Tuna Noodle Casserole - A Favorite Comfort Food!

I arrived at Michael’s on Saturday and we made do with meals consisting of take-out and my leftover fish and chips lunch from Red Robin that I had the day before. With nothing planned for cooking on Sunday, I took inventory of what we had and found tuna, cream of mushroom soup, noodles and frozen peas, so I decided to make a Tuna Noodle Casserole. The only thing I needed was potato chips and since we don’t keep those around the house, because chips are a weakness of ours, I did need to make a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up a bag.

I can’t remember the last time I even had tuna casserole, it’s probably been at least……..well, let’s just say it’s been a long time. But for some reason, I’ve been thinking about it and craving it for several months, so the decision to prepare it for lunch wasn’t difficult. Since I have never made tuna casserole before, I began my search and found a couple of recipes that looked a little like the casserole I remember eating as a child. Then I decided to ask the maker of the tuna casserole of my past, my sister Jean. When I was little, I used to spend a lot of time with my sister and her family, mostly because her children, my niece and nephews, were only a few years younger than me and we often played together, and she and her family also spent a good bit of time at my parents’ home, so I ate a lot of my sister’s cooking. Even though she has always been a good cook, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of her delicious meals over the years, this has been one of her dishes that I remember the most. I imagine, since money was tight for her young family, it was a cheap and easy meal to prepare for a family of five, and her little sister, therefore was made frequently.

Between what I found on the internet and some input from Jean, I was able to come up with the following recipe.

Tuna Noodle Casserole
Print Recipe

1 (12 ounce) bag egg noodles, cooked al-dente
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, not diluted.
3/4 cup milk
2 (7 ounce) cans tuna, packed in water, do not drain!
1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded (optional)
1 cup green peas - used frozen straight from the bag.
1 generous pinch black pepper.
1 cup crushed potato chips


Oven Temperature: 375°F

Preheat oven.

Crush potato chips and set aside.

Cook noodles according to package for al-dente, and drain.

In a large bowl, combine noodles, soup, milk, tuna, peas, salt and cheese, if using; mix to combine and coat well.
Pour into a buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle crushed potato chips evenly on top.
Bake, uncovered for 30 min until bubbly.
Servings: 4 to 6

Notes:
I had some tuna in foil packages on hand so used 6 (2.6 oz each) of those.

Cream of celery soup may be used in place of cream of mushroom.

I know, I'm missing step by step pictures. Well, first, I really hadn't planned to blog about this just yet but then changed my mind and second, this is such an easy dish to prepare that I really don't think pictures would be that helpful. It's basically a mix and dump recipe....I think there were a lot of meals like that in the 60's and 70's.

Wanted to show you these cool new oven mitts that I just bought. I always worry about dropping the casserole dish when I use my other mitts since the dish doesn't have any handles. One day when I was browsing at TJMaxx I found these, they have ribbed silicone pads, great for gripping the dish and my hand slips inside the mitts and are protected from coming in contact with the oven and racks. I also use them when handling my hot cast iron skillet and when taking the insert out of my crockpot when it's hot. I love them! They aren't my favorite color but that was all I could get.

I really don't remember whether my sister's tuna casserole had a potato chip topping on it or not but I liked the idea so went with it. I put some chips in a plastic food storage bag and squeezed until they were crushed.

Michael was more than ready to dig in. By the time I got back from Giant Eagle, he was hungry and even grabbed the bag of chips and started eating those. I was afraid there wouldn't be any left for the casserole.

He's a little bit of a messy guy - I should have cleaned off his bowl before taking the photo but he didn't want to wait that long, I'm surprised he stopped long enough for me to take this picture. Don't try to touch the dish of a starving man.

I didn’t know if Michael liked tuna casserole and really wasn’t sure that I still did. When I was little, I used to eat cold spaghetti out of a can and now the thought disgusts me almost as much as it used to my older brother when he witnessed this display.

Mmmmm, it's as good as I remember! Michael liked it too and said he wanted to go back for seconds but was afraid of eating too much. This is definitely going to be prepared again.

