Monday, February 28, 2011

Not Your Mother's Casseroles {Review and Giveaway!}

When I tell someone that I like to do freezer cooking, sometimes I imagine them thinking:

"Oh. Her family must like to eat casseroles." And then dull colored broccoli and endless cans of cream of mushroom soup come to mind.

Doesn't that sound appetizing? Especially with a touch of freezer burn thrown in! Eeeeewwwww...

Casseroles as they should be (Jan 24)

In actuality, I don't cook a ton of casseroles aside from the occasional Chicken Spaghetti, Macaroni and Cheese, Sweet Potato Casserole, and Spinach Souffle (all of which are awesome). Since I've started avoiding the use of canned cream of mushroom soup (due to the MSG), I have not sought out casserole recipes.

Enter my latest cookbook--Not Your Mother's Casseroles!

(Disclaimer: I love my mom, and she didn't actually make a lot of casseroles)

Faith Durand introduces the casserole in a new light, combining the ease of a one-dish meal with fresh and creative ingredients. I was drawn in by the inviting names of her recipes. Baked Ravioli with Homemade White Sauce and Crunchy Herbed Topping, Lemony Chicken Pot Pie with Parsley Biscuit Crust, and Jambalaya with Bacon, Artichokes, and Shrimp? Count me in! Goodbye canned soups, sodium-loaded dry soup packets, and velveeta...

Baked Rice With Spices
Baked Coconut Rice With Spices
I ended up tackling two of Faith's baked rice recipes for starters. The first one I tried was Baked Coconut Rice with Spices...rice cooked in coconut milk and water with a dollop of butter and some yummy cinnamon and pepper. We ate it with sticky chicken and broccoli and it was subtlety sweet and cinnamony. Delicious!

Next up, Lemon Pilaf with Salmon. This dish was lovely. Salmon is a treat around here, so my husband was excited about this meal! I used homemade chicken broth made from Sticky Chicken, which made the rice wonderfully nutritious.

Lemon Salmon

Lemon Pilaf With Salmon
Casserole Dish Needed: 3-quart (or larger) Dutch oven or other stovetop-to-oven pot with lid {I used my deep skillet Caphelon pan}
Bake Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients: 
4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth {like I mentioned, I used this homemade broth}
2 tablespoons unsalted butter {I used salted, since that's what I always have on hand}
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
Zest and juice of 2 lemons, plus an additional lemon, sliced, for serving
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 pound salmon fillets {I used frozen salmon}
Small handful (about 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped {courtesy of my fall container garden!}

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease the Dutch oven with olive oil. In a medium-0size saucepan, heat the chicken broth to boiling. Lower the heat and keep the broth at a light simmer. 

2. Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat. When the butter foams, add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is softened and fragrant. Add the rice and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. 

3. Pour in the hot chicken broth and stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, bay leaf, salt, adn pepper. Bring to a boil. Drizzle the top of the dish with olive oil.

4. Cover the baking dish with a lid or a double layer of aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is beginning to be tender.

5. Remove the lid or foil carefully, as there will be a great deal of hot steam in the dish. Lay the salmon across the top and bake, uncovered, for another 15 minutes, or until just done. Lift the salmon out onto a serving dish and fluff the rice with a fork. Garnish with lemon slices and chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

Copyright: Faith Durand {with exception of italicized notes}. Used by permission.
A few other notes about the Not Your Mother's Casseroles Cookbook:

A fun, slightly unusual ingredient that many of her recipes call for is smoked paprika. I have yet to buy some, but I'm eager to try out this new spice!

The cookbook does not have photos of each recipe. For someone who loves to find recipes on gorgeous picture-laden blogs, this is a drawback to me. However, each recipe has a mouth-watering description, which is helpful.

I have found that most of the recipes in Not Your Mother's Casseroles call for at least 1-2 ingredients that I may not have on hand. Therefore, I need to plan ahead a little bit when I break out this cookbook. So far, the results have been worth it.

I have not yet made a freezer-version of any of Faith's recipes, but I'm curious to try. :) The Oven Breakfast Burritos with Chorizo and Beans might be a good place to start...
    Want to win a copy of Not Your Mother's Casseroles? Just leave a comment on this post. Leave your email addy so I can contact you if you're the winner! :) I'd love to know what your favorite casserole is!

