This is a story of how to make the perfect “dump” casserole using just what you have. Of course this dish was made by Chef Gabby of KOF so this particular tale is not of an ordinary dish. Per the whole point of a “dump” dish, I am not providing a specific recipe for you to follow, but instead am providing an overview of how we actually made this dish.
Prepping for Cooking Class
My favorite class to work on is the 12-week Basics Course that takes students from learning knife skills through all the various ways of cooking. It is a packed course, and by the end, the students are knowledgeable home cooks. Every day starts with staff preparing a simple meal that students can eat, while we demonstrate techniques, and walk through the recipes for the day. Since the day class starts at 11am, getting something to eat right away tempers the hunger pangs while cooking.
Classes typically run ~3+ hours, and have ~18 students. Enough time for students to sit through a demonstration, lecture, and then start cooking. What makes it work, in such a short period of time, is that the Chefs, apprentices, and staff may arrive anywhere from 2-4 hours in advance, and start prepping for the days activities.
The Cooking Class topic on this particular day was SAUCES. At some point the students would learn how to make a Roux, then we would move them into making a Béchamel sauce.
- Roux is flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cooked to the desired level of brownness.
- Béchamel sauce, also known as white sauce, is made from a white roux and milk. It has been considered, since the seventeenth century, one of the mother sauces of French cuisine.
At the end of this class we always have a lot of Béchamel sauce leftovers. So, instead of just throwing out all that sauce, we make a mac-n-cheese casserole. Staff would cook the macaroni in advance, grate the Cheddar cheese, and then during class we collect all the béchamel sauce, combine and bake.
- How to make bechamel mac-n-cheese
Attacking the Fridge
In the Schools fridges are left overs from previous classes and items for the next class. Every container has a label with what it is, and a date of when it went into the fridge. The idea is to have the oldest containers in front and the newest in the back, but as you may know, these plans start out great but soon chaos reigns, Every so often the Chefs “attack” the fridges content and start a “toss or keep” review of everything.
(Sometimes we do this before setting up, and what we find becomes the initial food we prepare and serve when class starts. Might be a cheese and fruit or veggie platter, a large salad, soup, or anything we can combine.)
For some reason, I think it might have been a search for cheese, the Chefs started to attack the fridges this particular morning. Next thing I knew, I had lots of currently dated containers at my workstation, and Chefs Gabby and Lev started to look like a Chef version of “mad scientists.” They were reviewing, commenting on, and deciding what to do with all the small and larger containers of leftovers. There must have just been a recent class cooking ratatouille for there were many containers of this dish.
- Ratatouille is a French Provençal stewed vegetable dish. The modern version of this dish features sautéed garlic, onion, tomato, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and herbs or spices.
From Mac-n-Cheese to Dump Dish
At some point during the class, I started to collect the sauces and combined them in a large bowl. Next to me was Chef Gabby with a bowl of the cooked macaroni, and all the recently refrigerated containers. While Gabby started to open all these containers, he instructed me to integrate the sauce, cheddar cheese and pasta into one large bowl.
He washed his hands and wrists, then using his cleaned hands, started to mix all these various ingredients together in the pasta bowl. Then he told me what to add from the open containers, while he combined the ingredients.
- First, we added all the leftover ratatouille.
- There were a number of once fresh herbs that were now partially dried, such as parsley so, after he rubbed the herbs in his hands and smelled the fragrance, he had us strip and add the crushed leaves to the dish.
- There was some cooked mushrooms, and a container of half unused kalamata olives so we chopped them all up and added.
- Finally, there was some end bits of blue cheese and feta cheese, so those were added too.
He tasted, seasoned and put the three casserole dishes (2 regular and one gluten-free) into the oven to heat, melt, and get a brownish top.
Proof is in the Dish
The title of this section is one of the Cook’s truth. If people love the food, the dish becomes empty; thus the proof of a successful recipe is how much was eaten. For only 18 people, and 3 casserole dishes full of macaroni and cheese, the photo above proves this was a successful dish.
I have to admit, I have never tasted something so good. And I do not particularly like the texture of eggplant. But WOW this was a dish I am still not sure I could replicate even though I know what went into it. I certainly do not know the amounts, it was a bit of this, and a handful of that.
Like the Chef he is, he took the ordinary and with a handful of ingredients and his imagination, made something unique and extraordinarily delicious.
–Patty
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Spice Tip: I have always said I prefer whole spices and will grind them when I need them. I believe that the spices stay fresher this way and I can get more flavor from what I have in my pantry. What you have in your spice collection is based on our own tastes and cuisine preferences. But the whole spices I have are: cardamom pods, cinnamon bark, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, nutmeg, peppercorns, allspice, and such. To grind I have three tools: a coffee grinder set aside just for spices, a microplane, and, pestle and mortar.
Ramen Soup Tip: It is okay to take a ramen soup package and use the noodles, although now you can purchase the noodles by themselves, and at my local store it is in the bulk aisle. Use the noodles in the ramen soup packages, but toss the chemical heavy seasoning packet. Add to your own homemade broth, toss in some scallions and an egg, and you are good to go.
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