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16.7% 
83.3% 
Comfort Food
CommentsCasseroles. Comfort food at it’s best! During this recent cold spell (wasn’t it a beaut!) I found myself craving comfort food. Something very simple to prepare that would be nourishing to the whole family and easy to prepare. For those who are baby boomers like myself, you’ll remember our mothers and grandmothers making savory one-dish suppers back in the 50’s and 60’s that were all the rage. But what’s happened to the casserole? They have more or less disappeared. Let’s start at the beginning. Our mothers and grandmothers were not the first to make this wonder marriage of meat, fish or poultry with fresh garden vegetables. The first recorded casserole was the Herbed Vegetable Casserole made by the Greeks following a harvest. They would venture into the crop fields and pick up what was left and combine it in a one-dish casserole. This marvelous dish hit This economical way to feed large families or groups of people quickly caught on throughout the years, especially with farm families, who found a pound of hamburger would go a lot further if mixed in a casserole with other vegetables, rather than making a bucket of burgers to feed everyone. Today casseroles are making a big comeback, due in part to many people having to stretch their dollar, and by a new generation discovering for the first time, these aromatic delights. They are also easy to prepare and serve as a whole meal in one dish. Two people or singles can whip one up and portion out the leftovers and freeze them for future dinners or parties. For the guys, especially those trying to impress a new date, it’s an easy way to make a great dinner, and make you look like Emeril! Barbara Barnes, the Supervisor/ Home Economist in Atco’s Blue Flame Kitchen in “The increased number of convenience products such as condensed soups, mixes and quick cooking rice, just to name a few, made casserole preparation easy. For busy women luxuries such as aluminum foil and deep freezers were the accessories for the fashionable casserole craze.” Now as our generation is aging, those comforting casseroles of our youth are once again mouth-watering, and as Barbara suggests, we, like our parents are introducing this dish to the new generation. And they’re loving it. Many of the young people today are making them because even teenagers can slap one together rather easily, and have a complete meal in one dish in a short period of time. My mouth is watering already. Greek Herbed Casserole: One medium sized eggplant One tsp. vinegar Two medium potatoes Two medium zucchini One can stewed tomatoes Two medium onions chopped One tsp. dried parsley One tsp. dried oregano One-quarter tsp. dried mint Two cloves of garlic-diced One-Quarter cup olive oil Cinnamon, Salt and pepper One-third Cup grated parmesan cheese Butter a three-quart casserole dish Cut the eggplant into half-inch squares. Soak in a bowl of slightly salted water for half an hour. Add the vinegar when you add the salt. Cut potatoes and zucchini into small pieces. Drain the tomatoes. Place all the vegetables in a bowl. Drain egg plant-rinse well and pat dry with paper towels and add to vegetables. Add to the vegetables the parsley, oregano, mint, garlic, olive oil, cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Place mixture into casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 325 for two hours. Serve as a side dish or main vegetarian plate. Enjoy! Serves: 4-6 Sweet Onion-Sausage Casserole: This recipe is from the “World Famous Sweet Onion Recipes” cookbook published by Dasher Brother’s Farms in Glennville Five Vidalia onions-large, sliced. If not available substitute with Purple Onions Twelve Ritz Crackers crushed into crumbs One pound of sausage meat browned and drained One-half teaspoon of salt One-quarter teaspoon of seasoning salt One regular sized can of mushroom soup One-and-a-half cups of cheddar cheese grated One jar on pimento pepper Place onions in the bottom of a greased twelve by seventeen inch Pyrex dish or similar casserole dish. Add Ritz crackers then sausage meat. Add a layer of onions, mushroom soup, salt and seasoning salt. Sprinkle a layer of cheese and pimento. Bake in pre-heated oven at four hundred degrees for one hour. Yields: 6-8 servings | ||||||
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