Early California Casserole Recipes

CALIFORNIA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large skillet, cook beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender; drain. Stir in the next 11 ingredients. Add noodles. , Pour into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Cover and bake 50 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

CALIFORNIA VEGETABLE BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add frozen vegetables, cover, and steam until tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a baking dish.
• Mix mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, and Cheddar cheese in a bowl; pour over vegetables. Stir crackers and melted butter in another bowl and sprinkle over vegetables.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

EARLY CALIFORNIA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Boil Chicken Breasts until cooked Prepare Spanish Rice mix according to directions (using the Stewed Tomatoes, if called for) Shred and/or chop the Chicken Breast. Mix Chicken Breast and Spanish Rice together, salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 350 F Lightly spary casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray (or your prefered method of non-sticking the dish) Lay 1/3 of the Chicken - Rice mixture in the casserole dish. Follow this with 1/3 of the Sour Cream, then 1/3 of the Green Chilies, and finally 1/4 of the Monterey Jack Cheese. Repeat this to make 3 series of the layers, covering the top with the remaining cheese. Place in 350 F oven until browned over the top (about 30 minutes)

CALIFORNIA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Salt and pepper the cubed meat.
• Dredge the meat in the flour and shake off excess.
• Heat the oil over medium heat in a 10-inch skillet.
• Saute the chopped onion in the oil until translucent. Remove the onions from the skillet and set aside.
• Saute the floured meat in the remaining oil in the skillet until brown, stirring to ensure all sides have browned evenly.
• Add the sautéed onions and the water to the meat and scrape the bottom of the skillet to get up all the browned bits of meat and flour.
• Cover the skillet and cook on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes until the meat is tender. Adding water as necessary to keep the meat from cooking dry and scorching.
• Add the soup to the meat mixture, adding more water if necessary to achieve a soup consistency, combining well, and heat until boiling.
• Transfer the meat/soup mixture into a greased 2-quart casserole dish.
• Mix the biscuit mix, the poultry seasoning and the milk together. It should be a thinner consistency than biscuit dough but thicker than pancake batter. Adjust the milk as needed to achieve the right consistency.
• Transfer the biscuit batter to the top of the meat mixture in the casserole dish.
• Prepare the bread cubes (or crumbs) by combining with the melted butter and mix well so that the cubes are completely coated.
• Top the biscuit mixture with the the bread crumbs.
• Bake in a 375°F oven for 30-40 minutes or until the biscuit dough is baked throughout and browned well.

CALIFORNIA CASSEROLE

Steps:

• In a large skillet combine turkey, salt, sugar, tomato sauce and tomato paste. Bring to a boil stirring to break up the meat. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
• Combine cream cheese, sour cream, olives and green onions in a bowl, set aside.
• Coat a 13 x 9" baking dish with cooking spray. Place 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of the dish. Layer noodles, sauce, and cream cheese mixture. (I've only ever made this with egg noodles, which only makes one layer of each item. If you use lasagna noodles, repeat layering until noodles are gone.) Top entire casserole with shredded cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly.
• Makes 12, 3x4 inch servings.