Alright, so I finally got around to making that holy moly casserole folks keep talking about. Been meaning to try it, see what all the fuss was about. Figured I’d share how it went down.
Getting Started – The Usual Chaos
First thing, had to dig out all the ingredients. The recipe I glanced at called for a bunch of stuff. Let’s see, I grabbed:
- Ground beef – had some in the freezer, thawed that out.
- An onion – just one, chopped it up. Made my eyes water, like always.
- Some peppers – found a green one lurking in the fridge drawer. Chopped.
- Can of corn – easy enough, just opened it. Drained it.
- Can of beans – black beans, rinsed those too.
- Some kind of tomato sauce or salsa – used a jar of medium salsa I had.
- Spices – chili powder, cumin, you know the drill. Just kinda shook ’em in.
- Cheese – lots of it. Cheddar blend worked.
- Cornbread mix – the box kind, obviously.
Honestly, getting everything prepped is half the battle. Chopping veggies isn’t my favorite part, but gotta be done.
Putting It All Together
Okay, so I got the big skillet out. Threw the ground beef in there, started breaking it up. Once it got mostly brown, I tossed in the chopped onion and pepper. Cooked that down for a few minutes until the onion wasn’t so raw.
Then, basically just dumped everything else in the skillet with the meat mixture. The corn, the beans, the salsa, all those spices. Gave it a real good stir. Let it bubble away for maybe 10 minutes? Just wanted the flavors to kinda hang out together. Tasted it, added more salt. Always need more salt.
While that was simmering, I mixed up the cornbread batter. Just followed the box directions – add egg, add milk. Simple stuff. Got my casserole dish out, greased it up a bit.
Here’s the layering part. Poured that meat and bean mixture into the bottom of the dish. Spread it out evenly. Then sprinkled about half the cheese over the top of the meat stuff.
Then, the tricky bit. Carefully poured the cornbread batter over the cheese and meat layer. Tried to get it even, but it kinda blobbed around. Eh, close enough. Sprinkled the rest of the cheese on top of the batter.
The Bake and The Wait
Shoved the whole thing into the oven. Think it was set to 375? Or maybe 400? Around there. Let it bake for a good while, maybe 30-40 minutes. Just kept an eye on it until the cornbread topping looked golden brown and cooked through. You can usually tell by poking it gently.
Pulled it out. Smelled pretty decent, gotta admit. The cheese was all melted and bubbly. They say you gotta let these things rest for a bit before you cut into them, so I waited like 10 minutes. Felt like forever.
The Verdict?
Finally scooped some out onto a plate. Looked… well, like a casserole. Messy, cheesy, cornbread-y. Took a bite. Holy moly, yeah, it’s actually pretty good. Hearty stuff. Fills you up quick. The name kinda fits, maybe ’cause you say “holy moly that’s a lot of food” or maybe “holy moly, look at this mess I made”.
Was it revolutionary? Nah. Was it a decent, filling meal? Absolutely. Worth making? Yeah, probably again sometime when I need comfort food. Cleanup wasn’t fun, that skillet and the dish took some soaking. But hey, that’s cooking, right? Mess comes with the territory. So yeah, that was my adventure with the holy moly casserole. Done and dusted.
