I’ve always looked at casseroles as food-budget stretchers (as indicated by multiple people in thread) - take a little bit of leftover meat, some canned or past-their-prime veggies, and a TON of miscellaneous (often pantry stable) starch, cook it all with some dairy and binders, and serve.
Great for feeding a lot of people on the cheap, making them full, but flavor always seemed a faaaar distant third place at BEST behind easy(ish), and filling.
Personally, I don’t make them. If I want cheap and easy, ramen with a poached egg was always an easier choice, but then again, I’ve never cooked for large groups. And if I -did-, I’d probably go with a slow cooker dish where I brown the meat critter, add in savory elements (often capsicums), and a bit of beer or chicken broth as a liquid. Near the end, add any reinforcing flavors that got muted by the long cook, and you’re good to go.
I’m sure you COULD make a good casserole, but it seems like a missed opportunity. In most cases, I find that the individual elements work better when served seperately rather than mushed together into sog. But I will fully grant, that a la Alton Brown, it’s great refrigerator velcro - take you various leftovers, put them in a dish together, and heat, adding something to the top to brown and look pretty (cheese, breadcrumbs, etc) and you’ve cleared out 2-3 containers of leftovers.
I’ve had some okay casseroles in my life. It’s not really that different from any kind of stew or medley - put together some tasty ingredients that complement each other, bake together, and enjoy.
I also can’t agree with @OldOlds, who seems to think New Englanders have an inherently more lofty cuisine than the midwest. I grew up in both regions (St. Louis, Missouri, grades 2-5) and New England (southern New Hampshire and Massachusetts, grade 7 through grad school) and can’t say that New Englanders don’t eat similarly down-home foodsl. I still have the cookbook my high school put together as a fundraiser, and believe me, it has some recipes just as egregious as any midwestern church supper might produce.
Having said that, there is one casserole my Iowa born-and-raised mother used to make that was epic in its awfulness. I don’t know exactly what all the ingredients were (ground beef, American cheese, and canned tomatoes for sure), but the topping was canned sliced black olive slices and Fritos. Canned black olives are a travesty, and cooking the Fritos with all the casserole gunk just made them soggy. I think it was called “tamale pie” or something.
Ahh. The Tamale pie. Close to Doritos casserole or as fancy folks say King Ranch casserole. Gold label Rotel tomatoes can’t fix that crap. Not food I like. YMMV.
DILs absolutely worst casserole, I had the bad luck to taste, was Mexican Chicken Spaghetti. She proudly announce she created it. I can’t even describe it. I’ve tried to forget it’s subtleties so my nightmares would cease.
The kennel Beagles wouldn’t even eat it and they eat each other’s shit like candy.
Heh. Back in early ‘96, a pregnant kaylasmom experienced a mild case of food poisoning that she ever after attributed to a meal of Tuna Helper that I had fed her.
I am known to throw together some “interesting” casseroles. My homies pretend to like them, which is really very sweet of them.
Last night I has a big stack of sweet potatoes I needed to get rid of, and two flats of chicken. So I diced the potatoes and spread them across the bottom of our biggest roasting pan. Then I gave those about an hour in the oven with half a bottle of apple juice that was doing nothing in the fridge. (old sweet potatoes are stubborn, they don’t want to get soft.)
Then I dumped in a bunch of mirepoix and some mixed be pepper and onion. Searching around for misc veg that needed using up I found two bags of shredded cabbage and carrot (slaw mix) that somebody ordered before Christmas and never used. In they went.
I added cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and allspice, and a glug or two of molasses. Let that all meld for half and hour then put all the chicken on top. Basted it a couple of times so it browned up beautifully.
My tamale pie, OTOH, is awesome. Soak cornmeal in milk. Brown ground beef with chopped onions and garlic, add canned corn, canned tomatoes, chili powder, and yes, canned whole black olives, then add the cornmeal-milk and cook it until it thickens. Put it in a greased casserole, top with shredded cheddar cheese, and bake for half an hour.
Would that work with nixtalmated cornmeal like you use to make arepas?
There is nothing wrong with casseroles in theory. Shepherd’s/Cottage pie, baked macaroni and cheese, and even lasagna are casseroles. It’s the cans of cream of mushroom soup that depresses me It’s not that hard to make a white sauce from scratch.
Oh, no- not at all. We think taking some hunk of really tough meat and throwing it into a pot with some root vegetables is The Way. And then, while that might have been OK if it were cooked for 9 hours on low, NE Mom figures 350 for 90 minutes ought to do it, enjoy your rubber.
Not better. Just different.
I really was just kidding around. It’s a bit I came up with years ago to make fun not so much of the midwest but the corporate recopies on packaged foods that are designed to make you buy more food from that corporation. The midwest just happened to be the one made fun of.
Seriously, folks- I was just playing around. You’re talking to a guy who, while he gave up junk food in his 20s, still can’t resist the occasional Taco Bell trip.
Can I get the measurements and temps for this so I can steal it for Vaderling? Please? Pretty Please? . He loves making casseroles, and I’m trying to steer him away from his favorite recipe which always puts me in Beck’s position, it’s bad.
I’ve tried to gently get him to change by suggesting that he adapt his dish for his target consumers(me and his Grandparents), maybe if I suggest a new recipe I wanna try, I can get him to like that intead.
Is she from the Midwest? That seems to be a Midwest sort of thing.
Tonight I’m doing a chicken enchilada casserole. Pretty basic with corn chips, chicken in enchilada sauce, cheese and olives on top. The trick is to hit that fine line between not enough and too much sauce.
Cssseroles are the original comfort food. Macaroni and cheese, breakfast casseroles/ strata’s, baked ziti, chili relleno, taco, Shepard’s pie but can’t say I’ve ever tried to make tuna casserole.
Thanks so much for posting that! Sounds easy and good, though I can’t countenance the canned “black olives” as those things are truly nasty. I love high quality black olives, but their subtlety would be wasted in a casserole, they should be eaten straight up or in a simple salad where they can shine.
I might substitute jarred red pimentos for the olives and give it a try!
ETA: In fact, I think I’ll make it this weekend. I do meal prep to take my lunches to work, and a big dish of tamale pie should give me seven to ten servings. Of course, I’ll also have to have alternate meals on hand for variety, so maybe I’ll pick up something from Costco, too…
But I will fully grant, that a la Alton Brown, it’s great refrigerator velcro - take you various leftovers, put them in a dish together, and heat, adding something to the top to brown and look pretty (cheese, breadcrumbs, etc) and you’ve cleared out 2-3 containers of leftovers.
. He loves making casseroles, and I’m trying to steer him away from his favorite recipe which always puts me in Beck’s position, it’s bad.