Chicken Lo Mein

I love Chinese food! It isn’t something that I’ve always enjoyed....it took some getting used to and a little trial and error, but eventually I liked it and now even crave it from time to time. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm a gal from the midwest and, while growing up, our meals consisted mostly of meat and potatoes so Chinese food was not something that fit in with our meal plan. I remember the first time I tried Chinese food, I hated it....wouldn't, couldn't even finish my meal. But after a few times of going to Chinese restaurants and trying different dishes, I finally found a few that I liked. Now, after several years, I have a large list of dishes that I enjoy.

I have three favorite restaurants that I frequent but lately all of them have failed me. The last three or four times I’ve been to these restaurants the food has been horrible! So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and attempt to prepare one of my favorite dishes myself. Chicken Lo Mein is a recent addition to my favorite Chinese dishes and hoping that it would be easy to make, I went online and searched until I found one that looked good and easy.

Chicken Lo Mein
Print Recipe

1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
Marinade
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry (I used Mirin - sweet cooking rice seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
3/4 teaspoon sugar
Other
1/2 pound Chinese noodles
1 cup thin carrot strips (about 1 carrot)
1-8 ounce can straw mushrooms (I'm slicing these next time)
3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil for stir-frying, or as needed
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
Salt and pepper to taste, if desired

Cut the chicken into thin strips about 2 inches long. Add the soy sauce, rice wine or sherry, sesame oil and the cornstarch. Marinate the chicken for 20 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the other ingredients: Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cook the noodles in boiling water until they are cooked al dente (tender but still firm). This will take about 3 minutes for fresh noodles, and 4-5 minutes for dried. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again.

Cut the carrot into thin strips to match the chicken. Rinse the straw mushrooms under running water to remove any "tinny" taste. Drain Thoroughly.

In a large frying/saute pan or wok, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high to high. Add the garlic, stir-fry for a few seconds until aromatic, then add the chicken. Stir-fry the chicken until it changes color and is 80 percent cooked. (If you need more oil, try adding 1 tablespoons water). Remove the chicken and clean out the pan.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil and the salt in the wok. Add the carrots and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 1 minutes, then add the chicken. Add noodles, stirring to mix in the other ingredients. Add the sauce into the pan, mixing with the other ingredients.

Cook for 2 more minutes. Taste and add salt or pepper if desired. Serve hot.

Yield: 4 servings

Notes:
Spaghetti or linguini can be used instead of the Chinese noodles.

If you don't like the whole straw mushrooms, slice them. If you don't want or can't find the straw mushrooms just use a can of regular. Can also use fresh mushrooms.

Sliced boneless skinless chicken breast - 1/2 pound.

Ingredients for marinade.

The Marinade: soy sauce, Chinese rice wine (Mirin), sesame seed oil and cornstarch in a bowl...I used a pie pan.

Chicken combined with the marinade.

Remaining ingredients...except for the noodles.

Oyster sauce.

The Sauce: chicken broth, oyster sauce and sugar.

I wanted to use authentic Chinese Lo Mein Noodles so I drove (about a 40 minute drive) to Jungle Jim's International Market  (a favorite place to shop) in order to buy some. Had to laugh when I found them in their Asian section and saw, in the lower right hand corner, the words, Made in the USA. I guess we still do make a few things here, just surprised that it's Chinese noodles.

  These are the "authentic" Chinese noodles, if you can't find them, substitute spaghetti or linguini.

Boil noddles for 4-5 minutes. Should be tender but firm (al dente).

Straw mushrooms....I've never seen these before. If you can't find them, substitute regular canned mushrooms or fresh. When using canned, rinse and drain well.

I forgot to take a picture of this, but you need cut carrot into thin strips.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high to high heat. Add chopped garlic, stir-fry for a few seconds.

Add marinated chicken and stir-fry until almost completely cooked. Remove from pan and clean out pan (wipe with a clean cloth or towel). 

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, add salt. Add the carrots and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 1 minute. 

Add the chicken. 

Then add the noodles and stir to mix in. Add the sauce, stirring to mix in with the other ingredients. Cook for 2 more minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Now you're ready to serve!

This was very good! Michael and I both agreed that it was better than any of the Chinese meals that we’ve had in a long time.

Now that my first attempt at making Chinese is a success, I’ll be looking for more dishes to try. Anyone have a good egg roll recipe?

