Crusty Chayote Casserole Recipes

CHAYOTE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Place chayotes and epazote in saucepan. Add enough water to cover. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 min. Drain; discard epazote. Set aside. Heat oil in small heavy-bottomed skillet on medium heat. Add poblano chiles and onions; cook 5 min. or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in jalapeño peppers.
• Layer half each of the tomatoes, poblano mixture and chayotes in 2-qt. baking dish; sprinkle with half of the cheese. Repeat all layers.
• Bake 20 to 25 min. or until mixture is heated through and cheese is melted.

MIRLITON (CHAYOTE) CASSEROLE

Steps:

• 1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the mirlitons and cook until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the heat, drain, and set aside to cool completely.
• 2. Sprinkle ground beef, pork or sausage with 1 tablespoon creole seasoning and brown in heavy skillet. Drain and set aside.
• 3. When the mirlitons are cool, cut them in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, peel, and coarsely chop. Set aside.
• 4. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, carrots, celery, green onions and jalapeno. Add remaining creole seasoning and the thyme. Cook slowly, stirring, until the vegetables are soft and lightly golden, about 30 minutes.
• 5. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the mirlitons and cook, mashing them with a potato masher, until very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes.
• 6. At this point, if you want a smoother textured casserole use an immersion blender or put mixture into a food processor or blender in small batches until everything is pureed. If you like a chunkier casserole then skip this step.
• 7. Add the meats or seafood, salt, black pepper, and parsley. Cook about 3 to 4 minutes stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat.
• 8. Add the eggs and toasted bread crumbs and mix well. You want the mixture to be tight, not too wet. Spoon the mixture into a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella or parmesan cheese (optional), or with about 1-2 tablespoons of bread crumbs.
• 9. Bake at 350 until the topping is lightly browned and bubbly, about 40 minutes. Serve warm.
• 10. *NOTES: In a skillet, toast the breadcrumbs in a little olive oil over medium heat until it turns 2 shades darker. This will keep the casserole from being gummy.
• 11. If you make extra toasted breadcrumbs you can freeze them in a ziplock bag until you're ready to use them again.

CRUSTY CHICKEN CASSEROLE WITH CHEESE BATTER

Steps:

• Combine onion, shallots, celery and water in pan, bring to boil and simmer until onion is softened.
• Saute bacon and mushrooms in butter for 3 minutes.
• Combine onion mixture, bacon mixture, undiluted soup, sour cream and chicken and pour into greased ovenproof dish (8 cup capacity).
• CHEESE BATTER:.
• Sift flour into bowl, add peppers, eggs, cheese & milk, stir until combined.
• Spread cheese batter over chicken mixture.
• Bake at 350F for 40 minutes until lightly browned and firm.
• Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and return to bake for additional 5 minutes until melted.
• Casserole, without batter, may be prepared up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in refrigerator.
• Not suitable for freezing or microwave.

CHAYOTE & POTATO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes & chayotes until just tender about 3-4 minutes, drain.
• Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet and stir fry the shallots& peppers until just tender apprx 6 minutes, remove from heat and pour into a dish Melt remaining butter in the same skillet, stir in the flour and when well browned slowly add the milk and cream, whisk over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, stir and cook 2 minutes longer Add the shallots& peppers to the sauce, add salt, pepper& nutmeg, stir in 1/4 cup of cheese Spread the potato& chayotes in a shallow baking dish, add sauce& mix gently Smoothe the top and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese.
• Cover with foil& bake in 350F until bubbling (apprx 20 minutes), remove foil and allow the cheese to brown- 10 more minutes Serve hot.

CRUSTY CHEESE, BEEF, NOODLE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Heat oil; add onions and cook until golden.
• Add meat and cook until meat loses it red color, stirring.
• Add spaghetti sauce and salt; heat.
• Arrange in a casserole dish half sauce and half of cheese.
• Sprinkle with seasoning salt.
• Make another layer noodles.
• Add sauce and top with cheese.

CRUSTY BEEF CASSEROLE

Steps:

• CRUSTY TOPPING French bread cut in1 cm slices 25g soft butter 1 clove garlic, crushed (opt) 1 Tbsp French mixed mustard chopped chives, garlic cloves or parsley Cut steak in pieces, 6 cm by 4 cm.
• Place in casserole. In a bowl mix all ingredients except crusty topping.
• Pour over beef, and cover tightly.
• Bake at 160 C for 2 hours.
• Combine butter, add garlic (opt), mustard and herbs.
• Spread on one side of each bread slice (use sufficient slices to cover the top of casserole). Arrange bread, buttered side up, on meat, pushing slices firmly down to soak up juices.
• Return uncovered casserole to oven at 200 C for about 10 minutes or until bread is crisp and golden.

CRUSTY CHAYOTE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Use a vegetable peeler to peel the chayotes, then cut them in half through the stem end, and use a small knife or spoon to wedge out the pit from each piece. Cut into 3/4-inch cubes. In a vegetable steamer, steam the chayote until crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. Stir the chayote around every 3-4 minutes for even cooking. Prepare the roasted poblano rajas from the accompanying recipe. Preheat oven to 350. Add the corn, milk and cooked chayote to a skillet with the rajas and bring to a boil. Taste and add salt. Spoon half of the mixture into a well-buttered 9x9-inch or 11x7-inch baking dish. Top with half of the Chihuahua cheese, the remaining chayote mixture, then the remaining cheese. Bake until bubbling nicely and beginning to brown, about 20 minutes. While the chayote is baking, melt the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and stir it into the crumbs. Mix with the queso anejo, sprinkle over the casserole and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes more, until crusty and browned. Let stand 5 minutes before sprinkling with the cilantro and digging in.