vegetable casserole

[wcmckinney]

In my attempts to eat healthy these days, I had a zucchini casserole at a country cooking establishment in the Chapel Hill area last night. I am still undecided if I loved or hated it, or if it was just another meal.

Is there anything particularly Southern about vegetable casseroles? I know the filler makes a little zucchini go a longer way. I know chicken stock/pork stock is a southern way to dress up vegetalbes. I know I have had plenty of them at family reunions. But is it really something that comes out of the Southern cooking tradition?

[fifi]

I know the filler makes a little zucchini go a longer way.

I had to laugh at that. Most folks I know that have gardens are usually in the opposite pickle... how to use up all of that zucchini.

You ask a good question. I don't remember a lot of vegetable casseroles, or at least not those that I would have thought of as being particularly southern. I would see the occasional squash casserole over the years, but I get stuck after that. I can't think of a single one that came out of my grandmother's or great aunt's kitchens... and they were great southern cooks. I do some eggplant things, mostly gratin though, and I don't think of them as southern. I think I am being kind of cooly Italian.

[Gifted Gourmet]

One of my very favorite Southern vegetable casseroles is one which I first tasted at a now-defunct local restaurant, Aunt Fannie's Cabin in Smyrna, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.

Basically, I have altered the ingredients over the years, to best suit my tastes ... it is now more oniony, custardy, and sweeter than the original recipe indicated.

3 Lbs. yellow summer squash.

1-2 cups sweet Vidalia If seasonally appropriate) chopped onions.

3-4 large eggs.

1/2 cup of cream or milk

1 stick of butter.

1-1 and a 1/2 Tbs. sugar.

1 tsp. salt or to taste.

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste.

1- 1 and 1/2 cups of cornbread crumbs.

a bit of ground nutmeg is also an option I enjoy!

Directions:

Wash and cut squash into 1/2 inch chunks.

Then place squash chunks into pot of salted boiling water and return to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until squash is fork tender... approximately 10 minutes. Drain well!

Add onion, eggs, sugar, cream (or milk), salt, pepper and half the butter to your drained squash. Mix well to blend.

Add cornbread crumbs and let sit to soak up some of the liquid.

Pour mixture into a 2 quart buttered casserole.

Melt remaining butter and pour evenly over squash mixture.

Bake in Pre-heated 375°F. oven for approximately 1 hour until nicely browned and cooked through.

Serves 6-8

[lperry]

I think that some things are billed as "traditional Southern" foods even though they are not. I had never seen a green bean casserole (with those canned onion things on top) until I went to a Midwestern potluck as an adult. Everyone commented that I must have been happy to see this on the table since the dish is so Southern. Ditto with the potato/velveeta/corn flake dish and the eggplant/Ritz cracker concoction. These casseroles also had the Southern label attached, and, again, were spotted at many Midwestern events.

As a Southerner, there is nothing to do in these situations other than eat everything offerred you, and thank the chefs for helping you feel more at home. As a bonus, it gives you another great story to tell about the eating habits of those strange yankees.....

[ruthcooks]

It's funny to me that you've found Midwesterners attribute non-Southern dishes to the South. As a Midwesterner who lived 35 years in the South, I found that Southerners claimed every dish they ever ate--many that I grew up with in Illinois.

I'll never forget a member of my bridge club in Nashville sitting down to lunch and saying "meat loaf, macaroni and cheese and green beans, good ole Southern cooking." Good ole country cooking, I say. Or maybe good ole American cooking.

P.S. The eggplant-Ritz cracker thing I was first introduced to at the Old Stone Inn near Louisville KY in the late sixties. Still make it, still love it.

Edited October 30, 2004 by ruthcooks (log)

[Mayhaw Man]

When I saw William's title in this thread, my mind went instantly to squash casserole. Melissa's recipe is close enough to the one that I make that I have no need to post the recipe. Woo hoo!

That casserole shows up at our house about once a week. Usually because I have pulled it out of the freezer as I usually double the recipe and divide it into 4 portions. The stuff is great the first time around and really good cold (really, no joke ).

OTOH, I don't know that there are that many others that I regularly see. I eat, and often cook for myself, as many as three vegetables per meal-but they are usually kind of stand alone. Peas, butterbeans, string beans, okra and tomatoes, all kinds of seasonal garden stuff, buttered squash, zucchinni, etc. appear on our table and on the table of those that I know, but not usually as a casserole.

Southern or not? I don't really know. I kind of agree with those that say many foods that have ended up on the rolls as "southern food" are more in the category of "American Cooking", but on the other hand I also think that the frequency many of these dishes appear on tables around the South kind of makes them de facto Southern. Part of this likely has to do with the fact that many of these foods are able to be grown most of the year round here and that, until the advent of modern refrigeration and the interstate highway system, they were not available to many of our Northern friends excepting small periods of time during the year. Nowadays it's no big deal to see fresh stuff in Minneapolis or Fargo in the middle of the winter-but for much of the last 200 years those folks were stuck with potatoes and other roots and tubers as they would keep for long periods of time and could be grown locally in the short growing season.

