#44 Cheese

I'll eat almost anything with melted cheese on it (not ice cream, though).

Cheesy Corn Casserole

(from one of the Once-A-Month Cooking cookbooks)

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1-17 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup small curd cottage cheese (optional - with chives) drained

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 8-ounce can tomate sauce

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (1/2 clove)

1 cup grated mozzarella (or sharp cheddar) cheese

In a large skillet, cook and stir ground beef until brown; drain. Meanwhile, spread corn in bottom of an 8x8x2-inch baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. Combine eggs and cottage cheese; spread mixture over corn.

Stir flour into browned ground beef; cook one minute, stirring constantly. Add tomato sauce and garlic to meat mixture and stir together. Layer meat mixture on top of cottage chees and eggs. Cover dish with foil and put in freezer. Put grated cheese in 1-quart freezer bag; tape to baking dish.

To prepare for serving, thaw meat and cheese and preheat over to 350 degrees. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Makes six servings.

You can, of course, skip the freezing part and bake right away.

This has become one of my "signature" pot luck dishes as it's too much food for the two of us and I don't like to freeze it after it's been baked. Otherwise, it tastes great! Must be the melted cheese.