Impossible Tomato Broccoli Pie - finally!

Well, I finally got the Impossible Pie made! It looks great, doesn't it? See the tomato slices peeking out of the top in the first picture? The only thing I would change is to chop up the tomato slices and drain them better because the overall pie was a bit wetter than it should have been. I'm assuming because of the water in the tomatoes. I also might be able to compensate for that liquid with a little more self-rising flour.

I tried leeching the tomato slices by salting them in a colander, but they didn't really drain. I also added diced onions and some broccoli florets. I put some onion powder in the batter along with some parsley flakes. I still wanted some salt on my own serving because it was a little flat, but I'd rather under spice than over spice. 

I also might lean towards Italian seasoning next time maybe with some pepperoni added on top. The cheese was just enough for this recipe. I'd also rather use a sweeter onion next time than the strongly flavored and fragrant one Deb bought that I had diced and frozen. Even cooked, it's not my favorite flavor.

I didn't pre-cook the broccoli and it turned out good. Because the pieces were small, they cooked all the way through. But, I would definitely want to dice up the tomatoes next time. These tomatoes were pretty fibrous, so they were on the tough side as far as being able to cut through them with my fork. They were plenty cooked, but near the center, they held fast and didn't want to break down completely. Not sure what kind of tomatoes these were, but that might have played a role in it. Maybe next time I'll use the Tommies Snack Tomatoes instead.

So, here's what I did to make this. 

3 medium tomatoes, sliced after coring

3/4-1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup shredded cheese (I used Colby/Jack)

diced onion to taste (I had about 1/4 cup)

3/4 cup self-rising flour

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk (I used reconstituted powdered milk)

Any other seasonings you are inclined to add - I used onion powder, parsley flakes, fresh ground pepper and a bit of salt.

Spray a 9" casserole dish with PAM (or equivalent). Prepare the veggies if they aren't already. Layer the tomatoes and broccoli (you can use zucchini or other veggies, too). You can also add a bit of Parmesan cheese here as well. Spread the shredded cheese over the vegetables. Mix up your batter with the flour, eggs and milk. Add seasonings if you want. Pour the batter over the cheese and veggies without stirring, other than to make sure they're covered. Place in a 400° F oven and cook for between 35 & 40 minutes. I took mine out after 35 minutes and allowed it to sit. It was nicely browned, but I wonder what five more minutes might have done for the excess liquid.

So, I hope you try this and maybe even experiment a little. This method of casserole making has just so much flexibility!

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

This is the recipe I used. Mine didn't brown as nicely.

Well, I did it. I tried a recipe I'd seen a while back but just hadn't gotten around to trying yet. I grew up on my mother's chicken potpie, which is very similar to chicken and dumplings down south except that the chicken is kept separate from the rolled and cut dumplings in the broth. Mom's was downright the best there was and she never made just a little. Her recipe called for SEVEN cups of flour. Yeah - really. And, there were only three of us.

Needless to say, for me it was a daunting task to even consider making her recipe because she'd never made  small batches and I wasn't that good at making the dough. So, she would periodically make drop dumplings in her later years, which she liked almost as much, but I wasn't so thrilled with.

Then I discovered I could make potpie (our kind) using flour tortillas. After all, aren't tortillas just flour dough already rolled and flat? All I had to do was cut them into strips and drop them into the broth to cook. Mom loved it and told everyone they should try it themselves.

So, Mom's gone now and I do once in a while make up a batch of tortilla potpie for myself. My daughter's not quite so fond of the tortilla kind, so I only make enough for me. But, I saw this recipe a while back and kept it in the back of my mind as a potential option for the future. It is called Chicken and Dumpling Casserole.

The original recipe I saw required Bisquick, something I never have on hand. But, just yesterday I found a recipe that called for self-rising flour instead of Bisquick. I knew I had to try it because I had self-rising flour on hand that was never being used except as a gravy thickener. The only thing I didn't have was cream of chicken soup. I did have cream of celery, though. I decided the time had come.

Tonight, I made Chicken and Dumpling Casserole and I am so glad I did. I wish Mom were here because I just know she'd like it, too. As with the pork chops yesterday, I was a little heavy handed with the spice. I used just a bit too much poultry seasoning, but I can cut back the next time. And, I might put a little more liquid in next time, too. But, those two things aside, I was very happy with the results. 

