HOW TO COOK IN CASSEROLE DISHES
“Some hae meat and canna eat,
An’ some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat an’ we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit.”
There is no doubt that the fashion of cooking in casseroles or earthenware dishes has come to stay in this country; and it is hardly a matter of surprise when the advantages of this form of cookery are really understood, whether it be actual casserole cookery, so called, or cookery in fireproof utensils.
Cooking “en casserole” is a term which signifies dishes cooked and served in the same earthenware pot or utensil, though, as every one knows, the original French word is the generic name for a stewpan or a saucepan.
The old idea of a casserole was some preparation of chopped fish, flesh, or vegetables enveloped in a crust of cooked rice, macaroni, or potato. Properly speaking, however, a casserole is a dish, the material for which in many instances is first prepared in the sauté or frying-pan and then transferred to the earthenware pan to finish cooking by a long, slow process which develops the true flavors of the food being cooked.
The sooner the casserole utensil becomes an indispensable part of our kitchen outfit the better, for it makes in every way for economy,—economy of materials, time, and labor,—as materials often too tough for ordinary cooking may by this means be served in a nutritious and tender condition. When casserole cookery is thoroughly understood, many combinations of food and many inexpensive viands will be put to use and very palatable results obtained.
Casseroles nowadays take on all shapes and sizes, from the dainty individual dishes up to a size sufficient for serving a large number of persons.
Of late years the prices of these utensils have been reduced so greatly that they are within the reach of the most modest housewife’s pocketbook, and then at the same time the actual pots and fireproof dishes have been improved enormously in quality.
Every kind of utensil can be had in this ware nowadays, and people are realizing how delicious food cooked in this way is.
They may be bought at all the reliable house-furnishing stores. Ornamental effects in brown, green, blue, red, white, or yellow stoneware add to the appearance of the breakfast, luncheon, or dinner table. No one attempts to deny that the eye has much to do with the palate, and that a dish served in an attractive form is likely to prove much more pleasing to the taste than a carelessly offered one. The holders in which the casseroles are placed when removed from the oven and taken to the table are made of silver, nickel, brass, copper, and wrought iron, and are examples of genuine artistic merit.
For those who do not wish the extra expense of the metal holder a platter or tray will answer the purpose, which is simply to keep the hot casserole from coming in contact with the table or table mats and scorching them. The adaptability of a stoneware cooking utensil deserves to be more fully known, when it will be more thoroughly appreciated.
For braising, pot roasting, as well as stewing, which are slow cooking processes, the casserole has proved its superiority over the metal pans again and again. It gives its best and almost exclusive service in the baking oven, for poultry done in pot roasting fashion or for stewing fruit, and other articles which require to be cooked slowly under close cover. There are few cooks who do not know that the application of a moderate, even heat for certain food materials produces far better results than if quick heat is applied. For such cases the use of earthenware cooking utensils is to be strongly recommended, because by their aid an application of heat, such as will insure gentle simmering, steaming, or baking, is assured.
The casserole may be regarded as a labor-saving device, taking the place of a half-dozen pots and pans in the kitchen.