GOODBYE TEXAS – EAST TEXAS CASSEROLE

We recently had a wonderful family gathering with our children (their spouses didn’t attend) and some of our grandchildren. My wife’s family has had a beautiful farm in East Texas for over fifty years. Our children had spent many times during their growing-up years there, enjoying swimming, fishing, hiking. horse riding, and just generally having a good time. Now, because we all lived so far away and because travel to the fairly remote place was difficult and expensive, we decided to sell the farm. After we had accepted an offer on the farm, we needed to make one last visit to load up personal items and to enjoy the place for one last time.

It turned into a great family gathering when all of the kids found a few days to spare in their busy schedules. For nearly a week, people came and went, fished and hiked, laughed, sat in front of a camp fire, and ate some good food.

The woods run deep

Looking for grasshoppers

The littlest fisherman

Catching fish bait at Big Pond

A tiny frog from the Big Pond

Penstemon

What a whopper!

Tombstone in the Back 80

Saying good-bye to Gus-Gus the Gum Tree

Our family has been lucky to have excellent cooks in many generations, so one of the best memories for all of us is the good food we have enjoyed on the farm: festive Thanksgiving dinners, fried catfish, fresh vegetables from the once-one-acre garden, and wild blackberries from the surrounding fields and woods. One meal that we all remember was a huge buffet that ladies of the church had prepared for a family gathering many years ago at a time of family sadness. The spread was lovingly prepared, but the most noteworthy dish was made by one of my late mother-in-law’s closest friends. I call it East Texas Casserole, but if you look for the recipe on the internet, you will find it called Redneck Casserole. I have changed the name because I would never call any of the gracious ladies of the church society rednecks. The dish is easy to prepare – one of those open the can and dump creations – and it gets uniformly good reviews on the web. You can prepare it in 30 minutes or so.

Most internet recipes call for grated Cheddar cheese, but to me that is not really authentic. For the real thing you will need to use Velveeta cheese food. I grew up on the stuff, and so did most other kids of that era, including my wife. The product has an interesting history which you can read about in great detail in The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink edited by Andrew F. Smith (Oxford University Press, New York, 2007)

Bush’s barbecued beans

One pound of hot dogs

Eight ounces of Velveeta

Onions translucent but not browned

Hot dogs cut into half-inch slices

Onions, baked beans, and hot dog slices combined in the cast iron skillet

Arrange the frozen tateer tots on top of the onion, bean, and hot dog mixture

Sprinkle the grated Velveeta on top of the baked casserole and return to the oven

East Texas casserole ready to serve

Served up

The short story is that two American cheese companies were looking for ways to prevent cheese from spoiling so rapidly and to store it at room temperature. A process was patented by Joseph L. Kraft in 1916. Tinned cheese was distributed to the troops in World War I (Remember Spam in World War II?) Eventually the two cheese companies agreed to share the patent and Velveeta made its brand-name appearance in 1928. Velveeta must contain at least 51% cheese (that’s why it is called cheese food) and will keep almost for eternity on a shelf at room temperature. These amazing properties are due to sodium citrate and, later, sodium phosphate among other preservatives. Subsequently Kraft brought out boxed macaroni and cheese in 1937, using a dehydrated version of Velveeta. Millions of boxes are sold each day, and it is discouraging to many mothers when their offspring prefer Kraft’s macaroni and cheese dinner to their carefully made from-scratch version.

RECIPE

EAST TEXAS CASSEROLE

Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 can (22 ounces) Bush’s barbecued beans
• 1 package (8) hot dogs, sliced into ½inch rounds
• 1 pound (about 2 cups) frozen tater tots
• 8 ounces Velveeta cheese food, grated (chill the Velveeta in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to make it easier to grate)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Heat a 2 quart cast iron skillet over medium heat.Add the diced onions and oil, stirring until the onions are translucent, but not browned, about 55 minutes. Remove from the heat.
3. Stir in the canned beans and hot dog slices.
4. Arrange the frozen tater tots on top of the mixture.
5. Bake on the middle rack of the preheated oven until the tater tots are golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes.
6. Remove the skillet from the oven, sprinkle the top with the grated Velveeta, and return to the oven for about 5 minutes. Then turn the heat off in the oven and continue to bake for a few minutes until the Velveeta is well melted. Serve immediately.