She's All Up In Our Grill

That inescapable Queen of Southern Cooking has again infiltrated more than one meal this past week. First, I made her Broccoli Casserole and it was yummy indeed...I would only suggest that the two cups of crackers for the topping seemed to overwhelm it a bit and would probably go with less if when I made it again. Keith and I also agreed we'd probably spice it up a bit on the next try. As it was, though, it was comforting and delicious. The recipe will be at the end of this post.

Also, we marinated some salmon in Ms. Deen's BBQ sauce that we then grilled. Her sauce is bold and flavorful...just the way I like it. We served these with salad, grilled asparagus and some pomegranate martinis. That's the first time we did the asparagus on the grill and they were terrific. This is the second time I've made salmon this week. The first salmons I marinated in a blend of worcestershire, Creole mustard and lemon pepper. I just mixed the marinade to taste....and it's an awesome marinade.

We planted some more veggies...broccoli, tomatoes,and some peppers: kung pao, jalapenos and some cool-looking white ones. Some of the seeds are so miniscule they are planted in compost paper strips. Also have the sprouts coming up on the peas and spinach....ay yi yi, I can't wait!

Ok, this post was a tad too sedate. I nearly fell asleep writing it, but ya know drama and stress-free days have been rare lately, so I enjoyed the hell out of them. Also, just to keep it from being too much of a sleepy post, I tossed in a pic of me cutting up some branches yesterday....CHAINSAW, BABY!!

Ahem...on to the recipe:

Paula Deen's Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients:

Two 10-ounce packages frozen broccoli, cooked and drained
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar Cheese
One 10 1/2 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups crushed Ritz or cheese crackers(I used Cheezits)
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 13-by-9 inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the broccoli, mayonnaise, cheese, soup and eggs. Mix well with a metal spoon(the mix is stiff, so a wooden spoon could break). Place the mixture in the prepared bsking dish. Top with the crushed crackers and pour the melted butter evenly over the crackers. Bake for 35 minutes, or until set and browned.