Tuna Noodle Casserole.......Maverick Style!

Friends did come a calling this week! And this is what they crave.
Only way I know how to thank them is to feed them.
They've been friends for years and when the going gets tough, they rally round IMMEDIATELY....I try to do the same.
Course more often than not we're laughin our way thru life.
These guys don't miss a beat, that's all I gotta say.
Thank you for being the kind of friends you are...great ones.

Joshy, Catie, George

Okay okay maybe its not such a rebellious or innovative version of this casserole,
but surely its brave given how I've upped the ante on caloric intake.
Yes indeedy I have. Hold onto your cellulite and get out your spanks,
you'll need them after eating this.

Once Upon a Plate and I are were having the same meal the same night,
unplanned, ha go figure. I'm just a little slow to post. Cheers to great minds.

Ingredients:

2 bags of extra wide egg noodles
One family size can Cream of Mushroom Soup
One family size can Cream of Chicken Soup
One pint heavy whipping cream
One pint sour cream
Some milk
3 cans of tuna [drained]
3 cans of mushrooms [drained]
Paprika
Kraft Parmesan Cheese (don't cringe, this is old school tuna casserole)
You can add the real stuff when you plate up.
Salt
Pepper
Parsley
Butter


I swear its the only dish I use canned soups... I PROMISE!

Preparation:

Open all cans.
Boil noodles, drain and rinse.
Set aside.

In the HUGE baking dish you are going to use,
mix all soup, sour cream, some milk, not much,
heavy cream as needed. (you probably won't use it all, or maybe you will, I did)
Add tuna, and mushrooms.
I know I said two bags of noodles, add as much as you can.
I end up using 3/4 of what I boiled, and save the rest for soup.

Top the casserole off with paprika, cheese, salt pepper, and parsley.
Take a stick of butter and cut, scrape or however you want to break it into pieces
And evenly distribute them over the top.


Bake at 375 for what maybe 45 minutes? Until it starts to bubble.
If you don't have a nice crusty top....flip the broiler on for a few.

A few more pics of my peeps...why not~!
Ha yes this photographer takes "snapshots"...

One Month to go....and these two will be married.

Again.

I like happy beginnings~



Have a wonderful weekend~~~ Hannah and I are headed up town, I gotta feeling
there's going to be a lil bowling happenin today. Right on.


One Love. One Peace. Always and all ways~

Peggy Lu's Chicken and Noodles

I asked people what their idea of comfort food was.

Took a bit of a poll on FaceBook.  The answers were 

all over the place. Comfort food is a very personal thing I've learned.

There's not necessarily a most popular, everyone has their own idea of comfort. 

I was thinking about what I want when I want comfort food,

it varies depending on the day.  

Chicken and dumplings just sounds good to me.

After seeing her post and salivating a bit
I decided this was going to be Sunday night dinner.
Most of this recipe is HERS.
Credit where credit due.
I'm not the best at following recipes to the T.
And this was no exception.
Now her base recipe is excellent,
my changes happened because I was out of one or two things
and needed to improvise.

Chicken Broth

1 - 5lb stewing chicken (I use chicken breasts now so I can skip the stripping part)

1 ½ qts. Water (I use vegetable or chicken broth)

2 tsp. salt

1 onion (mine is sans onion, I was out, go figure)

1 carrot

1 branch celery

Place chicken in large kettle,

add water, salt, onion, carrot & celery

(leave these in large pieces - they’re only for flavoring and you‘re going to strain them out).
 
 

Simmer covered until tender.

(3 - 3 ½ hrs. for a whole chicken … about I hr. for frozen skinless/boneless chicken breasts)

Remove chicken, cool, strip into large pieces.

Strain veggies from broth.

Refrigerate chicken & broth when cool.

Egg Noodles

3 egg yolks

1 whole egg

3 tsp. cold water (I ended up using about 6 Tbs.)

1 tsp. salt

2 cups of flour

Beat yolks and egg well. Beat in water & salt
Measure flour. Stir in with spoon. Dough is stiff, knead in last of flour
Dough is stiff, knead in last of flour. Divide into 3 parts.
Roll each piece as thin as possible on lightly floured surface.



Cut into strips.



Allow to dry before using.
I happen to have a pasta rack, mostly it collects dust.
Was happy to be able to use it.
At one time I thought I was going to
make home made pasta regularly.
yeh.
no.

Here's where I went my own way:

I melted about 3/4 of a stick of butter, added a half cup flour.
This is called a roux.
The reason behind this method is to cook the flour in the butter
so it doesn't taste pasty which is what sometimes
happens when flour is added to liquid.
Typically it's equal parts flour to butter.

I then added the chicken broth, stirring as it thickened.

Peggy used food coloring,
I didn't have any.
I thought what would give this a yellow color.
Saffron. Tumeric. Curry.
I chose Curry.
I used about an 1/4 tsp.

Curry imparts a rather strong flavor,
better to add less than to over season.
The only other thing I added to this was pepper.

I'm also a smeller.
I season by smell.
Instead of onion or celery salt/powder,
I took three stalks of celery and thru them in for additional flavor.
(is it stalks or ribs. ha. I dunno.)

I was short for chicken stock,
so once my broth started to thicken,
I added the noodles and the chicken.
hey that rhymed. HA!
Let it simmer for about 35 minutes with the cover on.

Miss Peggy I can't thank you enough.
I have never successfully made egg noodles.
These were PERFECT! In fact this is one of my new favorite comfort foods.
I hope I did your recipe justice!





hey...what's dinner without dessert?




new york vanilla ice cream.
One of my fav's.
My grandpa used to make these
and of course they were called Grandpa Specials.

More comfort food.
ha.


How'd I do Miss Peggy Lu?





Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Le Creuset

One Love. One Peace. Always and all ways.