Cheesy Zucchini Rice Casserole

Cheesy Zucchini Rice Casserole

 

 
I love summer squash and plant some every year. The problem with growing your own is it doesn’t take much for it to go a little wild, and you have an over abundance of fruit.
 
One way I like to use summer squash is in a CheesyZucchini Rice Casserole.  Yes, the name says zucchini, but you can use any summer squash you prefer. I like to use Zephyrs, which are a cross between yellow squash and zucchini.
 
This recipe is not hard to make, just a bit involved with multiple steps. In total, it takes about two hours to make. Please don’t let that prevent you from making this fabulous dish. I have tried to use short cuts when making this before, and I can tell you from experience you don’t want to do it.The squash turns out mushy with short cuts, the long way it is fairly firm.

 
The recipe calls for long grain rice, I use a combination of white and brown for variation. You can use either white or brown; it is a matter of preference.  
 
Ingredients:
 
 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
 
3 cupsreduced-sodium chicken broth
 
4 cups diced zucchini,and/or summer squash (about 1 pound)
 
2 red or greenbell peppers, chopped
 
1 large onion,diced (I use purple to give the dish more color)
 
1 1/2 cupslow-fat milk
 
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 
2 cups shredded Kraft Mexican blend cheese, divided
 
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
 
8 ounces Chorizo sausage, casings removed
 
4 ouncesreduced-fat cream cheese
 
1/4 cup chopped jalapeños
 
Directions:

 
Preheat oven to375°F.
 
Pour rice into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bring broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Stir hot broth into the rice along with zucchini (and/or squash), bell peppers, onion and salt. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, 35 to 45 minutes more.
 
Whisk milk and flour in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until bubbling and thickened,3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low add 1 1/2 cups cheese and crushed red peppers, cook, stirring, until the cheese is melted. Set aside.
 
Heat oil in alarge skillet over medium heat and add sausage. Cook, stirring and breaking the sausage into small pieces with a spoon, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
 
When the rice is done, stir in the sausage and cheese sauce. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top and dollop cream cheese by the teaspoonful over the casserole. Top with jalapeños.
 
Return the casserole to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.Let stand for about 10 minutes before serving.

Sorbet, or Ice Cream Float?

The Fourth of July is a week away, are you having the family and neighbors over a BBQ? What are you going to serve for dessert? How about sorbet?

I love sorbet in the summer time when it is ninety plus and the humidity is just as high. On days like those it almost too hot for even ice cream!

What is sorbet, you ask? It is usually a combination of water, sugar and pureed fruit. This is super simple; you can get little hands to help you.

I have an electric one-quart ice cream maker I use to make our sorbet. Do not worry if you don’t have one, you don’t need it! All you need is a freezer and a banking pan.

There are three sorbet recipes; I am going to share with you today. The strawberry is the only one that does not contain alcohol, so please keep this in mind if you are serving to the underage crowd.

The most elegant of the three is a champagne sorbet! It contains a few strawberries, which we all know strawberries and champagne are like peanut butter and jelly. They pair each other perfectly.

 Like the idea of strawberries and champagne? Check back in the few days for champagne soaked strawberries!

For those of you who prefer beer and ice cream floats, to champagne and sorbet, I have the perfect recipe for you at the bottom of the page!

 

So let’s get started!

Strawberry Sorbet

Ingredients:

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

2 lbs strawberries (about 5 cups)

2 tbsp lemon juice

Stir sugar and water together in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring sugar and water syrup to a boil, then remove from heat.

Allow to cool in pan for a 1/2 hour (the syrup is extremely hot) before transferring to a 1 cup container and chilling it in the refrigerator.

 

While the syrup is cooling, hull strawberries and place them in a food processor or blender. Blend strawberries to a puree.

 

Refrigerate puree until syrup has chilled – about 1 hour.

Combine chilled syrup and strawberry puree, then transfer to an 8-inch metal baking pan (stainless steel is best).

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 3-4 hours.

Blueberry Sorbet

This recipe calls for less sugar than most recipes. You can use either fresh or frozen fruit. Personally I like using fresh blueberries since they are in season right now.

 

Ingredients:

8 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vodka

 

Blend the blueberries, water, and lemon juice on high until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the berries and juice to a large saucepan and stir in the sugar. Bring the berry mixture just to a boil and immediately remove it from the heat. Allow the berries to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes, and then press them through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the berry solids, and mix the puree with the vodka. Allow the mixture to cool and then freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Champagne Sorbet

 

This recipe came from About.com French Food webpage. I used a bottle champagne left over from Christmas. We did not particularly care for the champagne so I used it… figure it was better to use something we didn’t like that I had on hand before spending the money for champagne we did like.

 

 This recipe took extra dry champagne and made it sweet and wonderful. You do not have to use the lemon juice in the recipe.

 

This is elegant sorbet could be used year round for marking special events.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups Champagne

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup sparkling water

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

8 fresh strawberries (optional)

In medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the champagne, sugar, and sparkling water to a simmer. Lower the heat slightly, and continue simmering the champagne for about 8 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and cool the mixture to room temperature. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest, if using, and stir the mixture thoroughly. Chill it until very cold, for about 2 hours. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Serve garnished with strawberries, if desired.

Stout Beer Mini Ice Cream Floats

I found this recipe on Betty Crocker’s webpage… who knew Betty like alcohol!

 

1 cup premium vanilla ice cream

1/2 cup stout draught beer (from 14.9-oz can)

3 tablespoons chocolate-flavor syrup

 

Using small ice cream scoop (about 1 tablespoon each), place 2 small scoops in each of 8 shot glasses. Slowly pour about 1 tablespoon beer into each glass.

Drizzle each with about 1 teaspoon syrup. Serve immediately with small spoons.