Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts
The recipe I am sharing with you today is for an old fashioned classic tuna casserole with chips. Every once in a while I feel very nostalgic and I crave something from my childhood. Classic Tuna Casserole is just such a dish.
This easy tuna casserole is probably something most of us grew up on. You can try to fancy these things up as much as you want, but the heart still wants what it wants. You just cannot beat the classics.
There is nothing fancy about this. Absolutely nothing. And yet, it is one of the most popular comfort food dishes out there.
When I was growing up Fridays usually meant fish. We were not catholic, but I suppose it was somewhat of a tradition. In many places fish is still the protein of choice to be eaten on a Friday and what tastier way to get it than with this traditional recipe!
If you are a purist and don't like recipes which use cream of whatever
soup, look away now. As for myself, I feel they have their time &
place, and this classic tuna bake is just such a time & place!
This casserole was never fancy eating. My mother wasn't a fancy cook. Her food was
simple and it was delicious. End of.
My mother always topped her
casseroles with something crunchy. It could have been buttered cracker crumbs, or bread
crumbs or potato chips.
In our family we loved potato chips, or potato crisps as they are called in the UK. You don't even need and shouldn't get fancy with those. Plain salted suits perfectly.
In fact, thinking about it, I cannot imagine it with any other kind. Salt and Vinegar? Nope! BBQ? Hell no!! Sour Cream and Onion? Maybe, just maybe.
Plain Salted. Yes. Yes. Yes! Now you can get a little bit fancy here and use crinkle wavy chips, but that's as fancy as I would go. Do not waste your Pringles. This calls for old school potato chips all the way!
Lets talk tuna now. I always, always buy Albacore Tuna. Its the best with nice white flesh and a beautiful meaty texture. Its not quite as "fish" as the other kinds if you know what I mean.
You can of course use any kind, but I only ever buy Albacore. That is my tuna of choice. Mosty in spring water, occasionally (like for a salad or some such) in olive oil.
Imported Italian Tuna is the best, but I wouldn't waste that in a casserole. I would reserve that for eating on its own or in a salad. Just saying.
Once when I was a very young woman and grocery shopping for the family, I had an old woman stop me when I was getting ready to put some tuna in my cart. It was just plain old ordinary cheap tuna. I had never bought any other kind.
Never ever eat anything but Albacore she told me. The rest is garbage. So . . . I did pick up some Albacore instead of the cheap stuff and have never looked back.
She was right. The rest is garbage. You get what you pay for. Okay, I am a bit of a Tuna snob I suppose. But agree with her, Albacore is the best. I also try to buy solid if I can, rather than flaked.
It does cost more than flaked, but you are paying for less water and larger, meatier chunks in your casserole. I like it.
The sauce for this is very old school. Tinned cream of chicken soup. (Tuna isn't called chicken of the sea for nothing!)
Undiluted soup, some milk, cheese, seasonings, etc. Very old school. Very delicious. Unbeatable in my opinion. You can of course just make a simple white sauce and flavour it with the suggested seasonings.
I would do a 2 cup recipe, based on using 2 TBS butter, 2 TBS flour, 2 cups (480ml) milk, and some seasoning. Aways use whole milk.
Just melt the butter, whisk in the flour and cook for a minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and seasoning and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Easy peasy.
You can use flat egg noodles in this, or elbow macaroni. Today for added interest I used bow macaroni. Farfalle. I love the way it looks in this. It makes for a very pretty presentation.
I always use peas. This is a classic after all and mom didn't have any fancy vegetables. Frozen peas was as fancy as she would get. We normally had tinned peas. I hated tinned peas. I much prefer frozen and I like the tiny peas best of all.
With a bit of cheese and some lemon (a true luxury in mom's day), and some dill weed in the sauce, you really can't go wrong. Mom would have used grated Velveeta. Today I use grated Cheddar and Parmesan. Oh are we not very lucky to have a wealth of variety in the ingredients available to us these days??? We are so very blessed.
