Tuna Casserole (All natural ingredients)

 

I am not overly fond of oily fishes, except for salmon and tuna . . . and although the fresh is best, I always have tins of those fishes in the larder.  They come in really handy for casseroles and sandwiches, salads, etc.



Tuna Casserole is something which I have always loved . . . but I have never been overly fond of using too many processed ingredients in making it, like tinned soup, etc.  I like to make my own sauce and it's really not that hard to make a sauce from scratch and tastes so much better.



I remember an old Italian woman telling me one time when I was in the grocery store buying tuna that I should only ever buy Albacore tuna.   She said the other stuff was garbage.  This was a very long time ago as I was a very young wife and mom at the time.  Since then I have only ever bought the Albacore.  I figure it an old Italian woman thought it was the best then it probably was the best.



I know it does come at a premium price, but I think somethings are worth paying a bit more for them.  It also tastes a LOT better than the cheap stuff . . . and like the L'Oreal product commercials say . . . I'm worth it!



This has a delicious creamy sauce, flavoured with cream and cheddar cheeses along with sauteed fresh mushrooms, onions, garlic and green peppers . . .  crunch buttery cracker crumbs and cheese on top . . . peas . . . noodles and the tuna. 




It's really a nice casserole that we both enjoy.  Yes . . . even the so called pasta hater.  I like to serve some vegetables or a salad on the side.  I hope you will give it a go and that you enjoy it as much as we do!

*Tuna Casserole*

Serves 4

Printable Recipe  

A delicious casserole which does not use tinned soup.  You make the sauce from scratch.  It makes a big difference.  Fabulous!

1 small punnet of button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

(about 1 cup)

1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced

1 small onion, peeled and minced

1/2 medium green pepper, trimmed and chopped

(You can chop the whole thing and freeze half of it.  That's what I do.)

1/2 pound of flat pasta (I used taggliatelle, but you can use any flat noodle)

3 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

280ml of milk (about 1 1/4 cups)

125g of cream cheese (4 ounces)

1 tin of tuna, undrained

(I use the solid albacore in brine)

a mug full of frozen peas, thawed

fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

120g of strong cheddar cheese, grated (1 cup)

2 TBS finely grated Parmesan Cheese

crumbled buttered cracker crumbs

Melt 1 TBS of the butter in a large skillet.   Add the mushrooms, onions and green pepper.  Cook, stirring, until the vegetables have softened.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds until fragrant.  Add the remaining butter.  Sprinkle the flour over top and stir to combine.  Add the milk slowly, stirring until you have a smooth and thick sauce.  Add the cream cheese, stirring until it melts.  Stir in half the cheddar cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.   Crumble in the tuna and it's brine.  Stir in the peas.  Set aside and keep warm.



Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*f/ gas mark 5.  Cook the noodles according to the package directions.   Drain well and then stir the cooked noodles into the sauce.  Butter a shallow casserole dish and pour the mixture into it.  



Sprinkle with the remainder of the grated cheddar cheese.  Scatter the crumbs over top along with the Parmesan.  Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until heated through and golden.

Herbed Mushroom Mac & Cheese

   

 We have been trying to eat less meat in this house lately, and much more in the way of vegetables.   Partly for economics and partly for other reasons.  You may have noticed . . .

 

I had some chestnut mushrooms that needed using up the other day and so I thought to corporate them into a macaroni and cheese casserole.    It ended up being really, really delicious!



I did an herbed cheese sauce, using two types of cheese along with some tarragon.  I love the flavour of tarragon.  It goes really well with cheeses and mushrooms actually . . .



I also added some chives and thyme.  Both for flavour and colour.  You could use fresh herbs, but I think when they are being incorporated into a sauce like this, it doesn't really matter.  I always use the Bart Freeze Dried Herbs though . . . they hydrate really well, so it's almost like fresh herbs.  Change your herbs often.   I change mine at least twice a year.

 

The Toddster always says he doesn't like pasta, but then he has two helpings of whatever it is I make.  Methinks he doth protest too much!  In any case, I hope you'll make this.  It's really, really, really good!

