You know how a dish with spinach has Florentine in the name? When I came across a recipe I'd saved from the Denver Post more than 25 years ago, I wondered if Piccadilly meant a particular ingredient combination. I googled it, and discovered there is a chain of Piccadilly cafeterias in the South that originated in Baton Rouge. So maybe the kielbasa recipe has something to do with them.
You know how I like finding these obscure recipes that sound bizarre, hoping the end result will be surprisingly good. I was intrigued by it because I've never heard of pureeing canned pork and beans to use in a dish. Take it from me, not a pretty sight.
My rendition of it was too runny, and if I was to make it again, I would drain the tomatoes better and simmer the whole thing longer to cook down some of the liquid. Mr. Kitchentales said he liked it. I'm posting it as a curiosity.
Kielbasa Piccadilly
3/4 pound kielbasa sausage
1 (11 ounce) can beans in tomato sauce (pork and beans)
1 (14 ounce) can chopped cooked tomatoes, drained and juice reserved
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
(I would try canned stewed tomatoes that already have the green pepper in them).
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Heat the broiler unit of the oven. Slice the kielbasa into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Heat a large saute pan with an oven proof handle over medium high heat. When hot, add sausage slices and cook until brown on each side, about 4 minutes. Drain off any fat.
Puree 1/3 can of beans, including liquid. Add to browned sausage along with the remaining whole beans, to well-drained tomatoes and chopped green bell pepper. Lower heat to medium and stir until all is hot and bell pepper is soft. Add some of the tomato juice if the sauce is too thick. Sprinkle cheese over the top of the dish and place under the broiler for a minute or two to melt and brown the cheese. Watch carefully so that the cheese doesn’t burn. Serve immediately.
I served it on the following potatoes to soak up some of the juice, which is a variation of home fries:
Baked Home Fries
Slice potatoes about 1/4 inch thick and alternate in a shallow casserole dish with thinly sliced onion. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and toss to distribute the oil. Bake 35 to 45 minutes at 375, stirring gently every so often, until tender. This uses less oil than fried potatoes.
People have posted recipes from the Piccadilly Cafeterias (or inspired by them) on the Internet, so here are a couple:
Piccadilly Broccoli Rice Casserole
2 cups rice, raw
1 tablespoon tarragon
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 lb. package frozen chopped broccoli
1-4 oz. can sliced mushrooms
1-2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook rice according to package directions, with tarragon and butter or
margerine added to the water.
Cook brocolli according to package directions.
When rice and broccoli are cooked, mix rice, broccoli, mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste and place in a 2 quart buttered casserole dish.
Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
Piccadilly Cafeteria Homemade Salsa
1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño peppers
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely diced
Combine all ingredients. Serve with low-fat baked tortilla chips.
This dessert recipe seems to be their most popular recipe on the Internet - it came up several time in my searches:
Piccadilly Cafeteria Lemon Ice Box Pie
Yield: 8 servings.
1 Box Jiffy Mix Yellow Cake Mix (prepared as directed)
2 Tbs. Granulated Sugar
Filling
1 1/2 C. Sugar
5 Tbsp.. Flour
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 1/4 C. Whole Milk
3 Egg Yolks (beaten)
1/3 C. Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
8 oz Whipped Topping (Cool Whip)
Crumble cooled prepared cake and measure 2 cups of crumbs, pat crumbs lightly down when measuring. Place crumbs in small bowl and mix in the sugar. Spray a none stick spray in 9″ pie pan and pat cake crumbs in pie pan along the sides and on the bottom. Place pie crust in a preheated oven at 275 for 7 minutes. Watch crust carefully so the crumbs will not scorch. This process will help to lightly set the crust. When done remove and cool crust.
Filling
In a 2 quart sauce pan mix sugar, flour, salt and milk. While stirring constantly bring ingredients to a low boil and cook for two or three minutes until filling becomes thick. Remove pan from heat and add 1/2 cup of hot mixture to beaten egg yolks and whisk together. Place filling back on stove at a low heat and slowly pour egg yolks into filling while whisking together. Pour lemon juice and vanilla into filling and bring to a soft boil and cook for two to three minutes longer. Using a whisk through out the cooking helps to eliminate lumps. When filling is thick remove from heat and set aside to cool down. The filling may be poured into the crust while still a little warm but not hot.
Place pie in refrigerator for several hours to set and chill completely. When chilled, top with whipped topping and sprinkle the two tablespoons of crumbled cake crumbs.
Fresh lemon zest may be added to garnish.
Please note if you can not find Jiffy Cake mix, you can use a regular cake mix, but you will have twice as much crust than you need. So making two pies might be a solution.