Casserole recipes solicited

Cafe Society
1

I’ve never been much of a casserole maker, having come of age after the era of the Betty Crocker “mushroom soup, hamburger and canned string bean” type of casserole. And my mom never made any casseroles, IIRC.

But I just lately tossed my 25-year-old scratched and semi-blackened Corningware casserole dish (bought second-hand at a yard sale at that), and replaced it with a gloriously rustic-looking Emile Henry French baking dish. It’s a durable microwave/oven/dishwasher/freezer-proof dish, made of dense Bordeaux porcelain.

I’m just dying to bake a homey casserole of some sort, but I’ve never really explored this field. What’s an appropriate recipe to pop the cherry on this baking dish?

2

Wow, what a pretty casserole! You should make Baeckeoffe . I’ve been dying to have a casserole fit to make it in.

3

I’ve never had the nerve to make Martha Stewart’s Macaroni and Cheese. Perhaps now is the time to advocate for its preparation:

Martha’s Macaroni & Cheese

Servings: 6 - 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Type: Vegetarian

8 tbsps (1 stick) unsalted butter,
plus more for dish
6 slices white bread, crusts removed,
torn into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
4-1/2 cups (18 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups (8 oz) Gruyere cheese, grated
or 1 1/4 cups (5 oz) Pecorino Romano, grated
1-lb elbow macaroni

  1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside.

  2. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with bread, and toss. Set bread crumbs aside.

  3. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick. Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere or 1 cup Pecorino Romano; set cheese sauce aside.

  4. Fill a large saucepan with water; bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer’s directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well.

  5. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce. Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere or 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, and bread crumbs over top.

  6. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes; serve hot.

4

Casseroles cry out for improvisation. They follow a very basic formula, with nearly endless variety possible. Here’s a copy of an email I sent my non-cooking vegetarian friend who is trying to learn how to cook:

The general formula is:

Protein. Meat or cubed tofu (if you freeze and then thaw the tofu before cubing it, it’s a totally different texture, and holds up better in casseroles), tempeh, beans or other legume (Bean or pea like things that split into two halves), TVP or eggs - scrambled or hard-boiled. Cooked cubed chicken, beef, pork or ham, browned and drained ground beef or a drained can of tuna fish for omnivores.

Starch. Rice, barley, grains, noodles or ramen. These are mostly cooked first, before being added to the dish. (The ramen being an exception, because they’re not so much dry noodles as dehydrated noodles. They don’t need to “cook,” they just need to reabsorb water. They do this very quickly, so pre-cooking and then cooking again will get you mush.) The grain makes the legume option a complete protein. It also makes a cheap filler to give you more quantity of food and better satiety. Try packaged rice pilaf, or the grain/rice mixes in the bulk section.

Veggies. Anything, really. Small pieces are easiest. I use a lot of frozen veggies, because fresh stuff goes bad before we get to it around here, and it’s just a waste of money. Chopped celery is always good and adds a crunch. Peas are one of my favorite. Carrots, bell peppers, edamame (soy beans), green beans, corn. Lima beans if you’re into the nasty things. Sauteed onions or dried chopped onions go into nearly casserole I make.

Binder. Something moist to make it all stick together. “Cream of” soups, of course are fantastic for this. Mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese, milk (cheese, milk and beaten egg together with get you a quiche-like base for your casserole. Yummy!). For the vegans, there’s silken tofu. You can also make a quick sauce - melt butter, add an equal amount of flour and brown. Add stock, milk or cream and heat until thickened, stirring constantly.

I usually do one protein, one starch, two or three veggies and two or three binders. Mix ‘n’ match.

Smoosh it all together and heat. This can be done on the stove top, or, for a richer and more complex flavor, bake it at 350 until it’s bubbly. The last 10 minutes or so, add a:

Topping. Several options here:

Crunchy. Butter is your friend. Margarine if you must. Melted and mixed with a crumbly starchy cruchy thing, like crumbled crackers, stuffing mix, potato chips, or cornflakes. For the health conscious, buttered wheat germ is really good for a topping.

Biscuity. Whip up a biscuit recipe or boxed mix and spoon it on top of your casserole. Bake until browned. Also good with cornbread mix.

Crusty. Pie crust on top gives you a great pot-pie like thing. I never bother with a bottom crust, myself. I just top a plain-old casserole with pastry.

Potatoey. Shepherd’s pie is simply a ground beef casserole with whipped or mashed potatoes spread over the top and baked until brown. I highly recommend it.

(Toppings only work for the baked version. When in a pinch for time, however, I’ve been known to heat everything through on the stovetop and then shove it in the oven to brown a topping on top of it.)

So there you go. Most casseroles don’t need a whole lot of seasoning. Salt and pepper, maybe some garlic salt. Let the flavors of the food party together - don’t overwhelm them with herbs and spices.