Tuna Pasta Mornay

I first tried this dish in 1989, adapted from a recipe in my daughter’s Weight Watchers’ Favorites cookbook.  There were several recipes in that book that were reduced in fat/calories but delicious and became family favorites.  The original recipe used 8 oz. of imitation crab meat (January, 1989 – “excellent”) and I’ve also used shrimp, salmon and now this version with tuna.

TUNA PASTA MORNAY

2 cups dry pasta
2 Tblsp. margarine or butter, divided
1 cup broccoli florets, in bite-size pieces
½ cup sliced onions
½ cup sliced mushrooms
2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
2 cups 2 % milk
2 oz Swiss cheese, shredded
2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
5 oz. can white Albacore tuna, drained and flaked
Salt/Pepper

Cook pasta in boiling, salted water until al dente according to package directions.  Drain.

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tblsp. margarine/butter; add broccoli and cook over medium low heat until color has brightened.

Add onions and cook until onions are starting to soften.   Add mushrooms and cook until all vegetables are tender.

With slotted spoon remove vegetables and set aside.

In a small bowl,  place flour and add a small amount of milk to make paste.

Gradually add remaining milk and stir.  In same skillet heat remaining 1 Tblsp. margarine/butter. Gradually stir in milk, mix, stir constantly until smooth.  Add cheese and cook, stirring frequently until cheese is melted.

Add the cooked vegetables, flaked tuna and cooked pasta.  Toss gently, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and cook over low heat until heated through.

Serve at once.
Servings – 4

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A Snowy Day Retro Meal

My oldest daughter was here for supper in the middle of a weeklong siege of snow and I wanted to fix some kind of comfort food.  What says “comfort” more than a casserole and some cookies from the late 1940s-early 1950s?

The Casserole:  I loved to have lunch at my Aunt Mabel’s house when I was a kid.  Mabel shared a two-family house with my maternal grandmother and each week they and Mabel’s two young children got together with my mother, my sister, and me.   Mabel was something of a kid herself – in her early 20s, funny, good with young people, a tomboy in jeans long before girls had started to wear them in the mid-1940s.  She wasn’t particularly interested in cooking but she always served fun food – cold cuts, store-bought cookies, potato chips – and sometimes she would try out a popular recipe such as her Tuna Noodle Casserole.  My father wouldn’t touch anything that even looked like a casserole with its conglomeration of ingredients, so this was a real treat for us.  At Mabel’s, we enjoyed the food we never had at home, as well as all the latest magazines and, the best thing for me, the chance to sit with the three women and listen to them talk while the younger children went off to play.

This is my version of Mabel’s casserole:

LILLIAN’S TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE

• 6 oz. dry noodles (about 1-1/2 cups)
• One can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
• Several gratings of black pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 Tblsp. chopped pimiento
• 2 Tblsp. dry minced onion
• 2 cans white albacore tuna (6 oz. each), drained &  flaked
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup crushed cheese crackers

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray or oil a 9″ baking dish

Cook the dry noodles in boiling, salted water until al dente (about 7 minutes).  Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the soup, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper.  Mix well and stir in the peas, pimiento, onion, flaked tuna and grated cheese.  Stir in the drained noodles.  Pour into the prepared 9″ pan.  Sprinkle the top with the crushed cheese crackers.

Bake @ 400 degrees F for 20 minutes until the mixture is hot and bubbly.

Serve at once.

The Cookies: These cookies are especially good when they’re first baked and the chocolate is still soft.

PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS

• 48 Hershey milk chocolate kisses
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 Tblsp. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Remove wrappers from chocolates.

Beat shortening/margarine and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended.  Add granulated sugar and brown sugar, beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk and vanilla, blending well.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Gradually beat the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into one-inch balls.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2″ apart.  Bake @ 375 degrees F for approximately 8-10 minutes until cookies are lightly browned.  Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie.  Remove cookies to wire rack to cool.

Yield:  48 cookies

I would love to have just one more chance to sit around the table with those dear people, listen to them talk and enjoy Mabel’s casserole.

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Tuna Melt and Butterscotch Kahlua Mousse

My youngest daughter is a busy stay-at-home mom who always finds time to get together with me on Fridays for lunch.  I try to make meals that are tasty, quick and easy, and reduced in fat and calories.  Here is the meal we had this week.

Friday was a beautiful fall day in southwestern Ohio and even a low-calorie, low fat meal looked pretty and tasted good.  I made an old standby of tuna salad on sturdy homemade bread, topped with tomato and fontina cheese and heated under the broiler.  Fast, easy and delicious.

