In the 60s we had casseroles with cream-of-something soups – tuna-noodle casserole with cream of celery, chicken and cream of mushroom, turkey tettrazini(exotic, since you add sherry instead of milk), ground beef and noodle with cream of tomato. Fast. Easy. Yummy.
Casseroles are comfort food. They’re stress reducers because they’re easy to make and they feel like love-in-a-bowl. Moms make casseroles. Moms love us. A nice culinary equation.
The canned retro thing still works, though it only takes five minutes more to make cream-of-something soup from scratch, which eliminates the extra sodium and preservatives in most canned soups. Sautee some chopped veg – mushrooms, or diced celery and onion – in about 3 oz. butter. Add 3 oz. flour for a roux, cook for a minute or two, whisk in about 3/4 cup of milk and ¾ cup of stock or bullion until smooth. That’s it. But hey, if you’re into canned soup, have at it.
Every cuisine has a favorite casserole and thanks to the vegetable stew of cultures we have here in the U.S., we get to dip into all of them. Mousaka (Greek), Mexican casserole with shredded chicken, beans, corn and salsa (epicurious.com), Alsatian choucroute garni (saurkraut and sausage with onions and apples, a great thing to make on Sunday and have later in the week), oyster casserole, (a local treat which takes about 15 minutes to put together).
One of our personal favorites is a WASPish ham casserole. Mix together about 2 cups of cooked cubed potatoes, 1½ cups of diced ham, and a cup of cubed cheddar in a casserole dish. Wrap it in homemade cream of celery soup and bake until bubbly. We serve it with something green to mitigate the guilt.
Cassoulet (of COURSE, it’s French) is a versatile meat-and-bean casserole perfect for Sunday cooking or a weekday crock pot. Originally, French cooks used potted goose or duck, pork and sausage. I use browned lamb shanks. Once browned, I put them in a casserole with either canned or quick-soaked navy beans, red wine, garlic, onions, thyme, parsley, a quart jar of tomatoes, (I can my own, which makes me feel unbearably virtuous), maybe a juniper berry or two, a beef bullion cube, salt and pepper. Crock pot it, slow simmer it (3 hours or so) on the stove or stick it in the oven at 300 for several hours. Check periodically to be sure it’s not drying out. It’s done when the beans are soft and the meat is falling off the bone. Serve with warm bread and red wine. Mmmm. Comforting.
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