Villas - Crazy for casseroles: 275 all-American hot-dish classics

The Harvard Common Press
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Boston, Massachusetts 02118
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Copyright 2003 by James Villas

Illustrations copyright 2003 by Richard Oriolo

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Printed in the United States of America

Printed on acid-free paper

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Villas, James.
Crazy for casseroles : 275 all-American hot-dish classics / James
Villas.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-55832-216-7 ((cl) : alk. paper)ISBN 1-55832-217-5
((pbk) : alk. paper)
1. Casserole cookery. I. Title.

TX693 .V53 2003
641.8'21dc21 2002007436

ISBN-13: 978-1-55832-217-2
ISBN-10: 1-55832-217-5

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10 9 8 7 6 5

Cover recipe: Chicago Shrimp, Spinach, and
Feta Cheese Casserole,

Cover photographs by Alexandra Grablewski

Book design and illustration by Richard Oriolo

THIS IS MY FIFTH COOKBOOK edited by Pam Hoenig, and so involved has she been in its conception, execution, and overall design that she almost qualifies as co-author. Over the long haul, she has made numerous suggestions and important decisions, prepared heaven only knows how many of the dishes, edited the recipes with uncanny dexterity, and encouraged me far and beyond the call of duty. Pam is not only a highly professional and brilliant editor; she's also the most devoted and loyal friend an author could ever have.

No cookbook of this scope would have been possible without the cooperation and generosity of friends, family, colleagues, and utter strangers all over the country who champion authentic American cookery as much as I do and who've inspired and helped me over the years in ways they can't imagine. Many are acknowledged throughout the book, but to those whose names and faces have faded faster than the glorious aromas of their kitchens and the recipes jotted down in notebooks and on random slips of paper, I offer heartfelt thanks for nourishing my hungry body and soul.

I DON'T HESITATE A SECOND to insist that nothing typifies American cookery more than the sumptuous, highly varied casseroles that have been baked in ovens all over the country for the past century. Casseroles, in fact, not only define a major style of food on which millions of us were virtually weaned, but also illustrate like no other dishes what authentic regional cooking is all about. Just mention jambalaya and spoonbread to a Southerner, for instance, or baked beans and Indian pudding to a New Englander, or tamale pie to a Texan, or Dungeness crab and olive bake to a West Coaster, and watch the eyes light up. Over the decades, casseroles such as crabmeat Dewey, shrimp de Jonghe, chicken spaghetti, hog pot, country captain, and Sally Lunn have evolved into regional classics, and I dare say there's no honest soul anywhere who doesn't swoon over a luscious chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese, lasagne, corn pudding, and apple brown betty.

Despite all the culinary innovations of recent years, not to mention the rampant snobbism that threatens the very integrity of our proud food traditions, casseroles remain one of America's greatest contributions to world gastronomy, an original, sound, and eminently simple method of cooking that deserves new attention and will undoubtedly still be around long after much of today's phony novelty has been burned to a crisp.

And, after all, why not? Whether prepared for casual family suppers, elegant formal buffets, potlucks, picnics, tailgate parties, or sick-ins, casseroles boast a versatility that is matched only by soups and stews. The ingredients are either carefully layered or mixed together; moistened with sauce, broth, milk, or a canned soup; and either baked alone or topped with all sorts of grated cheeses, bread crumbs and batters, shredded potatoes, or starchy flakes and meals to form a glorious crust. Numerous casseroles not only can but should be made in advance to allow flavors to develop and the cook to relax. Most can be divided into portions and frozen for future use. And since they're essentially oven-to-table dishes, they provide the ultimate solution to carefree entertaining.

So flexible is the structure, texture, consistency, and taste of a casserole that it can be made plain or complex, rich or bland, highly nutritional or low-cal, and when it comes to feeding large groups of people food that stays hot, requires no carving or manipulation, and involves minimum cleanup, there's simply nothing more sensible than a covered casserole that's as beautiful to look at as is great to eat. Children love casseroles as much as adults do and since the dishes rarely require any tricky cooking techniques, they are an ideal way to inspire youngsters to try their hands in the kitchen. Any way you look at it, the role of casseroles in American cooking is paramount, a convenient, economical, delicious, and downright fun method of preparing food that should be as important to us today as it was to our ancestors.

Just 40 or so years ago, there wasn't a cook in this country who didn't boast favorite casseroles intended to provide a practical, nutritious, and delicious way to feed both a small family and a large group of hungry friends. The ultimate holiday, wedding, or birthday gift was one of dozens of beautiful casserole dishes designed to enhance all sorts of baked components, and who could deny that anything was more mouthwatering (and easy to prepare) than a bubbly layered meat and vegetable casserole or a creamy poultry or seafood one crusted to a golden finish on top? It was an era without pretentions, when people gathered at the dining room or buffet table simply to share good food and enjoy one another's company, a time when cooking, far from being the complicated, contrived, and overwrought activity it often is today, was still a leisure affair, and when nothing satisfied and impressed more than a carefully prepared, attractive casserole, a fresh salad, a good loaf of bread, and an appropriate beverage.

The irony, of course, is that before casserole cookery became so popular during the first half of the twentieth century and gradually took on a distinctive American identity all its own, to prepare food en casserole in the European style was deemed the ultimate in culinary sophistication. (The actual origins of the French word "casserole" can be traced back to a Renaissance pot or crock called a casse.) French cassoulet and coq au vin, Spanish paella, Italian lasagne, Moroccan tajine, Greek pastitsio, Indian pilau, British hot potthe names might have sounded exotic in those early days, but being no more than a combination of ingredients baked in and usually served directly from an earthenware, metal, or tempered glass vessel, the one-pot dishes were essentially no different from the simple casseroles that would become such an integral part of American cookery. Fannie Farmer did include a single casserole of meat and rice in her pioneering cookbook, but it was not till the first decade of the twentieth century that such influential authors as Marion Harland, Olive Hulse, and Marion Neil began to feature recipes for different types of casseroles. During World War I and the Depression, casseroles were promoted as a means to economize; Campbell's introduction of canned soups not long after as a substitute for elaborate sauces added a whole new dimension to casserole cookery; by 1943,