MOM’S TUNA MELT

• Two 5-oz. cans of white albacore tuna, packed in water, drained)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 1-1/2 Tblsp. finely chopped onion
• 1 Tblsp. (or more) snipped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup low-fat mayo (Hellman’s Olive Oil Mayonnaise)
• 3/4 tsp. red wine vinegar
• Sprinkling of salt and grating of pepper to taste
• 6 homemade rolls, split, or 6 slices of sturdy bread
• 2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 6 thin slices of fontina cheese
  

 

In a medium bowl, mix together the drained tuna, bell pepper, onion and cilantro.  In a separate small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and red wine vinegar.  Add the mayonnaise mixture to the tuna and vegetables, add salt and pepper, and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, preheat broiler.  Place split rolls or slices of bread on a large baking sheet.  Spoon the tuna mixture onto each roll/bread piece.  Top with a slice of tomato and a thin slice of fontina cheese.  Place under broiler until tuna is heated through and cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.

Yield:  6 servings

Based on 6 servings, nutrition per DietPower software is:  233 calories, 8.25 g fat, 26.5 mg cholesterol, 235 mg sodium, 165 mg potassium, 2.63 g carbohydrate, .447 g dietary fiber, 11 g protein.

Weight Watchers:  5 points per serving

Dessert had started out to be Chocolate Kahlua Mousse, but I found I had only butterscotch instant pudding on hand.  The butterscotch and kahlua made a good combination and a nice finish to the meal.

BUTTERSCOTCH KAHLUA MOUSSE

• One 4 oz. box of sugar/fat-free butterscotch instant pudding
• 1-1/4 cups 2% milk
• 1/4 cup kahlua
• 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip Lite topping, thawed

In  a medium bowl, whisk together the pudding mix, milk and kahlua for 2 minutes.  Fold in the Cool Whip topping.  Spoon into 6 dessert dishes, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Yield:  6 servings

Based on 6 servings, nutrition per DietPower software is:  160 calories, 3.67 g fat, 3.69 mg cholesterol, 239 mg sodium, 82 mg potassium, 23.6 g carbohydrate, 1.66 g protein

Weight Watchers:  4 Points/Plus per serving

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Impossibly Easy Seafood Pie

I adapted this recipe from one found on www.bettycrocker.com.   We have had the pie for lunches, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and now for our Easter breakfast.  It’s very tasty and a nice source of protein before digging into all of the chocolate eggs.

IMPOSSIBLY EASY SEAFOOD PIE

• 4 oz. cream cheese, cut into small cubes
• 4 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 6 oz. can fancy white crabmeat, drained
• 2 Tblsp. dried, minced onion
• 2 Tblsp. diced pimiento
• 1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Grating of black pepper
• Grating of nutmeg
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease pie plate, 9×1-1/4″.

In a small bowl place the cream cheese cubes and with the back of a spoon, cream until smooth.

Add Cheddar, mixing well, then the crabmeat, onions and pimiento.  Place this mixture in the greased pie plate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the Bisquick, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and eggs.  Pour into the pie plate on top of the crabmeat mixture.

Bake uncovered @ 400 degrees F for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (some cream cheese may stick to the knife).  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Makes 6 delicious servings.

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An Airport and a Good Lenten Meal

Lunken Airport in eastern Cincinnati has been a popular destination for our family for generations.  When it was dedicated in 1930, it was the largest commercial airport in the U.S.  This photo was taken on a visit to the new terminal in the 1930s, showing my little sister, cousin and me.

I still enjoy visiting the airport, having lunch and watching planes with my youngest daughter and her two children.  They’re just as fascinated as I was on my childhood visits.

In the 1980-90s, my office was across the road from the airport and we enjoyed special lunches at the Sky Galley restaurant.  The first meals served on a commercial airliner (American Airlines) were prepared here.  The Sky Galley is in the original Art Deco terminal building and the ambience is wonderful – lots of airplane memorabilia and a view of the runways where some company jets and many small planes are constantly landing and taking off.  The food is good, plain home-style cooking.  It was a tradition for my oldest daughter to meet me for lunch on Good Friday and to enjoy their special Lenten meal of salmon patties, macaroni and cheese, and scalloped tomatoes.  Now that I’ve been retired for 14 years, I make it a point to cook the same meal several times during Lent and certainly on Good Friday for my two daughters.   I’ve posted the recipes for my version of salmon patties, macaroni and cheese, and scalloped tomatoes.

In addition to being just plain good food, the dinner brings back memories of grand old Lunken Airport.

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