Bake Until Bubbly: The Ultimate Casserole Cookbook

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!

There's something here for any season, for any time of day, for any mood, for any palate. Thankfully, the recipes are easy to read and almost all are quite easy to prepare as well. All of the classics are here, but prepared with fresh ingredients. You're safe cutting out half the fat, but sometimes you just have to give in with the Fromage lathered on French Bread, the Cheesy Ham Pouf, Baked Macaroni and Broccoli, and the Bacon Noodle Bake. Start the day on a sweet or savory note with Stuffed French Toast or Egg and Bacon Strata, both quick and easy, or plan ahead and luxuriate with Baked Panettonne with Ricotta and Mandarin Oranges or the Deviled Egg and Cream Cheese Casserole. Go hearty with Chicken Scallopini with Three Cheeses or Sausage, Celeriac and Apple Casserole -- or light with Root Vegetable and Fennel Casserole oe Fish Florentine Casserole. Travel the world with a perfect Moussaka, Tamale Pie, Brazilian Fish Casserole or the nutty and spicy Turkey Fatta, and then come home to Casserole of New England Vegetables, Alabama-Style Shrimp Bake or Corn Casserole. Then finish with the sublime Pear Crisp, Sicilian Rice Pudding or Brownies, which, to my surprise, turn out to be a casserole. Casseroles are the ultimate comfort food, the perfect pot luck offering and the welcomed leftover -- a complete meal or the perfect side dish to a roast. It's become one of the first cookbooks I turn to and as well as the perfect gift.

Say goodbye to those nasty canned soup casseroles! Cooking from scratch is not as time consuming as one would think and this book proves it! Love the plan ahead recipes, and inventive to the traditional recipes! Great book! Downside are no photos, but that doesn't deter me from using this book. Glad I bought 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 c