In any case, if you are looking for real comfort on Fish Friday, you can never go wrong with this delicious Classic Tuna Casserole! A salad on the side and some bread and butter (perhaps) is all you need with this!
Classic Tuna Casserole
Yield: 4
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 30 Mintotal time: 45 Min
Purists look away now. There is cream soup in this. Never killed me as a child and is a wonderful taste of nostalgia as an adult.
Ingredients
- 1 (10.5 oz) (295g) tin of condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
- 1 cup (120g) grated cheddar cheese
- 2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese
- 2(5-oz) tins (1 - 220g jar) albacore tuna in spring water, drained and flaked
- 1 cup (150g) frozen peas
- 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/4 tsp dried dillweed
- the juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 cups (180g) of dry noodles or pasta shapes
- 1 cup (35g) crushed plain salted potato chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a shallow casserole dish and set aside.
- Cook the noodles al dente according to package directions. Drain well and rinse. Drain again.
- Mix together the soup, milk, both cheeses, the tuna, frozen peas, seasoning salt, dillweed and lemon juice. Pour into the prepared casserole dish. Top with the crushed potato chips.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until bubbling and heated through. Serve hot.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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Fish for Friday here with the Ultimate Fish Finger Sandwich. Fish fingers are something we all probably keep in our freezer. They can get really boring however, and we may often find ourselves wishing that we had a fish finger recipe to help to save us from that boredom!
If you like fish you are going to love this delicious, spicy Fish Finger Sandwich. It blows the fish sandwich from most of those fast food places totally out of the water.
In fact I might even so go far as to say that once you taste one of these delicious sandwiches, you will never settle for one of those fish sandwich again!
We are a pair who really love fish, and as a cook I love working with it. Not only is it a very versatile ingredient, but it is really good for you and cooks quickly. We both adore Salmon and this Honey, Mustard and Garlic Salmon is one of the ways we really enjoy eating it.
I will confess however, I am not overly fond of skin on my fish, which is why I really love these boneless and skinless salmon fillets I get from Seafresh. They're boneless and skinless and come from cente cuts, or the thicker part of the salmon and not the tail, which means they have a beautifully rich and flavour that is not overly fishy, if you know what I mean!
Salmon is so good for you as well. Its one of the oily fishes which means it is filled with rich protein and healthy omega 3 acids.
This is such a simple and delicious way to prepare it. You simply season your fillets, top and bottom and put them into a baking dish.
A mix of honey, mustard, butter and garlic is spooned over top and then you simply pop them into the oven and bake.
They are done in about 13 minutes tops. Easy peasy. I did pop mine under a hot grill for a minute to gild the edges a bit, but that was more for presentation than anything.
Thirteen minutes will give you perfectly cooked salmon. The recipe is for two people, but you can very easily double everything and serve more. My friend Tina had brought us some beautiful potatoes freshly dug from their garden. There were some lovely looking tiny ones.
I boiled them to serve with the salmon. You forget how really delicious freshly dug potatoes are, fresh out of the ground. Oh my but they are a little taste of heaven.
I also cooked some corn and green beans. I had a bit of frozen corn in the bottom of a bag and a handful left of frozen beans. They were the perfect side to serve with the salmon and the potatoes.
Todd said it was the best meal he'd had in a while. (Cheeky!!) But really it was delicious. The fish from Seafresh is so amazing. I have never had any fish from them that I
didn't like. It is frozen fresh at the source and so it is some of the freshest
fish that you can find. Their salmon fillets
are absolutely gorgeous. Boneless and skinless and individually frozen
so that you can take out as many or as few as you want to cook at any given time.
Salmon is one of those fishes that goes really well with, and that can stand up to strong flavours like honey and mustard and garlic.
Just look at how perfectly cooked that fish is!! I am getting hungry again just looking at this photo!
