Beef & Wild Rice Casserole

This is a recipe I found in an old church recipe book that my mother had in her cookbook collection which I inherited.  It ended up being real comfort food on a night when I guess that's what My Number One Fan and I needed most.  The cookbook was one of those where parishioners contribute their favorite recipes, which are assembled by meal course and amateurishly printed and spiral bound; then sold as a fund-raiser. This recipe dates from the1960s and came from a West Texas Catholic who, I'm sure, never ate this on a Friday.

There could be infinite variations on this recipe and in fact, if you conduct an Internet search for its name, you will find a wide variety of ingredients; many topped with cheese.  Personally, I found the simplicity of ingredients and the ease of preparation such that I'd make few changes.  Perhaps, I'd add a 4-oz can of sliced mushrooms and maybe a light sprinkling of goat cheese on top, but not much else.

And yes, this is yet another can-o-dis recipe (it seems most casseroles are), but also, this is an "envelope-o-dis" recipe, too.  I was a tad shy on the amount of onions I wanted and at the last minute, added a packet of Lipton's Onion Soup that almost no one actually makes as soup, anymore. In fact, after a double-take on the package, it is actually called "Lipton Recipe Secrets - Onion Recipe Soup and Dip Mix." I will admit that it is the quintessential onion flavor enhancer to many recipes and I would never stock a pantry without it.

Ingredients
3 cups beef stock (like Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
2/3 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
4 tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 lb ground beef
3-4 stalks celery (about a cup), diced
1/2 medium yellow onion (about a cup), diced
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (like, Campbell's)
1 packet dried onion soup mix (like, Lipton)
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

The Recipe
Preheat the oven to 365 degrees.

Bring the beef stock to a boil in a medium sauce pan over high heat.

In a large casserole dish that has a tight-fitting lid, combine the wild rice and hot beef stock and allow it to sit covered while you finish preparing the dish.

Over medium high heat in a large skillet, bring the olive oil to a shimmer, then brown the hamburger, about five minutes.  Add the onion and celery and sauté until they have become slightly caramelized, about seven minutes.  Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Add the mushroom soup, the onion soup mix, the long grain white rice and black pepper.  Stir well to combine.

Add all of the skillet contents to the casserole dish with the beef stock and wild rice, and stir until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Cover and bake 1-1/2 hours.

This was deliciously and perfectly paired with a Waldorf Salad, the recipe for which can be found here.