Missouri Dish from Mom's kitchen



There are certain foods that when you see them, smell them, taste them, or even talk about them they will transport you through time to a special place.  Tonight’s supper was one of them.  This meal transported me back in time to my mother’s dinner table.

I can picture her in the kitchen.  There she is talking on the phone while she prepares the family meal.  You remember the kitchen phone.  It had a cord about 9 feet long and was twisted and kinked from where you always had to reach the extra 10^th foot.  Yes, it was MOUNTED to the wall with a CORD attached to it, for all you young whippersnappers!!

She was always on the phone to her sisters, or her friends Mildred and Carolyn.  I can hear her now, “Mmm.  Uh huh…  Yep…. Mmm hmm…  Uh huh…”  She was as good a  listener as she was a talker!  She was a chief multi-tasker long before the phrase was coined.

This casserole was one of her favorites, therefore it was made often!  She called it “Missouri Dish”.  I’m not sure of the entire story of how she came about the recipe, but I do know it was when dad was stationed there during the early years of their many years together.

My brother and I both learned how to make Missouri Dish from our mother – in her kitchen, with her corning ware casserole dishes.  Tonight, I will use that same casserole dish to make her favorite casserole. 

The only exception to her recipe and mine tonight is that I will be using lean ground turkey.  I don’t think she’ll mind.  J

Ingredients:

 1½ lbs of potatoes sliced

1.3 lbs 93% fat free ground turkey

2 medium onions (peeled and sliced thin)

1 egg white

2 Tbsp ketchup

½ cup of oats

1 14.5oz can of tomato sauce

Salt & pepper to taste



In a large mixing bowl, combine turkey, ketchup, egg whites, oats, pepper and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly with hands – the way mom did.

*-(veggies such as grated carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, or such could be blended here)

Coat a large corning ware dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Layer potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish.  Next add the onions in the same manner.

Cook these in microwave for about 4 minutes to soften.  (I’m sure mom would have instead of parboiling!!)

Add about 3-4 Tbsp of tomato sauce on top of onion layers.

Finally, take the turkey mixture and pat into a large patty shape to place on top of the onions.

Punch, pat, push the meat to cover the entire casserole as evenly as possible.

Cover with remaining tomato sauce.

Bake covered for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover after 40 minutes and cook for 20 minutes more. (Always verify meat doneness with a meat thermometer.)

I like to cover it with a little ketchup.  It reminds me of home....

Try it and make a memory for your family.

ENJOY!

Serving Size: Makes 5 equal servings

Nutritional Info:

Calories: 335.6, Total Fat: 8.6 g, Cholesterol: 80.0 mg, Sodium: 612.3 mg, Total Carbs: 42.9 g, Dietary Fiber: 5.5 g, Protein: 28.5 g