‘Casseroles’ Category

  1. My First Tuna Casserole (Or Food Waste Free Tuna Casserole)

    April 13, 2011 by Tarrant Figlio

    It seems unreal that I made my first Tuna Casserole tonight — but I think that is the case. I remember my ex making them. I know my older sister made them. My mother would NEVER make one. I don’t think I ever did before tonight.

    Extreme Coupon Denise (man, every time I think that I want an action figure of Denise with her coupon-ing gear) has brought home tuna (and we had tuna in the house from some “Tarrant is in the mood for tuna salad (once) so let’s buy the cheaper option of 8 cans of solid white tuna.” Tarrant thoughts from before the launch of Extreme Coupon Denise (so that tuna is not Denise’s doing at all). The Denise tuna was free or better than free or whatever. I don’t get it. If you want to understand it–there is a whole series over here about extreme couponing. We also have a lot of pasta for the same reason.

    So I have been threatening tuna casserole for a few weeks. Mama doesn’t eat tuna casserole. Denise doesn’t eat tuna casserole Tarrant doesn’t eat tuna casserole. My children don’t even like the WORD casserole.

    I put it on the menu for the week thinking Friday, but realized today was better. Tomorrow is trash day and so I don’t get shamed for food waste–I decided I could hide all sorts of odds and ends in a casserole. Right? Right!

    I then set about making it knowing really nothing of the making of tuna casserole other than remembered snippets of this and that. So here is what went into my tuna casserole.

    First-I cooked 1/2 a bag of egg noodles in the microwave pasta boat thing I mocked at Christmas. Yeah, it is handy.

    While that was cooking I grabbed odds and ends out of the fridge:

    1/2 ear corn on the cob
    leftover pico de gallo (about 3/4 cup)
    7 mushrooms
    3/4 red bell pepper
    1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
    1 container minus 1 spoon of Santa Fe Philadelphia Cooking Creme
    4 boiled fingerling yukon potatoes
    end of a package of shredded cheddar (probably 2/3 cup)

    I chopped the mushrooms, bell pepper and potatoes. I cut the corn off the cob. I mixed all of that together except the shredded cheese. I drained the now cooked pasta and two of the cans of tuna. Mixed with vegetables/Philadelphia Cooking Creme blend. Then tossed the shredded cheddar on top. Baked at 350 until cheese melted/heated through.

    Mama asked for seconds. I liked it. Denise said it was ok. Seems like a win. I forgot to serve the dilled green beans with it though darn it.

    Category Casseroles, Fish | Tags: | 7 Comments

  2. Funeral Potatoes with Ham

    October 19, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    Now syndicated on BlogHer.
    A couple of weeks ago, I was startled by a cookbook among the books we picked up at the library. I don’t generally read new cookbooks and why on earth were we getting one from the library. It was too polished, too many pictures, too new. Cook’s Country Best Lost Suppers-Old-Fashioned, Home Cooked Recipes Too Good to Forget, 2009. I put it in the cold room to flip through while waiting for the dogs to come in.

    I didn’t like it. First was the matter of the pictures (am not a fan). Then there was the matter of the “Notes from the Test Kitchen” at the end of each recipe. These were family favorite recipes from all over the country. How dare they change them? I read on though. And I thought. I considered. I craved.

    Then I realized a couple of things, these are recipes that I would LIKE, do like, and uh, I tweak old recipes all the time. The people who submitted probably tweaked the originals as well. Ok, so maybe I love this cookbook, as new as it is and as much as it first rankled. I may even put it on my wish list. You see, there were a lot of recipes I want to try but it will be due back at the library soon. So, go see if your library has it. Give it a look. See what you think. The only thing I would have liked is the exact recipe pre-tweaking. For instance, one mentions that the original had used the crock pot but they preferred the oven to save time. I would nearly ALWAYS prefer a crock pot than the oven.

    The one recipe I made already, Funeral Potatoes with Ham, got mixed reactions last night. Boy child and youngest objected to the mushrooms. (They both liked it well enough though-even if it had that horrible food included) Girl child-food snob-objected to the “casserole-ness” of the recipe. She also wasn’t impressed. But as she reflected on it, she said “You know, I didn’t think I liked this much, but now I want more.” Denise feared the ham and the “That looks like au gratin. I don’t like au gratin.” She had two servings. As for me-yum.

    My notes-the peeling and shredding of the potatoes after cooking them was highly unpopular as a step. I think in the future, I will use pre-shredded potatoes-it won’t change the baking time and save a big step. We also didn’t butter the cornflake crumbs. I served with a dill cole slaw.

    Funeral Potatoes With Ham

    4 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    1 lb white mushrooms, sliced thin (We used pre-sliced)
    salt (oops-left that out)
    1 onion, minced
    2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    11/2 cups whole milk
    1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
    1/2 teaspoon pepper
    11/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
    8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
    1 pound ham steak, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
    1 cup sour cream
    1 1/2 cups cornflakes crushed fine

    1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Set aside

    2. (This is the step I would skip in the future) Bring the potatoes and 4 quarts of water to a simmer in a large pot and cook until just shy of tender (a paring knife should glide through the flesh with slight resistance), 10-15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them and then grate the flesh lengthwise on the large holes of a box grater. Return the grated potatoes to the pot.

