Tuna Noodle Casserole with an Asian Twist

 

 Tuna Noodle Casserole with an Asian Twist

Aeons have passed since I last posted any recipes. My apologies. I would claim that having four children, five years old and under, has kept me on-my-toes-busy; but, I don't want my children to one day believe that I blame them for not getting much of anything (beyond cooking, doing laundry, folding clothes, feeding four little mouths, wiping bottoms, changing diapers, transporting people places, going grocery shopping, etc.) done.

I've gotten a chance play around with Tuna  Noodle Casserole and made an American-Asian fusion, which I will call my very own. Before mentioning what makes the Asian fusion portion of the recipe, I will say that I didn't use egg noodles. At the time, I only had elbow macaroni; so, my recipe is using that. The ingredients that added a bit of an Asian flavor to this dish were three: shittake mushrooms, soy sauce, and ground ginger.

Here are the ingredients I used, minus the seasoning & spices (they aren't pictured below).

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. (16 oz.) elbow macaroni
• 1 package of shittake mushrooms (around 12-15 mushrooms), washed and sliced thinly
• 5 pearl (?) onions, sliced very thin
• chives, perhaps 10-12 strands, rinsed & cut very thin
• 4 cartons of 12 oz. Pacific organic cream of mushroom condensed soup - this was the only cream of mushroom soup I could find that didn't have MSG in it.
• 4 cans (5 oz each) of Wild Planet wild albacore tuna - I am relatively new to this brand but was extremely pleased with the quality. It's 100% pole and troll caught. The fish tastes, to me, nearly like the tuna purchased behind the glass case in the meat & seafood section of a grocery store. One can costs a pretty penny, but it is THAT exquisite
• Panko bread crumbs
• organic chicken broth
• water
• frozen green peas - 1/3 to 1/2 a package
• 5 cloves of garlic - peeled & cut into small chunks
• freshly grated Parmesan
• sea salt - not much - since the cream of mushroom soup comes salty
• soy sauce - also not much
• ground ginger

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large pan or skillet (I am seriously lacking in technical jargon and extremely precise measurements; my apologies for that), place in the sliced shittake mushrooms, pearl onions, cut garlic, cut chives, cream of mushroom soup, water, chicken broth, and green peas. Place the pan/skillet on medium heat.
• Once the pan's contents are nearly boiling, cook the pasta to al dente, and not any longer than that amount (or the pasta will be soggy and mushy after baking). While the pasta is cooking, add some sea salt, a bit of soy sauce, and several pinches of ground ginger. 
• When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the water and combine the pasta with the pan's contents. Stir thoroughly.
• Pour everything into a 9x13 baking pan. I used a deep Pampered Chef stoneware pan. Spread evenly. Cover the top with a very thin layer of Panko bread crumbs. Grate some Parmesan (I grated the Parmesan on the spot; I can taste the difference in the freshly grated cheese and it is so much tastier!) and sprinkle it here and there. I didn't put a thin, continuous layer of cheese, because I wanted the flavor of the cheese in the dish without making it cheesy.
• Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.
• When ready to serve, add some freshly grounded colored peppercorn (I used a pepper mill) on top.

2012-6-9

My 5 year old has really taken a liking to this dish. Bon Appetit!

Wild rice with rotisserie chicken

2012-3-3

Quick, yummy, and healthy I can claim. My recipe, not so much.

A friend had delivered a cooked chicken, a rotisserie chicken. I purchased a couple packages of Near East wild rice (with spice packs), a package of organic carrots, a package of organic celery, and a red onion.

I cooked the wild rice on stove top.

In a pan, I caramelized the finely sliced red onion, using olive oil, on medium heat. Once the onion was done, I added the carrots and celery. I added chicken broth and sea salt. Placed a lid on the pan. Cooked the carrots and celery on the stove for approximately 15-20 minutes.

I preheated the oven to 375. In a stoneware rectangular pan (like one used to bake lasagna), 9 x 13 (I think), I covered the bottom with the contents of the frying pan (carrots, celery, red onion, broth). Next layer up, I sprinkled freshly grounded peppercorn (mine had a variety of colors, different kinds of peppercorn), followed by rotisserie chicken torn into pieces. The top layer was the cooked wild rice. I covered the stoneware with aluminum foil and baked the dish for 45 minutes.

Time was spend peeling carrots, washing celery, and cutting the vegetables. Other than that, the dish doesn't take much effort or time to make. And the dish was popular amongst the friends with whom I had shared.

Avocado and Mango Salsa

2012-3-3

I cannot lay claim to creating anything here, except for quick and easy goodness. I bought the mango salsa at Sunflower Farmer's Market, my favorite grocery store. I am not being offered any incentive to speak for or on behalf of the store. If there were a Trader Joe's here, I'd be in even more trouble; love, love, love that grocery store.

This morning, while my friend was making me a delicious omelet (with asparagus, tomatoes, shittake mushrooms, and green onions), I was looking to fill my tummy quickly. Nursing twins gets me hungry in a ravenous sort of fashion. Having some avocado purchased me a few moments.

Egg Drop Soup

2012-2-25

Egg Drop Soup

This morning, I set out to make a meal for a couple. On the docket included: white rice, egg drop soup, fried rice, and fresh strawberries and blueberries. I have posted my recipe for fried rice. But, egg drop soup is new here.

The good news is: I can and will share all the ingredients to my soup. The bad news is: I have no exact measurements to share. Wasn't making careful observation of what I was doing. Another piece of good news is that it turned out superb.