Yield: 2
Honey, Mustard & Garlic Salmon
This is the most delicious salmon. Quick and easy to do and perfectly cooked. Sized for two people but can very easily be doubled.
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 13 Mtotal time: 18 M
Ingredients:
- 2 (6 oz) boneless, skinless centre cut salmon fillets
- 2 TBS butter, melted
- 1 1/2 TBS Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 TBS liquid honey
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- salt and black pepper to taste
- minced parsley to garnish
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready a small baking dish with sides, large enough to hold the salmon fillets in a single layer with some space between them.
- Pat your salmon dry. Season on the bottom with salt and black pepper. Place into the casserole dish. Season on top.
- Whisk together the melted butter, mustard, honey and garlic. Spoon this mixture evenly over the fillets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 13 minutes or until the fish tests one. It should flake easily with the tines of a fork.
- If desired you can pop it briefly under a hot grill to gild it a bit. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.
At the moment when those of us who are still self isolating are unable to get
the shops and home delivery slots can still be somewhat difficult to get. Shopping
at online shops like Seafresh is the way to go! They make it so easy to
shop. Just log on to their easy to use shop, choose what you want, pop
it into your cart and then pay. There is same day dispatch on all
orders place before 1 PM, and free delivery on order over £50. I have
been getting fish from them for a while now and I really can't fault
them. Everything has been impeccable, from the ordering, to the
packaging, delivery, quality, etc. And their customer service is
examplary. Right now they have some really nice deals on as well, with a free sample of breaded wholetail Scampi being added to every delivery over £50. (on orders placed before August 14th) As well on any order over £140 you can get £20 off by adding the code BANK20 at the checkout.
As with any fish dish, quality speaks for itself. When you are starting
with really good fish, you really don't or shouldnt' have to do very
much to it to get the best from it. The Salmon fillets from Seafresh
are beautiful. I think they are the best I have ever eaten and that says
a lot! If you are looking for quality fish at a great price with a
fabulous delivery service
I can't recommend Seafresh highly enough! Their product, delivery
service, packaging and customer service are exemplary in my opinion and
so is this recipe!!
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
We literally almost had a meltdown in our freezer the other day. (Yes, in addition to the actual melt down we had a few weeks back.) This time it was my fault.
Let me begin by saying we have 3 small freezers, each with 3 drawers, which store altogether about as much as a medium sized chest freezer would store.
Because of my arthritis and the fact that I am quite short, I was finding it difficult to navigate our chest freezer so we got rid of it a few years back. Anyways, the other day I put something into one of them and did not quite get it closed. DUH!
Thankfully I went to get something out the day after and noticed it before we had lost everything. (again) Anyways, All we lost was a tub of ice cream. Some of my beautiful fish had just about thawed out however.
I had just gotten a delivery from Seafresh the day before. Beautiful North Atlantic Cod Loins (thick, firm and delicately flavoured), Salmon Fillets (which are centre cuts and gorgeous), King Prawns (peeled, deveined and ready to cook), and fabulous Sea Bass (boneless and sustainable).
Thankfully all that was affected was half of the cod. It did still have ice crystals in it, but not enough that I felt safe re-freezing it.
Seafresh is an on line fish monger, which sells quality fish, seafood,
poultry and meat. They have access to some of the best quality products
from Britain and around the world.
This is largely due to the good relationships
they have fostered with their suppliers since 1996, when they began
with the very simple concept of selling high quality frozen foods to
their customers right in the comfort of their own homes.
I've been enjoying their fabulous products for over a year now and I have to say I have never been disappointed.
They have been a real God-send throughout this pandemic, with their fast and reliable and efficient delivery and quality products. I have always been able to depend on them.
So anyways, although I had not planned on serving fish mid-week, I ended up cooking us some lovely Cod for our dinner that day.
There is nothing more delicious on earth than a beautiful, fresh piece of Cod and theirs is some of the best I have tasted. We have never been disappointed.