    3. While the potatoes cook, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. (a step we said “Huh?” to) Add the mushrooms and 3/4 teaspoon salt (yeah, that salt, forgot.) and cook until mushrooms have released their juices and are brown around the edges, 7-10 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.

    4. Whisk in the milk, thyme, and pepper, bring to simmer, and cook, stirring frequently until thickened slightly, about 1 minutes. Stir in the cheese and 6 tablespoons of butter and cook until melted, about 1 minute.

    5. Off the heat, stir in the ham and sour cream. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and toss to combine. (I think this could be done in the 9 x 13 pan in the future and save a second saucy pot to clean) Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a bowl in microwave. (skipped this) Stir in the cornflakes, then sprinkle evenly over the top of potato mixture.

    6. Place the baking dish on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until potatoes are bubbling and the top is golden brown, 35-45 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

    Category Casseroles, Cookbooks, Meat, retro food, Vegetables | Tags: | 3 Comments

  3. Non-Traditional Lasagna/Meatloaf Lasagna

    October 3, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    Tonight, we had non-traditional lasagna for dinner. Or “Meatloaf Lasagna” or Mommy’s new lasagna recipe. I had planned meatloaf for dinner. Boy was kitchen sous chef for tonight’s prep. He hates meatloaf. I was out of cheese nips, so I ended up crushing corn flakes. Then I realized we had no potatoes or instant potatoes and I couldn’t serve meatloaf without potatoes. Ok. Boy was happy! Maybe I should make polenta layered something. Boy grumbled he liked polenta even less than meatloaf. My eyes lit upon the lasagna noodles. Oooo some sort of lasagna. Out of Parmesan, out of mozzarella.

    Non-Traditional Lasagna AKA Meatloaf Lasagna

    1 box of lasagna noodles (uncooked)
    1 lb ground beef
    1 jar spaghetti sauce
    1 tsp Italian Seasoning
    1 cup cornflake crumbs
    1 tsp chopped garlic (or to taste)
    1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
    2 cups small curd cottage cheese
    2 cups shredded cheddar
    2 eggs

    Spray 9 x13 pan with nonstick spray. Brown ground beef. Mix with spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, cornflake crumbs, diced tomatoes, garlic. Beat eggs with fork. If you like a less lumpy lasagna, (I do) whiz cottage cheese in blender/food processor/handy chopper until smoother…or have ricotta on hand. Mix cheeses and eggs together. Splash about 1 cup meat mixture in bottom of lasagna pan. Add layer of noodles. Use half of cheese mixture. Then half of remaining meat mixture. Repeat with layer of noodles and rest of meat mixture and then cheese mixture. Sprinkle a bit more cheddar on top. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour at 350. Take foil off. 10 more minutes or until bubbly.

    Note: Mama liked it. Teens liked it. Lasagna hating tween didn’t but she ate some. Denise said it was ok and certainly ate it. I liked it.

    Category Casseroles, Meat | Tags: | No Comments

  4. Mock Lasagne Casserole

    April 3, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    It is quarter to seven pm as I write this post, I don’t know what is for dinner. At all. I thought we were having stuffed zucchini. But the zucchini I remembered as being in the fridge transformed into cucumbers. I don’t know how that happened. Really.

    I am hungry. Laughing Cow + cranberry bread is not really enough to fuel me all day…even with a generous amount of coca cola and a caramel macchiatto.

    But, instead of fixing a meal, I am here. Mostly because I can’t fathom what to make for dinner. I flipped through the cookbook on my desk. I seem to have few of the ingredients needed for any of the recipes and really, we all know what not having dinner ready by this hour means at this house: No recipe is going to save me from serving everyone what is known as “scrounging” at this house.

    Yep. Every able bodied person old enough/young enough to run a microwave without assistance gets to figure out what they want for dinner and prepare it themselves. (This would be everyone in this house, save my mother who isn’t having an able-bodied day. I will fix something for her. (Oh, by the way, the limited posting of late has been related to the fact that my mother moved in to our home at the end of the year)

    Going out seems too taxing and oh wait, taxes mean we don’t have the money anyway. Well, taxes and other things mean we have no money. Chicago is expensive. Moving to Chicago is expensive. That sort of thing.

    I could use a recipe in this book though. We have the ingredients. Some in our family might even enjoy it…mostly the part of the family not here for dinner tonight. On the other hand, they may look at it suspiciously. They often do if they see some new food and evidence of a retro cookbook. They also are highly reluctant to eat anything with either “mock” or “casserole” in the name. This recipe contains both.

    If you can sell your family on it though…nice budget dinner and you likely have all the ingredients.

    Mock Lasagne Casserole

    1 pound bulk pork sausage
    1 15-oz can tomato sauce
    1/2 teaspoon each garlic salt, pepper, and dried basil leaves, crushed
    1 7-oz package macaroni-cooked and drained
    1 1/2 cups cream-style cottage cheese
    6 oz shredded process American Cheese (1 1/2 cups) (oh good grief, use cheddar)

    Brown the meat; drain off fat. Add tomato sauce, garlic salt, pepper, basil and 1/2 cup water. Cover; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a 2-qt casserole, layer HALF each macaroni, cottage cheese, shredded cheeese, and meat sauce. Repeat. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.

    (Recipe from Good Food on a Budget, 1971)

    Category Casseroles, Meat, Recipes, retro food | Tags: | 2 Comments

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