Casserole Crazy

Today I made casserole for my local soup kitchen. I’ve been saying I was going to do it for months, and shamefully, have just gotten around to participating. I made my deconstructed zucchini lasagna (a dish that would pretty much be a lasagna if I’d used lasagna noodles and layered it instead of mixing it). I doubled my original recipe (after the jump) and filled two 9 X 13 baking dishes. Even doubling the recipe, the grocery bill came in at just around $20, so in addition to this meal being delicious and hearty, it’s a great way to feed at least 12 people on the cheap.

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Oh wait, I did. Someone just beat me to actually making it.

I was recently bragging to my friends that if I ever had some crazy partnership with Pyrex, the first thing I would design would be a labyrinth-like dish so that every piece of casserole would be a crusty edge piece — because everyone knows that the crusty edge pieces are the best part of any casserole.

Then I went to the website for my favorite, local (favorite and local, not just favorite of the locals) kitchen store, The Brooklyn Kitchen, and what do they have featured on their front page? The Baker’s Edge. Supposedly it’s for brownies, and casseroles are better in glass dishes (or so I’d like to think), so maybe there’s still hope for The Crusty Casserole.

So, Pyrex, if you’re looking for the next big thing, call me.

[The Brooklyn Kitchen: The Baker's Edge]

Recently, Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, submitted a recipe to Family Circle for her oatmeal-butterscotch cookies. Only it turns out, they weren’t exactly her oatmeal-butterscotch cookies. Or if they were her oatmeal-butterscotch cookies, they happen to be made the same way as someone over at Hershey’s makes them — because the same recipe appears on the company’s website.

Forgetting for a moment that oatmeal-butterscotch cookies sound pretty gross, I have to say, this kind of shit happens in the culinary world.

For example, I grew up thinking that my mom’s green bean casserole was hers. It was creamy on the inside, crunchy on top and just plain delicious. Of course my mother had created it! Except, she hadn’t. Once I started making it myself, I learned it was the recipe from the Durkee onion can. Was I devastated when I learned this? Sure. But had I not been writing a casserole cookbook and actually had to investigate and pay close attention to these things, would I have gone on thinking that my mom had created the green been casserole I grew up on? Probably.

Unfortunately, as the Huffington Post reveals, the similarities are too close for comfort. McCain didn’t even bother to change anything about the recipe, save taking the name Hershey’s out of it. So unless her mother passed down this recipe without telling a young Cindy that it was ripped off from the company, it’s possible Cindy ripped off Hershey’s on her own.

Now considering this isn’t the first time the McCain clan has come under fire for stolen recipes, she should have been more careful. A few months ago, Cindy got in trouble for posting a Rachael Ray recipe as her own on John’s campaign site.

But can you blame her? With all the time she spends putting on her make-up do you think she really has the time to create recipes?

[Us: Cindy McCain, Bill Clinton Plagiarize Cookie Recipe, Website Reveals]

Originally posted at Scanner.

Every Friday I have friends over to test the casseroles I make, and help me get rid of them. But after four straight weeks I got tired of entertaining and decided to cook for myself tonight. I made my own pasta sauce from scratch for the second time in my life—it’s surprisingly easy and cheap, and it tastes so much better than the jarred stuff. I also decided to cook up the chicken I was going to put in the casserole I didn’t make tonight. I know this Friday Chicken isn’t a casserole but it was prepared in one dish and is too good and easy not to share. So good, in fact, I had to call a friend over to help me eat it.
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As most of you know, I have been — and will continue to have to — make five to seven test casseroles a week. If I eat them all, I’ll get really sick of casseroles, and probably gain some weight (because let’s be honest, they’re not all so healthy.. though some are!).  Say I posted on Monday what casseroles I’d be testing that week. Let’s say you’re interested in testing said casserole. Would you email me and pay me a small-ish fee to make it and deliver it to you within Williamsburg and Greenpoint in my bike basket? It’s a gamble, but you’d get hearty food and you’d be an official recipe tester.

People often ask me if I’ll include dessert casseroles in the book, and my answer is always no. As far as I’m concerned, any dish that would qualify as a dessert casserole would probably also qualify as an already-established dessert like a cake, a crumble, a pie, etc.

Take Rice Krispies Treats, for example. They are more established than something like Rice Krispies Casserole, because even if you add some nuts and chocolate chips to the mix, it’s still a pimped-out Rice Krispies Treat. If anyone wants to refute this point, I’d love to hear it in the comments section.

Friday night my friend and I created a new casserole: cauliflower and potato au gratin. I’m sure there are plenty of recipes out there for something similar, but ours was delicious, completely vegetarian, gluten free, and did I mention delicious? I have to admit it wasn’t the prettiest casserole I’ve ever made, but I’m working on that. When I do, maybe I’ll post the recipe.

…the real casserole crazy, that is. Today I will attempt two brand-spankin-new casseroles. All I have are the basic ingredients in mind. Full report on Monday.

Today, my friend asked me to create a carbohydrate-free casserole. She’s one of those skinny bitches who still thinks she needs to diet all the time.

Wheat-free casserole is easy, I can use rice or potatoes. But as far as I’m concerned, starch is an integral part of any casserole, whether it be rice, corn, potatoes or my favorite: pasta.

This got me thinking about what a carb-free casserole might consist of. And it might be kind-of boring, considering vegetables have carbohydrates.  So we’re talking strictly meat and cheese here? Anyone have any ideas?

I’m babysitting today, and because the family is getting ready to go on vacation, there’s not much food in the house. Because it’s raining (unfortunately, not men) I decided I’d just concoct a little something.

There was no soup or broth in the house, so a casserole was out of the question. But, I thought I could follow the same basic principle—throw a few things together, a little of this, a little of that—and I’d have a great meal.

They had what appeared to be the fixins for pad Thai—rice noodles, fish sauce, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil—and I figured I could forgo a recipe. If you know anything about Asian cooking, you do the math.

Obviously, I’m still hungry.

UPDATE: The dog, who eats everything—including hobo poop—turned her nose up at it. Hey, I never claimed to be good at anything but casseroles.