Showing posts with label casserole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label casserole. Show all posts
Homemade Tuna Noodle Casserole (Without the Can!)
The condensed soups, be it tomato, chicken noodle, cream of this or cream of that, they all have personal recipe books to their name. Instead of choosing the pot o' soup route, you can take your condensed soup and make Southwest Chili or Garlic Chicken.
Or arguably the most famous condensed soup based recipe: Tuna Noodle Casserole.
Cream of mushroom soup, the star of the Tuna Noodle Casserole stage, was actually my favorite Campbell's soup when I was growing up. And it was one of the few meals that I could cook for the family when I was eleven. (Yeah, it was basically soup and cinnamon toast then!)
Using the cream of mushroom as a base for Tuna Noodle Casserole is always a fast and effortless way of pulling a casserole together, but sometimes this is not always possible. Such as last week. I proposed the idea of making Tuna Noodle Casserole that week and since we haven't had it in SUCH a long time, the family was getting kind of excited about the whole thing. I started check-boxing the ingredient list in my head. . . "So I will need peas. Check. Cheese. Check. Tuna, cheese, milk. Check, check, check. Think I'm all set. Wait a minute. I don't have any cream of mushroom soup. Actually no cream of soup at all!"
I just couldn't bring myself to burst the Tuna Noodle Casserole bubble for the family so I scoured the internet searching for a recipe that didn't include the "can." I found one at "Sing for Your Supper Blog." It it not your traditional Tuna Noodle. It uses spaghetti, olives, canned mushrooms, etc. Not many flavors or textures the family would like. But the recipe has good bones, especially when speaking of the roux. So I took some components from this recipe, added a few of mine and produced a casserole that we think is better than the Campbell version. And hey, making Tuna Noodle Casserole from scratch also means less salt and the sometimes "chalky" aftertaste you get from a canned soup. Not a bad comeback!
Homemade Tuna Noodle Casserole
click here for printable recipe
Yield: One 5 quart casserole
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. jumbo elbow macaroni (use any pasta shape you like!)
2 cups chicken stock (I use chicken bouillon cubes. To make: Drop in two cubes into two cups boiling water. Boil until cubes have dissolved)
4 medium onions
1/2 stick butter
5 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 quart frozen peas (I use whole sugar snap peas. Alternatively, you can use two 15 oz. cans of shelled peas)
2 cans chunk white tuna (5 oz. cans)
2 cups shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
2 packets of Ritz crackers, crushed (Tip: Put two Ritz cracker packets into plastic bag and crush by hand until crumbs resemble large bread crumbs)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Boil 4 quarts water in 6 quart pot. In the meantime, chop onions into small dice. Add macaroni to pot and boil until fully cooked (around 11 minutes). Drain pot and pour cooked pasta into separate bowl. Return pasta pot to medium-high burner and add 1/2 stick butter. As soon as butter is melted add onions, salt, and pepper. Put lid on pot and cook onions until softened, about 10 minutes. Next, add 5 tablespoons flour to onions, stir vigorously and cook onion-flour paste for 2 minutes. Slowly begin adding chicken stock and milk to pot and stir continuously. Simmer until thickened. As soon as liquid has thickened, add in dried parsley, salt, pepper, cooked macaroni, frozen peas, tuna, and cheese. Bring pot to a simmer. Pour tuna noodle mixture into casserole dish that has been either buttered or sprayed with nonstick spray. Pour a little milk at the sides of the dish to prevent a dry casserole. Top casserole with cracker topping. Place dish into oven and bake for 10 minutes or until cracker topping is slightly brown. To avoid an overly browned topping, top casserole with aluminum foil and return to oven to cook for an additional 30 minutes. Look for a ready casserole that is golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Enjoy!
Watch and Cook
I also filmed a how-to video on this Tuna Noodle Casserole of mine. Be sure to watch it before you tie on your apron!
Or arguably the most famous condensed soup based recipe: Tuna Noodle Casserole.
Cream of mushroom soup, the star of the Tuna Noodle Casserole stage, was actually my favorite Campbell's soup when I was growing up. And it was one of the few meals that I could cook for the family when I was eleven. (Yeah, it was basically soup and cinnamon toast then!)
