Rediscovering Tuna Casserole

Tuna casserole gets a bad rap. I clearly remember an episode of “Top Chef” in which one of the contestants, charged with re-imagining the classic dish, turned up his nose at the mere idea of it. This animosity towards tuna casserole completely baffles me. Perhaps the words conjure up images of scary lunch ladies serving up mysterious looking, grey congealed “tuna surprise”. I don’t really know. But the truth is that Tuna casserole, when done right, is pretty damn good. Maybe it’s not exactly gourmet, and maybe you’re never going to see it on the menu at Le Bernadin, but sometimes you just need some good old home cooking. This is a recipe of my own creation, after much study on how NOT to make a tuna casserole. I realize I could probably make my own sauce, but hey, sometimes I am lazy, and I find the cream of celery/French-fried onion combination to be extremely delicious. I use Fettuccine in this version, but the traditional egg noodles, or plain old spaghetti work just as well.

Tuna Casserole

• 2 Cans White Albacore Tuna
• ¼ cup Green Onion, chopped
• 2 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
• 2 Cans Cream of Celery Soup
• ¼ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Cup Frozen Peas
• Handful of Fettuccine
• Fresh Parmesan, shredded
• French-Fried Onions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Sautee tuna, green onions, and garlic with some olive oil over medium heat until slightly golden. Add cream of celery and cream. Stir to mix. Add peas. Simmer until peas are cooked.

Add enough water to a large pot to boil pasta. Cook until pasta is Al Dente.

Add pasta to cream of celery mixture. Stir.

Pour mixture onto a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and onions.

Bake until cheese is golden and casserole is bubbling.

Enjoy!

Sweet Tooth: Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I am a sucker for anything with chocolate. So when I found this recipe for chocolate zucchini bread, I had to try it. The original recipe came from a Ghirardelli cookbook, but I modified it by substituting brown sugar for white and adding nutmeg, to get a richer flavor. This zucchini bread is a type of quick bread, which means chemical leaveners, rather than yeast, are used to make the dough rise. Quick breads are pretty simple to make, and keep well. This bread has quickly become one of my favorites. I recently made it for Miguel’s dad, and he liked it so much, he got up at 2 AM to have a piece (I’m pretty sure that means he really liked it)! Leftovers? Try making chocolate zucchini bread French toast. Delicious!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

• 1-Cup Brown Sugar
• ¼ Cup Sugar
• 1-Cup Oil
• ½ Cup Water
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• ¾ tsp. Ground Nutmeg
• ½ tsp. Baking Soda
• ¼ tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 large Shredded Zucchini
• 2 8 oz. Bars Milk Chocolate for Baking, chopped into ¼” pieces*

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9”x 5” loaf pan, or line it with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine sugars, oil, water, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until blended.

In another bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and baking powder.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients gradually, stirring until well mixed.

Stir in chocolate and zucchini.

Spoon mixture into loaf pan. Place in oven and bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, about an hour and a half.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Store at room temperature, wrapped in aluminum foil.

* Can be substituted for mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, if desired.

Enjoy!