Inspiration: Do you remember the episode of Friends, The One Where Ross Gets High? It’s the Thanksgiving episode where Rachel makes an English Trifle and accidentally puts beef, peas, and onions in it? And Joeys eats all the portions saying, “Custard good! Jam good! Meat good!”?

Yes? No?

Well, these lines zipped through my mind as I was flipping through the Better Homes & Gardens Casserole themed magazine and came upon this curious (to me) dish — Cheeseburger and Fries Casserole.

All the components — beef, ketchup, fries, cheese (plus a bunch of others) are all things I enjoy eating…..But all together in a casserole dish?

I’d never dreamt such a mixture existed!

Though I must confess one item in the ingredient list did give me pause — the can of cheddar cheese soup. Though, in retrospect, this bit makes sense because shredded cheese and loaf cheese are expensive. But if you’ve already got said melty goodness on hand — I’d suggest eschewing the can and sprinkling the good stuff over the fries during the last ten minutes of the bake. But as I’d never made this dish before — I stuck close to the recipe, and it turned out…..

Okay?

Now as a one pot wonder you throw together on a weeknight, it’s great. However, the next time I attempt it, I’m going to tweak the dish a bit (surprise, surprise) on account of the fact both my husband and I found it way too salty.

My revised plan? Either I’ll use a can of diced tomatoes which doesn’t have any salt added…or even better…dice a tub of fresh tomatoes and fry them separately (to reduce the moisture content) along with a thinly sliced serrano pepper or two, a bell pepper (mainly for color), and micro-planed celery root (due to my stupid sulfur allergy onions are a no-go presently, so the milder tasting celery root adds a bit of extra flavor — it’s not a great substitute for onion, but it’s better than nothing). Then just before it finishes cooking down, I’ll add it to my browned beef and condiment mixture. The fresh ingredients ought to help counteract the over the top salt level.

Then, to make it ‘fancy’, I’ll serve it with bib lettuce or romaine hearts — so we can wrap the casserole inside for an extra bit of crunch.

Christie: Honestly, I cannot see ANY one of her detectives, sidekicks, villains, or victims partaking of this particular concoction….though if presented as a variant of shepherd’s pie at a pot-luck perhaps Miss Marple might try a bite?