    Additional entries (leave a comment for each):
        Subscribe to Alicia's Homemaking via email or reader.
        Tweet and/or facebook about this giveaway!

    Giveaway ends on March 16th. Open to US/Canadian residents.



     P.S. Did I mention that one of my favorite bloggers, Jessica Fisher from Life as Mom, is writing the Freezer Cooking edition of the "Not Your Mother's..." cookbook line-up? I'm so excited about it and can't wait to see it once it's published!


    Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of Not Your Mother's Casseroles to review. All opinions are 100% my own! This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. 

    Linked to Made By You Monday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tasty Tuesday.

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    78 comments:

    1. I'd love this! I need some new dinner ideas. After two months of feeling queasy, I can't really remember what I USED to make for dinner. The first thing that comes to mind is a vegetarian casserole made with tofu, brown rice and spinach. Sounds icky, but we all love it.

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    2. I subscribe in Google Reader.

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    3. My favorite is upside down pizza casserole!

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    4. Love citrus-flavored rice, so this sounds delicious! My family's fave is Chipotle Beans and Pork from www.parents.com recipes!

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    5. This sounds delicious! One of my favourites is a tomato pasta casserole with plenty of roasted veggies.

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    6. We don't do a ton of casseroles, but my all time favorite is poppy seed chicken. LOVE IT!

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    7. This book sounds awesome! My favorite casserole is Shepherd's Pie :) Browned ground beef, frozen mixed veggies, mashed potatoes on top with paprika sprinkled. And served with British HP sauce. #nom

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    8. I do more casseroles to give away than we actually eat. I made Giving Up Perfect's Spicy Chicken Spaghetti last night. It was quite tasty.

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    9. My favorite casserole is broccoli, rice, and cheese casserole. I'm not sure if that's the technical name for it, but I think that explains it! My mom used to make it when I was little, so now I beg for it at every holiday meal!

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    10. I like a hearty-beefy casserole with veggies, especially on chilly winter nights. Yum!

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    11. Count me in. I'd love to win this cookbook. My favorite casserole is baked macaroni.

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    12. Yum! Our collective favorite casserole is meatball and mashed potato casserole.

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    13. Looks like a great book! My fav casserole is Beefy Corn Bake, a recipe my Hubby and I created together! Yummm

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    14. That rice looks amazing and so does this cookbook! It's very encouraging to read about your freezer cooking I'm almost almost ready to try ; )

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    15. I subscribe via google reader and sadly I don't have a favorite casserole because many I have come across involve lots of dairy or beef which we don't eat. I bet this book has plenty of alternatives!

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    16. I put this giveaway on twitter. (aka I tweeted it but that still sounds so funny to me)

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    17. I have the Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker book, and I do find that the recipes are a little too ingredient-laden for me. I was a little ticked off when I made a HIGHLY complicated recipe that required stovetop cooking and then crockpot cooking ... and it didn't even taste good.

      However, this is a different author and I like casseroles, so I'd give it a try!

      I do make my own cream-of soups and they are tastier than the canned stuff!

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    18. Green bean casserole with lots of cheese! (PS. I, too, eagerly await Fishmama's book!)

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    19. Breakfast casserole

      joycelau319 at yahoo dot com

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    20. Subscribe on reader

      joycelau319 at yahoo dot com

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    21. Count me in, I'm always looking for new recipes. THanks!

      shannonhowl (at) yahoo (dot) com

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    22. alicia, i love reading your blog! i always keep the smoked paprika on had - it's so yummy - i buy it in bulk at wards!

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    23. Oh, I would LOVE to get my hands on this cookbook!

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    24. This sounds wonderful. We don't do a lot of casseroles around here because they are usually so nasty. This book sounds like it would be perfect for us!!!

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    25. Sounds like a great cookbook! I'm excited for a freezer version, too!

      Kristen (dot) Whirrett (at) gmail

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    26. I subscribe to your lovely site via Google Reader!

      Kristen (dot) Whirrett (at) gmail

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    27. I would love to win this cookbook! My favorite casserole is chicken tetrazzini!

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    28. I subscribe through google reader

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    29. Thanks would share with all the moms at our moms group too.

