was thinking of making some sort of enchilada type concoction. LOL

I think I'll do this instead! Yum! And I've got some squash I could use to hide veggies. A friend of mine said that works great.

I don't have any butter crackers though. Think bread crumbs would work?

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

Chopped or pureed squash works fatastic because the taste is so mild!! Cook it in the meat and they'll never know! I've done it on pizza too!

(I cover all the toppings with cheese, rather than cheese and then toppings).

Bread crumbs will work too! Play around and have fun with it!! Yummy!

tt said...

I adore cssseroles...this one sounds especially good.
I'll try it this weekend.
Woo-hoo...
I like cooking stuff in one pot. Makes for less mess that way...and seems like the cleanup goes faster. That's probably b/c we clean up the stuff we used while the dish is in the oven...right?
Still a good idea though. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to try this one with your adaptations. Mushrooms would NOT go over well with my kiddos!
Sleepytime now! G'night!

Anonymous said...

I know, I'm not in bed yet, but I just saw your comment over at Gary's and I had to make sure you knew that the only thing Organic in SM's lunch today (yesterday!!!) was the chocolate milk. There is no way that Nutella was organic. Delicious, absolutely, but not organic.
Mmmmmmm....nutella.....

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