Tuna Noodle Casserole- Part 2
There are a gazillion tuna noodle casserole recipes. Here is a start online:
1. Cooks Illustrated:
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,178,141187-243199,00.html2. Gourmet 2004:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tuna-Noodle-Casserole-1094343. Skillet version:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/skillet_tuna_casserole.html4. Healthy & Fit version:
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/taste-tests/hungry-girl/tuna-noodle-casserole-a-healthier-recipe/5. Whole Wheat Noodle version:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=210256And then the Lopez locavore recipe below:
All ingredients are found within a 100 mile radius of Lopez Island except for the tuna which is caught about 200 miles off the coast of Oregon. The organic whole wheat pastry flour is milled by
Bluebird Grain Farms near Twisp, WA. which also might be on the outer perimeter of my 100 miles. I purchase it from our local
Blossom Organic Grocery and use it to bake bread and make noodles. The onion, garlic, dill and parsley we grow in our garden or find at the farmers market here. I buy local chickens from Blossom Grocery and make chicken stock which is used in the soup portion. No one on Lopez sells raw milk which calls for a trip to Blossom for "local" organic milk from the Skagit County area. As for the mushrooms, well no one will fess up to where they really found morels or chantrelles. Frozen for use when not in season, they work just fine in a casserole. That leaves the salt, pepper, and sherry as non-indigenous ingredients. I could delete the sherry, scrape the salt off our southern facing windows and grind up one of our few, meager, hot chiles, and voila'. That's going to the locovore limit. But this is just a test, so let's not go overboard.
Lopez Tuna Noodle Casserole 1- 6 oz. can of Papa George Tuna
1- cup chicken stock
1/2- cup chopped wild morels or chantrelles
1- Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1- cup whole organic milk
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. chopped parsley...double amount if fresh
1 tsp. dill weed...double amount if fresh
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
6 oz of homemade whole wheat noodles, cooked (about 3 cups)
Topping:
1 1/2- cups of breadcrumbs...from the homemade bread of course
1/4- cup of organic butter melted
Directions:
1. Cook the noodles until al dente. Drain and put aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, saute the onion and garlic on med-low in a Tb. of butter
3. Add the flour next and make a roux.
4. Gradually add the chicken broth and the milk. Stir and warm up.
5. Heat until the broth mixture is thickened, but do not boil. You can use home grown cooked potato instead of flour to thicken the broth.
6. Take saucepan off heat. Stir in thawed out mushrooms, add herbs and spices. Some folks add peas too.
7. Put noodles in a greased casserole dish or an 8x8x2 1/2 pan.
Pour the thick soup mixture over the noodles.
8. Make buttered breadcrumbs and sprinkle them over the top.
9. Bake at 350. Check at 30 minutes: if breadcrumbs are browning too fast, cover lightly with a small cookie sheet for another 10-15 min.
10. Let it rest out of the oven awhile before serving.
Slow Food Land and Sea
Our local Slow Food Convivium is in San Juan County, in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Papa George Tuna is a member of
Slow Food USA and our convivium for this area has a
blog which lists local farmers, ranchers, and fishermen. My husband is not fishing locally however because there isn't much to fish for in Washington now.
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Recently it was reported in a local newspaper that one of the most Googled recipes of late was Tuna Noodle Casserole. The writer was seeking to link the downward spiraling economic times to a resurgence in comfort foods, ala Tuna Noodle Casserole. This classic dinner of the 1950's is much maligned for its fat, salt, and processed food content, so I will offer two recipes which use our very flavorful and healthy canned albacore. One recipe is my gold standard for crew food, and a family favorite. The other is a locovore recipe where the ingredients are found within 100 miles or close to that of Lopez Island, WA. where we are currently living. I'll give the first recipe in this blog posting and the Locovore recipe in a subsequent post.
Papa George Tuna Noodle CasseroleLarge version: Halve the ingredients for smaller version
2- 6 oz cans of Papa George Gourmet Albacore
2- 8 oz cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
2- 12 oz cans of Non-fat or low-fat Evaporated milk
1/2- cup dry sherry
1/2- cup minced onion
2- cloves garlic, minced
1- Tbsp parsley-dry or double that if fresh
2- tsp dill-dry or double that if fresh
1- tsp salt
1/4- tsp white pepper
12 oz bag of noodles, medium or wide....cooked
Topping:
3- cups Panko crumbs
1/3- cup melted butter or marjerine
Directions:
1. Cook noodles and drain when al dente.
2. Saute onion in butter or oil ( 2 tsp or so) in a deep sauce pan until onions are translucent and sweet, add garlic part way through. Med-low heat.
3. Add soup, milk, sherry, herbs, and spices. Stir and warm.
4. Add chunks of Papa George canned albacore. Some folks add the water in the can too for more flavor.
5. Lightly grease a casserole dish or 9 X 12 baking pan.
6. Spread noodles in casserole dish, and pour tuna soup mixture over all. Gently move the mixture around to mix.
7. Cover with Panko crumbs mixed with melted butter.
8. Bake covered with foil for 35 minutes. Uncover for 15 minutes or until crumbs are golden. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. 350 degree oven.
Sushi Standards by Blue Ocean Institute
There is a new sustainable seafood guide to ocean friendly sushi put forward by the Blue Ocean Institute. This guide can be downloaded at
Blue Ocean Institute's new website . A query may also be sent by text to FishPhone- text FISH and the species name to 30644 for the instant sustainability info.
We participated in the Lopez Island Pre-school Bazaar yesterday and sold a lot of canned fish. Most of our customers are savvy to the sustainability issues. There seem to be less concern over the mercury debate and more concern about sustainability. Our new offering of Cold Smoked Wild King Salmon is receiving more attention and accolades.