Using the cream of mushroom as a base for Tuna Noodle Casserole is always a fast and effortless way of pulling a casserole together, but sometimes this is not always possible. Such as last week. I proposed the idea of making Tuna Noodle Casserole that week and since we haven't had it in SUCH a long time, the family was getting kind of excited about the whole thing. I started check-boxing the ingredient list in my head. . . "So I will need peas. Check. Cheese. Check. Tuna, cheese, milk. Check, check, check. Think I'm all set. Wait a minute. I don't have any cream of mushroom soup. Actually no cream of soup at all!"
I just couldn't bring myself to burst the Tuna Noodle Casserole bubble for the family so I scoured the internet searching for a recipe that didn't include the "can." I found one at "Sing for Your Supper Blog." It it not your traditional Tuna Noodle. It uses spaghetti, olives, canned mushrooms, etc. Not many flavors or textures the family would like. But the recipe has good bones, especially when speaking of the roux. So I took some components from this recipe, added a few of mine and produced a casserole that we think is better than the Campbell version. And hey, making Tuna Noodle Casserole from scratch also means less salt and the sometimes "chalky" aftertaste you get from a canned soup. Not a bad comeback!
Homemade Tuna Noodle Casserole
click here for printable recipe
Yield: One 5 quart casserole
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. jumbo elbow macaroni (use any pasta shape you like!)
2 cups chicken stock (I use chicken bouillon cubes. To make: Drop in two cubes into two cups boiling water. Boil until cubes have dissolved)
4 medium onions
1/2 stick butter
5 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 quart frozen peas (I use whole sugar snap peas. Alternatively, you can use two 15 oz. cans of shelled peas)
2 cans chunk white tuna (5 oz. cans)
2 cups shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
2 packets of Ritz crackers, crushed (Tip: Put two Ritz cracker packets into plastic bag and crush by hand until crumbs resemble large bread crumbs)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Boil 4 quarts water in 6 quart pot. In the meantime, chop onions into small dice. Add macaroni to pot and boil until fully cooked (around 11 minutes). Drain pot and pour cooked pasta into separate bowl. Return pasta pot to medium-high burner and add 1/2 stick butter. As soon as butter is melted add onions, salt, and pepper. Put lid on pot and cook onions until softened, about 10 minutes. Next, add 5 tablespoons flour to onions, stir vigorously and cook onion-flour paste for 2 minutes. Slowly begin adding chicken stock and milk to pot and stir continuously. Simmer until thickened. As soon as liquid has thickened, add in dried parsley, salt, pepper, cooked macaroni, frozen peas, tuna, and cheese. Bring pot to a simmer. Pour tuna noodle mixture into casserole dish that has been either buttered or sprayed with nonstick spray. Pour a little milk at the sides of the dish to prevent a dry casserole. Top casserole with cracker topping. Place dish into oven and bake for 10 minutes or until cracker topping is slightly brown. To avoid an overly browned topping, top casserole with aluminum foil and return to oven to cook for an additional 30 minutes. Look for a ready casserole that is golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Enjoy!
Watch and Cook
I also filmed a how-to video on this Tuna Noodle Casserole of mine. Be sure to watch it before you tie on your apron!
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| click the image to see the video |
The Colorful Side of Brown Food
3/30/11: Quesadilla Casserole
I remember watching an Iron Chef America episode when there was a discussion of "brown food." Oh, there is nothing wrong with brown food in most cases--nicely browned pork cutlets or a dark, rich chocolate ganache is always a good thing, but not all dishes should showcase that shade. And that is exactly what happened during the episode's judging. A dish came out and it came with a very unappetizing shade of brown, a brown similar to a cardboard box.
So the three judges searched for their inner Andrew Zimmern stomachs and went in with their forks. Mind you, I do not recollect who was challenging who, what the secret ingredient was, or which tie Alton Brown was wearing, but what I do remember is the look on their faces. They loved it and the dish went over with flying colors.
A very similar scenario happened in my house. I made this Quesadilla Casserole, a recipe I found in the October 2009 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, and I substituted the black beans with refried beans because I was out of the former. Yeah, you can see where this is going. The casserole came out browner than brown.
But because of my Iron Chef capabilities (yeah, right), the dish turned out to have great flavor. I guess brown food isn't all that bad.