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    30. i would love to spice up my casseroles. i make casseroles because they are easy but I sometimes seem bland!!
      anashct [at] yahoo [dot] com

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    31. I subscribe via email
      anashct at yahoo dot com

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    32. I subscribe via google reader anashct at gmail dot com

      anashct [at] yahoo [dot] com

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    33. I tweeted at http://twitter.com/#!/anash321/status/42524318655193088
      email: anashct [at] yahoo [dot] com

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    34. I'm an RSS subscriber
      annwwins@yahoo.com

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    35. I have to say, I do adore broccoli casserole...with Cheez-Its on top. Mmmm.

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    36. And I'm Facebooking about you! :)

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    37. Me! Me! Me!!!
      Our favorite recipe is Tennessee Pride Breakfast casserole!
      marissahm@hotmail.com

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    38. I'd have to go with Scrambled Egg Casserole

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    39. I don't know what my favorite casserole is. I guess tater tot casserole.
      ruthaw_1974@yahoo.com

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    40. shared giveaway on facebook
      ruthhill74

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    41. we love casseroles here. i guess i'll pick macaroni and cheese and sweet potato casserole as my favorites.

      meredith (dot) doyle (at) gmail (dot) com

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    42. by the way, that baked coconut rice looks yummy!!! :)

      i'm a subscriber thru google reader! :)

      meredith (dot) doyle (at) gmail (dot) com

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    43. shared on facebook!

      meredith (dot) doyle (at) gmail (dot) com

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    44. Hash Brown Casserole is our family favorite. The cookbook sounds interesting! kab_1960 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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    45. Sounds interesting!

      kristen_yeh at yahoo dot com

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    46. My favorite casserole is a hashbrown casserole! So cheesy & yummy!

      domesticnerd(at) gmail (dot) com

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    47. I make a cheesy chicken casserole that my kids especially love...chicken, sour cream, cheese, crescent rolls & cream of mushroom soup. Not the healthiest, but we enjoy it every so often :)

      maritezg (at) hotmail (dot) com

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    48. This looks fantastic! Our "go to" casserole is called "Dad's Casserole." Of course, now that we have 4 kids, we call it "Papa's Casserole."
      I brown some beef, and mix it in a casserole dish with a can of tomato soup and a can of green beans. Then on top, I put mashed potatoes and over that cheese. Then bake at 350 for a half hr. Yum-O!

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    49. Oh this sounds good!! I love casserole type foods, but can't ever find good healthy ones.

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    50. I'm going to try that salmon recipe for sure! We usually like any type of baked pasta.
      rach62803 at yahoo dot com

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    51. Fantastic!!! Love the lemon pilaf especially!
      Wanted to invite you to share this recipe at a weekly event I host titled Seasonal Sundays. I LOVE eating Seasonally so i created this event.

      This recipe fits the theme perfectly :)
      Happy Sunday!

      Brittany

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    52. My favorite casserole is lasagna, but my husband's favorite is tater tot casserole. I'll have to put that on the menu to earn some good wife points!

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    53. Alicia, at our house we love breakfast type casseroles, and I recently enjoyed a tasty tuna casserole...my problem is, I just happen to love food!

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    54. That looks like a great cookbook!

      aehbamafan at gamil dot com

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    55. I like to make a broccoli cheese and mushroom cassarole
      gram122@comcast.net

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    56. subscribe via google reader
      gram122@comcast.net

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    57. My favorite casserole is tuna noodle casserole (really). I could use some new casserole recipes!

      tmyoung at rochester dot rr dot com

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    58. tweeted
      http://twitter.com/#!/tmy56/status/47461570523041792

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    59. Chorizo and beans sounds delicious!
      jbdownie5@yahoo.com

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    60. I need more casserole recipes for sure...cream of mushroom soup is definitely overdone :) I love my grandmother-in-law's chicken tortilla casserole...super easy, great for dinner get togethers, and the directions even tell you it tastes better if you make it ahead...and I must agree.

      jandhwilloughby@yahoo.com

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    61. I would love to win this...my favorite casserole is an enchilada casserole that I learned from a co-worker :)

      danielleaknapp at gmail dot com

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    62. This sounds like a delightful cookbook that I'd love to add to my collection!

      Nancy
      allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

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    63. My all-time favorite casserole is my granny's cheeseburger vegetable....SO delish!

      southernbellesimpleblog@gmail.com

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    64. sounds good, I love yummy casseroles, and sometimes I just get crazy and see how it comes ut eaglesforjack@gmail.com

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