Frogleg wrote:
>
> This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still
> wondering. How come so many casserole recipes include mostly cooked
> ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr cooking time?
> I mean, you got y'r condensed mushroom soup and y'r cooked, diced
> chicken, and y'r cooked noodles and y'r bread-crumb topping -- why
> does this take an hour in the oven? To evapotate the water in wet
> ingredients and make everything sort of glom together? To make the
> water soak up the starch ingredient and produce a thick 'sauce'? To
> keep the kitchen warm on cold winter evenings?

Why does it matter? You cook it till it's done -
which means hot through and nice and golden brown on
top. Even though the ingredients may not be raw they
are not usually already hot. They need time to heat
up and in the case of cheese, for example, to melt
and blend with the other ingredients. Casseroles
are pretty thick and dense so it's no wonder it takes
a while for them to get piping hot throughout.
Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?