Cooking Through Magnolia Table In A Year: Week 42

Contrary to what the name implies, this casserole required very little dedication to prepare it and in fact, is one of the easiest recipes we have had thus far! As Joanna describes in the recipe notes, the name actually derives from a friend’s child’s dedication at church and not the amount of effort required to pull it off. Either way, this recipe has required a little dedication from me, as I have been the only one to be able to enjoy this 9×13 dish! As this week was the start of Charlie’s second cycle of chemo, his food cravings and aversions have been quite all over the place and unfortunately, the smell of this casserole cooking placed it in the aversion category. Now, don’t think that it smelled bad, because actually it smelled and tasted wonderfully delicious. Chemo can just do strange things to the senses. Regardless, this Dedication Casserole is cheesy, savory and a wonderful, but unusual, mix of flavors. The tarragon adds a bit of sweetness, while the wild rice and artichoke hearts provide a savory element that balances with the crunch of water chestnuts and creamy, cheesy goodness of the added cream cheese and cheddar. While this might sound like an unusual combination, don’t knock it before you try it, because I have been quite pleasantly surprised at the hearty, comforting nature of this recipe. 

While the Dedication Casserole landed itself in the aversion category for Charlie due to chemo, this Beef Stew was just the ticket! Flavorful, hearty and packed full of delicious goodness, this Beef Stew most certainly will be coming around our table in the future. To help it stretch a little longer when served at Sunday Dinner and pack in a few more nutrients, I added an extra potato, used bone broth as the extra liquid addition instead of water and used a frozen vegetable medley of corn, carrots, green beans and peas instead of just straight peas. These slight variations provided for an amazing result that had several people around our table going back for seconds. 

Crowd Average Rating:

This great recipe gained an average rating of 8! A very simple stew to bring together, it is a fabulous way to get in a ton of veggies, especially for those who normally would be picky eaters. Even the pickiest eaters around our table had several servings, so it seemed to hit the spot!

Jalapeno Cornbread. Despite not typically enjoying jalapenos, I have absolutely loved the ways that Joanna Gaines Pickled Jalapenos from Week 33 have been worked into so many recipes. In this cornbread in particular, they add a touch of spice, but mostly just flavor for each bite. Simple and quick to pull together, this cornbread is very savory and definitely delicious, especially when dipped in the stew. Similarly, if you have any of the “chicken pot soup” left over from Week 41, be sure to dip a piece in that soup as well! It is fabulous. 

Crowd Average Rating:

While this recipe gained a crowd average rating of 7, those enjoying this dish fell into two camps of either 6’s or 8’s based on whether or not they enjoyed “chunks” in their cornbread. I enjoy having the pieces of pimientos, chopped jalapenos and corn within the cornbread, however others around the table said they preferred having smooth cornbread without the additions. They loved the flavor of the additions, just not the texture. I thought these additions were fabulous and even would pair wonderfully well with a little cheese mixed in the future!

• Black pepper
• Kosher salt
• Butter
• All purpose flour 
• Sugar
• Baking powder

• Baking soda
• Buttermilk
• Eggs
•  Vegetable oil
• Maple syrup
• Brown sugar

• Cinnamon
• Walnuts
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar
• Milk