There are still a few spots for the Kansas City Casserole Party

11 Nov

If you’ve been thinking about entering the Third Annual Kansas City Casserole Party, happening tomorrow night at the Honeytree Gallery, and haven’t yet, you still have time. There are still a few spots open for this cheesy casserole cooking competition. Don’t be intimidated — while professional chefs are welcome to enter, this is more about making something warm and delicious that you love. If you want me to love it, it should also be full of cheese and starch. But I’m not a judge. Here’s what you have to look forward to:

Judges:

Prizes: 

Libations: 
What are you waiting for? Enter now!

Start your ovens…

18 Oct

Registration is officially open for the Seventh Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party (October 24, 2011) and the Third Annual Kansas City Casserole Party (November 12, 2011).

2011 Casserole Party Dates

22 Sep

Casserole Crazies, save the dates:

The Seventh Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party will take place Monday, October 24, 2o11 at The Brooklyn Kitchen. Registration is open.

The Third Annual Kansas City Casserole Party will take place Saturday, November 12, 2011. Details are almost confirmed and registration will open soon.

Stay tuned!

The Best-Ever Pasta Salad

10 Apr

You know you want some

Casseroles are great, in the winter and the fall. And there are even a few I like to make in the warmer months. But the truth is, by the time I’m drinking iced coffee I don’t want anything to do with my oven. That’s when I make one of my favorite dishes, The Best-Ever Pasta Salad.

I originally made this a few years ago for my friend Sarah’s birthday picnic in Prospect Park when she asked me to make something cheesy — “really, really cheesy.” The morning of, I decided to combine some of my favorite things, which I happened to already have in my kitchen (starch and cheese) to make a summery, cheesy dish. It was a hit, and every year, as soon as the weather warms up I make it at my first opportunity.

It’s so good that my boyfriend’s coworker said recently at a barbeque, “This is the best pasta salad I’ve ever had!,” so good that my little sister has more than once drunkenly texted me, “I wish I were eating your pasta salad right now!,” so good that — well, you’ll just have to try it. Why is it so good? Because, like many of my recipes, it uses a pound of pasta and two different cheeses. In true Emily Farris fashion, there aren’t too many measurements. But here’s the gist of it.

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A slightly refined classic green bean casserole

11 Nov

Click on this photo to go to the video demo

Watch me make a slightly refined classic green bean casserole at BKTV.

Green bean casserole is an essential side dish at any Midwestern Thanksgiving dinner, and when I was a kid, it appeared on the table at least once every month. Upon moving to Brooklyn and making my own, however, I realized this was not at all my mom’s green bean casserole, but the recipe from every brand of French-friend onion can, cream of mushroom soup can, and cookbook in the world. But not every ingredient has to come from a can, as I demonstrate in this video from BKTV (the Brooklyn Kitchen‘s video series).

A Missouri girl through and through, though I blanched a pound of fresh green beans for this demo, I still used canned cream of mushroom soup and canned French-fried onions. If you really want to get fancy, you can make your own cream of mushroom soup (it’s really not that hard) and your own French-fried onions.

Thanks to the Brooklyn Kitchen and Daniel Delaney for asking me to share one of my favorite childhood casseroles.

P.S. All of these demos are making me realize I need to smile more on camera. (Here’s one from EatTV.com, I’m still working on embedding. I had a Casserole Party hangover when I made it) .

The full recipe is after the jump.

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The Winning Kansas City Casserole

10 Nov

Photo by Mollie Hull - molliehullphoto.com

Out of 28 casseroles entered in the 2nd Annual Kansas City Casserole Party on Saturday night at the ScionLab, most everyone seemed to agree there was one clear winner: Casserole No. 4, Lauren Busch’s Mojo Risin’, a braised citrus mojo pork and yucca dish. Lauren has kindly shared the recipe with me, so we can all see what kind of work (and time) goes into making a winning casserole.

For her hard work and delicious ingredients, Lauren went home with a $100 gift certificate to Pryde’s Old Westport, a $25 gift certificate to Bon Bon Atelier and a hand-made hat from Toasty Brain.

You can hear Lauren talking about prepping her casserole (and me talking for an hour about casseroles) on this episode of KCUR’s “Central Standard”.

The full recipe is after the jump.

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Register for the 2nd Annual Kansas City Casserole Party

3 Nov

You have until 5 p.m. on Friday, November 5 (or until all of the spots are filled) to register for the 2nd Annual Kansas City Casserole Party, happening this Saturday, November 6 at the ScionLab. Read more and register now!

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Recap: The 6th Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party

28 Oct

Casseroles and chop sticks: a match made in Brooklyn Kitchen heaven

Words cannot express my gratitude to everyone who was involved in the Casserole Party Monday night at The Brooklyn Kitchen. Thank you to the 44 teams, the judges, the sponsors, the band, the volunteers and to all 115+ people in the room who helped us raise more than $1,100 for the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen. Oh, and to Mo Scarpelli for taking these wonderful pictures.

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Registration is now open for the 2nd Annual Kansas City Casserole Party

27 Oct

Fall is here and that means it’s time to register for the 2nd annual Kansas City Casserole Party, happening Saturday, November 6 at the ScionLab.

Read more and register now!

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Five Things to Expect at the 6th Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party

18 Oct

The Brooklyn Casserole Party is exactly one week away. And you still have five days to register.

If you need a little more encouragement, here are five things to expect at the Sixth Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party, happening Monday, October 25 at The Brooklyn Kitchen.

1. Camille Ford, host of the Travel Channel’s “Food Wars,” will judge your casserole, along with Corey Henderson of the Universal Records Database (URDB.org, as seen on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,) and Ann Kansfield from the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen.

2. Corey will be helping us set some casserole-related records for URDB. No word yet on whether Jimmy Fallon will be his date, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

3. New this year: the beer is lovingly provided by the Brooklyn Brewery.

4. Also new this year: since you don’t have to buy beer, I’m going to pass the Pyrex for the Greenpoint Soup Kitchen while we’re all stuffing our faces with food we probably don’t need but absolutely want. So bring your dollar bills, yo.

5. As usual, the grand prize will be a lovely Le Creuset.

Please read the Rules & Regulations and register for the Sixth Annual Brooklyn Casserole Party.

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