735 Days...: My Adventures in Cooking...

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Picture via Taste of Home

Do any of you have a little brother? Well, I do and he likes to point out that I owe him millions of dollars and twelve meals. This stems from me asking him to do things for me when we were younger, like my chores, getting me something to drink, etc. to which I always said, "I'll give you a million dollars if...." and the one meal a month for a year, I don't remember how that came about.

Well he is so busy at work that he often ends up skipping his lunch break and doesn't eat anything at all, in addition to that he was under the weather for a few weeks and now looks as skinny as a flag pole. The kid can drop weight like nobody's business(jealous.) So I thought I'd start pumping out those meals for him. I have been pinning recipes for him on one of my boards on Pinterest anyways so I have a lot to choose from.

For the first recipe I chose a Chili Cheese Dog Casserole. Sounded good to me! I found the recipe at Taste of Home. I substituted/left out a couple ingredients because I just whipped the casserole up with things we already had in the house-to me a hallmark of a good casserole is that you should be able to use or substitute items you just happen to have on hand. Below is the ingredient list from Taste of Home:

Ingredients

1 package (8-1/2 ounces) corn bread/muffin mix
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package (1 pound) hot dogs, halved lengthwise and cut into bite-size pieces
1 can (15 ounces) chili with beans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Per the Taste of Home directions I prepared the corn bread batter to package directions, so you'll need 1/3 c milk and an egg. I intended to pour half the mixture into my 8 in square baking dish that I had previously greased, but I think in actuality had used about 3/4 of the mixture.

I didn't have a green pepper so I substituted a yellow pepper and I had to omit the celery as we were out. I cut up the onion and yellow pepper and decided to add some pickled jalapeno peppers as well. I don't know if I am the only person that is puzzled by jalapeno peppers, but sometimes they are so hot and other times they taste so bland.... Either way, I tossed them in a pan that I had sprayed with pam and sauteed the mixture for a few minutes. I realized the onions cooked so much faster than the peppers and shrunk down a bit, next time I would chop the peppers a bit smaller so they cooked more evenly(yeah, that is how little cooking experience I have, just wait, there is more...)

I then cut the hot dogs into bite-size pieces and threw them in with the peppers and onions. Things were starting to smell so good! When the hot dogs browned, I added the seasonings-chili and garlic powder and brown sugar, and let the flavors meld before finally adding the can of chili with meat and 3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese.

Once the mixture was heated through I spooned it on top of the cornbread mixture already in the baking dish, poured the remaining cornbread mixture on top of the chili mixture and sprinkled on the leftover cheese in addition to a few jalapeno pepper pieces.

I then baked the dish at 350 degrees for 28 minutes. And voila! I only put the extra jalapenos on a portion.

So...things I learned. I checked on the dish in the oven about twenty minutes into cooking it and the corn bread on top was definitely done cooking and the cheese was starting to burn so I covered everything with aluminum foil and popped it back in the oven. I realized later that I had left the oven on "preheat" instead of bake and this may have been the problem. I realized this once I realized I totally forgotten to turn the oven off. Terrible! Hello Arie, meet an oven.....

That being said I would definitely make some changes to this recipe. I had read the reviews and there were many people who thought they would use more than one box of corn bread and some who liked adding corn. I thought the dish was crazy sweet! So sweet that it was hard to get the "chili cheese dog" taste at all. The corn bread is really sweet on its own, so I honestly would nix adding the brown sugar or perhaps if you are used to the sweetness of cornbread, maybe try adding 1Tb of brown sugar. I think adding corn to the recipe would only increase to the sweet flavor.

I also thought the corn bread sucked up a lot of the liquid from the chili mixture. I definitely would not add additional cornbread. I would add an entire additional can of chili, it was like the chili got lost in the mixture and my family loves beans. Now, my Mother and myself can only handle mild salsa, but my Dad and brother like spiciness to the extreme. All of this being said, below is my ingredient list for my version of this recipe:

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole (less sweet)

Ingredients

1 package (8-1/2 ounces) corn bread/muffin mix
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 chopped fresh jalapeno peppers (save small amount to sprinkle on top of casserole)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package (1 pound) hot dogs, halved lengthwise and cut into bite-size pieces
2 cans (15 ounces) chili with beans
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese (save small amount to sprinkle on top of casserole)
1/2 cup pepper jack cheese (save small amount to sprinkle on top of casserole)

6 Servings Prep: 20 minutes Bake: 30 minutes

Directions

Prepare corn bread batter according to package directions. Spread approximately 1/4 to 1/2 of the batter into a greased 8 in. square baking dish; set aside.
In a large skillet, saute the green peppers, jalapeno peppers(make sure to save a portion of the chopped jalapeno peppers to sprinkle into the corn bread batter that is added to the top of the casserole,) onion and celery in oil until crisp-tender.
Stir in hot dogs; saute 3-4 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Stir in the chili, garlic powder and chili powder; heat through. Stir in most of the sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, making sure to leave a little to sprinkle on top of the casserole.
Spoon chili mixture over corn bread batter in the baking dish; top with remaining corn bread batter. Sprinkle remaining cheese and jalapeno peppers over the top.
Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe is very calorie dense. One serving of Taste of Home's original recipe has 615 calories and 37 grams of fat. Perfect for my brother, but not for me, and probably not for many of you. There are many ways you can modify this recipe to make it more figure-friendly. Here are a few substitution options:

-fat-free meatless chili

-lean ground turkey instead of hot dogs

-reduced-fat cheese

-use less corn bread

-up the veg content

Let me know what you think! And...er...don't forget to turn off the oven.