Tuna Thursday

It was raining when I woke up Thursday morning. It eventually turned sunny, but then clouded up again, later.

I went to a little market at lunchtime and bought 8 ounces of whole button mushrooms.

It was cloudy with a light drizzle on the drive home.

I did have some things I wanted to do, so I went out back and drained the reflecting pool (first with a bucket, then with that little hand pump I bought). Then I added the cover and put on a big rock to hold it in place.

Then I sealed up the vent to the crawl space. I filled one suet cage (the other still has some in it) and the bird feeder. But, the rain came back so I went inside for the night.

I started making my dinner. As you know, I like tuna and peas and don’t really have a problem with the fact that one of the ingredients is a can of mushroom soup. But, I was interested when I found a tuna noodle casserole that you made from scratch!

So, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees F. and buttered my casserole dish. I brought a large pot of salted water to a boil and added 8 ounces of egg noodles. I cooked them according to the package directions and then drained them.

I melted a tablespoon of butter in the pot over medium-low heat and added one small onion, one stalk of celery (both finely diced) and a clove of garlic, minced. I cooked them about five minutes (until tender). Then I increased the heat to medium high and added the mushrooms, which I had sliced. I cooked them another five minutes or so (until most of the water had evaporated).

I melted four tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and whisked in 1/4 cup of flour until smooth. Then I slowly added two cups of milk, whisking all the while. When the sauce was smooth and slightly thickened, I seasoned it with salt and pepper. Then I added two cans of tuna (drained and flaked) one cup of thawed, frozen peas, the mushroom mixture and the egg noodles. I transferred all that to the baking dish.

I put the two tuna cans on the kitchen floor for the cats.

I melted two more teaspoons of butter and mixed in three tablespoons of bread crumbs. I sprinkled that over the top of the casserole. I went to get some shredded cheddar cheese and found I didn’t have any! Weird!! I always have that!

But, I did have some Colby-Jack, so I put about a cup of that on top. I baked it until it was bubbly and lightly browned (about 25 minutes). I shut off the oven, took out the casserole and let it cool.

Then I plated it. Hmmm... tasty! My only complaint is that I didn’t put enough salt in it, but that was easily corrected.

I watched some taped TV, but went to bed before 10:00 PM.