One of the reasons I don't like drop dumplings is because of the dry dumpling in the center. I like the rolled dumplings because they absorb the broth all the way through. Well, this recipe pretty much takes care of that problem. It works much like the Bisquick Impossible Pies where the batter cooks in the broth and puffs up creating a "dough"; in this case, the "dumplings". Because it is poured in as a thick batter, it doesn't really have a substantial thickness to it that allows it to stay dry as it cooks, so it creates a very moist dumpling-like biscuit topping to the base of chicken and chicken broth. 

The recipe calls for ready-made stock, but since I was cooking chicken just for this recipe, I used the stock that I created with that. And, I used that cream of celery soup knowing that there was plenty of chicken flavor in the broth and in the granulated chicken stock it also listed in the ingredients. I really don't think there was much of a difference between the two soups at all that I could claim to recognize. The only thing is that you really don't need to put any salt on the chicken because there's plenty of salt in the stock, in the butter (I don't have unsalted butter) and in the soup. You can always add some if you want when you eat it.

The only thing missing was cranberry sauce - an accompaniment I have always loved with chicken potpie or turkey dinner. I didn't even have any apple sauce, which is an acceptable alternative for me. Quite frankly, there are worse things to be missing. Like dinner.

The Mexican Casserole Experiment

As I write, my first ever layered Mexican casserole is setting on the stove waiting for the asparagus to get hot so I can go try some. Of course, the asparagus was hot by the time I got done typing that sentence. So, I have returned, no longer hungry and VERY happy my foodie experiment turned out so well!!


It's not that I didn't go looking for ideas online. I knew you could make layered casseroles using tortillas and other assorted wet ingredients, but I had never done it and wasn't sure what I had on hand would work as well as all the recipes I was finding claimed theirs would. But, there is only one way to find out, right?


I took out my round glass baking dish. Almost the same diameter as the tortillas I had on hand. Then I got a bowl out and shredded Monterey Jack cheese and Extra Sharp White Cheddar into it (approximately 6 oz. total). I added a 4 oz. can of diced green chiles, a 12 oz. can of white chunk chicken, drained, that I had already shredded, a can of cream of celery soup and maybe a half cup of salsa. The recipes I had looked at called for a couple cans of cream of chicken or mushroom soup and maybe a cup of chicken broth, but I just mixed it all together the way I had it with no extra liquid. It's a good thing I did!!


I placed the first flour tortilla in the bottom of the bowl and spread a portion of the chicken mixture on top of that. I had pressed the tortilla down to be sure it was firmly planted. No, I didn't spray Pam first. Then I pressed in the next tortilla firmly on top of that followed by more chicken mix. I repeated this until there were no more tortillas (the bag wasn't full). The remaining chicken mix went on top. For appearance, I spread a bit of the salsa over the top (I'm guessing maybe 2-3 Tbsp) followed by a bit more grated cheese that I grated directly on top and then spread evenly by hand. I put the baking dish in the oven, turned it on 350 and came in to play online. Thirty minutes later, I put the asparagus on and turned off the oven. I put the casserole on top of the stove so it could set while the asparagus heated. And, that's where we were when I began this entry.


I went out and found our old RC Willey ice cream scoop out (it's a flat one that was given to me by a furniture store out in Utah) and used it as my spatula. I cut myself a wedge and scooped it out onto my plate. There was so much liquid in this and I didn't even put in the liquid most recipes called for! But, WOW! Is it ever good!!! I can't believe it took me this many years to try doing this! 


I am disappointed in the asparagus, though. Sure, the flavor is good. But, they filled the can with mostly woody stem pieces, so there was more chewing to get the flavor than there was actual eating of the asparagus. I've decided what's left will be used to make asparagus soup. I can blend it to mince it up after I've made the soup. I do like the veggie, but I've never been a fan of the woody stems. 


Anyway, I would definitely recommend trying this. In a way, it's like Mexican lasagna, but only in construction. You can do these with hamburger, but I had this can of chicken I'd hoped to use and decided to try it with that. I'm very happy with the results!!