Frumpy food: Casseroles

Casseroles are distinctly unfashionable foods these days. I think it's been 50 years, at least, since they were "in," if you don't count a brief Minnesota "hot dish" trend during the heyday of "The Prairie Home Companion."

I've just done a search and, except for a nostalgic tuna noodle thread, there's very little discussion of casseroles here.

And yet, when you serve one, people usually really like them. They're hot and crispy on top. They're a good way to use up leftovers. They can often be made ahead. They tend to feed a lot of people. While some casseroles are fussy, most are simple to put together and need no attention while they bake.

I'd like to expand my repertoire. What are your favorite casseroles?

I'm personally mostly looking for dump-everything-in-a-baking-dish-and-stick-it-in-the-oven recipes -- if you have to saute things and boil noodles and make sauces and use up a lot of pots and pans, it seems to me that it eliminates many of the casserole concept's advantages -- but please do post anything that you like.

My usual thing is to take ziti or a similar pasta, boil and then dump it back into the pot add a large spoon of sour cream, a bit of olive oil or butter, some garlic powder or other garlic, shredded cheese of some kind I have on hand...last time I added a jar of drained chopped marinated artichokes, add seasonings of choice like fresh cracked pepper, maybe add sauteed mushrooms and or onions if I am peppy, and stir the whole thing and put in a baking dish. bits of leftover meat can be added too. Then top with more cheese and bake till the top is browned and crispy. The trick is not to add too much liquid so it is not gloppy and bland, but if there is not enough it could be dry.
You only dirty one pot and one pan this way.

I also make chow mein noodle casserole that I remember from my youth and I add sesame oil, I make it with golden mushroom soup, and I add a can of drained mixed La choy chinese vegetables as well as water chestnuts. There are quite a few recipes on the internet but most are quite bland unless you zip them up. I also add a dash of red pepper flakes or tobasco as well as sesame oil. I generally brown my meat and add garlic and chopped onion for more flavor.

I do not make the tuna casserole too often but its okay. some versions are trully dreadful. gloppy and bland which I do not like.

I must say tonight's effort was not an unqualified success. I essentially made a corn pudding with the addition of a few cups of diced turkey, some chilies and a bit of cheese on top toward the end of baking.

The comments: "What's in this? It looks like all-yellow food."

While the texture was very nice, crispy on the outside, moist inside, it was really too sweet and bland. We put hot sauce on it and that helped, but I'm thinking that it needed more seasoning and some of the corn might be replaced with some less-sweet (and less-yellow) vegetables.

featured today on Kraftrecipes.com are a big list of newcasserole recipes.Bon Apettite

I wonder if the 'one dish' casserole trend was trumped by crock pot cooking. It seems that some of the non noodle crock pot recipes go beyond stews and chilis and could be prepared and cooked in a casserole pan and baked. Differences would be a crunchy topping and perhaps drier.

It's not 100% dump and go, but if you do your sauteeing of onions in a big batch and bag and freeze leftovers, you've got most of this done.

Faux Tamale Casserole

1 Chopped onion
2 Seeded and chopped jalapenos
OR 1/4 cup chopped green peppers
OR one of those small cans of green chilis
1 can Black beans (rinsed and Drained)
1 1/4 cup Frozen corn kernels
3/4 cup Corn meal
1 can tomatoes (stewed, chili, chopped)
1 1/4 cup Milk
2 teaspoons Chili powder
Grated cheese for Topping (optional)

saute onion and jalapenos (you may want to substitute 1/4
cup green peppers if milder flavor is desired) mix in rest of ingredients
sprinkle cheese on top or mix into casserole

bake in a casserole for 30 minutes at 350 degrees until warmed through and
bubbly. This is better reheated the next day.

I'm not sure where this originally came from; back in the early 90's Bonnie gave it to me, she got it from Jodi. I modified it.
NOTE - for this recipe a Can of tomatoes , beans = 14-16 oz size, not larger.

edited to clarify size of can

Leek,

Cans of tomatoes and beans, are they the 14-16 or 28-32 ounce sized cans?

