Hominy casserole and more~

Note: I haven't been just cooking, I've been eating up Tim Tigner's books on my Kindle.  I finished FLASH and started PUSHING BRILLIANCE.  If you like Lee Child and Stuart Woods you most assuredly will like Tim Tigner.  I have just discovered him and I am in for the long haul.

I have been a busy little cook this week but my phone camera is acting up and I cannot picture anything. So please use your imagination but do try at least the hominy casserole that is actually done by me in an iron skillet.  First of all you cannot hurt this recipe.  Anything goes but the hominy is necessary. Use two or three cans, I started with two can, but I am having it for an April event, so I will use at least three then.  In an iron skillet saute either bacon or I used diced pancetta  (from Trader Joe's) with one diced onion. Then start adding what ever you like: peppers, celery, carrots, peas, anything tasty.  Add the two can of hominy, 2 cups of milk or half and half or some cream, some parmesan cheese if you have some on hand; stir it around add shredded cheese of your choice and bread crumbs on top--now I got the idea instead of bread crumbs to use a package of Stove top stuffing sprinkled over the top.  I popped this mixture in the oven in the iron skillet for 45 minutes and Andy was enthusiastic as he gobbled it down.  I have two or three more testers of this recipe to go, but I can assure you I would not go to the trouble of typing this in a blog if it were a failure.

The thing I did yesterday is fantastic.  You know how your crab cakes fall apart if you don't get enough binder in the mix--or can you successfully keep shredded potatoes from falling apart as you attempt potato pancakes?  I had bought 4 pounds of Carfagnas CHICKEN meatball mix to make a batch of meatballs for an upcoming party.  I got the idea, as I looked in the bottom drawer of my frig and spotted several cans of lump crabmeat that I buy when it is $9. a can instead of $16. a can... which it usually is.  It is a big blue can and this one was Giant Eagle brand which is very good, but there is another blue can and I can't remember which brand it is, but it is good too.  I mixed two pounds of the chicken meatball mix with a half can of the crab meat, some spices, pepper, and a little salt, mixed it up and made several miniature meatballs for parties.  Popped them in the oven to bake 12 minutes or until hot in the center and brown on the bottom.  I had enough left in the bowl to make a patty for Andy...Well, that's all she wrote.  He always orders crab cakes from the menu and I can never make them without them falling apart so there you have it.  If you don't have a Carfagna's that is a real shame, but their spiced chicken meatball mix is so good.  I hope you can make it up yourself, but don't ask me how.  Oh, I forgot, I added a heaping tablespoon of grainy mustard to the final mix. I made more meatballs and several patties.  I had a few left over and added them near the end of the bake time to the hominy casserole and today Andy, my love of nearly 58 years, is a happy man.