Product Description

Bake until Bubbly

"Everybody who grew up on tuna noodle casserole or macaroni and cheese remembers that bubbling dish brought to the table with its top dappled golden brown, piping hot and inviting. My passion for casseroles was born from memories of my childhood and my mother's lasagna, thick and rich and gooey and delicious. But once I had three children of my own, casseroles were the solution to many frenzied nights. We all loved the simplicity, ease, and satisfaction of a well-baked casserole. One of my favorite dessert casseroles was the Pear Crisp my kids and I made in late August when our pear tree was groaning from the weight of those luscious orbs ripening. We'd cut them up and arrange them in a casserole with cinnamon and then blanket them with a streusel made of flour, butter, and sugar before baking until bubbly. Hey, what a great name for a book!"
--from Bake until Bubbly

Advance Praise

"Bake until Bubbly . . . the name says it all. Visions of creamy, tender casseroles with crusty, crunchy tops immediately come to mind and Clifford Wright's book delivers. You will find easy-to-make one-dish recipes like the rustic but elegant Veal Saltimbocca and Cassoulet and comfort food such as Blue Cheese Halibut Bake; Sausage, Red Bean, and Apple Casserole; Cranberry-Apple-Walnut Crisp; and Blackberry and Cream Cheese Cr?pes Casserole. I love the fact that you can find everything from breakfast casseroles to vegetarian options to desserts. The Potato, Bacon, and Gruyere Casserole is coming to my next potluck."
--Dede Wilson, Contributing Editor to Bon Appetit magazine and public television host

"Just when I thought there was little left to be exploited in casserole cookery, Clifford Wright comes up with an herby tamale pie with cornmeal mush, an Irish rutabaga pudding, a baked rigatoni with meatballs, a nectarine and almond dessert casserole, and numerous other fascinating dishes guaranteed to add new and exciting dimension to this succulent style of cooking."
--James Villas, author of Crazy for Casseroles and The Glory of Southern Cooking

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15557 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780471754473
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Few dishes say comfort food more than the cheese- and egg-laden casseroles that are favored in small towns in heartland America, but Wright (Real Stew) shows that casseroles are part of a long international tradition that continues as strongly today in the Middle East as in the Midwest. He features casseroles from the intriguing higher end, like the French Escargots en Casserole or a Spanish tapa with bacon, cabbage, potato and apple, as well as simple, familiar crowd-pleasers exemplified by Tuna Noodle Casserole and the Nebraska frittata, aka Cheesy Ham Poof. The chapter range is another testament to casseroles' versatility, beginning with hearty breakfast recipes such as the simple Sailor's Omelet, then running the gamut of main ingredients (meat and fish, pasta and grains, vegetables) and concluding with desserts, where he makes a convincing case for fruit cobblers and crisps and even brownies as casseroles. Ingredient lists are often long, but few of the recipes have more than four or five simple steps, which cooks of most any skill level can easily handle. Wright's headnotes give extensive information about the recipes' provenance and preparation, and his frequent text boxes provide tips on what people really care about with casseroles aside from ease: how to incorporate leftovers from other meals. Not just casserole fans but also those who may previously have looked down on the thought of such dishes will find this a great resource for most any occasion. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Wright, author of numerous cookbooks on the cuisines of the Mediterranean as well as Real Stew, here turns to another enduring comfort food. He presents 250 recipes for casseroles of all types, including both breakfast and dessert dishes (think crisps and crumbles). The recipes come from around the world and all across the United States. Along with beloved classics, some in updated, fresher versions, there are unusual recipes that will be unfamiliar to many readers. The headnotes provide history and context, and most of them offer serving suggestions; there are also ideas for leftovers (if there are any!). With its informative, readable text and tasty recipes, this is highly recommended. (Library Journal, February 15, 2008)

"a great resource for most any occasion.... Few dishes say 'comfort food' more than the cheese-and-egg-laden casseroles that are favored in small towns in heartland American, but Wright (Real Stew) shows that casseroles are part of a long international tradition that continues as strongly today in the Middle East as in the Midwest." (Publishers Weekly, November 19, 2007)

From the Inside Flap

Perfect for family dinners, potluck suppers, and parties, casseroles are the ultimate comfort food—deeply satisfying, amazingly versatile, and blissfully easyto prepare. Now renowned food scholar and award-winning cookbook author Clifford A. Wright has written the definitive casserole cookbook—a peerless collection of nearly 250 great casserole recipes from around the world.

