Between the cookbook’s title and its apron-wearing, pearl necklace-adorned, casserole-toting authors, we had to stop and check our calendars. It is 2011, isn’t it? Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock’s new “The Casserole Queens Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter) is a throwback to another era but with a modern twist. The recipe names — Chicken Tetrazzini, Tuna Noodle Casserole and, of course, Mac and Cheese — may evoke the 1950s, but who can resist a recipe dubbed Boo-yah Bouillabaisse? Or Frenchy Toast Casserole?
Yes, the Chicken Divan calls for cream of mushroom soup, but the pair offers a DIY version. Red Snapper Veracruz, another mid-20th-century classic, is served over fluffy quinoa. And recipes run the gamut from brunch fare to potluck-ready entrees and desserts. We’re so charmed, we’ll even forgive them the Spam Casserole (in their defense, it’s homage to their hometown’s Spamarama Festival).
Cook and Pollock run a casserole home- delivery business in Austin, Texas. But they do kitsch with tongues firmly in cheek — and Food Network’s Bobby Flay, whose two- thumbs-up review is plastered across the book cover, loves them. We must confess, they had us at “how to make a dish-towel apron.”
