Casserole is place for the last of green tomatoes

smcclanahan

We have this cute little neighbor, Robert, who spends quite a bit of time with our Ross. Last weekend he popped into the house and said, "Mrs. McClanahan, I have a recipe for you." He told me he thought it would be a good recipe for Halloween. He suggested using red gelatin and floating grapes in it to look like eyeballs. I thought that was a pretty good idea for an 8-year-old boy. So if you are looking for an additional item to serve on your Halloween buffet, try Robert's Halloween Salad.

We are at the end of the garden, and many people still have plenty of green tomatoes. Last weekend, my parents made about 30 pints of their famous end-of-the-year garden relish, which uses quite a few green tomatoes. Another way to use up some of these is to make green tomato casserole. Our friends from Altenburg, Mo., have shared this recipe today as well as a few others.

Green Tomato Casserole

6 green tomatoes

1 1/4 cups grated Cheddar cheese

4 ounces seasoned stuffing mix

1/2 pound pork sausage, cooked and drained

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

4 tablespoons margarine

Place tomatoes in bottom of baking dish. Combine cheese, stuffing mix, sausage and seasoning. Spread over tomatoes. Dot with margarine. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

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This recipe would be a nice recipe to serve during Lent. I have had many people ask me for ideas to use tuna, and this would be an alternative to tuna noodle casserole.

Tuna Loaf

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup uncooked cream of wheat cereal

1 (6 1/2-ounce) can tuna

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 small onion, chopped

Prepare cream of wheat cereal using the milk, eggs and cereal; let stand for 5 minutes. Combine the tuna, lemon juice, salt and onion. Add to cream of wheat mixture. Put in greased loaf pan. Top with crushed cracker crumbs and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. This may be served hot or cold.

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The Altenburg person who submitted this recipe noted that it is a nice way to use ground beef.

Chow Mein Casserole

1 1/2 pound ground beef

1 medium onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can mushroom soup

2 teaspoons soy sauce

3 stalks celery, diced

1 cup minute rice

1/2 cup boiling water, pour over rice and let stand for a few minutes

1 can bean sprouts

1 can chow mein noodles, for topping

Brown beef, onion and celery until beef has lost its pink color. Add remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Cover with chow mein noodles. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Pecan Pumpkin Dessert

2 (15-ounce) cans pumpkin

1 (12-ounce) can condensed milk

1 cup sugar, white or brown

3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla

1 package yellow cake mix

Pecans, chopped

1 cup margarine, melted

For the frosting:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 (12 ounce) carton whipped topping, thawed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix pumpkin, milk and sugar; beat in eggs and vanilla. Pour into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the dry cake mix and chopped pecans over. Drizzle with melted margarine. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Cool completely. Frost with topping and store in refrigerator.

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It is always a mystery what shows up in my chair at work. During the summer, I would often find tomatoes or zucchini. Last week, there were sweet potatoes. Sometimes I find various items of mail and other assorted stuff. But recently a nice printed page of recipes adorned my chair, and I would like to share one of those recipes with you. Pecan pie bars just sound too good to pass up.

Pecan Pie Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups of flour and 1/4 cup brown sugar; cut in 1 stick butter until crumbly. Press mixture on bottom of an ungreased 9x13-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk, 3 eggs, slightly beaten and 2 tablespoons real lemon juice; pour over crust. Bake 25 minutes or until filling is set. Cool. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature.

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Well, the "soup queen" does not have them all. She is looking for a recipe for oxtail soup. So if you have a recipe for oxtail soup, please send it in to share. I do have a couple of recipes and will share one today.

Oxtail Vegetable Soup

2 pounds oxtails, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 (16-ounce) can tomatoes, cut up

1 (10 1/2-ounce) can condensed beef broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 medium onion, chopped, about

1/2 cup

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

4 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips, about

2 cups

4 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into julienne strips, about

2 cups

1/2 cup frozen peas

Trim fat from oxtails. Coat oxtails with flour. In Dutch oven brown oxtails in hot oil. Add undrained tomatoes, condensed beef broth, water, wine, onion, sugar, salt, thyme, pepper and bay leaf. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 2 hours or till meat is just tender. Skim off fat. Add carrots and parsnips; cover and simmer 25 minutes. Stir in peas; cook 5 minutes more. Serve in soup plates. Makes 4 servings.

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Cranberries are abundant in the store now and this recipe is so delicious using cranberries and pears together. It is so easy to make that children can help prepare the crumb topping.

Pear and Cranberry Crisp

Topping

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling

7 large firm, slightly underripe pears (about 3 1/2 pounds), peeled, cored, and cut lengthwise into eighths

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

For the topping: Combine first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter and cut in, using your fingertips or pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Filling: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish with 2-inch high sides. Toss all ingredients in a bowl to combine well. Transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Set dish on baking sheet and transfer to oven. Bake until topping is golden and juices bubble thickly, about an hour. Cool at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve with heavy cream or ice cream.

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We do have a couple of recipe requests for this week. In addition to the oxtail soup request, we have one from my sister, Barb. She would like recipes using persimmons. She knows of a couple of persimmon trees and has been picking them up and now needs recipes to make things using them. She would especially like a persimmon pie recipe, but any would be appreciated.

Another request comes for sourdough starter. How do you start your starter or do you have starter to share? I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Have a safe Halloween and enjoy all of the little goblins that will pay you a visit. I always look forward to seeing all of our neighbors and give them a little extra treat.

That will end us up for this week. So until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@ semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.