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| fresh out of the oven... |
I just got back from a lovely week-long visit with my dad. We Bumgarner siblings have been going to COMO as often as we can for quite a few years now as, for several years before she died, our mom could no longer travel because of health issues and we all wanted to spend as much time as possible with her, and now, our dad. And while dad is a very healthy, robust 95 year old, we realized after his one and only trip after mom died, to visit my family in CT, it became quite clear traveling by plane was something he just shouldn't do any more because the exposure to illnesses, which would be no big deal for younger folks, could be devastating for him. Dad went home from that trip (which was absolutely wonderful while he was here) and was very sick from some bug he most likely caught on the plane. He and we all realized then that it just wasn't worth the risk of him traveling to us. So we go to him! And that's just fine with the three of we siblings as we all going home to our COMO (COlumbia, MO). We all grew up there, leaving only when we went off to college, and we all had a magical life there. The wonderful memories of that time are many.
Mom and dad were married for 8 days short of 69 years. And they lived a true love story. Until the very end of mom's life, you could literally see the love flowing between the two of them with each look they gave each other. Both of them were also very pragmatic about this life and death thing all we humans go through. Though dad misses her to this day - we all do - he has gotten on with his life and made it a good one. It's not a hardship to be around him as he's such a positive guy that goes out if his way to make his life one worth living.
While dad has become quite the cook - his salad making skill has become famous amongst family and friends - he's told the three of we children he misses mom's cooking. As anyone who knew her knows, mom was a cook that was most definitely in the chef category. I've never met a finer cook! So, though Carrie, Bill and I haven't yet achieved her culinary magic abilities, we've each taken on stocking Dad's freezer (we even got him a deep freezer for this) with homemade goodies whenever one of us is home. While some of dad's favorite mom dishes aren't freezer-friendly, a lot of them (or our rendition of them) are. This time, it was my turn! Loaded up his freezer with tuna noodle casserole, chili, veggie quiches, sunshine chicken curry, chicken-veggie stir-fry, peanut butter pies, apple crisps, etc. Found out that one of his favorite mom dishes, a salmon loaf, wouldn't need to be made because it got "lost" in the freezer underneath a bunch of veggies. That had been made by my sis over Christmas, so is still good to go.
Below is the recipe for tuna noodle casserole. It took me forever to find a good recipe that didn't have cheddar cheese in it. While cheddar is fine for the top of a tuna melt sandwich, to me at least, it doesn't belong in tuna noodle casserole. Below was inspired by a recipe I found on the food blog "Tastes Better From Scratch".
As always with savory recipes, amounts can be changed to suit your own tastes. On a note, I've been using mini sweet peppers in place of regular sized peppers. Their skin is much thinner and the flavor is wonderful. They are all different sizes and colors (no green) so use the amount you want. Click here for an example - there are many brands, one not being better than the other.
for the topping:
1 C. panko bread crumbs
2 T. butter
Melt butter in a skillet, add panko and saute, stirring constantly until the panko is coated with the butter and toasty brown.
for the casserole:
3/4 of a 1 lb. box medium size shell pasta
6 T. butter, divided
3 inner ribs celery with leaves, thinly sliced
1 small onion or equivalent scallions, chopped
2 - 4 mini sweet peppers, quartered and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 C. baby peas
4 - 6 T. flour
1 C. milk, warmed - more for thinning if necessary
2 C. or so chicken or veggie stock, warmed
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
white pepper to taste
1 T.+ fresh dill, chopped
1 - 2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 C. grated Parmesan cheese, divided
12 oz. can albacore tuna in water (drain or use water for liquid)
veggie spray for casserole dish
Preheat oven to 350º.
Cook pasta shells until al dente and set aside in a large bowl. Melt a T. butter in a skillet and add the celery, onion, peppers and garlic. Saute until onion is becoming opaque. Remove veggies from skillet and add to the pasta bowl. Add remaining butter to the skillet along with the flour. Whisk for a minute or so, not letting the butter/flour mixture to get too brown. Slowly stir in the milk and stock and whisk continuously until all is warm and smooth and thickened. No lumps! Reduce heat to low and whisk in the salt, fresh ground black pepper and white pepper, dill weed, lemon juice and half the parmesan cheese. Heat through, taste and correct any seasonings to your taste. Pour over the pasta and veggies; stir in the tuna and peas. Mix well and pour mixture into a veggie sprayed casserole dish. Top casserole with the remaining Parmesan and then the toasted panko crumbs. Bake for 30 or so minutes - until it's nice and bubbling. Serve and say YUM!!
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| All stirred together |
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| ready for the Parm and panko |
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| ready for the initial freezing |
If you are making this to stock your freezer, get aluminum containers for the serving size you need. In dad's case, I used mini loaf pans (and 1 mini pie pan) so he could have a meal one night and then lunch for the next day. Put together the casseroles and freeze (on a sheet pan if possible - makes it easier) When frozen, cover each pan tightly with aluminum foil and the put them in freezer zip-loc bags. To bake, loosen the foil on the top of the pan and bake in a 350º oven for about 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until heated through and bubbly. Test center of the casserole to be sure all is cooked.
Oh, and here's dad's salad that accompanied our tuna casserole:
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| tonight, dad added tomatoes, avocados and apples |
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Yum!
'till we feast again!
xoabb
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