[fifi]

When I saw William's title in this thread, my mind went instantly to squash casserole.

←

So did my feeble mind! I have now been through more of my books and notes and squash casserole is still the only one I can find that has a possible southern origin. I am beginning to think that vegetable casseroles just aren't our thang.

In absence of RecipeGullet, I will post my version with the Ritz crackers here. (I promise to enter it when RG comes back.) I put this together after some frustration at getting the Blackeyed Pea recipe and several others that I had tried to taste just like I wanted.

2 to 2 ½ lbs. yellow squash sliced in wheels about ½” thick

1 medium onion, diced

½ stick butter

1 tube Ritz Crackers, crushed into crumbs, not too fine (a Ziploc bag and smashing with your hands works great)

1 egg, beaten

Salt, pepper, and sugar (optional)

In a Dutch oven or a deep skillet with a lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and a lot of pepper, Sauté until very tender. Add squash and stir around to distribute the onion. Put the cover on and cook, stirring occasionally until tender. If your pot or skillet is not a heavy one, reduce the heat a bit. If the mixture browns on the bottom some, so much the better. But, if your pot is not heavy, you will have to watch it a bit closer so that it doesn’t burn. Roughly mash the mixture. A few whacks with a potato masher works great. Let it cool. Taste and adjust seasoning and add some sugar if desired.

(At this point you can stop and finish later or even the next day. This is handy if you are going to be busy with other dishes for a dinner.)

Mix the egg and cracker crumbs into the squash, reserving some crumbs to sprinkle on top. (Or smash a few more crackers if you want a thicker topping.) Spray an 8x8 baking pan with Pam. Evenly spread the squash mixture and top with crumbs.

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes until cooked through and the top is lightly toasted.

This recipe can be doubled.

[FL Heat]

I have a good chunk of my Grandmother's church cookbooks from Texas/Tennessee from years back. Nearly all of them (I went to check) have a "Veg-All" casserole (you know, the stuff that comes in a green & white can, already chunked up carrots & onions and other. . .stuff?), there are lots of variations on tomato casseroles, as well as squash, zucchini, and green bean casseroles. ("Vegetable Casserole" in my mind brought an immediate picture of the Veg-All casserole & then of me having to pretend to like it because Grandma ALWAYS SERVED IT and it was rude not to eat it.)

So, being a child of only 31, the vegetable casserole seems prevalent in my grandparents' cooking time. But just because it's prevalent doesn't mean it's good. If I don't ever have to look at another Veg-All & Ritz cracker casserole again, it'll be too soon.

Diana

[Gifted Gourmet]

2 to 2 ½ lbs. yellow squash sliced in wheels about ½” thick

1 medium onion, diced

½ stick butter

1 tube Ritz Crackers, crushed into crumbs, not too fine (a Ziploc bag and smashing with your hands works great)

1 egg, beaten

Salt, pepper, and sugar (optional)

sugar optional??

But mine is sweeter and uses cornbread and genuine Vidalia onions, which makes it the most authentic Southern squash casserole around, Fifi!

[Lan4Dawg]

I remember vegetable casseroles (as well as meat casseroles) as being absolutely ubiquitous at church and community functions during my child hood. For years I thought the only way to eat broccoli was in a casserole. For some reason every thing had to be bound w/ cream of mushroom, celery, or chicken soup and then topped w/ some type of crunchy substance--be it corn flakes, or fried onions, or crumbled crackers, or corn bread. Casseroles were made w/ squash--yellow or zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, mixed vegetables, corn, carrots, potatoes, beans, peas, or even a combination of meats and vegetables for a "one pot meal".

(remember the old joke about the three women--one Jewish, one Catholic, and one Protestant who wound up in heaven and were told to return to earth and bring back some thing that portrayed their faith? The Jewish woman returned w/ a dreidel & explained how children learned their lessons fr/ the "toy". The Catholic woman returned w/ a rosary and explained how it comforted her in times of crisis. It took several hours for the Protestant woman to return toting her casserole.)

I think part of the appeal of a casserole was that it could be prepared ahead, frozen if necessary, reheated numerous times, would stay warm for long periods after being heated, could be prepared in a single dish & transported well, all of the ingredients were either on hand or easily obtainable, it was relatively simple to make and very filling. Casseroles were essential for sharing--which is a big part of Southern food--either at church functions or w/ a family during a crisis.

I have to admit that I still love the things & every once in a while just have to throw things in one of those pyrex dishes (I have graduated fr/ cream of _____ soup to making my own flavored thickener), top it w/ crumbled crunchy some thing and a little cheese and watch it bubble away in the oven. MOF, I am wondering what is in the fridge now to make for dinner.