When I made it again and decided to make it just as flavorful but add a bit of color, I did this simply by making a couple cups of homemade enchilada sauce and using that as a layer. I also made sure I used a can of black beans; they add color and contrast to the casserole.
So here is the casserole all spruced up:
I remember watching an Iron Chef America episode when there was a discussion of "brown food." Oh, there is nothing wrong with brown food in most cases--nicely browned pork cutlets or a dark, rich chocolate ganache is always a good thing, but not all dishes should showcase that shade. And that is exactly what happened during the episode's judging. A dish came out and it came with a very unappetizing shade of brown, a brown similar to a cardboard box.
So the three judges searched for their inner Andrew Zimmern stomachs and went in with their forks. Mind you, I do not recollect who was challenging who, what the secret ingredient was, or which tie Alton Brown was wearing, but what I do remember is the look on their faces. They loved it and the dish went over with flying colors.
A very similar scenario happened in my house. I made this Quesadilla Casserole, a recipe I found in the October 2009 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, and I substituted the black beans with refried beans because I was out of the former. Yeah, you can see where this is going. The casserole came out browner than brown.
But because of my Iron Chef capabilities (yeah, right), the dish turned out to have great flavor. I guess brown food isn't all that bad.
When I made it again and decided to make it just as flavorful but add a bit of color, I did this simply by making a couple cups of homemade enchilada sauce and using that as a layer. I also made sure I used a can of black beans; they add color and contrast to the casserole.
So here is the casserole all spruced up:
What about you? Have you been cooking any Mexican inspired dishes? Which is your family's favorite that you cook again and again?
Everything But the Kitchen Sink -- Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
5/2/10: Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
Meal details: I made a casserole that had traditional pot pie flavors, such as carrots, broccoli, potatoes, and chicken. And the casserole was topped with a biscuit layer, something like a cobbler.
Defining moments: First time using potatoes, carrots, broccoli, peas, and parsnips in one dish. Wow! What a line up of ingredients, huh?
Recipe sources: I was having an incredibly hard time choosing what to make this week. I wanted to select a Robert Irvine recipe (in order to continue with the FNCCC), but nothing jumped out at me and I was running out of time. So Annemarie gave me her recipe binder to browse through. Her binder is not your typical recipe book, it is huge and has the thickness of an encyclopedia set. :D Within five minutes, I found the recipe I wanted. It was a pot pie recipe from Sam's Club and here it is for those who are interested. . .
What you need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 lb. cooked Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (about 3 cups)
16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose baking mix
Make it
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook cream cheese and broth in large saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently with whisk. Stir in chicken, vegetables and garlic salt.
Spoon into 9-inch pie plate. Beat egg and milk in medium bowl with whisk until well blended; stir in baking mix just until moistened. Spoon over chicken mixture. Place pie plate on baking sheet.
Bake 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown.
What I learned: One thing stands out clear to me and it's this: I need to parboil (precook) all vegetables. I parboiled all my vegetables except for the carrots and they didn't cook all the way through when in the oven; they were still firm in areas. I should either precook the carrots or really dice them.
Any modifications? Yes. Instead of using a pie plate, I used our 6 quart casserole dish and a smaller dish for three times the recipe. It is a whole lot easier than trying to maneuver three pie plates in the oven!
And instead of purchasing a bag of frozen vegetables from the store, I used veggies from the previous farming season. They're considered free now, so why not? The parsnips and carrots were kept in a makeshift root cellar (a long box of sand) and I was very happy to see that they were nice and crisp!
How it tasted? When I first chose this recipe I thought, "It looks simple, we have all the ingredients. . . So why not?" Yeah, I wasn't overly enthused about it to tell you the truth! So you can understand why I was amazed by all the good feedback I got from the family. Everyone didn't just like it, they loved it. :D
How about a 2nd time? Definitely!
Meal details: I made a casserole that had traditional pot pie flavors, such as carrots, broccoli, potatoes, and chicken. And the casserole was topped with a biscuit layer, something like a cobbler.
Defining moments: First time using potatoes, carrots, broccoli, peas, and parsnips in one dish. Wow! What a line up of ingredients, huh?
