Carefree.. by Joyce McCombs
No Fuss Dishes

Celebrating around a table filled with family and friends is a time-honored tradition, but honestly, are you ready to deal with an entire turkey dinner again so soon after Thanksgiving?
Me either.

Now, if you love turkey and all the hoopla that goes with it, bless your heart and you may just skip the following recipes and get right to stuffing and trussing your holiday bird. I know that for some folks, the smell of a roasting turkey means Christmas, and nothing else will do, unless maybe it’s a big glazed ham. 

I seem to have become something of a culinary radical - or as Steve says, Delta’s most politically active, radically conservative, blue eyed brunette newspaper columnist librarian. I haven’t baked a turkey or a ham at Christmas for years, but will gladly consume either one if someone else is cooking. We’ve made all kinds of alternative things for our Delta family for Christmas dinner, like pizza, barbecued chicken wings, and once an all appetizers menu that came from those nice boxes in the frozen food section. The most important thing I’ve learned is that people don’t much care what is on the table on the big day, what they really long for is good company, laughter, and some decent leftovers in the fridge. Oh, and they also long for enough foil wrapped chocolate items to last through repeated viewing of the world’s most perfect holiday movie, A Christmas Story. (If you don’t own this movie, you must drop everything and buy it at once, I really must insist! And get some more chocolate while you’re out, will you? )

In today’s column are my top choices for main dishes that don’t require any carving, stuffing, or trussing. They all make a generous amount, provide that all important wonderful aroma that fills the house, and best of all, most of them will cook contentedly by themselves while you do more interesting things, like shake the packages under the tree. 
All of today’s recipes feed at least eight hearty holiday appetites, so plan accordingly to double them if you want to feed more folks, or desire more leftovers. 

Noel Nacho Bake
1 pound ground beef
1 1/2 cups chunky salsa
1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
3/4 cup Miracle Whip
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
2 cups shredded Colby cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9 x 13 baking dish. Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring now and then to crumble it. Put the tortilla chips in a plastic bag and get one of the kids to smash them up into little pieces. Drain any grease from the hamburger, and then add the salsa, corn, Miracle Whip and chili powder. Layer the ground beef mixture, crushed tortilla chips and cheese twice, ending with cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered. You can add some sliced olives or hot peppers on top if you want to, and it really must have sour cream on the side. 

Jolly Jambalaya
Don’t panic at this long list of ingredients – there’ s nothing scary here and it all goes in one big pot anyway. Find your largest baking pan, maybe even your turkey roaster for this - it makes 18 generous servings. 
1/2 cup butter
1 diced yellow onion
1 chopped green pepper
4 stalks sliced celery
4 cloves minced garlic
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 tablespoons Creole Seasoning Blend OR
2 tablespoons mixed seasoning salt
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
7 cups chicken stock
3 cups chopped cooked ham
3 cups sliced Polish sausage
3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups frozen cooked shrimp
4 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter in large stockpot. Sauté onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until tender, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add tomato paste and cook to brown slightly, stirring constantly. Stir in Creole seasoning blend and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into a large roasting pan. Squeeze tomatoes to break up into pieces, and add to mixture in pan. Stir in juice from tomatoes, chicken stock, ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp and rice. Mix well. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, stirring once halfway through baking time. 

Merry Kris-Moose
You know that big moose roast hiding in the corner of your freezer that you keep moving around but can’t think what to do with? It’s the perfect to simmer in your slow cooker using just two simple ingredients. Not only does it smell mouthwateringly great as it slowly cooks, you get the added bonus of lots of very tender leftovers to make French Dip Sandwiches. 
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 pounds moose roast
2 cups apple juice
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
Brown the roast on all sides in the oil in a heavy skillet. Remove, and transfer to a slow cooker. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the roast, then pour in the apple juice. Set cooker to low for 6 to 8 hours or until meat is very tender. Check it every couple hours if you remember, because sometimes it needs a little more apple juice. Serve roast with juices as is, or thicken with for delicious gravy.