[BakerChick]

The first thing that came to my mind was the Broccoli Casserole, probably because I just had some at my great-aunts birthday party. There was also an artichoke casserole, but I'm pretty sure that's not "Southern." We have always made green bean casserole for holidays. Oftentimes guests will bring multiples as well. There is potato casserole (I hear potatoes are considered a vegetable now), squash casserole, cabbage casserole, asparagus casserole (for special guests), spinach casserole, corn casserole, and the all important sweet potato casserole. I remember that as a child, our family gatherings consisted oftentimes of a counter-full of Pyrex dishes, the newlyweds had clear, and then there were the marigold, orange, pond-scum green and white ones with blue flowers. The scary thing for a kid was that you never knew what was in there. I avoided them for a long time. But then I learned that you could toss absolutely ANYTHING in mayo and a little canned cream soup, bake it in the oven, and Southerners would go crazy over it. It is a great use for leftovers. Unfortunately, though, wcmckinney, most of the recipes for any kind of casserole are not going to be considered "healthy." Other than you might get some of your vitamins. If they're not too diluted by the mayo, that is. As to tradition, I think the casserole is certainly a Southern tradition now, as it is inseparable from the Southern table. And we will share that tradition with the Midwesterners, our close kins in country food.

[Cucina]

My grandmother (who grew up in Mississippi) used to make an asparagus casserole for thanksgiving and christmas. You use a loaf shaped pyrex dish and create alternating layers of asparagus, and sliced mushrooms, then coat with white sauce and place slices of hard boiled eggs around the side. Depending on the depth of your dish, it will be two or three layers like this. Once you're at the top of the dish, you cover the last layer with sharp white cheddar cheese and crumpled ritz crackers on top of that and then you bake it until it looks done. It's really quite delicious. If you are too lazy to make your own white sauce, campbells cream of mushroom soup can be substituted for the white sauce and mushrooms but it's not quite the same.

That said, my grandfather was in the airforce and they were stationed all over the country and the world. I've never asked how far back this dish goes and whether or not any of her siblings families have it too. The recipie could very well originate outside of the south but I don't know. For comparison purposes, just look at the southern obsession with jello salad variations.

[NulloModo]

The casserole is a beautiful thing, and woefully underappreciated by folks who seem all caught up in only high end cuisine.

Two of the dishes that I remember enjoying best year after year at family thanksgiving dinners were Squash Casserole (made with yellow (summer?) squash, topped with Durkee fried onions, some bit of ham in there perhaps, some creamy stuff, lots of cheese, oh so very good), and candied yam casserole (canned yams in thick sugar syrup, extra maple syrup added, candied pecans on top, and then marshmellows melted on that).

[Lone Star]

The asparagus casserole was always on the table for any special meal on our table growing up in Texas. I still make it! I use the liquid drained from the canned asparagus for the white sauce, and then layer the asparagus with the sauce, cheese, and hard boiled eggs. No mushrooms in ours.

Now my granmother always made casseroles out of hominy, which just has to be of Southern origin

My favorite was a frito/pepper/cheese/hominy concoction. Wish I could find the recipe!

[Lone Star]

Hominy Casserole

16 oz. jar jalapeño Cheese Whiz

2-15 oz. cans golden hominy, drained

8 oz sour cream

4 oz. jar diced pimentos, drained

1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped

Fritos, crushed for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients, with the exception of the corn flakes, in a large bowl. Mix well. Place in 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread crushed corn flakes on top. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 8-10 servings

Delicious!

[Jaymes]

I, too, immediately thought of squash casserole when I read the title of the thread. Going way back in my memory, to the early 50's, I don't recall regularly seeing any other casserole on southern sideboards.

I think more of green beans cooked low and slow, with onions and herbs and a nice big piece of fatback bubbling in the middle; peas simmered just until done; and mom getting a large pot of water boiling on the stove, and then hollering at us kids, "Go pick some corn and run it right back here, the water's ready."

But casseroles? I don't remember any other than the ubiquitous squash. And sweet potato casseroles, of course, which everybody's mother served.

Edited December 3, 2004 by Jaymes (log)

[Mabelline]

I remember lots of succotash, done up with a gratin top. Scalloped potatoes, and oh yes, my gram made a veg-all side dish that was drained veg-all, mixed with spiced-up mayo. I think those sort of salads and dishes were relied on when it was too cold for a vegetable crop. I remember a lot of baked hard-shell squash dishes.

[lovebenton0]

Turnip casserole.

Tomato and corn caserole.

Mixed bean casserole.

If you're counting potatoes as veg now. . .

Scalloped potatoes.

Potatoes au Gratin

Mashed potato casserole (with onions, garlic and cheese).