I chose to cook it very simply. This is one of the easiest ways of cooking fish and yet one of the most delicious.
It turns out perfectly every time.
Dusted with flour and seasonings it is simply pan fried in butter along with several sprigs of fresh thyme and marjoram.
You cannot get any easier.
It cooks for two to three minutes per side until golden brown and perfectly cooked. I then squeeze lemon juice over top.
The lemon juice both flavours the fish and then mingles with the delicious juices of the fish in the pan and the butter to create a lush sauce which is beautiful spooned over the finished dish.
You really don't get much better than this. On this particular day I also sprinkled the fillets with some roasted tomato seasalt that I had gotten with my tomato order.
I thought it would go well with fish and I was right. Especially Cod. It was a delicious addition.
In any case we enjoyed our fish with a simple side salad and some boiled new potatoes. We felt like we were dining like Kings. What could have been a tragic accident turned into an unexpected mid-week pleasure!
Pan Fried Cod
Yield: 2
Meltingly tender and sweet cod, cooked in butter with the addition of several fresh herbs. Simple, quick and delicious!
Ingredients:
- 2 thick Cod loins (thawed if frozen)
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs of fresh marjoram
- Some flour for dusting
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ground sweet paprika
- knob of butter
- the juice of half a lemon
Instructions:
- Dry your cod loins very well with some paper kitchen towelling. Dust each loin lightly with some salt, pepper and paprika. Roll them in the flour, patting lightly on both sides to help it adhere and shaking off any excess. Set aside.
- Melt a knob of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat, along with the springs of thyme and marjoram. Once it begins to foam, add the fish, presentation side down, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side, until golden brown. Flip over and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes, until browned and the fish is just cooked through. (The edges should flake easily with teased with the tines of a fork.)
- Squeeze the lemon over top and remove immediately from the heat. Swirl the pan to amalgamate the juices of the fish, lemon and butter.
- Divide the fish between 2 heated plates. Spoon some of the butter from the pan and herbs over top of each portion. Serve immediately.
Just look at how nicely cooked that is. This was one very beautiful piece of fish, thanks to Seafresh.
A few things about Seafresh:
- Same Day dispatch on orders received before 1 PM.
- All packages are carefully hand packed.
- Free delivery on orders above £50, £8 on orders below that amount.
- Responsibly and sustainably sourced.
- Air Blast Frozen at source within 4 hours of being caught.
- Wide variety to choose from.
Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
I really love skillet meals like this Cheesy Tuna Pasta. Meals/entrees that can be cooked all in one pan on top of the stove.
In the summer they are especially welcome as they don't heat up the kitchen like oven bakes do. But they are equally as delicious and desired in the winter months. To be honest I am up for a one pan supper any time!
This Cheesy Tuna Pasta is just like your favourite Tuna Casserole, except it is cooked in a skillet. Amazingly there is no need to cook the pasta first.
The pasta cooks right in the pan with everything else. This also helps to cut down on the washing up! I am all for that!
So what do you need to cook a fantastic meal like this? Nothing unusual. Its simple, economical, quick and easy to make.
- small pasta shapes (I used smaller size macaroni)
- Albacore white tuna (I only ever buy albacore)
- whole milk (homogenized, don't use a lower fat milk, the richness of the sauce comes from the use of whole milk)
- water
- butter
- dry mustard powder
- sweet paprika (the opposite of hot paprika)
- grated strong cheddar cheese (don't be tempted to use pre-grated cheese please, it simply doesn't work well in this recipe.)
- frozen petit pois (sure you can use full size peas, but I prefer petit pois)
- salt, pepper, hot sauce and chopped parsley to garnish
As you can see, nothing too out of the ordinary here. The most expensive bits will be your cheese and your tuna.
I buy my Albacore tuna in glass jars from Ocado. I end up with really great tuna, and an empty glass jar that I can use when I make jam in the summer and autumn time.
