The Big Book of Casseroles: 250 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Stock the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer with basic ingredients that you will need for making casseroles..." (more)
Key Phrases: dish lightly coated, tender green tops, garnish oven, Rich Chicken Stock, Monterey Jack, Basic Polenta (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You will find no canned soups in Maryana Vollstedt's The Big Book of Casseroles. You will find 250 ways to simplify your weekly meal planning. The properly deployed casserole is economical of both time and money. Anyone living on a family budget--with a family--but eating according to a take-out lifestyle is going to love this book.

Jambalaya is a casserole. So is Coq au Vin. So is classic Hungarian Goulash. But let us not forget Turkey Tetrazzine. Or maybe we should forget. Maybe it's the Turkey Tetrazzines of the world made with leftover dried-out Thanksgiving turkey coming at us after the days of turkey soups and turkey sandwiches and turkey salads that have given the word casserole the kind of odor we look for behind the refrigerator. While Vollstedt's version of Turkey Tetrazzine doesn't ask for a can of cream of mushroom soup, and while it is made from fresh ingredients, the result is still going to be the same.

And that's one of the problems with The Big Book of Casseroles. It's so big, the demands of coming in with 250 recipes are so great, that classics of the genre that would be better off left to foggy memory are rejuvenated for another generation of unfortunate diners. The other problem is how the definition of casserole gets stretched by the author. Any substance covered with another and baked in an oven appears to be a casserole. When is baked fish a casserole and when is it simply baked fish? Such are the questions raised by Vollstedt's choices.

The book covers a lot of ground. Chapters include those on "Basics" (as in white sauce), "Seafood Casseroles," "Poultry Casseroles," "Meat Casseroles," "Vegetable Casseroles," "Baked Pastas," "Grain and Legume Casseroles," "Gratins," and "Low-Fat Casseroles." There are no dessert casseroles.

Vollstedt shows you where the casserole has been, and where it is. Use The Big Book of Casseroles as a launching pad for your own creative endeavors. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly

Vollstedt's (What's for Dinner?) reliable collection of robust food encompasses many ethnicities (Seafood Lasagna, Baked Tandoori Chicken on Lentils, Spicy Beef Enchilada Casserole). Recipes are clearly written and carefully worded, and chapters are divided easily by ingredients (seafood, poultry, etc.). Many dishes rely heavily on cheese and other dairy products (California Casserole uses 2 cups of sour cream and 4 cups of Monterey Jack; Italian Potato Casserole incorporates 2 cups of mozzarella and 1/3 cup grated Parmesan), but Vollstedt compensates with a chapter on low-fat casseroles that includes Spinach, Parmesan Cheese, and Rotini with Pine Nuts, Brown Rice and Broccoli, and Greek Meatballs in Tomato-Yogurt-Mint Sauce made with ground lamb. Vollstedt stretches the definition of casserole to incorporate Tangy Baked Shrimp, Turkey Loaf and Baked Sweet Potatoes (the latter two are cooked separately but served together) and a whole chapter of gratin recipes. An introduction with instructions for making the basic components, freezing casseroles at different stages and reducing fat and calories rounds out this solid effort.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811822605
• ISBN-13: 978-0811822602
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,345 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars simply delicious, January 13, 2000

By	Christa Martin (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

I love this cookbook. The recipes are very easy to make with ingredients most of us have in the pantry. The only tools you need are a knife and casserole dish or dutch oven. While the book features comfort food for home or a friendly potluck, many of the recipes are fancy enough for special company. Very east to read -- each recipe gets its own page. One warning, though -- a number of the recipes feature cheese/sour cream, so it isn't exactly a low-calorie cookbook. For a recent potluck, I used the reduced fat cheese and sour cream, and no one who ate it could tell the difference.

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for busy people, November 30, 1999

By A Customer

These recipes are great because most of them are very easy and can be prepared ahead of time then popped in the oven a 1/2 hour or so before you eat. As a stay-at-home mom - I can put the dish together while the kids are napping, then am free to play with them during that cranky time before dinner. And every recipe we've tried is delicious!

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cooks Book, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

I borrowed this book from my local library and started marking the recipes I wanted to keep. It was about half the book! I decided to buy it instead. I cook with fresh, healthful ingredients - no canned soup in my pantry. This cook book has so many interesting recipes - I can't wait to try them all. I am a working mom, and need dinner to be on the table in 30 minutes or less during the week. This book has dishes for my cramped schedule during the week, and fancier recipes I can save for the weekend too. I can't wait for my very own copy to arrive. If you consider yourself a cook, you will be happy with this book.