Sure-Fire Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole

The original recipe called for chicken when I initially thought it was for a tuna casserole. Whoops! Here’s how I got out of it.

Ingredients:
1 Can Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 Cup 1% Milk
1 1/2 Cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables
1 Can Tuna in water, drained and flaked
2 1/2 Cups medium egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/4 Cup Italian Breadcrumbs
1/4 Tsp ground black pepper
1/4 Tsp Curry (Optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9×9″ Pyrex dish, stir the tuna, noodles, soup, milk, Parmesan cheese, vegetables, curry, and black pepper. Top with cheddar cheese, then sprinkle breadcrumbs.

Bake for 25 minutes, serve hot.

If you want to knock off a few calories or carbs, you can either omit the cheddar cheese, or breadcrumbs. Our family likes to serve smaller portions to get the extra crunch.

Yet another perfect comfort food for winter.

Scalloped Potatoes With Celeriac

The last two weeks of our CSA boxed delivery and we get for the first time celeriac or better known as celery root. I have always seen them in the grocery store but never knew what to do with it so I never bothered to try them until now. It was suggested to try to make scalloped potatoes with added celeriac, so I gave it a shot. I initially used this recipe, as a base since I never made scalloped potatoes from scratch, but made some adjustments which is marked with an asterisk (*). Still needs work as you will see in my notes below, but it is a great start and will try again.

Ingredients:

3 tbs butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp dried minced garlic*
1/8 tsp dried thyme*
2 cups chicken broth or vegetarian equivalent
1 1/2 cups grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 lb boiling potatoes*
1 lb celeriac root peeled*
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs*
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour to make a roux for about 2 – 3 minutes. Whisk in broth and bring to a boil. Whisk in garlic and thyme and simmer for about 2 more minutes, then whisk again until thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in cheese and any salt and pepper you wish to add, until cheese is fully melted.

Peel potatoes (optional) and celeriac (a must) and slice to about 1/8 inch thick. In a 2-quart shallow baking dish, butter or spray cooking oil and make a layer of potatoes and sauce, celeriac and sauce, and repeat until you have between 4 – 5 layers. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top and bake uncovered in the oven for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.

Overall Impressions

Not sure if it was my oven, but 1 hour does not cut it, more like an hour and thirty minutes. The celeriac took longer to soften. Will try raising the temp to 375 and see if that helps. Also even with the extra sharp cheddar and added spices I found it somewhat bland. Will go for fresh minced garlic next time and add more thyme and a stronger cheese like parmesean or a vecchio asiago d’Allevo.

One thing I found with peeling celeriac is that like apples, it browns quickly. So I would recommend preparing at the last possible moment. But the flavor should not diminish.