Santa’s Aloha Sausage Bites
Any kind of sausage (except reindeer!) works well with this sauce, and those little cocktail smokies are even better if you are feeling weak and depleted from opening your gifts and can’t be bothered to heft a knife. 
2 pounds kielbasa sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups ketchup
2 cups brown sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, undrained
Place the sausage, ketchup, sugar and pineapple in the slow cooker and mix together. Cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours, until sausage is cooked through. Put out a bunch of toothpicks for spearing these little treasures, maybe some cheese and crackers and some baby carrots, cherry tomatoes and celery sticks and you’ve got yourself a nibbler’s paradise. 

Chestnut Chicken
This assumes one piece of chicken per serving, but I’ll tell you right now, there’s bound to be trouble if you don’t make extras, so you may as well go ahead and double this to start with. If you have a second and can get the chicken cooked ahead of time, this is a mighty speedy casserole to put together. 
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, boiled, cooled and cubed
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts
1 big yellow onion, finely chopped
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup cornflake cereal crumbs
1 cup mayonnaise
Preheat oven to 325 and spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Combine cooked chicken with everything except half a cup of the crumbs. Spread the chicken mixture around with a rubber spatula until it’s fairly even, and then sprinkle on reserved crumbs. Bake for one hour until lightly browned and bubbly. You can add things to this if you want to, like sliced celery, mushrooms, green peas, more onion, or even (shudder) pimentos, but it’s pretty good just like it is. If you’re feeling adventurous, some Parmesan cheese, French fried onion rings from the can and a little parsley also work great mixed in with that final cup of cornflakes you just sprinkled over the top. 

Everyone please be sure to have a terrific holiday! I wish you the Happiest of New Years from the Carefree Gourmet Test Kitchens and thank you so very much for another wonderful year of your comments, support and ideas – I simply can’t do this without you!

Index to Carefree Gourmet Articles

Sourdough Sensations June 29, 2007

Kitty Treats June 29, 2007

Dog Treats April 20, 2007

Sandwich Plan March 23, 2007

Carefree Wacky Ingredients March 8, 2007

Homestead Hearth January 25, 2007

Carefree Cooking 101 January 11, 2007

Holiday Punch December 23, 2006

Holiday Treats December 12, 2006

Thanksgiving II November 20, 2006

Standby Favorites October 16, 2006

Cabbage October 11, 2006

Apples September 22, 2006

Kids Cook July 6, 2006

Wacky Tips June 8, 2006

Graduation May 11, 2006

African Cuisine April 13, 2006

A Bit of Irish March 23, 2006

Crazy for Carrots March 9, 2006

February Vacation February 23, 2006

Easy Budget January 12, 2006

Christmas Treats December 22, 2005

Sweet Surprises December 8, 2005

Turkey Times  November 22, 2005

Grand Champions - Part 2 - October 13, 2005

Janet Boyer September 22, 2005

Grand Champions September 5, 2005

Blueberries  August 12, 2005

Halibut and Zukes July 28, 2005

Orange Juice July 14, 2005

Happy Birthday June 30, 2005

Honey June 9, 2005

Picnic Dishes May 26, 2005

Celebration Salads May 12, 2005

Kraft Foods April 21, 2005

Shrimp April 7, 2005

Carry on Airline snacks March 25, 2005

Sandwiches March 10, 2005

Back from Vacation February 24, 2005

Super Bowl Snack Attack  January 14, 2005

Ginger Snaps December 29, 2004

Christmas Memories - December 12, 2004

Thanksgiving November 23, 2004

Glen and Meat  October 29, 2004

Blueberry Pie Champion  September 30, 2004

Fair Winners  September 2, 2004

Glen's Knives June 11, 2004

Aunt Aggie Tells All... May 13, 2004

Crazy About Catsup April 29, 2004

Carefree Clearance Special April 8, 2004

Seattle Adventure March 26, 2004

Vegas, part 2 March 12, 2004

Vegas Wind February 12, 2004

Casserole Bonanza January 11, 2004

No Fuss Dishes  December 19, 2003

Fake and Bake Christmas  December 11, 2003