Sometimes I can't tell if my ideas are brilliant or brilliantly awful. Take my hair for example, soon I plan on looking super hot with either a perm or bangs. I haven't decided which yet. If it turns out to be one of my worst ideas ever, just smile knowingly when you next see me and I am wearing a paper bag on my head.
A recent attempt at Tuna Noodle Casserole is another example of ideas that can either go really well or really poor. I had a bag of shallots and crimini and shiitaki mushrooms in my fridgefrom Spud, and had the idea to make a cream of mushroom soup from scratch, which I would then use to make the casserole.
All started well. I pulsed the mushrooms and a shallot in the food processor and then cooked it down with butter, thyme, wine and fresh cracked pepper. After the flavors concentrated, I added fresh organic whole milk, brought everything up to a low simmer and gave a taste. Hmmmm. Very good.
I boiled the wide egg noodles and opened a can of albacore packed in olive oil. I grated some cheese and turned on the oven. This is where I began to give pause. Does tuna go well with mushrooms and cheddar cheese? Huh. This is a recipe I have made and loved. I usually use a canned soup - Amy's organic cream of mushroom. This casserole is creamy, comforting, cheesy on top. Yeah, that sounds good. Carry on!
I mixed the soup with the drained noodles and folded in the tuna. I added some chopped asparagus for some green. I cracked some extra pepper and sneaked in some smoked salt. I topped it all with the cheese and slid it into the oven.
When I pulled it out of the oven 20 minutes later, the look of melted cheese over creamy noodles held so much promise. I served myself a generous helping and sat down to eat. Hm. This wasn't exactly how I remembered it. Homemade cream of mushroom is really.... mushroomy. I chewed slower. I paused before my next bite.
Am I enjoying this?
I'm not sure.
Well, carry on! I finished the bowl.
A few minutes later, I'm not so sure my belly feels really good.
Nope, my belly definitely does not feel good.
Reflecting on the craziness of mixing creamy mushroom soup, tuna fish and cheddar cheese together, I hope this doesn't ruin a good casserole for me forever.
SOLE Notes: Thanks to Spud.com for the good parts of my meal - the local organic mushrooms, shallots and Fresh Breeze milk!
2 comments:
I've done that. Not that particular recipe, but similar.
Somehow, mushrooms sauteed with garlic and onions, then mixed with sour cream (thinned as needed with milk), savory, a small amount of nutmeg, salt, and black pepper totally works. I don't know why, but it does. I tried it with salmon to impressive results - time to try it with tuna! This replicating stuff we grew up with when we grew up with processed foods is tricky.
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