Party-foo

Spent last night at lyssabard and tlttlotd's halloween party. Much fun. :) Sadly, my preferred costume was far too hot to wear so I abandoned it and went as myself, as did the majority of attendees. Still, it was very fun, and an evening of pleasant conversation was had by all. We didn't even get around to breaking out the horror movies, but nobody really seemed to mind. :)

As the party was pot-luck, and I didn't remember that till the last minute, I whipped together one of the easiest dishes I know how to make that I had the ingredients for. It's kind of a casserole. The recipe was taught to me by an ex-girlfriend whom I no longer have any contact with, and I consider it to be one of the few positive things I got out of that relationship. All you need to make it is some rice, a can or two of creamed soup, some meat, and some cheese. Spices help make it edible, but are not strictly necessary. There are no real restrictions on what flavors of creamed soup, meat, or cheese you use. Tomato soup can also be substituted in certain variants of this recipe, but it tends to come out more like spanish rice than casserole if you do that. The variation I chose to make for the party was truly unique, and got this reaction from kyrin7: "Oooh, dead thing I haven't tried yet!" You see, I used ostrich as the meat.

Here's the full recipe, for anyone who wanted it:

Ingredients:
2 Cups Jasmine Rice, uncooked
Four cups water
One heaping tablespoon butter
1 small can (10 3/4 ounces) campbells condensed cream of broccoli soup
1 small can (10 3/4 ounces) campbells condensed cream of potato soup
8 ounces ground ostrich meat (available at Wholefoods)
Shredded Mozerella cheese (amount will vary to taste)

Spices that I used last night:
Salt
Pepper
Sumac
McCormick Hot Mexican Style Chili Powder (chili pepper, red pepper, oregano, cumin, salt, silicon dioxide, and garlic)
Best Chef Specialty Cajun Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic, tri calcium phosphate)
Simply Organic Grilling Seasons Chicken Seasoning (organic garlic, sea salt, organic sage, organic onin, organic rosemary, organic thyme, organic oregano, organic marjoram, organic black pepper, organic fennel, organic coriander, organic peppermint, organic bayleaf)

1. Place water in large saucepan or pot. Place on high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Add rice and butter. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent rice from sticking, till rice is fluffy and water has been absorbed.
3. While rice is cooking, prepare the meat to taste. I chose to go the easy route and defrost it by microwave, slice it into bite-sized chunks, and then cook it the rest of the way by microwave. Cooking it in a skillet or by other means is also perfectly acceptable, but the meat must be fully cooked in this step.
4. Place rice in a large microwave-safe container. Stir meat and condensed soups into rice. Add spices to taste and stir till the mixture appears uniform. Microwave for between two and four minutes, to help heat the soup and make sure that the rice has remained warm while the meat is being prepared. Slight cooking at this stage also seems to help disperse the taste of the spices throughout the dish.
5. Take the cheese and stir it into the rice. The heat from the rice will melt the cheese, no further microwving is necessary for this stage. You may also optionally further top the dish with large slices of cheese and allow them to melt somewhat before serving... microwaving for a minute or so may be necessary for this. I did not choose to do this with the batch I made last night, as I know not everyone shares my love of cheese.

Feeds a lot of people apparently, since a lot of folks tried it last night and I've still got leftovers. Or it feeds two people if it's their sole meal for the day and they both have a heaping plate of it. Eating nothing but one heaping plate of this every day for two months will in fact keep you alive, but it will not be enough nourishment to necessarily keep you thinking straight. Trust me, I know this from experience.