Scalloped Tomatos for the Holidays

I would like to share an old family holiday recipe that is so delicious it can be served by itself but goes great with any dish whether it be turkey, beef or pork. You will need a two quart casserole dish uncovered.
Ingredients:
2cans of whole plum tomatos(large cans)
3-4 nice size onions chopped
8 or more slices of white or wheat bread
1 stick of butter or equivalent
1 cup or so of plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup sugar(to taste)
Sprinkle of garlic powder(not fresh garlic)
salt & pepper to taste

Peel and chop onions. Saute in butter until tender and a little golden. Pour canned plum tomatos into casserole dish and with a fork break up tomatos into smaller pieces pressing to release excess juice. Do not use canned chopped tomatos.(Very important) Add sauteed onions, sugar, salt and pepper, garlic powder and put aside. Preheat oven to 325. Cut bread into cubes and add to mix. Let the bread soak up all the juice by mixing it all togeather. Add more bread to the corners if you see excess juice. Leave mixture moist but not soaking. In the same sautee pan add generous amount of butter and brown bread crumbs. Do not burn them just give them a golden brown look as the oven will do the rest. Taste the bread and tomato mix before you apply the bread crumb topping. Be certain it is sweet enough for your taste. You don't want it to be too tart. Smooth out the tomato mix to make a flat surface. Slowly add the buttered and browned bread crumbs to a section at a time making a thin layer about 1/4in" thick no more than that. Continue spreading around until entire top of dish has a golden thin crust of bread crumbs. Place an underliner on the center shelf of oven, place dish on underliner so if it seeps it won't mess up your oven. It will take a good hour for the mixture to simmer and when the bread crumbs are dark brown but not burned, remove from oven and let stand for about twenty minutes or whenever. Taste just as good warm or cold but not hot or you will lose consistency and it will become soupy.
This recipe is in honor of my dearly departed Mother and I would like to pass it on so it will not be forgotten or lost in time.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2006 12:39 PM

This message was edited Oct 27, 2006 12:42 PM