Meal #3: Recipes

Pastel de Choclo/Chilean Corn Casserole (Maria Massolo)
Ingredients:

Chicken filling:

1 ½ lbs chicken breast (or half white meat, half dark meat)
chicken broth (as needed)
2 medium yellow onions, minced
½ cup seedless raisins
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon of cumin
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 hard boiled eggs, each peeled and quartered lengthwise (optional)
½ can pitted black olives (sliced or not, as you prefer)

Corn topping:

5 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 cup of milk
1 small onion boiled and quartered (I also use leeks, white part only)
½ stick of butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing the casserole
salt and pepper, to taste
sweet paprika
confectioner’s sugar

Prepare the filling:

1. Cube the chicken and sauté in a frying pan at low-to-medium heat. The chicken will release its juices, but add a bit of chicken broth, if the mixture is dry.
2. Place the raisins in a small mixing bowl and cover with warm water; let soak till they soften.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the minced onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until soft
   Drain the raisins and stir them into the diced chicken. Add ½ cup of reserved chicken juices, paprika, oregano, and cumin. Cook for 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Remove filling from heat and keep warm.

Prepare the corn topping:

1. Puree the corn kernels and milk with the boiled onion (or leeks) in a food processor or blender until smooth. 
2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the corn puree and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until it is as thick as oatmeal. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed.

Assemble the casserole:

1. Butter a shallow 2-quart casserole with the remaining 1 T of butter. Spread the chicken filling on bottom of the casserole.
2. Press the egg wedges and olives into the filling. 
3. Spread corn topping over the chicken and smooth with a rubber spatula.
4. Sprinkle the top of the pie with confectioners sugar and paprika.
5. Bake in a pre-heated 375 F oven until the top is firm and light golden, about 45 minutes. 
6. Serve at once.

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Salad of Baby Greens with Dried Cranberries, Pecans, & Balsamic Vinaigrette

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Icebox Potato Rolls (Jenny Michael—my grandmother's recipe) 
Ingredients:

1 pkg. dry yeast
2 cups milk
1 cup butter
2 large potatoes, cooked (baked or boiled) and mashed — to make 1½ cups
4 eggs
1 cup sugar + 1 tsp.
3-4 tsps salt
8 cups flour

 Preparation:

1. Dissolve 1 pkg. yeast in ½ c lukewarm water and 1 tsp. sugar. 
2. In 2 cups scalded milk, melt 1 cup butter. Add mashed potatoes and cool. 
3. When the potato mixture has cooled, add 4 beaten eggs. Mix in 1 cup sugar, 3-4 tsps. salt, and the yeast mixture. Stir in 8 cups flour. Beat well. 
4. Refrigerate the dough overnight.
5. About an hour before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator and stir it well so that most of the air is removed. 
6. Half-fill greased muffin tins. Let rise till double (takes a while when batter is cold).
7. Bake 12 minutes at 400 degrees till golden. Eat immediately, if possible—they’re best while hot!
   

Notes: This recipe makes a lot of rolls! (I’d guess about 4 dozen.) If you don’t want to bake them all at once, you can keep the dough in the refrigerator for a week or so until you want to bake more.

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Chocolate & Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate & Cream Cheese Frosting (Michael Acker & Cole Chabon)