January is Casserole Month!

Okay, so I realize that most people don't visit SonnyDrysdalePresents in search of recipes. But it's either that or read my thoughts on President Bush's courageous plan to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq. But like I was telling Dianne Haskett the other day, a blog is no place to discuss politics.

So let's swap recipes instead. If you are anything like me, over the holidays you spent a fortune on spiral-cut hams, turkeys, cornish-game hens, pheasant-under-glass, baloney soup, M&M Oriental Party-Paks - and now the freezer is bare.

Oh, what to do?

The answer, my friends, is casseroles!

The nice thing about a casserole is that it's like a stew - you open the fridge door and throw any leftovers and limp vegetables into a dish. The only difference being that you burn the shit out it in the oven for an hour rather than boiling it into mush on top of the stove.

Visually, the result is that instead of looking like a nice meal you are about to sit down to, a casserole should look like one you've just thrown up. One of my favorite critiques for a casserole I had just taken the lid off of was, "That looks like cat-sick." But taste-wise, it's mmm-mmm-good. Trust me on this.

As anyone knows who has ever taken a gourmet cooking class or studied the kitchen arts, the magic ingredient in a casserole is Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup. It's the ubiquotous staple of almost any kind of food prep. Almost as important as garlic salt. You can use it to hold everything together as in a casserole. You can dump a can of it on top of a roast beef in a crock pot. You can use it instead of yogurt for a quick snack. Use it as a dip rather than salsa and sour cream or put a dollop on your corn-flakes in the morning. Here at the Drysdale household, we even use it as a substitute for whip-cream on special occassions like wedding anniversaries, Valentines Day or once a week right after 'Desperate Housewives.'

Today's recipe is called Avalon Casserole. No one knows why it is called this. I'm assuming that it was first made in the port town of Avalon on Catalina Island "26 miles across the sea" from Los Angeles as the song goes. Either that or it was invented by Frankie Avalon.

A more accurate name for it would be hamburger/potato casserole. It's basically shepherd's pie in a casserole dish.

So here goes - you fry up some ground beef and drain off the fat. Boil a few pototoes and slice them. Chop up an onion, shred some cheddar cheese and open a can of Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup. And it must be Campbells.

Then you layer it all together - meat first, then potatoes, onion, cheese and repeat for another layer - then spread the mushroom soup over the top and add about a cup of milk. Top with grated cheese. Then for the coup de grace - and this is optional - you grab a big fistful of pototo chips, crush them in your hand and wipe the crumbs into the dish and the grease off on your pants.

Bake at 350 for a mere half an hour and it's time to eat. Maybe have some green beans on the side.

Serve with white wine. I recommend a chilled Pinot Grigio - altho anything wet will do.