Wright got hooked on his mom's lasagna as a child, and his experiences feeding his own kids and researching the foods of the Mediterranean helped him explore the world of casserole possibilities. Now, with his book, you too can embark on a journey of casserole discovery. You'll find deliciously updated versions of all-American classics such as Tuna Noodle Casserole and Chicken Divan—without canned soup! You can sample a wide range of soul-satisfying Italian-Americanclassics, like Stuffed Shells and Baked Rigatoni with Sausages, as well as famous international casseroles such as Moussaka and Cassoulet. There are lots of healthy casserole options to serve as main dishes or sides—from a Casserole of New England Spring Vegetables to little-known (but tasty) Old World specialties such as France's Pounti—and you'll find a whole chapter of vegetarian casserole choices.

For Wright, a casserole is any one-dish recipe baked in the oven, so he includes not only main dishes and sides, but breakfast and dessert casseroles as well. You can kick off your weekends with crowd-pleasing choices such as Stuffed French Toast Casserole or Egg and Bacon Strata. And to top off a meal, what could be better than a Pear Crisp, an Apple Pandowdy, or a Wild Strawberry and Cream CheeseCr?pe Casserole with Vanilla Sauce?

Wright has formulated the recipes with today's cooks in mind, using easy-to-find fresh ingredients and clear, simple steps.Whether you're looking for a low-stress family supper, an elegant company main dish, a make-ahead brunch, or a potluck crowd-pleaser, his book is brimming with possibilities. Complete with informative cook's notes and lots of leftover suggestions, Bake until Bubbly is truly the ultimate casserole cookbook.

Customer Reviews

Not at all reliable
Okay, I admit it. I'm a cookbook junkie. I probably have hundreds of cookbooks, although there's no way I'm going to count them since I don't really want to know. I think because of this, I'm very picky about what I consider to be a great cookbook. Great cookbooks, in my opinion, are ones that produce fabulous results without any adjustments. The recipes work the first time, and I don't have to figure out how to fix them. My favorites include anything by Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, the Barefoot Contessa and Jean-Pierre Brehier.

This cookbook doesn't fall into the category of great, even though I thought it was going to. I'm married to a man from Wisconsin (to really get the flavor, it's pronounced "wis-CAN-sin") who loves casseroles. He sat down with the book before I did and picked out more than a dozen recipes he wanted me to try. And the recipes sounded really homey and heartlandish -- things like Hamburger & Potatoes Hot Dish and Cheesy Ham Poof.

The problem is that none of the recipes even worked without adjustments. For instance, one recipe called for a 2-quart baking dish yet nearly overflowed a 3-quart dish and another was incredibly bland before I added quite a few more seasonings. Many of the recipes called for a weird cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup substitute that included pulverizing veggies in a blender with enormous amounts of heavy cream and other ingredients. These recipes ended up being extremely rich (and loaded with calories) and sometimes very runny because of it. I would've had to play around with this, too, to get it palatable.

I tried four of the recipes and then gave up. Had I received rave reviews from my family I might have continued, but the dishes just weren't as great as they sounded. I wish the book had been tested more thoroughly and advise you not to get sucked in by the gorgeous cover photo (the only photo in the book, by the way).

(review by Mrs. Scott)