*Herbed Mushroom Mac & Cheese*

Serves 6

Printable Recipe  

A deliciously different kind of macaroni and cheese, using a combination of herbs, shallots, fried mushrooms and two kind of cheese!  Not exactly diet food however, but very tasty.

For the sauce:

4 TBS butter

4 TBS plain flour

675ml of whole milk (3 cups), warmed

1 tsp freeze dried chives

1 tsp freeze dried tarragon

1 tsp dried thyme
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/2 pound of grated gruyere cheese, divided

1/2 pound grated strong white cheddar cheese, divided

For the mushrooms:

3 TBS butter

1 shallot peeled and minced

1 pound chestnut mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

2 TBS good white wine vinegar

You will also need:

1 pound of macaroni, uncooked

2 sliced of bread made into crumbs

(Or the equivalent in cracker crumbs)

1 TBS butter, melted

First cook the mushrooms.   Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Add the mushrooms and shallots.  Cook, stirring occasionally over medium high heat until the mushrooms are golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Add the vinegar all at once and cook, stirring until it has evaporated.   Remove from the burner and set aside.

To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a large saucepan.   Whisk in the flour and cook for one minute.  Slowly whisk in the warm milk whisking constantly, Continue to whisk until the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken.  Turn out the heat and stir in the herbs and 3/4 of each amount of cheese.  Stir to melt the cheese.   Season to taste with some salt and black pepper.  Stir in the mushroom mixture.   Set aside and keep warm.



Cook the macaroni according to the package directions until al dente.  Drain well and then stir this into the mushroom cheese sauce.  Spread into a shallow buttered casserole dish.



Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. 

Combine the bread or cracker crumbs and melted butter.  Sprinkle the remainder of the cheeses over top of the macaroni mixture then top with the buttered crumbs.  Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes.   Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Delicious!

Spicy Baked Chicken

We love chicken in this house and it is a meat which I serve often as it is not only affordable but something which readily adapts itself to many flavours and cooking methods.  




Sometimes I stuff it and roast it whole, which is very, very nice.  Not to mention you then have the leftovers to turn into delicious casseroles and lets not forget a tasty soup from the bones.



More often than not though, I like to use pieces, either breasts or leg quarters, sometimes boneless, and at others bone in . . .any way you cut it, chicken is our favourite protein of choice.



Today I chose to use chicken leg quarters, which I rubbed with a spice mix, drizzled with olive oil and then simply roasted in the oven until the skin was nicely crisped, whilst leaving the flesh tender and juicy.  It's one of the Toddster's favourite meals, served up with potato of some sort and vegetables.  You can't go wrong.  Kiddos love this too!  And best of all it's quick, easy, economical and tasty!

*Spicy Baked Chicken Quarters*

Serves 6

Printable Recipe  

Simple.   Chicken thigh and leg quarters, rubbed in a spicy rub, drizzled with olive oil and then baked until they crispy tender and tasty tasty!  

6 chicken leg quarters (thigh and drums)

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

(If you use onion and garlic salt, omit any other salt)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried marjoram

2 TBS olive oil

Hot sauce to finish (optional)

Parmesan Cheese (optional)  

The day before you want to cook your chicken pieces, remove them from their packaging and place them into a baking dish, leaving space between each one and place them in the refrigerator to dry overnight.  This helps to ensure a nice dry surface for the spices to cling to.   It's not absolutely necessary to do this, but I do it this way.  You also get nice crisp skin.  Delicious! 

 The next day when you are ready to cook them remove your chicken from the fridge.  Using a sharp knife cut several slashes into the meat on the diagonal.   Mix together all of your herbs and spices and rub this mixture into the chicken pieces, coating them well and equally.  Allow to stand for half an hour before proceeding.

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.  

Drizzle the chicken pieces with the olive oil and then put them into the heated oven.  Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, flipping them occasionally with tongs, until the meat easily separates from the bone and any juices run clear.  The skin should be nice and crisped and the meat tender and moist.  If you are wanting extra zip you can brush them with some hot sauce or sprinkle lightly with a bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese prior to serving.

