Cheesy Mushroom Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

Good Eats - The Return came back to food t.v.  I was happy to see this again, as I was sick to death of the old re-runs.  Cooking Channel Canada plays them for multiple hours on a daily basis.  So much that it made me cringe and flip the channel whenever I saw the old show repeats.  I was even happier to see a quinoa recipe from him so decided to give it a go.  I followed it exactly with no edits of my own.  I DVR'd the show too, and watched it again before I began making this tonight.

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 3 cups chicken stock 
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided 
• 12 ounces broccoli florets, chopped 
• 8 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, sliced (I used cremini)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 
• 1/2 large onion, diced 
• 2 tablespoons dry mustard 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika (I do NOT like this spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 
• 3 cups half-and-half 
• 1 large egg 
• 16 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated 
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise 

Place the quinoa in fine sieve or strainer and rinse thoroughly under cool running water and allow to drain.

(My organic quinoa from Costco says t's pre-washed and I don't need to rinse it, but I did it his way).  Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350 degrees F.  Bring the quinoa, chicken stock and 2 teaspoons of the salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, stir, cover and cook for 15 minutes. When 5 minutes remain, add the broccoli right on top of the quinoa and replace the lid.

Heat a large, straight-sided saute pan over high heat and add the mushrooms and 1/3 cup of water. Cook until the mushrooms collapse, 2 to 3 minutes, then add 2 tablespoons of the butter and cook until browned.

Remove to a large bowl.  (The water was a great idea, loved it!)  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan along with the onions and the remaining teaspoon of salt. Reduce the heat to low and sweat the onions until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Then stir in the mustard, smoked paprika, black pepper, cayenne and white pepper and cook for 1 minute more. Add the half-and-half to the pan and heat until warm.  Whisk the egg in a medium bowl and temper with 1 cup of the hot liquid, continuing to whisk to prevent curdling. Then whisk the egg mixture back into the saute pan and add the cheese, stirring until melted.  (I was too busy at this stage to take pictures).

Add the quinoa, broccoli, mayonnaise and the melted cheese mixture to the bowl with the mushrooms and stir to combine.  Pour the quinoa mixture into an ungreased 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish.

Bake until set and just beginning to brown, about 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 205 to 210 degrees F.

Cool 10 minutes before serving.  (He used a ring mold to cut his servings so I did too).

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First off, there was a lot of mise en place to get ready beforehand.  Secondly, it was a lot of dishes!  I got a whole load to do in the dishwasher, pretty much.  It would suck if you didn't have one... my ex-dishwasher son would have hated me.  Speaking of my son, I served him a chicken breast with this as I didn't think he'd go for the casserole being a complete meal deal..I did though!

What I liked about this dish was the food science behind it and his "ancient grains" show this was featured on.  Also high in protein and gluten free.  I'm paraphrasing, but he said, yes this is high in fat, but healthy enough not to worry about it.  In fact, he said one could live on it solely -  meaning that all the nutrients one needs is contained in this dish.   That being said, I thought it tasted delicioso!!  Broccoli was tender crisp and it was all cheesy goodness.  I think the mushrooms gave the best bang for the buck in flavor terms.  I tolerated the smoked paprika even though I knew it was there.  I went back for seconds.  If there was anything I would change, I would add more mushrooms - up it to a pound.  Not bad at all Mr. Brown...Welcome back, I enjoyed the "good eats"...