Recipe sources: I was having an incredibly hard time choosing what to make this week. I wanted to select a Robert Irvine recipe (in order to continue with the FNCCC), but nothing jumped out at me and I was running out of time. So Annemarie gave me her recipe binder to browse through. Her binder is not your typical recipe book, it is huge and has the thickness of an encyclopedia set. :D Within five minutes, I found the recipe I wanted. It was a pot pie recipe from Sam's Club and here it is for those who are interested. . .
Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
Prep. 10 min. Total 40 min. Makes 8 servings Cost per serving = $0.90
What you need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 lb. cooked Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (about 3 cups)
16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose baking mix
Make it
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook cream cheese and broth in large saucepan on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring frequently with whisk. Stir in chicken, vegetables and garlic salt.
Spoon into 9-inch pie plate. Beat egg and milk in medium bowl with whisk until well blended; stir in baking mix just until moistened. Spoon over chicken mixture. Place pie plate on baking sheet.
Bake 25 to 30 min. or until golden brown.
What I learned: One thing stands out clear to me and it's this: I need to parboil (precook) all vegetables. I parboiled all my vegetables except for the carrots and they didn't cook all the way through when in the oven; they were still firm in areas. I should either precook the carrots or really dice them.
Any modifications? Yes. Instead of using a pie plate, I used our 6 quart casserole dish and a smaller dish for three times the recipe. It is a whole lot easier than trying to maneuver three pie plates in the oven!
And instead of purchasing a bag of frozen vegetables from the store, I used veggies from the previous farming season. They're considered free now, so why not? The parsnips and carrots were kept in a makeshift root cellar (a long box of sand) and I was very happy to see that they were nice and crisp!
How it tasted? When I first chose this recipe I thought, "It looks simple, we have all the ingredients. . . So why not?" Yeah, I wasn't overly enthused about it to tell you the truth! So you can understand why I was amazed by all the good feedback I got from the family. Everyone didn't just like it, they loved it. :D
How about a 2nd time? Definitely!
Thinking Outside the Box -- Macaroni and Cheese with a Secret Ingredient
1/10/10: Macaroni and Four Cheeses with Classic Lyonnaise Potatoes
Meal details: For the main course I made a baked macaroni and cheese casserole that contains a surprising secret ingredient. And for a side I made a baked potato dish that has butter and lots of onions.
Defining moments: I've done casseroles before, so nothing was new for me this week.
Recipe sources: Both recipes came from the Food Network website. The mac 'n cheese recipe is a recipe created by Ellie Krieger, the host of Healthy Appetite and the potato dish was created by Emeril Lagasse, the host of Emeril Live and the Essence of Emeril. I specifically chose these two recipes because I am a member of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. I've been a bit behind in the challenge for awhile, especially now since I've been testing some recipes from my new cookbook, but I'm still chugging along!
What I learned: OK, now to tell you the secret ingredient in the mac 'n cheese. Hope you're sitting down! Ready? The ingredient is. . . Butternut squash. You weren't ready for that, were you? If you're hovering the mouse cursor over the "back" button, hold on! Just scroll down to the "How it tasted?" section of the post; you might be surprised.
Besides learning how to pick out a recipe that scared the pants off my sister, I didn't gather any new techniques or tips from these two recipes. They both are very straightforward recipes and do not require a whole lot of ingredients, so that is probably the reason for it! But I think it is extremely good that I try some easy recipes every so often; if I don't I would go out of my mind. It is like what Ina Garten said on her show, Barefoot Contessa a couple of weeks ago: "I love to cook, but I don't like to spend the whole day cooking." I'm like her.
Any modifications? Yes, I made some changes to the mac 'n cheese recipe. I omitted the ricotta cheese (because some people on the website said that the ricotta made a grainy texture), I just used sharp cheddar cheese, and I used Ritz cracker crumbs instead of bread crumbs (because didn't have plain bread crumbs in the house).
Another modification I made, and this time to both recipes, was the oven time. I left both dishes in the oven for an hour--a whole lot longer than what the recipes say. We like our casseroles and potatoes to be a bit crispy on the edges.
How it tasted? What was more surprising than using our frozen butternut squash in the recipe was that every single member of my family (eight in all) liked the macaroni and cheese! Even some who don't care much for squash in the first place! A lot of them, including me, couldn't really detect the squash flavor. The squash, however, did add something to the dish and that was: texture. It made for a really creamy casserole.
The Lyonnaise Potatoes were alright. I think I should have cooked the onions for a longer time so they would have been sweeter. I don't think it is the best way to prepare potatoes.