Wonderfully Broad Selection of Simple Recipes. Buy It!
`Bake Until Bubbly' by distinguished culinary writer and teacher, Clifford A. Wright is billed as `The Ultimate Casserole Cookbook', which is a figurative sticking out of the chin, daring one to poke holes in the author's pretensions for claiming to write an `ultimate' treatment of any subject. My skepticism is muted a bit when I see a very complementary blurb on the back cover from James Villas, the author of another recent casserole treatise, `Crazy for Casseroles'. Looking back at Villas' book, I see one immediate difference between the two. Villas' clearly stated range is purely American, while Wright's range is global, with special attention being paid to those great Mediterranean culinary powerhouses, France, Spain, and Italy. This is all quite appropriate, as Villas is the great American cookery writer, an inheritor of James Beard's mantle, while Wright is quite in the tradition of Elizabeth David, focusing on European cooking.
Upon opening the book, I discover that Wright has stretched the notion of a `casserole' far beyond what I would imagine. Being something of a linguistic purist, I would call `casserole' anything baked in a traditional casserole dish, whether it's the American Corning Ware rectangle, the Spanish Cazuela, or the French Cassoulet. I also tend to limit the notion to savory dishes, with baked desserts having their own extensive taxonomy of crumble, pan-dowdy, cobbler, buckle, and the like. Wright cuts an incredibly broad swath with his definition, including such cousins as all sorts of baked pastas (ziti, lasagna, bucatini, and so on). Wright clearly relishes the great diversity, as in America alone there are many regional names and styles for a `baked dish' such as pilafs, poofs, perloos, puddings, pies, surprises, suppers, shroups, royales, stifles, supremes, bakes, gratins, cobblers, crisps, crunches, delights, dishes, hot dishes, hot pots, medleys, and melodies, oh my!. In the end, Wright seems to include virtually every kind of dish which is baked in a dish with raised sides, does not have a pastry crust, is not a meat roast, and is not covered like a braise or a stew. This range goes so far as to include meat loafs, meat balls, and baked stuffed crepes. A significant symptom of the range of dishes is the fact that Wright cites sixteen different baking dish sizes needed to do all his dishes, ranging from ½ quart to 10 quarts.
While Wright relishes presenting a broad range of very ethnic dishes, he is thankfully not limiting himself to ethnically accurate dishes. This is, after all, a handy reference for the everyday cook who specifically likes the relatively quick prep times unattended baking. Therefore, Wright adapts many recipes to eliminate some of the less healthy or less accessible ingredients found in the provincial originals to these dishes. He is especially diligent in eliminating all use of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup as a replacement for simple white sauces. My favorite discovery in Wright is for a corn and oyster casserole with all the good flavors and none of the carb laden pastry of my dear Pennsylvania Dutch corn pie.
One improvement over Villas' `Crazy for Casseroles' is a simplified organization, making it easier to find the most recipes which fit a particular need. His chapters are:
Breakfast and Brunch Casseroles
Meat Casseroles
Poultry, Dairy, and Game Casseroles
Seafood Casseroles
Rice and Grain Casseroles
Vegetable Casseroles with Meat
Vegetable Casseroles without Meat
Dessert Casseroles
It is no surprise that most of the pasta and noodle casseroles are Italian (especially since Wright previously wrote a book on lasagna). What may be a bit of a surprise is that almost every rice casserole is Spanish. This is due in no small part because of the great Spanish tradition of rice culture and the fact that the cazuela (earthen casserole dish) is as much or more the national dish of Spain than the more famous paella.
I could think of no better way of comparing Villas to Wright than to compare their macaroni and cheese recipes. While Wright has eight (8) macaroni casseroles, he has only one mac and cheese recipe. Villas has six (6) macaroni casseroles, and four (4) of those six are variations on mac and cheese. On that basis alone, I suggest you own both books. Wright's single mac and cheese recipe is a straight béchamel recipe flavored with onions and mustard and dressed as a gratin with breadcrumbs. Villas simplest recipe is even simpler, but is based on custard instead of a béchamel. Now `Cooks Illustrated' claims the custard based mac and cheese is superior to the béchamel recipe, but I disagree. Of course, on the very next page, Villas gives us a béchamel based recipe with extra cheese and extra flavors. All the recipes are utterly simple.
Both writers are thoroughly engaging, and I can enjoy reading both from cover to cover. Both writers include many culinary tips; however, some culinary verities such as the meaning of a `roux' goes unexplained in Wright. These books are for people who know how to cook.
I tried to find a common sweet recipe in both books, but I am happy to say I could not, giving us all the more reason to own both. The closest I could come was a raspberry and blueberry crunch in Villas and a blueberry cobbler with raspberry thumbprints in Wright. And, while Villas had three recipes with rhubarb, Wright had none. Both books are cheap and both books have more useable day to day recipes than any five books by celebrity chefs.

Great Cookbook!!!! No Campbell's Soup needed!!!
I've been looking for a casserole cookbook that doesn't require a lot of processed foods. I am thrilled to discover this cookbook, which doesn't require a can of this (no Campbell's mushroom soup) or a packet of that. It's simple, basic cooking from scratch. Sure, it may take a bit more time, but I have found the results from this cookbook to be well worth it. Right now, I am working my way through the chicken casseroles and have found them all to be doable and delicious.

I will add that the author is a big fan of cooking a whole chicken (preferrably an organic, free range chicken) for his chicken casseroles. Even though I am a fan of "from scratch" cooking, not everyone has the time and financial resourses to do this. I have cheated when time has been short and have bought the rotisserie chicken you can buy precooked at the grocery store (of which the author is not a fan). The results are still delicious!

I agree with a previous review's comment about some of the "casseroles" are not what I typically would consider a "casserole." Also, the recipes are more on the sophisticated side that young, picky eaters may not be so crazy about. I've been using this cookbook mostly for dinners for my husband and me.

I like the explanations that the author has inserted. Yes, there are no pictures but the author's explanations prior to each recipe are informative and helpful and bring the recipies to life. I found his writing style witty and entertaining.

Definitely a must have recipe book!