I participate in a volunteer group on Lopez Island which studies the amount, species, ocean salinity, and stomach contents of juvenile salmon as they swim by our island's south end. We just finished our last lab for the year in which we discovered that the baby salmon were eating mostly insects as compared to the early summer when their diet consisted of crustaceans, plankton, and marine invertebrate larvae.
NEW! Cold Smoked Wild King Salmon
Our goal has always been to produce the finest canned seafood in the gourmet market. I think we have really hit the jackpot with our latest canning of Washington Wild King Salmon, lightly cold smoked, skinless and boneless, in a byphenol-A free 6 oz. can.
These king salmon were caught in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and canned within two weeks of being caught. I have to admit that we didn't catch them....but we sourced our tribal fishermen and know that they were caught in an environmentally friendly way.
What is striking about this canning is the very subtle smoke flavor and the luscious texture which melts in your mouth. Many smoked fish products resemble hockey pucks which is why we choose to go the cold smoked route. When you open the can, you see the filet curl around in the can with no skin or bones to mar the light salmon color. The first test at home was to spread it on a toast point for breakfast and make two broiled salmon melts for lunch. There was enough left for some smoked salmon with whipped cream cheese on a Stacey's Pita chip accented with a tiny sprig of fresh dill.
Here are the prices. (Remember that wild King Salmon runs from $8.99 to $35.00 a pound in the retail fish markets)
1- 6 oz. can Papa George's Cold Smoked Wild King Salmon........$7.95
6- 6 oz. can Papa George's Cold Smoked Wild King Salmon........$45.00
12-6 oz. can Papa George's Cold Smoked Wild King Salmon........$88.00
24-6 oz. can Papa George's Cold Smoked Wild King Salmon........$175.00
Order our cold smoked wild king in the can by e-mail. holly@papageorgetuna.com
The shipping charges are $10.00 for 1,6, or 12 cans. $10 to $17.25 for the 24 cans depending on your location. East Coast is usually $17.25. West Coast is usually $12-14.00. Mid-West is $14-16.00. We don't make any money on shipping...it all goes to biodegradable packaging and USPS or UPS.
24-6 oz.
Papa George Tiny Coldwater Shrimp from Oregon
Just as we introduced a new seafood item (shrimp) to our store, a feature in the Sunday Seattle Times, April 20, 2008 to be exact, extolled the delicacy of tiny pink Oregon
shrimp nestled in an artichoke. The author, Greg Atkinson, has always been a NW Chef who carefully sourced his local seafood and promoted fishermen. This article is beautifully illustrated by Barry Wong photography.
Links:
Author: greg@northwestessentials.com
Photographer: studio@barrywongphoto.com
I was informed by this article that the Oregon Pink Shrimp fishery is the only shrimp fishery in the world certified "sustainable" by the MRC, Marine Stewardship Council. That gives the "little blue fish" award to our canned shrimp! These little shrimp, pandalid jordani, make a tasty addition to pasta and veggies as well as salads. Try some at our online
store.
Playing around with Crab Cakes
Sometimes it just all comes together.......the ingredients, the music, the appetite, but mostly it was a combination of time, effort, and what was left in the fridge. I am describing cooking for a bunch of hungry guys who never ask what's in the recipe. First, the music.....good jazz or classical. In tonight's venue, YoYo Ma in a cello concerto. Then there's the cooking wine. A bottle of pinot gris was uncorked for the cook to sample. Then an inventory of refrigerator contents: Red & yellow pepper, green onions, summer squash, red onion, garlic, fresh parsley, carrots, broccoli, and leftover quinoa. My inventory of canned goods was the most auspicious! Dungeness crab...but could I feed three of us? The menu evolved between sips of wine and cello arpeggios.
Crab cakes with remoulade sauce
Roasted vegetables
Steamed Quinoa with miscellaneous veggies
Pinot Gris
I am excited with the results of the crab cakes! Here is the basic general recipe I created from one can of Papa George Gourmet Dungeness Crab:
Crab Cakes:
1 can Papa George Gourmet Dungeness Crab drained
1 tsp garlic, either pressed or minced
1 Tb green or red onion chopped fine
1 Tb red pepper chopped fine
1 Tb fresh parsley chopped fine
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1 tsp capers
2 Tb mayonaise
salt & pepper
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
Cooking:
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut oil
dill weed to garnish over all
Directions: Drain can of Papa George Dungeness Crab. In medium bowl, mix crab and remaining ingredients with a fork. Heat butter and peanut oil to medium/medium high.
Divide crab cake ingredients into six parts. Mold gently with fingers into ball, roll in Panko crumbs, and place into hot butter/oil. Press down into cake with spatula and fry until golden on both sides. Drain and serve with Cajun remoulade sauce ( mayo, catsup, and sweet pickle relish)
Introducing our new products.....
Our chilly North Pacific Ocean provides one of the most delicious crab species near the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Anyone experiencing the fearsome pinch of a Dungeness crab might disagree that Dungeness tastes better than king crab or tanner. We couldn't resist the chance to co-pack with our friends at Nelson Crab in Tokeland, WA., who cook and can Dungeness. Papa George Gourmet Seafoods now offers a 6 oz. can of solid Dungeness meat, ready for salads or crab cakes.
In addition to the crab, we offer a 6 oz. can of Tiny Coldwater Shrimp, which is also co-packed with Nelson Crab. The shrimp is caught off the Oregon Coast. A drained can yields enough for shrimp & pasta alfredo for 3, or a 9 " shrimp & broccoli quiche.
Look for the new additions on our
website.
Papa George Fancy Dungeness Crab 6 oz. can
Papa George Tiny Coldwater Shrimp 6 oz. can
San Pedro Squid
Steve is squid fishing in San Pedro, CA.
