Intermezzo – July 4, Independence Day and a Picnic

July 4th came up soooo suddenly!
HALF of the year is already gone as Kentucky moves into summer.
A friend always invites us to his family gatherings and they always have fantastic food.  So this time I wanted to contribute something more than just a snack platter from Meijer. 
Thus two dishes: Cheesy Green Bean Casserole and Lobster Deviled Eggs!

Cheesy (Cheezy? 😁) Green Bean Casserole
A staple of family get-togethers, I decided to make the green bean casserole something that was my own.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon butter
48 ounces fresh green beans
1 large carrot
1/4 large onion
8 ounces of your favorite cheese (I used Monterey-Jack since we were out of gorgonzola or cheddar.)
1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Celery soup
1 can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
1 container French’s Crispy Fried Onions

Directions: (really siimple)
Preheat oven to 350⁰F.
Start by rubbing the sesame oil into the 3 quart (3L) baking dish with butter.  Be sure to rub the sides of the dish.
Cut the fresh green beans, French-style.
Actually, this went pretty quickly after the first two (or you can purchase these canned).
Mince the carrot.  I just used my Cuisinart Smart Stick Grinder.
Slice and saute the onion until brown or clarified.
Grate the cheese.
Put the beans, onions and carrots into your dish.
Add the soups and mayonnaise and stir thoroughly.
Bake for 30 minutes after which add the cheese and cover the top with the fried onions.
Bake for five more minutes, and it’s done!

Lobster Deviled Eggs
I kept it simple even with the Lobster Deviled Eggs.  Anita cannot handle spices and is allergic to any kind of bell pepper, including paprika.  So I divided the eggs into two batches.

Ingredients:
One dozen large or extra-large eggs
8-10 ounces of frozen lobster meat; ground up
1/4 cup ground dill pickles (or relish) drained
1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ground olives drained
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
sprinkles of parsley flakes and paprika

Directions:
Hard boil the eggs and cool. If you boil them lying flat in a large pan or frying pan, the yolk will distribute better so you will not have some with very thin edges of white.  For ease I boiled the eggs the night before so they were in the fridge the next morning.
Peel and slice the eggs in half. 
Combine half the lobster meat and dill pickles and add half the egg yolks.
Add the yellow mustard and 1/4 cup mayonnaise and mash together with a large fork.
Spoon into the whites and set aside.
Combine the other half of the lobster meat with olives and add the the other egg yolks.
Add the Dijon mustard and the other half of the mayonnaise and mash together with any left over from the first batch.
Spoon into the remaining whites.
Add parsley flakes to the pickle set and paprika to the olive set.
If you boil an extra egg or two when you boiled the eggs, you can claim “cook’s privilege” and gobble up a couple for “testing.” 😉  The leftover filling can make a nice dip for crackers or chips.

Watch the fireworks and enjoy the food.