Regards,

I love casseroles, but sadly, I'm the only one. Both my husband and I were raised with working mothers - the queens of casseroles - but only I cultivated an appreciation rather than disdain. I do make them occasionally, but it always encounters some resistance. My favorites are tamale pie, (though I use a black bean/soyrizo mix instead of beef), chicken tortilla casserole, chicken and rice, and this corn tortilla thing that is just layering corn tortillas with a bean-onion-bell pepper-tomato-cheese mixture.

Here is my problem with casseroles...it's too much for one or two people. I end up tossing leftovers. Also, a lot of casserole recipes call for cream of "whatever" soup, and I can't even look at that stuff. I grew up on lots of casseroles. I remember the chop suey one...shudder! Just my two cents.

I hate cream of whatever soups too but if they are disguised well then I am on board.

The chow mein casserole made in most recipes is very bland. I try to zip it up but adding more seasonings, a touch of five spice powder, garlic, sesame oil, etc.

If I make a casserole, part of it will get eaten. I usually cut or scoop out serving size pieces and put in a plastic container. I either use them for an extra meal such as lunch for me or
DH, give a portion to my mother who has a hard time cooking, or give to my son who is too lazy to cook. Sometimes I freeze the portions too.

Not sure if this qualifies as a casserole, but we'll sometimes make tortilla casseroles with leftovers. Basically just grease a 9X13" pan and line it with tortillas, layer in leftover meat (usually pulled pork or chicken) mixed with cheese, green onions, peppers, cilantro, lime juice, and tomatoes. Alternate layers of meat mix and tortillas to fill the pan. It's not bad.

The more I think about it casseroles are so unfashionable that they are bound to be the next trend. I predict that next year at this time some place will be selling Wagyu beef casserole for $20 a slice. Most likely it'll be a food truck.

If I'm too lazy to make stuffed cabbages, I just make them as a layered casserole: just alternate cabbage leaves with meat-and-rice mixture (or whatever your preferred stuffing is), and dump some tomato sauce or a mix of tomato sauce and sour cream over it. Bake. Voila, easy "stuffed cabbage." However, I do parcook the rice for 10 minutes. For all I know, it may work out fine without parcooking of any kind.

I never really thought casseroles were unfashionable, to tell you the truth (well, maybe the kind made with canned soups some people turn their nose up at, which just means more for me.) They just tend not to be the kind of stuff you eat when you're out.

Now I like the idea of a layered stuffed cabbage casserole. Great idea Binko. Now I've heard that the next best thing if going to be variations on meatloaf. I wonder if someone will do a Wagyu meatloaf.

great ideas all. I have not done much with mexican inspired stuff. these are hearty foods to make for day to day eating. not glamorous but many love them.

razbry wrote:Now I like the idea of a layered stuffed cabbage casserole. Great idea Binko. Now I've heard that the next best thing if going to be variations on meatloaf. I wonder if someone will do a Wagyu meatloaf.

I like the idea of a layered "stuffed" cabbage casserole too--have to try that.

As mentioned in a couple of other threads, an old-fashioned chicken tetrazzini casserole is a long-time favorite in our house, but it's not a single-pot recipe. You need at least 2 pots before putting it all in the casserole (one for spaghetti and one for sauteing mushrooms and making the cream sauce).

razbry wrote:Now I like the idea of a layered stuffed cabbage casserole. Great idea Binko. Now I've heard that the next best thing if going to be variations on meatloaf. I wonder if someone will do a Wagyu meatloaf.

Yeah, and if you want variations, you can layer with eggplant or zucchini instead of cabbage, and take the spicing maybe into Turkish or Middle Eastern territory, use lamb, etc. Whatever the imagination allows. Layered casseroles are fun. There's a number of Hungarian ones, too. Here's a link to another cabbage casserole, this one layered with sauerkraut, rice, pork butt, sausage, and bacon. Hearty stuff.

As for more Mexican-inspired ideas, you can always do a "Mexican lasagna" type of casserole, using tortillas as your "noodle layer," and layering on whatever Tex-Mex stuff you feel like. Last time I did alternating a picadillo-type meat layer with a poblano-and-crema-type white layer.

Of course, that sort of layered casserole requires a bit more work. It's not quite "dump a can of soup, a couple cans of tuna, some noodles and go" type of thing.

The fancyish carryout joint near my house has a meatloaf special: meatloaf sandwich on brioche, with fontina cheese, fried onions, and gravy. This may well be a harbinger of meatloaves to come.