Note:  This recipe is easy to adapt to other flavours.  Wanting a Mexican feel???  Try combining mild chili powder along with the salt, pepper, onion, garlic.  Change out the mustard powder to ground cumin and add some coriander flakes instead of the marjoram.  For an Indian feel, leave out the paprika and herbs and use ground tumeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and ground cardamom along with a touch of cinnamon and cloves.

Buttermilk Chicken

I can still remember the first time I tasted Buttermilk. It was way back in the mid 1970's.  I think I bought some to make a cake with or something.  Buttermilk in Canada, comes in one litre containers, so it wasn't long before I was scrambling to find something else I could make with it.  Back in those days it was a lot harder. There was no internet to seek advice from!    You had to rely on word of mouth, friends and family.



Over here in the UK, you only get Buttermilk in small 284ml containers, each holding about 1 1/2 cups, which is good in a way, as  you are only opening about as much as you need at any given time, but it is a pain in another way as you end up having to buy more containers and store them when you want to make something as delicious as this chicken here today.




This is an old favourite of ours from those early days.   The chicken always turns out amazingly tender.  A good soaking in buttermilk is the secret to that.   Sometimes I add herbs to the flour mixture, sometimes I don't.  I am in particularly fond of thyme, or symmer savoury in this.  But it's awfully good with no herbs as well.



It does use condensed cream soup.  But I am not a snob that way, or pedantic about it's use.  I'm not pretentious either.  If something tastes good, it tastes good and I am not afraid to tell you that it uses cream soup.  So there!



It has it's uses and this is one of them and I'm not afraid to put my hand up and say, yes . . . on occasion I do use "cream of" soups.  Oh sure, I could take extra time and make a bechamel sauce, etc. . . . or homemade mushroom soup to use in this, but I don't.



I'm also rather lazy at times.  And this is one of those times.  It tastes good.  It's easy to make.  It's a real family pleaser.  You can't get much better than that.  I did share this on the blog way back in 2009, but some things are just so good they bear repeating on occasion.



*Buttermilk Chicken*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

I'm not sure how it works, but the buttermilk in this recipe helps to create chicken that is moist and very tender.  This is delicious!

2 ounces butter (1/4 cup)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 heaped TBS of plain flour
2 284ml containers of buttermilk (about 3 cups)
1 (285g) tin of Batchelors condensed cream of mushroom soup (Campbells)
chopped fresh flat leaf parsley to garnish

Pre-heat the oven to 205*C/425*F.  Melt the butter in a 13 by 9 inch shallow baking dish.  Set aside.

Sprinkle the chicken breasts on both sides with the salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Place the flour in a shallow bowl and one container of the buttermilk in another shallow bowl.

Dip the breasts, one at a time, first into the buttermilk and then into the flour, shaking off any excess, but coating it well.  Lay good side down in the melted butter in the baking dish.  Repeat until all four have been coated. 

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and flip over.  Return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes longer.

While the chicken is baking whisk together the other container of buttermilk and the undiluted mushroom soup.

Remove the chicken from the oven and pour the soup mixture over top.  Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until nicely browned.  Remove the chicken pieces to four warmed plates.  Stir the soup mixture in the pan and then spoon equally over top of the chicken pieces.  Serve immediately with some parsley sprinkled over each.



Can I whine a bit here???? (Yes this is the same photo from above)  I wanted to accentuate the small size of this "chicken breast" here.   I hate it when grocery shops try to dupe you into thinking you are buying a package of lets say CHICKEN BREAST for instance and one of the chick breasts is actually NOT a whole chicken breast but a chunk of chicken breast that they have managed to maneuver into the middle of the other breasts to make it look like you are getting four chicken breasts.  You aren't though.  You are getting three and a half if you are lucky and I have even been tricked into buying a package which has one and two halves in it.  Bad grocery stores.  They don't weigh what the package says either.  Once you take off all the packaging and that little piece of squishy paper underneat the meat that absorbs all that liquid and who knows what water they have pumpked into it, you usually are missing quite a substantial amount.  I am so tired of being lied to . . . aren't you?  I'll get off my soap box now.