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Kiz_Paws Bag Of Trix

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

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kiz_paws
, 01-06-2008 at 01:38 PM (1723 Views)


BROCCOLI CHEESE CASSEROLE
(à la Kizzo)

  1. Purchase enough broccoli so that when cut up, will fill up your favorite casserole container (this would vary, but I use a lot of broccoli heads because my casserole container is fairly large -- the above photo is of an oval pyrex "French White", the one I use). Cut up into 'bite sized' chunks and wash lightly. Place into a large pot and boil with a covering of water and a touch of salt (if desired) until the almost-cooked stage (still a little firm). Drain well and set aside.

  2. In the casserole container itself, take two tablespoons of butter (margarine) and melt in the microwave (20 seconds or so). Mince about 1/4 cup of white onion (depends on how onion-ish you desire), stir into the melted butter. Put lid on casserole container and microwave the onion at 45 seconds on HIGH. Stir. Lid back on and microwave for 45 seconds more. Stir. Do this step enough times to get the onion translucent (not appealing when the onion is still crunchy -- but then again, it is all up to individual taste).

  3. Take one tin of Cream of Mushroom soup, undiluted, and stir into the casserole container with the cooked onions. Take a 500g container of Cheez Whiz (or your local brand-x variety of this stuff) and stir one-half to three-quarters of the entire container of Cheez Whiz into the onion and mushroom mixture. Stir until blended. Now you can either mince a clove of garlic or just sprinkle garlic powder (don't use garlic salt, or you will have a rather high-in-sodium dish to eat), about 3/4 to 1 teaspoon in the mixture. Take 1/4 cup of Minute Rice (dry and uncooked) and stir into the mixture. Grind some fresh black pepper into the mixture and stir all well.

  4. Stir the cooked broccoli into the Mushroom Soup, Cheez Whiz, etc., mixture. Fold the mixture gently over and over until you have everything mixed well. I usually crack a little more fresh black pepper on top because it tastes so good!

  5. Place the lid on the casserole container, and cook in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes (depends on the oven, the altitude, etc. -- just keep an eye on it and when it is bubbly, it is done).


NOTES:
  • The Minute Rice serves as an 'absorber' because the boiled broccoli in Step One above will often water-log it, no matter how much you drain (!) and I really hate watery Cheez Whiz-Mushroom Soup mixture!

  • The amount of Cheez Whiz is not a critical factor -- when I originally made this recipe, I used the wee container (the 250g size), but my store doesn't carry this size anymore. So I buy the 500 g one and who cares if I add more cheez, right?

  • You can cook the casserole with a topping of lightly toasted breadcrumbs, but cook with lid off.

  • I used to add about 1/2 cup of thinly sliced unsalted almonds (you buy them in a package in the baking goods aisle) to the broccoli, Cheez Whiz, Mushroom Soup, etc., stage; but a family member now has a nut allergy, so I stopped doing that. It was a nice touch, and went over well. So that is an idea.

  • Cooking in a glass pyrex style casserole container should be done perhaps a little less than 350 oven, so if you have a digital thermometer setting, set to about 340 degrees. If this is not possible, don't worry, just keep your eye on the casserole and usually after about 25 minutes it will be starting to gently bubble. Again, just watch it.

  • You don't have to add garlic at all to this recipe -- that was just my own touch to this recipe, and I appreciate that many do not enjoy garlic in this casserole.

  • You can also purchase Campbell's Cream of Mushroom and Onion soup now, so that would remove the cooking-the-onion stage (but I like that taste better than this short cut).

  • This dish freezes well -- I cook it then freeze it. When I want to use it, I just have to re-heat.

Your home will literally REEK of cooking broccoli for the entire duration of the preparation. Oh well. The final result is a very tasty casserole that people ask me to bring again and again, so I guess it is worth it!

If you find any mistakes in this written recipe, my apologies, just PM me and I will fix up, but this is my recipe from the top of my head, and it is time-tried-and-true!

Hope you enjoy, this makes a great side dish to most any meal!

Love,
Kizzo
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Comments

  1. ampoule's Avatar
    I love broccoli cheese casserole. Now I won't be able to get it out of my mind until I have some. LOL
  2. B-Mental's Avatar
    Oh, that sounds good. I make mine similarly, but I steam the broccoli, drizzle hot cheez/cream of mushroom soup mixture, and then sprinkle the bread crumbs all around each large stalk of broccoli. I prefer steamed to boiled, its crisper, plus it doesn't soak in the sauce, so it isn't overwhelmed, and then there is the breading all around the broccoli stalk (as opposed to just on top of. The best is I can freeze my sauce, and save until I have it again. I would love to try yours sometime. It would probably take a couple of tries to get it just right. B
  3. kiz_paws's Avatar
    B, your casserole sounds totally awesome! Thanks for sharing here, I will definitely try your recipe!
  4. 's Avatar
    What on earth is Cheez-whiz?!!! There's no way that could be sold in UK without causing a national stir on the name alone (it's colloquial use is unspeakable). Your casserole sounds nice though Kiz, though if you want to stop broccoli getting soggy, and you haven't got a steamer, use a large (wide) pan and stand the broccoli stalks down, heads up, in a small amount of water. Put the lid on and the heads steam while the stalks cook. It's very energy efficient too, because you don't have to boil a large pan of water. You need a big pan though!
  5. 's Avatar
    I make something similar....

    Preheat oven to 400.

    Cut up 1 large yellow sweet onion (vidalia, etc) into small pieces. Grab 2 cups of matchstick carrots, and 2 cloves of garlic (minced) and saute under medium heat (or lower) with some olive oil and salt (always use salt when sauteing veg) until the onions become a nice, dark brown. You're carmelizing the sugars in the onion to make them taste better. Same process that turns normal sugar into actual caramel. This'll take around 30 minutes. I use a large nonstick skillet for this, like a 5qt covered saute pan. Every kitchen should have one.

    Meanwhile, cook 1 package of lipton brocolli and cheese rice side according to package directions.

    When the onions are golden brown, dice up 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and add them to the onions. Continue cooking on medium to -low until the chicken looks done.

    When the chicken is done, and rice is cooked, pour the entire rice pot into the onion pan and stir. Then add 2 cups of frozen peas and 1 can of cream of chicken soup. Mix until well combined, heat should be medium-low still.

    Add in 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese... and any other extra cheese you have around the house (cheese is yummy).

    Ladle the whole shebang into a 13x9 baking dish, or whatever you got that'll hold it. Top with another 1 cup of shredded cheese, and any extra other cheese you have in the house. Then sprinkle on breadcrumbs, or, if you're feeling really wicked, crushed flavored croutons.

    Bake until nice and bubbly and the top is crisp. 30m or so.
  6. kiz_paws's Avatar
    Fifth, please see CHEEZ-WHIZ for a good explanation (and I learned something -- that they sell this in Venezuela! Who'd have thought!).

    Admin, your recipe sounds totally scrumptious (and you speak my language "ladle the whole shebang..." <--- Love it!). I had never heard of carmelizing onion, thank you very much for your instructions.