Mom's Meatloaf - Take Two

Meatloaf is one of my favorite foods…to me it says comfort as much, if not more, than pot roast. I don’t believe I’ve ever met a meatloaf that I didn’t like, some I’ve liked better than others, but still think my mom’s was the best.

Mom didn’t have a recipe for her meatloaf, she may have at one time but by the time I remember watching and helping her make this, she didn’t use one. So I took what I could remember, along with some recipes that I found on the internet and came up with one that is very close to hers. I still don’t think it tastes quite like hers, but I’m in the ball park.

One of my first blog posts was about Mom’s meatloaf recipe…back then all I did was post the recipe along with a picture (my first didn’t even have a picture). Below is the recipe along with a few revisions.

Print Recipe
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork sausage
½  cup onion, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup saltine crackers (approx. 1/2 sleeve) crushed
1 can tomato soup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Sauté onion until soft
Combine beef, pork sausage, onion, eggs, tomato soup and crackers and mix well
Place in 9x5 loaf pan or a baking pan and shape into a loaf
Bake for 45 minutes - 1 1/2 hours. Internal temperature should reach 160 degrees F.
Remove from oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing

Mom didn't measure out the crackers....she just used a package or two from the box. Back then, the crackers didn't come in a sleeve like they do now, so I'm not really sure how much she used. A food processor or rolling pin can be used to crush the crackers, but since I was cooking at Michael's I had neither, so used a bottle of garlic oil.

I place butter in a frying pan and then saute the onions ....Mom never did this, she just chopped the onions and placed them in the meatloaf mixture. This may be one of the reasons our meatloaf doesn't taste exactly the same.

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. This is where my mom let me help…mixing the meatloaf. I had to put my hands in the bowl and squish it through my fingers. I didn't care for it then and I don't like it now. I usually use my Kitchen Aid stand mixer for this process…use the dough hook, set the mixer on 1 and it does a fine job. Since I was at Michael’s, I was forced to use my hands….yuck! Did I already tell you that I hate this part?

I normally use a large loaf pan but since I had made an unplanned trip to Michael's, I didn't pack my loaf pan, so just used a 9x13 pan and tried to shape it into a loaf. It is kind of loafish...... Now that this is done, I can wash my hands....yeah!

Ok....I do like ketchup....mom used it to top her meatloaf and so do I....I also spread some on my serving when getting ready to eat.

Michael couldn't wait to cut into the meatloaf.

Normally Michael doesn't get it when I take pictures of my food, but this time he actually brought his plate back into the kitchen and asked me to take a photo. He said, "Here take a picture of my plate so they can see it." It does look better than mine...especially since he put more cheese on the garlic and cheddar mashed potatoes and his ketchup was already on his plate. By the way, this was his first serving...he went back for seconds.

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage

This is a recipe I discovered while looking for something to prepare for the BakeSpace Challenge for October. We were supposed to prepare something made from local produce that is in season for October. Being from SW Ohio, finding a variety of local produce this time of year is a challenge in itself…I knew we had apples and pumpkins but wasn’t sure what else. Danielle (Cooking for My Piece of Mind and another BakeSpace regular) found a link to NRDC....Eat Local which contained lists of seasonal produce for different parts of the country. Well, unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to choose from this time of the year….in my opinion. I’m not a fan of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage), and that is what is available, along with peppers (I like them a little but not enough to use as a main ingredient), along with the before mentioned apples and pumpkin.

I decided to try to find something using apples and/or pumpkin, but didn’t want to use them in a way that I normally do….cookies, pie, cake, candy, muffins, etc. I wanted to try something different….savory instead of sweet. While searching for a recipe, I received the Food Network Newsletter in my email and it contained links to pumpkin recipes. I found several pumpkin pasta recipes and decided on this Rachel Ray recipe.

Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage
Print Recipe
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil -- plus 1 tablespoon
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic -- cracked and chopped
1 medium onion -- finely chopped
1 bay leaf -- fresh or dried
4 sprigs sage leaves -- cut into chiffonade, about 2 tablespoons (4 to 6)
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg -- ground or freshly grated
Coarse salt and black pepper
1 pound penne -- cooked to al dente
Romano or Parmigiano -- for grating

Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and brown the sausage in it. Transfer sausage to paper towel lined plate. Drain fat from skillet and return pan to the stove. Add the remaining tablespoon oil, and then the garlic and onion. Sauté 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender.