How about a 2nd time? I would pull out Ellie's recipe again but I think Emeril's potato recipe will be in my recipe binder for awhile.
St. Michael's Angel Food
5/31/09: Hash Brown Casserole and Pentecost Cake in Honor of the Feast of Pentecost (May 31st)
The cake recipe wasn't changed exactly, only the frosting. But I did have to resort to using an 8" bundt pan instead of the 7" tube pan that the recipe called for; we don't have any pan like that in my family's collection. Because I used a large cake pan the baking time went much faster. Instead of baking for 45 minutes, the cake was done in 30.
So getting back to the frosting. . . The frosting recipe called for strawberries and since I didn't have any on hand and I wanted a red fruit, I decided to substitute it with a cranberry frosting recipe. Here is the cranberry frosting recipe I used:
4 tb. cranberry sauce (I used the jelly kind you find in the can)
1/3 tb. salt
1 lb. powered sugar (that's 2 cups for you fellow volume lovers!)
Soften cream cheese. Add cranberry sauce and whip until light and fluffy. Add salt. Gradually add powered sugar and continue beating until mixture is creamy. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cake. Yield: enough for two 8" layers. (Note: the frosting I made was not very stiff. It will dribble off the sides of the cake.)
My Papa said, "The texture of the cake is like a pound cake but the flavor is like an angel food. Perhaps a tough angel food would best describe it then? Oh, I got it! St. Michael's Angel Food!" Sounds good to me!
- Meal details: Main course, hash brown casserole -- had cheese, eggs, evaporated milk, and bacon and was baked in two 13 x 9 pans.
- Recipe sources: Casserole recipe came from verybestbaking.com. You can see it here. The cake recipe came from catholicculture.org and can be seen here.
- Defining moments: Using cranberries in frosting. Who would of thought! And I must mention here that this is my first time using bacon as an ingredient for a Sunday supper. Pretty big moment, don't you think? :)
- What I learned: I learned that it is very easy to cut bacon into pieces when it has been out of the freezer for thirty minutes, and only thirty minutes. I shouldn't let it sit out for much longer because it will be difficult to stand the stack of bacon on its side. My Papa said this is the easiest way to do it and he is absolutely right!
- Any modifications? Yes, to both recipes. For the casserole, I didn't add onion or pepper, didn't use turkey bacon but rather good old pork bacon, and added more hash browns (4 oz.) and eggs (2 eggs yolks that were left over from the cake I made) to the bowl.
The cake recipe wasn't changed exactly, only the frosting. But I did have to resort to using an 8" bundt pan instead of the 7" tube pan that the recipe called for; we don't have any pan like that in my family's collection. Because I used a large cake pan the baking time went much faster. Instead of baking for 45 minutes, the cake was done in 30.
So getting back to the frosting. . . The frosting recipe called for strawberries and since I didn't have any on hand and I wanted a red fruit, I decided to substitute it with a cranberry frosting recipe. Here is the cranberry frosting recipe I used:
Cranberry Cream Cheese Frosting
--recipe found on razzledazzlerecipes.com--
3 oz. cream cheese, softened--recipe found on razzledazzlerecipes.com--
4 tb. cranberry sauce (I used the jelly kind you find in the can)
1/3 tb. salt
1 lb. powered sugar (that's 2 cups for you fellow volume lovers!)
Soften cream cheese. Add cranberry sauce and whip until light and fluffy. Add salt. Gradually add powered sugar and continue beating until mixture is creamy. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cake. Yield: enough for two 8" layers. (Note: the frosting I made was not very stiff. It will dribble off the sides of the cake.)
- How it tasted: The casserole was liked by all but I wish it had more of a flavor punch to it! However, the texture was great and it was really easy to put together. Just make sure you have an hour for it to cook!
- How about a 2nd time? I think the casserole can be made again but I would like to find that one important ingredient that it is lacking. The cake I love so that will have to reveal itself again next year!
My Papa said, "The texture of the cake is like a pound cake but the flavor is like an angel food. Perhaps a tough angel food would best describe it then? Oh, I got it! St. Michael's Angel Food!" Sounds good to me!
Am I getting high-tech or what? Here is a 360 view of the Pentecost cake on video. Take a look!
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