I really enjoyed the Heartland Hotdish; ” The best of the Dairy State on One Plate” Brats, Cheese, Beer. what’s not to like? eric.

I’m a big casserole fan and bought a copy of Emily’s book for myself and got an autographed copy from Emily when she did her demo at Brooklyn Kitchen for my sister. [ don't tell her, its her xmas gift ]

You can watch both videos at The Green House, http://www.green-house.tv thx, eric.

The Fidel Castrorole
ingredients:
1.5 c buttermilk
6 eggs
1.5 lbs emmenthaler and/or swiss cheese, fine- and coarsely-grated
1/2 lb butter
4-5 T yellow mustard (we used Annie’s classic organic)
1/4 lb pulled pork (ours was pro-cured from/by the famous Casa Havana in Chelsea)
1/4 lb thin sliced cured ham
2 jars of sweet gherkin pickles (we chose Classen)
large crusty peasant boule/loaf of bread
dashes of pepper, salt, cayenne

Whisk together the buttermilk and eggs. Melt the butter and add mustard. Slowly whisk into buttermilk-egg mixture. Add dashes of salt, pepper, and cayenne to your best estimation. Cut your bread into three or more sections horizontally such that each makes a layer that will cover the surface area of your casserole dish. Soak the bottom section of bread in the liquid mixture until it’s saturated and then lay it in the bottom of your greased dish. This will compose the bread-pudding layer (or as Cathy referred to it, an airy scrambled egg base) and take care of the bread/mayo/mustard elements.

Top this with a layer of grated cheeses.

Top the cheese with a layer of sliced ham, and top that with a layer of thin-sliced sweet gherkin pickles.

Top with another layer of soaked bread (this can be the midsection of your loaf, i.e. lacking crust).

Top with another layer of grated cheeses.

Layer with the pulled pork, which has some stewed onions and plenty of garlic in it already. (mmmmmm)

Top with the top crust layer of your loaf, and then finish with the rest of your cheese, making sure to load it on and tuck it in the edges to seal them off.

Pop it in the oven at 35o for about 45 min, but keep an eye on it. When the cheese starts to get bubbly on top, it’s close or done.

The fried pickles on top:

I made a lovely effigy of Castro on the top of the casserole, which is obviously optional, though the fried pickles which composed his beard (judging by the judges’ reactions) are not. Like a lot of fried things, the pickles are kind of a no-brainer, but some experience with deep frying is helpful.

Start by creating a basic egg-milk wash (exactly what it sounds like), and preparing flour and then separately, the bread crumbs. We used the half-dollar sized sweet gherkin slices and loved them. Dunk them in the egg-milk wash, coat well with flour, and then follow up with breadcrumb coating. You can set them aside on parchment paper while you prepare your fry setup. Basically, get your oil really nice and hot and then immerse the breaded pickles for 2-3 minutes. Experiment for the best time. These make a magnificent top layer to the casserole, and are straight up delicious on their own.

Suerte comrades, and que viva la casserole revolution!

Baked Summer Squash (Casserole)

Ingredients:

5 lbs medium-sized yellow squash
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups bread crumbs (5 pieces of toasted bread, finely ground in a food processor)—reserve half for topping
1/2-1 cup chopped onion
4 oz (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup sugar
salt as needed
dash pepper
nonstick vegetable spray

Directions:

Trim ends of squash and cut into large pieces. Drop squash into a large pan of boiling water (enough to cover). Return to boil, reduce heat, and cook until tender (approximately 10-20 min.). Drain in a colander, then mash.

In a large mixing bowl, combine squash with eggs, 1 cup bread crumbs, onion, butter, sugar, salt and pepper.

Turn into a 3-quart casserole with has been lightly greased or sprayed with nonstick vegetable spray.

Cover with a layer of bread crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned.

p.s. this recipe is very forgiving!