Welcome
to the casserole week! This week on Tasteandflavours, we’ll be posting only
casserole dishes to help you save time! Yes, casseroles are delicious main
dishes and take the least time. You can make the preparations in 10-15 mins,
and leave the rest for the oven! The 2 recipes posted earlier are of oven baked
casseroles, and soon I’ll post the hotpot or the stove top made casseroles as
well. Hope you enjoy the week!
Firstly,
where did casserole originate? Probably in the kitchen of some busy lady!
A
casserole, from the French word for "saucepan" is a large, deep dish
used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. The word casserole is also used
for the food cooked and served in such a vessel, with the cookware itself
called a casserole dish or casserole pan. In British English, this type of dish
is frequently also called a bake, coinciding with the cooking technique used to
cook casseroles. In Minnesota, this type of dish is sometimes called
"hotdish".
Casseroles
usually consist of pieces of meat (such as chicken) or fish (such as tuna),
various chopped vegetables, a starchy binder such as flour, potato or pasta,
and, often, a crunchy or cheesy topping.Liquids are released from the meat and
vegetables during cooking, and further liquid in the form of stock, wine, beer
(for example lapin à la Gueuze), gin, cider, or vegetable juice may be added
when the dish is assembled. Casseroles are usually cooked slowly in the oven,
often uncovered. They may be served as a main course or a side dish, and may be
served in the vessel in which they were cooked.
Types
of casserole include ragout, hotpot, cassoulet, tajine, moussaka, lasagne,
shepherd's pie, gratin, rice or macaroni timballo, and carbonnade. A
distinction can be made between casseroles and stews: stewing is a cooking
process whereby heat is applied to the bottom of the cooking vessel (typically
over a fire or on a stove), whereas casserole cooking is generally done in an
oven to bake where heat circulates all around the cooking vessel. Casseroles
may be cooked covered or uncovered, while braises are typically covered to
prevent evaporation.
Difference between Casserole and
Stew
Essentially,
as a cooking method there is little difference between them. A casserole is the
name of the pot used for cooking and slowly has become known as the cooking
method as well. Purist insist a casserole is placed in the oven and a stew on
the stove top/hob, however the two are totally interchangeable. Whichever term
you choose, both consist of meat and-or vegetables, cooked slowly over a long
period of time making it ideal for cheaper cuts of meat.
The
9x13-inch rectangular casserole pan is by far the most called-for dish in
casserole cookery, followed closely by the 8x8 (or 9x9) square dishes. (The
9x13 also holds about 3 quarts of volume, so in some recipes it can be used
interchangeably with a 3 quart Dutch oven.
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