greybeta | Casserole Query

Personal aside, I have a test and project due tomorrow, which means I've been in superfocus mode the past few hours (oddly enough, no caffeine). The downside of superfocus mode is that I often cannot sleep well that night. I don't like using it very often, but I had to work and help out with some chores at home today. You don't catch up by going slower.

In any case, since I'm here and unable to sleep, I might as well make the most of it and post a cooking query. It's pretty simple, but before that let me tell you a joke one of my history teachers told me...

Mr. B: Do you know why Baptists make the best casseroles?
D2: I don't know, why?
Mr. B: Because they put all their vices in them!

Don't worry, it flew over my head the first time, too.

There are many kinds of casseroles of course, and I like a lot of them. Thanks to growing up in a Baptist church, I have a strong affinity for casseroles.

I <3 casserole.

Oddly enough, I've never actually tried to make it before. I guess I never had to thanks to all the kind ladies at the Baptist church. It's like, theirs is so good, why even bother trying to reproduce a flawed version? But I suppose it's time to try my hand at it.

So, my fine readers, how do you like your casserole? Got a good recipe you'd like to share? Any hints or tricks for this cooking newbie? Thanks in advance! ^_^

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I'm a big fan of pork chop casserole. Let's see if I can reconstruct my "recipe" (I do it sort of by instinct lol)
Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 box mushrooms, sliced (you know, those little boxes they come in at the supermarket, however much that is)
grated cheese and/or panko for topping

Okayyyy. Preheat oven to 400F. First you brown the pork chops in a frying pan over medium heat. Not too long, just get a little maillard reaction going there. Put the pork chops into an ungreased casserole dish with the water chestnuts and mushrooms. Mix the cream of mushroom soup with half a can of water and pour over the casserole (or if you're lazy and don't want to dirty another dish, just mix it in the casserole). If you like your sauce thicker you can leave the water out altogether, but don't do so if you're putting in any kind of vegetable that will need to cook (like peas).
Put it in the oven uncovered for 20 minutes. Then take it out and put some grated cheese on top (optional) and some panko bread crumbs on top of that (also optional, you can have one or both or neither). Put it back in for another twenty minutes.

Serve with rice or noodles. :3

I've also made this with different vegetables, such as frozen peas.

Also I don't get the joke. :(

Edit: Oh and this serves four obv.

Oooo, I like this one! I will definitely try it out sometime.

I guess the joke's more of a Baptist thing...

I haven't made a proper casserole in ages - I used to like one that took stuffing and chicken breasts and did some magic with them, but I can't even remember how I did it.

I do, however, still make Shepherd's Pie thanks to my British boyfriend. Video Jug has an excellent video of how to make one, plus many other recipes:

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-shepherds-pie

Interesting, I've never had shepherd's pie before. I'll have to make an attempt sometime! =)

Just following the directions on a box of Stove Top is pretty good as a comfort-foody casserole.

When I talked to my mom about eating healthy on a budget, she said that casseroles are good to make. You get healthy, non-processed food with lots of servings :) The casserole she made the most was a chicken and rice casserole.

1-2 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 cup noodles or rice
1 cup frozen peas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. chicken bouillon (chicken broth) *bouillon can be made with chicken gradules
and hot water. if you don't want to make it, just buy broth in a can*

Cook chicken and rice in separate pots. (I usually cook a whole small chicken since it gives us lots of leftover meat for lunch sandwiches and I cook the rice in our rice cooker) Make bouillon and mix with the cream of chicken soup. Combine chicken, peas and rice/noodles in a casserole dish. Stir in the soup mixture. If you want it to be creamier, you can add 1/2 cup of milk or even evaporated milk but it is optional. Season casserole with poultry seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Be careful not to put in too much salt since the soup mixture is already pretty salty. Bake at 350 degrees from 35 minutes and let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.

We had this casserole every other week growing up so I really like this one :) For something different, you can always put shredded cheese on top the last 5 minutes of baking. My mom always said the secret with casseroles is finding a good starch (noodles or rice), add a ground meat, a frozen vegetable and cream of *blank* soup and you can create whatever you want! I may start experimenting soon, but not until I've mastered this one :)

Another casserole that I made yesterday that Phil and I LOVED is Quick Mexican Casserole

1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer, but the turkey was just as good!)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg Mexican Rice (I got the 60 second microwave kind in the Hispanic food aisle)
1 can Ranch-Style Beans with Jalapenos
Crushed Fritos
Shredded Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook turkey and onion in a medium skillet until onions are tender and meat is cooked through. Add in seasoning, rice and beans into the same skillet. Place mixture into a casserole dish and spread evenly. Top with crushed Fritos, then shredded cheese and place in the oven. Cook until cheese is bubbly (it was about 10 minutes for us). Enjoy!

Thanks for the recipes! I have not made anything with ground turkey yet, so I will give the Quick Mexican Casserole a go some time. =)

I think of casseroles as a sort of 50s thing, when the idea was you could toss in canned vegetables and mostly prepared ingredients in layers and have a one-course meal ready at a moment's notice. Pre-cooking the meat is about all the preparation you should need (aside from having a good baking dish).

I go for hamburger (pre-cooked, fat drained) with either canned green beans (French) or frozen corn, some tomato sauce, mashed potatoes (instant!), with a thin layer of shredded cheese added at the end. You can use real mashed potatoes but if you are going to all that effort, why not make real food? Besides, it takes more like childhood if it is instant.

The only other one I do is chicken pre-cooked and sliced with rice and cream'o'mushroom soup. But really, if you are in a hurry, the cream'o over hot rice is darned tasty and much easier to make.

Oh -- I guess scalloped potatoes count as a sort of a casserole. Kind of. Only as a side, though, and real casseroles should be a meal unto themselves.

Thank you! I'll try out the instant mashed potatoes when I try out this recipe. ^_^

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