Church Lady Cookbook Casserole Challenge: Cock-a-Doodle Casserole

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by yinzerella

We interrupt your Regularly Scheduled Programming (that being Wiener Wednesday) for this Special Presentation…

Some 1970s Church Ladies cooking their butts off

In the tradition of the Knoxapocalypse comes the Church Lady Cookbook Casserole Challenge! A culinary smackdown featuring the best (gross and/or weird) casseroles that church, synagogue, and community association cookbooks have to offer.

So, Brian from Caker Cooking, Erica from Retro Recipe Attempts, Mimi from The 1972 Weight Watchers Experiment, and Ruth from The Mid Century-Menu, and myself all scoured our personal cookbook collections for recipes from “church lady cookbooks” which were then randomly assigned to each other. Kinda like a Secret Santa but one where everyone gets macaroni and condensed soup in their stockings.

So my challenge, if I chose to accept it (and I did), was to cook the Cock-a-Doodle Casserole from the  “Favorite Recipes of Lutheran Ladies Casseroles,” courtesy of Brian, the sick, twisted mind behind Caker Cooking. I assume that this treat comes from Canada. Because Brian (not my cat) is from Canada. Although it would be pretty rad if Brian the Cat was from Canada and not Harrisburg, PA. My cat is pretty rad, but being international would make him BEST. CAT. EVER. Here is my assigned recipe:

Cock-A-Doodle Casserole
 
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 4 1/2 ounce jar chopped mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 17 ounce can cream-style corn
1 cup sour cream
2 cups drained cooked noodles
2 cups diced chicken
Paprika
 
Saute green pepper, onion and mushrooms in butter. Remove from heat. Stir in salt, poultry seasoning, corn and sour cream. Place noodles and chicken in greased casserole. Add corn mixture. Stir lightly to mix. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Yield: 6-8 servings.
 

First things first, I just want to say that it pleases me greatly that my assigned casserole has the word cock in it.

And yes, I am a 12 year old boy.

But aside from the use of chicken, I don’t know what exactly makes this a Cock-a-Doodle. Unless it’s just because ‘doodle’ rhymes with ‘noodle.’ It definitely has nothing to do with Cock a Leekie, because this casserole doesn’t contain any prunes. But if it did, that would push this into the ranks of weirdest casseroles ever!

Well, this was super-easy. Just how a church lady casserole should be.

 

I just boiled up some chicken drumsticks because they were cheap (99¢ a pound) and then shredded the meat when it was cooked. I used macaroni because that’s what I had in the house.

I guess the wonky ingredient at play was the creamed corn. And that’s not really odd.

Well, I take that back. Anyone in the mood for some garmonbozia?

I really hope you watched that video. I really do.

Here is the finished product, with a guest appearance by my homeboy Elvis:

Overall, this was fine. It really didn’t have a lot of flavor. Chicken, mushrooms, sour cream and noodles are all pretty bland. And there wasn’t that much green pepper or onion in it. So the strongest flavor ended up being the sweetness of the creamed corn. That was weird. I put some Crystal Hot Sauce on it when I served it (I love me some Crystal Hot Sauce!) but it really didn’t do anything for the dish but make it vinegary hot.

However, I did make this rather tasty when I heated up the leftovers.  The secret ingredient: OLD BAY. It’s not quite bacon, but it makes almost anything better (within reason).

Now you need to go check out the other participants’ casseroles because these folks are retro food all-stars:

And then go into a food coma. Damn, these casseroles are filling.

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yinzerella

33 thoughts on “Church Lady Cookbook Casserole Challenge: Cock-a-Doodle Casserole”

  8. Yinzerella you crack me up. I wanna get me some handfuls of creamed corn but you know what IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND IN ENGLAND. That’s right, it aint in my local supermarket aisles and I have looked because unlike granny in your video I loves it.

    Please, please, please can I play here in London next time you get invited to participate in some kind of international round robin casserolathon?

    Come to think of it, perhaps I should think about some kind of international Silver Screen Suppers night. Ooooh. YES! I will ponder it while I try and work out if mashing up a can of corn with a potato masher will result in anything approximating creamed corn…

      1. Baby you are top of the list for Silver Screen Suppers night, I am pondering how to do it and whether to have a film as a theme or a star. Will keep you posted. It would tickle me to get some creamed corn in the post but that shit is damn heavy!

          1. OMG the Green Giant makes creamed corn?! I am going to wear my spectacles next time I go to Tesco’s and seek that out. NEVER seen it.

            You are a fuffing genius on the film suggestion front. That is EXACTLY what I’ll do. I remember going to see Towering Inferno with my sister. It may be false memory syndrome but I seem to remember that there is an intermission when someone falls down a lift shaft with flames all around them and they just freeze the film and the music starts up and the ice cream usherettes come out.

            I do love the Poseiden Adventure but I reckon for sheer weight of recipes – before consulting the spreadsheet, just from a quick scan of the cast list- The VIPs may come out tops.

          2. I love both Towering Inferno and Poseidon Adventure! The VIPs is just OK. But it has glamorous La Liz & Dick which makes it fab. Speaking of which–November can’t come soon enough so I can see the LiLo Liz & Dick movie. I will have to make a dinner specifically for that movie. You may have to pass along a Liz recipe to me!

  9. Howdy, you don’t know me ’cause I’m new here, found you from Caker Cooking and have been here all night. Mentioned you on my own blog, even (essentially explaining why no Big Post tonight – ha!).

  10. It’s funny but the Church Ladies never age, they are the same age today as they were 50 years ago – at least at our church. New faces come and go but they stay the same as a group. “Church Chicken” (Different recipe – white wine helps!) and “Beef Brisket” are standard large party meals for us and everyone loves them. Thanks for the recipe.

  11. It was pretty tasty, and the Crystal really did tie it all together. But then again I love the spicy stuff. It was a great way to use some dark meat chicken, and you’re right that a can of cream of mushroom soup (instead of creamed corn) would have kicked the umami like woah.

  12. Yinzerella, 3 things:
    1) This recipe is from an American cookbook
    2) I’m assuming your muted reaction makes this a “Cock A Doodle Don’t”
    3) HOW DID THE KID NOT BURN HIS HANDS FROM THE CREAMED CORN?

  15. Sounds like something they’d serve at a Carolina tailgate.

    That’s too bad it was so bland, though — tends to be the failing of most casserole recipes I’ve seen, even modern ones. Former generations seemed to be quite afraid of their spice racks.

  20. Cock a Doodle Noodle Casserole!!! Why does this sound ultra appealing to me right now? I think some smoked paprika would have jazzed up the flavor a bit.

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