Mexican Casserole - Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

How to spice up a bland chicken casserole? ›

Try different herbs for added flavour: sage or lemon thyme work wonderfully well. For a meatier casserole, add chopped sausage or pancetta when cooking the chicken. Stir wholegrain mustard through the casserole at the end of cooking (to taste); this is especially good if you have sausage in the casserole.

You can microwave it until it's hot, one serving at a time, or you can reheat the whole casserole in a 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes until it's heated through. Do you have a favorite breakfast casserole combo?

If you've already cooked your casserole and find out it's too dry, another easy fix is to warm some broth and then pour it over the top of your casserole. Cover the dish with aluminum foil to prevent the liquid from evaporating and wait for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Casseroles can really shine when they achieve a harmonious balance of flavors. Sweet, salty, spicy, and acidic elements should blend well and complement each other. Add ingredients like caramelized onions, olives, or lemon zest to give your casserole a depth of flavor.

The casserole is covered and refrigerated overnight to allow the liquid ingredients to be absorbed into the bread. This is a perishable mixture and should be cooked the morning or day after assembly.

If food has been hygienically prepared, cooled quickly after cooking (or reheating) and stored cold, reheating more than once should not increase the risk of illness. However, prolonged storage and repeated reheating will affect the taste, texture, and sometimes the nutritional quality of foods.

Covering the dish will trap the steam in and keep it moist while it heats. How do you moisten a dry casserole? Add a little water or milk to the top of the it before reheating.

Make-ahead meals (especially baked casseroles) are terrific because you can completely assemble them in advance and bake them just before serving. They're the ultimate comfort food as they come bubbling hot and delicious straight from the oven to the table to the delight of family and friends.

Do I bake my casserole covered or uncovered? ›

Generally, casseroles with grains, rice or pasta that will cook during the baking process are usually covered, for at least part of the time. Casseroles made of cooked ingredients are usually baked uncovered. If you like a crisper, browner top, be sure the casserole is uncovered for at least part of the bake time.

Covering a casserole helps the dish cook evenly, stay moist, and prevents burning. Uncovering helps with browning, crisping and allowing for steam to release.

Slow Cook

Another of the newer settings on electric ovens, this is characterised by a pot or casserole pot symbol. This symbol is designed to run on low consumption for low heat and very long cooking times. This is perfect for stews, casseroles and even some large meat BBQ like ribs and steaks.

This is often due to high water content in some vegetables and dense meats that are used in these dishes. Browning /cooking the meats (and draining off any excess liquid) and sautéing the vegetables before cooking often helps this issue.

The mistake: It's bland

How to fix it: Some other flavor boosters can help. Try a drizzle of good olive oil or an herb oil once it's out of the oven. Fat carries flavor, which is why so many restaurant chefs finish dishes with a twirl of extra virgin or a sprinkle of chive oil.

Most casserole and stew dishes start off with the same base of onions, celery and carrot, sauteed gently to release the flavours. Sauteed means cooked gently and stirred often until the sugars wake up in the vegetables, allowing them to release their full flavour. You could add a little crushed garlic if you like that.

Medjool dates and fresh herbs:

Then roughly chop a handful of pitted Medjool dates, pistachio nuts, and fresh herbs such as parsley and sage. Mix together with breadcrumbs and the cooked onion and stuff into your chicken breast before baking. You can also swap the dates for a different dried fruit, like cranberries.