Ingredients:

• water
• organic free range chicken broth
• sea salt
• soy sauce
• freshly ground peppercorn
  
• ground ginger
• green onions
  
• free range brown eggs
• corn

Make sure the green onions are cut fine.


But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Directions:

• In a pot, add water and chicken broth. The ratio was roughly 1/2 water or 1/2 chicken broth. In the end, the soup might have become more 1/3 chicken broth and 2/3 water. On high, bring to a boil. Beat eggs (I think I used 10) in a bowl and set aside. Once the broth is on a high boil, begin the egg drizzle. This takes concentration and some work. Do NOT pour all the eggs in at once. I poured a little (perhaps 1/6 of the entire amount) and continuously (non-stop) gently stirred. Then I added some water, waited until the broth was again boiling a lot, after which I added some more water. Repeat until all the eggs are in the soup. Two points - constantly stirring when the eggs are poured in and making sure the liquid is boiling before adding more eggs - are crucial to avoid the eggs clumping (unless you're trying to make poached eggs).

• Turn stove to medium heat (from high). Then the other ingredients can go into the soup: thinly sliced green onions, minced garlic, sea salt (I probably used at least several tablespoons), soy sauce (I used just a bit, enough to barely color the broth), ground ginger (a couple or a few pinches), freshly ground peppercorns (I used around 10-12 peppercorns), corn (I used frozen corn).

• Allow to simmer for a few minutes, and the soup is ready to serve.
  

2012-2-25

I was really pleased with the results.

2012-2-25

My mouth is watering just writing about it.

Garden Fresh Vegetable Soup

2011-9-5

Garden Fresh Vegetable Soup

These are just some of the gorgeous vegetables with which two families from church blessed us this past Sunday, yesterday. I got everything from zucchini to two different kinds of potatoes to two different kinds of onions. Decided to make a hearty soup out of everything except one of the vegetables. I also had a some cooked beans, the beans of which also were home grown by a friend's mom.

These vegetables need to be enjoyed, before this very pregnant mommy decides that energy is non-existent and is rendered incapable of doing anything in the kitchen.

2011-9-4

In a pan with a bit of olive oil on lower medium heat, I cooked the onions. Once the onions were almost done, I dropped in the potatoes, cut into little chunks or squares, along with some water. Cook the potatoes until done.

Throw all the other vegetables, peeled (where ever appropriate or desired - carrots, cucumbers, etc.) and cut, into a pot. I used water exclusively as the broth. Once the vegetables have been cooking, they form a rich flavored, mouthwatering broth. The spices and flavoring I used for the soup included:

• sea salt
• freshly ground black peppercorns
• a few hints of cinnamon
• some Hungarian paprika
• a bit of soy sauce (just a bit)
• a few drizzles of Worcestershire sauce
  

I dropped the cooked beans my friend gave me after everything else was tender. I'm not sure what all went into cooking those beans. Some bacon, I believe, was dropped into cooking them; so, the soup cannot qualify as vegetarian.

Cook the soup for awhile to allow the various flavors to spread. Then it's ready to serve. I enjoy my soups with rice, over rice.

Pesto, perfectly thick pesto sauce

2011-8-25

Pesto, perfectly thick pesto sauce

I hadn't planned on my recipe blogging hiatus to be the norm but more of an exception. However, this pregnancy with twins had thrown my love affair with food off course into to the uncharted territory of picky, easily offended senses. Pesto is a more recent love or desire, and I hadn't attempted making my own until quite recently. This is my third attempt at tweaking with various ingredients, and I am pretty satisfied with this rendition.

The results were thick, and the version I made was on the salty side. However, this pesto, for my intent, wasn't and isn't meant to be eaten along. I've served it atop plain pasta and I have also used it on cheese pizza (along with fresh olives and freshly grated muenster cheese).

Here's my recipe to share:

In a blender, blend the following:

• 4 oz of basil
• 2 cups of freshly grated parmesan (I purchased a chunk of parmesan and grated it using a hand grater)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 c. of pine nuts
• 26 peppercorns (I used a pepper mill to grind the peppercorns)
• 2/3 c. olive oil
• sea salt (I don't know exactly how much I used)

Once blended evenly and well, empty blender contents into sauce pan, along with 1/3 - 2/3 c. organic chicken broth and 1/3 c. whole milk. On low to low-medium heat, bring to a gentle boil, and the work is done. Use the pesto sauce in whatever way is pleasing to you.

After eating it once over pasta, my pregnancy pickiness wanted something different. Having it on a cheese pizza, along with fresh, pitted calamata olives and freshly grated muenster cheese was tasty as well. What is your pleasure?

A fancy schmancy pepper mill

I got myself a splurge. I've been wanting a pepper mill or grinder for awhile now. I have a pepper grinder for black peppercorns or rainbow peppercorns. But, I needed one for white peppercorns or something that would allow me to interchange them frequently and easily.

And yes, the taste is so different using freshly ground pepper, in contrast to the store-purchased pre-ground pepper. By a country mile.

I saw this beauty on sale, marked down not once, not twice, but thrice. Even then, I wasn't sure I should buy it. After all, though cooking well is still a high priority, being frugal is, well, a must. In the end, I gave in to the whispers of the Peugeot Olivier Roellinger Pepper Mill, yesterday. And, thrice, with utter thrill and excitement, it has been used today. Got a bit too carried away one of those times today. Used in a egg and tomato stir fry this morning. Used it when making pesto this afternoon. Followed by making hot and sour soup. Wow, way too much of the black peppercorns and white peppercorns for that soup; set my mouth and face on FIRE. Still could appreciate the complex flavors of the freshly ground pepper, however.