Unlike the last recipe for "white-girl cuisine" I wrote out for y'all, this one I'm actually quite fond of, and would be tickled pink if any of my readers tried to replicate it.
It's a cornbread-and-bean casserole, which is an excellent example of white-people food because the recipe, instead of being handed down for generations like Madhur Jaffrey's alan ka saag, came from the back of a can of baked beans. (Cultural note: most white-people cuisine either comes from the frozen foods section of the supermarket or from recipes on the tops or bottoms of cans. Case in point: the very famous green-bean-and-onion thing, which came from the back of a can of Campbells soup and -- when I was growing up -- was eaten exclusively on holidays. ^__^)
I added my own improvements.
Whatcha do: get yourself a large can of baked beans (the vegetarian kind, if you're so inclined), and whatever vegetables you particularly like. I chose tomatoes and my favorite veggie, spinach. You could add onions, corn, peppers, etc. as well.
My mother used to add ground beef as well, although that would probably make the dish inedible for a good half of my readers. (Daniel, without the beef this should be kosher, yes?)
Anyway. Mix together the beany-vegetable goodness and spread it out over the bottom of a cake pan or baking dish (no need to grease; there's enough juice from the beans that nothing should stick).
Then get yourself a box of Jiffy (or generic) cornbread mix and add the eggs and water. Spread the cornbread mixture over the beany-vegetable mixture.
Cook at 475 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Then -- the best part -- pull out the baking tin and spread a layer of grated cheddar cheese over everything. Replace and cook for five minutes more, until there's a really nice crust.
It's rather like lasagna, if one replaces the beef with beans, the pasta with cornbread, and the ricotta cheese with cheddar. ^__^
Here's a picture, along with the very, very white "pre-bagged lettuce salad with ranch dressing." Because, y'know, ranches actually taste like that.
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Another Recipe for White-Girl Food
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3 comments:
First...nice choice of plate!
Second: assuming all ingredients involved are kosher, there's two ways to make this dish kosher enough for Orthodox people to eat it. (1) you can use kosher beef and make sure that every other ingredient has no dairy in it (so, non-dairy cheese, non-dairy cornbread mix, no butter, no milk, etc.) OR (2) you can use morningstar beef crumbles and make sure all of the rest of the ingredients are certified kosher.
OR, you can be a rational human being, recognize that these rules were set up in an age when Jews were meant to be kept apart from the "non-chosen ones" who were eating pigs and who were performing such acts of cruelty as "boiling kids in their mothers' milk" and eat the meal as is.
But that's just my anti-religious sentiments coming out.
What about the third way (the one I suggested): leaving the beef out entirely? ^__^
Don't worry, I won't be like our old friend Jayd and try to convert.
LOL I mean, the second path is leaving the beef out entirely--but it still gives the same consistency of texture.
You could use some other beef substitute, but I like morninstar crumbles...yummm
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