Add bay leaf, sage, and wine to the pan. Reduce wine by half, about 2 minutes. Add stock and pumpkin and stir to combine, stirring sauce until it comes to a bubble. Return sausage to pan, reduce heat, and stir in cream. Season the sauce with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and salt and pepper, to taste. Simmer mixture 5 to 10 minutes to thicken sauce.

Return drained pasta to the pot you cooked it in. Remove the bay leaf from sauce and pour the sausage pumpkin sauce over pasta. Combine sauce and pasta and toss over low heat for 1 minute. Garnish the pasta with lots of shaved cheese and sage leaves.

Brown sausage

Onions and garlic

Bay Leaf, Sage and Wine

Add Pumpkin and Broth

Add Sausage, seasonings and cream

I served this with a whole grain pasta...I felt the pumpkin would go well with it.

I have to admit that I was a little concerned about this recipe. Never having pumpkin as a savory dish, I wasn't sure I would even like it...but I did. Michael wasn't quite as impressed...kept referring to it as hamburger helper....hmmmm. I think he really would have preferred a red sauce instead.

I will make this again, but maybe not when Michael is around.

Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker

It’s October in Southwest Ohio…the air is crisp and cool, the leaves on the trees are beginning to turn to their fall colors of yellow, orange and red. Autumn is definitely in the air and it’s my favorite time of the year. With the cooler weather my thoughts turn more and more to comfort food…roasts, stews and soup…heartier meals. Recently I’ve been craving pot roast…so when I did my grocery shopping this week, I picked up a roast, potatoes and carrots. This morning I pulled out my Crock Pot, gathered the ingredients and went to work.

Potatoes
Carrots
Onion
Garlic
Beef roast, approximately 3-4 pounds
Salt
Pepper
One package of dried onion soup mix....I don't always add this, the roast is just fine without.
beef broth ½ cup
½ cup flour and ½ cup water or broth, if you plan to make gravy

I don’t know how many potatoes or carrots I use but use a lot because my favorite part of this dish are the potatoes, carrots and gravy.

I put oil in a frying pan and brown both sides of roast ….beef cooked in the Crock Pot tends to look a little gray so I like to brown it first.

Put vegetables in the Crock Pot first then place the roast on top.

I was a little lazy and didn’t want to peel potatoes so chose to use red…all I had to do was give them a good scrub and cut up. I quartered the smaller potatoes and cut the larger into similar size.

I love baby carrots, I think they taste a little sweeter than regular carrots…again, no peeling; just add to the pot.

I used one onion…cut approximately the same size as potatoes.

One clove minced garlic. Whenever I use garlic it reminds me of a story.... I live in a small college town where most of the students live off campus. When these young people come to college, this is the first time that many of them have had to cook for themselves so cooking and shopping are new to them. One day while I was in the produce department at the supermarket, I had a young man come up to me carrying a bulb of garlic and asked me if it was a clove….he said he was going to prepare a dish that required one clove of garlic. I, of course, set him straight. Don’t even get me started on how some of these kids to their laundry……it would frighten you.

This looks good and it hasn't even cooked yet.

Place roast on top. I usually add dried onion soup mix at this point but the last time I was in Penzey’s, I saw a Beef Roast Seasoning and decided to use this instead. Salt and Pepper and add ½ cup of beef broth into the Crockpot.

Place lid on Crockpot. I sometimes start out with the Crockpot on high and then turn to low and let it cook for approximately 10-12 hours or 5-6 hours on high. Cooking times may vary depending on size and brand of slow cooker.

I left the house for the day and returned several hours later to the wonderful aroma of my roast cooking.

10 hours later....yum!

To make gravy, mix ½ cup flour with ½ cup water or broth until smooth. Remove meat and vegetables from crockpot, turn to high and add flour and water mixture, stirring constantly. Once all lumps are removed, put lid on crockpot and cook until boiling…this should take about 15 minutes. If the gravy is too thick, add liquid until it reaches the desired consistancy. If it's too thin, just let the gravy continue to cook a little longer. Salt and pepper, if needed.

I could hardly wait until I had the gravy made and the food plated. It was sooo good...another craving satisfied!