Tried just last week at a country meat and three down in TN a dish called poppy seed chicken. Shredded chicken breasts with a sauce of poppy seeds, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, butter, and sherry(?) vinegar - she said Sauterne but that can't be correct. Topped with crumbled, buttered Ritz and baked. I wanted really hard not to like it on principle but it was delicious.

If you google it you can see the recipes for poppy seed chicken. Many people give it good reviews. thanks for mentioning it.

Thanks for the ideas, folks. Keep 'em coming.

I've found a few recipes that call for putting the pasta or rice right in the casserole without cooking it first, but I haven't tried any yet. It also occurred to me that I could cook some extra pasta next time we're having some and use it to assemble a casserole for a future meal.

Cathy2 wrote:Cans of tomatoes and beans, are they the 14-16 or 28-32 ounce sized cans?

14-16, I will update the recipe.

Another idea for a casserole kind of thing is Sheperds Pie. This I think is ground or chopped meat and various vegetables and seasonings all put in a baking dish and topped with mashed potatoes and then baked. I have not made this but always wanted to. there are quite a few versions on the internet.

toria wrote:Another idea for a casserole kind of thing is Sheperds Pie. This I think is ground or chopped meat and various vegetables and seasonings all put in a baking dish and topped with mashed potatoes and then baked.

Shepherd's pie is a great casserole if you happen to have leftover meat and vegetables and mashed potatoes ... which is probably how it began.

If you're starting from scratch, though, and you have to cook the meat and the vegetables and peel and cook and mash the potatoes, why not just put them on plates and be done with it?

I can't think of the last time I had leftover mashed potatoes.

LAZ wrote:

toria wrote:I can't think of the last time I had leftover mashed potatoes.

For me it's not leftover as in, "I made some for dinner and we didn't eat them all", but more like "as long as I'm doing this I may as well make double batch and put 1/2 in the fridge for later". It takes a bit of planning ahead but it's worth it. And if your making something like a ham that almost never gets finished you half way to colcannon!

zoid wrote:

LAZ wrote:I can't think of the last time I had leftover mashed potatoes.

For me it's not leftover as in, "I made some for dinner and we didn't eat them all", but more like "as long as I'm doing this I may as well make double batch and put 1/2 in the fridge for later". It takes a bit of planning ahead but it's worth it. And if your making something like a ham that almost never gets finished you half way to colcannon!

I always try to make extras so I'll have leftovers when I make mashed potatoes, but I still never seem to end up with any left, or I'll end up with half a serving. Seems like no matter what I think is a reasonable (or unreasonable, but likely) amount to assume will be eaten, and no matter how much more than that I make, they all get eaten.

That's why you goaat hide 1/2 in the 'fridge

toria wrote:Another idea for a casserole kind of thing is Sheperds Pie. This I think is ground or chopped meat and various vegetables and seasonings all put in a baking dish and topped with mashed potatoes and then baked. I have not made this but always wanted to. there are quite a few versions on the internet.

Made one last week. Had a bit of everything. Base was leftover chopped chicken, w. carrots, onions, a bit of ginger, some slices of snap peas, paprika, etc. The topping was mashed 'taters made with added pork broth and fresh asiago. The flavor and texture difference between the top and bottom was nice.

It may not be particularly fancy or groundbreaking, but Alton Brown's shepherd's pie recipe has always proven to be a big hit, in my experience. The only minor modifications I usually make is I sub whole pearl onions for the chopped onions (I dunno, when I imagine hearty English or Irish stews, I always picture pearl onions being involved), and I add a liberal dose of the Spice House hot curry powder to the almost-done beef & veg mixture.

Toria, could you please give us some details about the chow mein casserole?

I tried googling for "chow mein casserole" but the first six results were NOT appealing.

But the idea of golden mushroom soup, sesame oil and LaChoy veggies was inspiring.

Do you put gound beef into the casserole? Rice? Any details would be appreciated. Thanks!

--Joy

There is a very interesing cookbook with a perfect title, Bake Until Bubbly that I read sometimes for inspiration about casseroles. I never realized that casseroles were "out of style" At our house, winter means casseroles, soups, stews, braised meats and crockpot dishes.

If you are in the neighborhood, the cookbook is available at Skokie Library in their unbelievably overwhemingly large cookbook section.

--Joy