Do you save your glass jars? I always have done, and plastic bags, etc. When I lived in Canada we used to buy our milk in plastic bags, in the 4 liter pack we would get three bags.
After the milk was gone I would wash and dry them and store them for future use. They made great freezer bags! Nice and heavy duty!
This is a fabulously tasty skillet meal. It goes together really quickly and is done in about 15 minutes time maximum.
While it is cooking you can be putting together a nice salad to serve on the side. Easy peasy.
You do need to keep an eye on it while it is cooking. First when you bring everything to the boil. Milk has the magic quality of being able to just about double in size when it comes to the boil, so keep watch.
You don't want to be cleaning burnt on milk from off the stove.
You also want to keep a watch on it and stir it often while it is simmering away. This is so that all of the pasta cooks equally and none sticks to the bottom of the pan.
There is nothing worse than pasta that is stuck to the bottom of the pan. If it burns it can send that burnt flavor all the way through the whole dish.
Don't attempt to cut fat in this recipe by using skimmed milk. You want at least 1% or higher. I use whole milk. It gives a lovely rich sauce.
I have never used any other kinds of milk in this dish other than cow's milk so I cannot speak as to how well they would work. (Soy, oat, almond, etc.) I can't think that they would be very nice actually. But that is just me.
You can use fresh garden peas if you have them. I use frozen petit pois (baby peas). I am thinking that frozen chopped broccoli would also work in the same quantity as the peas, as would a mix of frozen peas and corn.
Or even a mix of frozen vegetables. Just pick what you enjoy most.
Always grate your own cheese when you are using it for cooking like this. They add things to pre-grated blends to help them flow smoother when pouring out of the bag and they can often give you a poor finish.
It doesn't really take too long to grate your own, and it is so much nicer tasting and texture wise! Also use a nice and flavorful cheese. I use strong cheddar. You can also add a TBS or two of grated Parmesan if you wish. This adds an extra special touch!
I only ever use Albacore Tuna. An old Italian woman told me to never use anything else once. I was in the grocery store and buying tuna. This was back in the 1980's.
She was right. There is really no comparison and, to me anyways, it has always been worth it to pay a bit more and get albacore. Its just nicer and tastes far superior.
Make sure you use a pasta in this recipe which says it can be cooked in 6 to 8 minutes as per the instructions on the box. I used small elbows which worked perfectly.
All in all I think this is one winner of a weeknight supper! My children have always loved it. As a busy mom raising five children this is a recipe which always came in handy!
Cheesy Tuna Skillet Pasta
Yield: 4
A simple all in one supper entrée that comes together in one pan lickety split!
Ingredients:
- 230g small size pasta shapes (2 cups, I use small macaroni)
- 280g Albacore white tuna (10 ounces), well drained
- 480ml whole milk (2 cups)
- 240ml water
- 4 TBS butter
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 245g grated strong cheddar cheese (2 cups)
- 75g frozen peas (1/2 cup)
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Tabasco sauce to taste
- fresh parsley to garnish
Instructions:
- I use my largest non-stick skillet for this recipe. Add the macaroni, the tuna (broken up), the milk, water, butter, dry mustard powder and paprika to the skillet. Place over high heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. (Stay on it as milk really doubles in volume as it boils and you don't want it to boil over.) Turn down to a bare minimum heat and cover tightly.
- Simmer until the pasta is cooked al dente, about 10 minutes or so, and almost all of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir frequently to prevent the bottom from catching. Stir in the frozen peas and cheese. Allow the cheese to melt. Season with the tabasco sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.
notes:
Do NOT use pre-grated cheese. It doesn't work well in this recipe. Please grate your own. Any small pasta shape will work. The cook time depends on your pasta. If its not cooked and most of the liquid has already been absorbed, add a bit more boiling water if need be.
What are your favourite things to do with Tuna? We love it in sandwiches, salads, pasta dishes, baked loaves and patties!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for
visiting. Do come again!
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