Tuna Noodle Casserole

I love a good casserole. They're so homey and comforting. This is a very basic tuna noodle casserole. A good jumping off point if you want to make one from scratch (and not using canned soup). I'm not saying you're a lazy bastard for using canned soup. I'm just saying you don't love your kids. Kidding! I'm kidding! Calm down. I really liked this, although I do think next time I might jazz it up with a little sharp cheese melted into the sauce and maybe some predictable peas (which is really the opposite of jazzy, but I don't have to make sense on my own blog). I think that flu shot I got is making me loopy.

TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

Serves 4 to 6

5 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 cup diced portobello mushrooms

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1 shallot, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme

1 tablespoon minced chives

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk (whole)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 cans tuna, drained

8 oz. wide egg noodles, cooked until al dente and drained

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup panko

1.      Preheat your oven to 350º F. Grease an 8- x 8-inch baking pan.

2.      In a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter over medium-high until foaming. Stir in mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have given off all of their liquid and cooked through (10 or so minutes). Season lightly with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl and set aside.

3.      Add another 1/2 tablespoon butter to the frying pan, then cook onion, shallot and celery together for about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the chopped herbs and the sherry and cook for another 2 minutes.

4.      Add 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high until melted. Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for about 2 minutes. Then whisk in the milk and chicken stock, bit by bit, to make a smooth sauce. Cook, stirring, until just slightly thickened (another minute or two). Then add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5.      Flake the tuna into the white sauce, then add the mushrooms and noodles; stir until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the greased baking pan.

6.      In a small pan, melt the last tablespoon of butter. Stir in the minced garlic and the panko breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until the panko is golden brown. Sprinkle this all over the casserole. Put the casserole in the oven and bake until it is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

slightly adapted from food52.com By fiveandspice

mushrooms

onion, shallot and celery

adding herbs

adding sherry

adding butter

adding flour

adding milk

creamy white sauce

adding lemon zest

stirring in tuna and cooked mushrooms

stirring in cooked egg noodles

mixed

in the casserole dish

mixing butter, garlic and panko

panko sprinkled on top

tuna noodle casserole

Dean & Deluca's Tuna Sandwich

Dean & Deluca is a fancy schmancy (not to mention pricey) gourmet/specialty food shop. I used to live near their flagship store in NYC, so occasionally I'd wander in and ogle all the wondrous kitchen gadgets that were way out of my price range. On rare occasions I'd splurge and leave with an extravagant (and no doubt luscious) treat tucked under my arm. I never tasted their tuna sandwich, but I was intrigued when I stumbled upon the recipe. I have to say, it's definitely up there on my list of good, solid tuna sandwiches I've had (for the record, I don't actually keep a list of those).

DEAN & DELUCA'S TUNA SANDWICH

WITH CARROTS, RED ONION, AND PARSLEY

Makes 3-4 sandwiches

2 (6 oz.) cans drained chunk white tuna in water

3 tablespoons finely chopped carrots

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

3 tablespoons finely chopped celery

1 large scallion, finely chopped

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

3 rolls

lettuce and tomato as accompaniments

____________________________________________________________________

1.      Place the drained tuna in a large bowl. Mash. Add carrots, onion, parsley, celery, and scallions.

2.      Place the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Add the crushed garlic clove and lemon juice.

3.      Add the mayonnaise mixture to the tuna. Mix together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.      Serve on rolls with lettuce and tomato.

by David Rosengarten with Joel Dean & Giorgio DeLuca (from The Dean and Deluca Cookbook)

drained tuna

chopped carrot

chopped celery

everything but the mayo mixture

Actually, I didn't realize until I was captioning this photo
that I forgot the parsley. At least I can tell you that it's
pretty damn good, even if you don't have parsley handy.

adding the mayo (next time I'll do this step
more gradually, it was just a little too much)

tuna salad spread on a roll

tuna salad topped with lettuce and tomato

sandwich up close

.

Maple Glazed Tuna

I know some of you out there might look at this tuna and think it's undercooked. But this is how tuna should be done (even rarer would be good, but I lost track of time while snapping some photos of it cooking in the pan). I was a little weary the first time I made it this way, but once I tasted it, I realized all my past tuna steaks were overdone and dry and this was the way to go. I know those of you who enjoy sushi won't feel the least bit uneasy.

This recipe is from chef Marcus Samuelsson. I've made several of his dishes and I've never been disappointed. The glaze has a nice sweet and sour quality. It's so good, we ended up drizzling it over our steamed broccoli and dipping our tuna in the leftover.

MAPLE-GLAZED TUNA

Makes 4 servings

glaze:

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 (6-ounce) tuna fillets

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 cilantro sprigs

1.      Whisk together all the glaze ingredients. Set aside.

2.      Season the tuna on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast iron or heavy skillet over high heat. Add the tuna and cook for only 30 seconds on each side.

3.      Remove from the pan and brush both sides of the tuna with the maple-mustard glaze.

4.      Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with cilantro. Serve with Pear-Potato Salad.

from New American Table by Marcus Samuelsson

looking luscious

I accidentally put a little too much oil in the pan, but 
didn't use it all to cook the tuna (it doesn't take much)