09 July 2012


























Happy Monday!  It's Secret Recipe Club reveal day.   The Secret Recipe Club is a group of food bloggers who secretly make one of someone else's dishes and post them all on the same day at the same time.  It's really fun, choosing a recipe to make, making the recipe, then reading about everyone else's recipes.  It's a great way to "meet" other bloggers and check out some great blogs that you never knew about before.

Secret Recipe Club

This month I was assigned a blog that was new to me, The Keenan Cookbook.  The Keenan Cookbook is unique in that it has two authors, Chris and Rachel.  They are a couple who tag team the duties of food blogging: Chris maintains the blog, and does most of the cooking, while Rachel taste-tests and does the photography.  That's pretty neat!  They are the parents of an adorable little boy, and recently announced that they have another little one on the way! Congrats, Chris and Rachel!

Chris and Rachel have a great collection of recipes.  They have everything from appetizers to dessert.  I bookmarked several recipes to try: Zucchini Quiche, Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Scones, and Gnocchi with Roasted Asparagus Pesto, before deciding on one.  The one I chose to make for SRC this month was their Reuben Casserole.  I am not a huge fan of Reubens, but my husband is and often orders them at restaurants because I've never made them at home.  I thought I would throw the poor guy a bone, and give this baked version a try.  Since I knew it would be mostly my husband eating it, I halved the recipe.  

Reuben Casserole


Ingredients:
8 oz. sliced corned beef
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup Thousand Island dressing
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded
¼ cup dry bread crumbs
Toasted rye bread


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.


Place corned beef in the bottom of an 8x8 casserole dish.  Layer sauerkraut on top of the corned beef.  In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise and Thousand Island dressing. Then spread the dressing on top of the sauerkraut.  Sprinkle the shredded Swiss cheese on top of the dressing.  Top with breadcrumbs.


Bake for 40 minutes.  Serve warm over toasted rye bread.


Makes 4 servings.

I increased the dressing to mayo ratio because my husband really likes it.  I took the quick route and used a bottled dressing, but I'm sure homemade would be even better.

I didn't eat very much of this, as Reubens just aren't my thing, but my husband LOVED it.  And here's the surprise of the day: my kids (ages 2 and 4) scarfed it down!  I almost didn't even give it to them, because I didn't think they would like it.  They are pretty good eaters, but I thought sauerkraut was a stretch even for them.  So I almost made something separate for them, but then decided to let them try it.  Why not?  Boy, was I surprised when my 2-year-old held up her plate, saying, "Mo! Mo! Mo!" (Meaning "more").  I had picked the breadcrumb/cheese topping off of hers because she is allergic to dairy, but she ate all of the meat, dressing, and all of the sauerkraut!  My 4-year-old did too, but I think it was partly due to the fact that we made a big deal about Eva eating all of hers, so Lena had do it too. You know how kids are! Lena ended up eating 2 (kid-sized) servings and Eva ate three!




Thanks Chris and Rachel for a great meal that my kids loved and got me bonus points with my husband! :)




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7 comments:

  1. My husband has been on a reuben kick lately, ordering it each time it's on the menu.  He's going to love seeing this recipe in my "need to make" file.

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my SRC entry  Double Chocolate Mousse CakeLisa~~Cook Lisa Cook

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  2. Pretty cool recipe! Will have to try my hand at it pretty soon :-)

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  3. Funny, I too have never had a Reuben.  It looks way out of my comfort zone.  Not a particular fan of corned beef.

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  4. What a fun twist, baking it in a casserole! I had to laugh about the kids gobbling it up. I guess you never know!

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  5. Lesa, I've been loving Reuben sandwiches since I was a kid, so this casserole is amazing to me!  I know I'll be making it 'for sur'e at some point.  It looks fantastic - great choice!  BTW..I always wondered - who is Reuben? lol

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  6. I wasn't a fan of reubens for a long time and now I'm starting to come around - this casserole sounds delicious!  Keenan's Corner is a new blog for me too - and I love how I was their secret blogger this month!  Great choice for SRC Lesa =)

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  7. Such an awesome choice. I'll have to make this for my mom the next time I'm home. Reubens are her favorite sandwich ever.

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