Reuben Casserole

1 corned beef brisket, cooked
1 jar (32 oz.) sauerkraut
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 tsp. caraway seed
Horseradish sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 8 x 8 x 2 baking dish with non-stick spray.  Chop brisket into bite sized pieces.  Place in baking dish.  Cover with sauerkraut, including juice.  Bake uncovered 45 minutes allowing most of the juice to cook out.  Sprinkle with caraway seed.  Top with cheese.  Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted.  Drizzle with horseradish sauce to taste when served.  Serves 6

Comment:  Since I've gone gluten free I've had to give up my favorite bread - Rye.  Then it hit me.  I've eaten Rye bread  without the seeds and not cared for it.  I want mine seeded which tells me that it's the caraway seed I really like the taste of.  Realizing that I decided to make my own Reuben without the bread by turning it into a casserole.  Boy did I come up with a hit!  One of my food testers said that after one bite she thought about going to grab some bread and make a sandwich but it was so good without the bread that she just kept eating.  Now that I know it isn't the Rye that I like I'm going to try making my own gluten free bread with a few caraway seeds sprinkled in.  Watch for those results to pop up soon.

Food Tester Comment:  What a great dish you have devised, just perfect for folks like me who are trying to eat lighly!  We loved the way you worked the caraway seed into the ingredients, giving it the flavor usually carried by the rye bread.,  All the ingredients--corned beef, sauerkraut, melted cheese--were enhanced by the horseradish sauce.  Excellent!

Corned Beef Casserole

1 box (8 oz.) pasta
1 can (12 oz.) corned beef
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup grated cheese
French fried onions, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.  Mix corned beef with soup and cheese.  Stir until well blended.  Fold in pasta.  Pour into 2 qt. baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.  Top with French fried onions.  Serves 4

Comment:  This recipe came from an old cookbook that I found at an Estate sale.  The book had been well used and was in pretty bad condition.  The directions for making this dish listed the 4 main ingredients but the directions were incomplete so I assumed my method was correct but maybe not.  I did add the French fried onions as a topper and I also used the beefy mushroom soup instead of the plain.  This did come out as a really tasty dish.  Due to the salty corned beef I wouldn't add salt until tasting.  For changes you can save some of the cheese to sprinkle over the top, I didn't.  This is a dish for anyone who needs something quick.  Don't like corned beef?  To me this tasted nothing like corned beef but more like a beef and gravy type sauce dish.  This could also be made into a dip by leaving out the pasta.  Heat and serve with corn chips or bread cubes.  It can be kept warm in a fondue pot.