Reinventing casseroles
REVIEWS BY SYBILL PRATT
Bringing a covered dish to gatherings both festive and commemorative—church suppers, community events, fundraisers—is a time-honored tradition as American as apple pie. Warm and comforting though they can be, many of these one-dish wonders have become bland and boring. Now, the fine folks at America's Test Kitchens have decided to put the vim and vigor back into the venerable casserole by collecting recipes and testing them over and over again, as only they can, until they find the "best" version of each. The result is
Cover & Bake, with more than 200 recipes for casseroles, pot roasts, skillet dinners and slow-cooker favorites. These seasoned specialists don't rely on gluey canned soups or jarred sauces; instead they add sparkle by using fresh ingredients, quality cheeses, herbs and spices. For instance, they breath new life into Turkey Tettrazini, and its ever-popular cousin Tuna Noodle Casserole, with an easy, made-from-scratch mushroom sauce and a crunchy topping of fresh bread crumbs (sandwich bread in a food processor) and butter. You'll find the same savvy approach to classics like Macaroni and Cheese and Shepherd's Pie, and to the new and ethnically diverse—Moroccan Spiced Chicken and Apricot Stew, Pork Vindaloo, Baked Ravioli Putanesca. Each recipe has a fascinating description of its evolution and testing, make-ahead instructions, storage and reheating specifics. If you want foolproof and fabulous, this is the program to get with.
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Good and good for you
I stay away from the trendy-hype cookbooks that make grandiose health or diet claims or promise a five-day or five-week fix. But a cookbook by Nina Simonds that offers "Simple and Delicious Recipes for Great Health" is another matter. Simonds has written nine books on Chinese cuisine and culture, including the multi-award-winning
A Spoonful of Ginger, and has made the Asian approach to food—sustenance, sensory delight and the sensible way to promote good health—accessible and achievable for overworked, over-stressed, fast-food-inundated Americans (and that probably includes all of us!). Her latest,
Spices of Life, extends beyond Asian cooking with 160 recipes inspired by her travels through Asia and Europe, and many family favorites—from her son Jesse's Crispy-Baked Potato Pancakes to Hoisin Turkey Thighs with Squash, Portuguese Clam Stew, Curried Coconut Sweet Potatoes and "therapeutic" Spiced Pears in red wine. Sprinkled among the recipes are interviews with leading authorities on health-restoring foods—doctors Jim Duke, Andrew Weil, U.K. Krishna and David Heber among them. Sidebars offer info on the nutritional benefits of ingredients, as well as their traditional Chinese and Indian values. Nina Simonds wants you to have it all—"The pleasures of the table as well as excellent, long-lasting health."
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Rachael Ray 24/7
"I eat at all hours of the day and night," says Rachael Ray, a rising superstar in the cooking world and vivacious host of two popular Food Network shows. To satisfy those 24/7 cravings, she's come up with
Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals: Cooking 'Round the Clock, a collection of recipes for any or every hour of the day or night. Need a nosh while you're burning the midnight oil? No problem. Make a Tartine, an open-faced sandwich topped with a variety of throw-together goodies and quickly heated in a toaster oven. Getting back to more traditional timing, you can start the day with any of Rachael's roster of "Rise & Shiners"—from sensational scrambles to Vanilla-Almond French Toast. Ten menus, plus lots of extras including "sammys," soups and salads, provide light-up-the-day lunches. When it comes to supper, you can choose from family-friendly, kid-pleasing "Early-Bird Specials," super sit-down dinners, a melange of mega-munchie TV treats or "Bistro Meals" created to inspire dim-the-lights, stay-at-home dates. It's Rachael, so you're home free and well fed in 30 minutes!
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