Date I made this recipe:
March 13, 2016
The Whole Foods
Market Cookbook – A Guide to Natural Foods with 350 Recipes by Steve
Petusevsky and Whole Foods Market Team Members
Published by:
Clarkson Potter/Publishers
ISBN: 0-609-80644-0;
copyright 2002
Recipe: Tuna Noodle Casserole – p. 274-275
Et tu, Whole Foods? Et tu?
In last week's blog (Smith Island Cake), I told the tale of
my frustration with a key ingredient being left out of the instructions for the
cake's frosting.
This week, when I reviewed the list of ingredients for
today's Tuna Noodle Casserole, I
failed to see the key ingredient – noodle.
Well huh.
So I read the recipe's narrative and it said "Our
recipe is made with pappardelle noodles."
Okay then. But how much?
Turns out the answer is "1 pound." Turns out it actually said that but I missed
it until after I started writing this recap.
So when making the recipe, I guessed.
Guessed correctly, but guessed.
In my defense, here's why I was tripped up: all ingredients except the pasta were listed under one of three headings, all of
them in bold: "The Béchamel Sauce;" "The Tuna Casserole Filling" and "The Crumb Topping." The
pasta was on its own, sans a heading, sans bold. The average person's eyes are drawn to the
bold heading and so I completely missed the pasta all eight or so times I
looked at the recipe while I was in the midst of making it!
The recipe's narrative might have provided a clue but of
course it didn't, stating only to make the pappardelle "per directions on
the box." So...would that be box or
boxes? (For the record, I got my pasta
at Trader Joe's and it came in 8 oz.
bags, not boxes. But details,
details.) Again, having guessed
correctly, I cooked a pound of pasta so all should have been right with the
world.
Except it wasn't.
Turns out one pound of pasta was more than my very large casserole pan
could handle and so I couldn't use all of it.
Further, the béchamel sauce did not stretch that far and so the recipe
was off balance. I hate it when that
happens.
Anyway, as to the pasta problem, if I was editing this
recipe I would have put a header, in bold, above the pound of pasta that said
"The Pasta," in the same
way the other ingredients got headers ("The Béchamel Sauce;" "The Tuna Casserole Filling;" and "The Crumb Topping") so that the reader could have seen clearly
how much pasta was required.
This is not clean recipe writing. I was peeved.
You will likely not be peeved since I am pointing out the inconsistency
but I'm telling you right now, if you use the entire pound of pasta, you're
going to "need a bigger boat" (I reference the movie, Jaws) i.e. casserole pan/cooking vessel!
So let's talk about why I selected this cookbook: on Wednesday, March 16th, the St. Paul Whole Foods store is moving out of its
tiny store on Fairview Ave
to a much larger footprint at the intersection of Selby Ave and Snelling (Ave). Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, I can't wait. I can't.
Because folks, despite the nickname, "Whole Paycheck,"
I love Whole Foods. I go there all the time for my meat, it being
the only place in town where I can buy just what I need of, for example, ground
meats (chicken, turkey, beef and pork), as well as cheese and olives and other
condiments. I also like their fruit and
vegetable selections – again, often purchasing only the amount needed, their
bulk foods and sometimes, their hot food selections. So I'm excited about the larger store because
I'll be able to shop an even wider selection of the items I love.
What I don't love about Whole
Foods though, is that their prices for every day items such as Kleenex or
toilet paper are too high and the selection not to my liking. In other words, it is not a one-stop shop for
me although it often comes close.
As to the cookbook (published in 2002), I found it an
interesting study in how I think Whole
Foods has tweaked its brand and image over time. The subtitle of this cookbook, "A Guide to Natural Foods...," reflects
their roots when they were indeed a Mecca
for "whole," organic food, and very similar to a co-op. Co-ops have also changed but I remember well
the days when you couldn't walk in and buy something so basic as chocolate
chips because at that time, chocolate chips weren't "organic;" it was
carob chips (Ew!) or nothing at all. Now
organic chocolate is all the rage and of course Whole Foods carries 57 kinds*
(*Slight exaggeration.).
Today's Whole Foods
shoppers present an interesting mix:
hipsters, young families, against hippies, soccer moms – you name it, we
shop there. And I don't think we shop
there as much for those "natural" foods as we do because we like the
store, are into a "farm-to-table" approach and generally like what
they have to offer because it's good quality.
To be sure, the store is not for everybody. Lower income people will have a harder time
sticking to budget at Whole Foods/"Whole
Paycheck," not everyone is into paying through the nose for
"organic" food – a definition that is constantly changing - and the
product mix is not as broad as a "regular" grocery store.
Now that my local Whole
Foods is expanding though, I am excited that their deli offerings will
equal that of their other larger stores in the area and with that will come a
broader selection of the recipes featured in their cookbook. That said, there were certain sections of
recipes in this cookbook that didn't appeal, mostly because they were too
natural! If you like tofu for instance,
there are plenty of recipes. If you like
quinoa and wheat berries and barley, well then, knock yourself out with the
variety of recipes presented. I was not
so inclined.
Since I'm more of an entree gal, I checked out that section
and found plenty of potential recipes such as Pomegranate Glazed Chicken (p. 238), Cubano-Style Pork Loin (p. 252) and Chicken Pot Pie with Whole Wheat Crust (p. 270). My choice though, was for the Tuna Noodle Casserole on p. 274 and
why? Because the ingredient list
included peas. A tuna noodle casserole
is not a tuna noodle casserole without peas.
Period. I am still on the fence
about any topping – crumb or otherwise – but that's a personal preference. But if it doesn't have peas, then
fugghedaboudit.
Okay, so: this recipe
came close to satisfying my (sudden) craving for Tuna Noodle Casserole but missed the mark because of the following:
1) The
noodle problem. I think a half a pound
of noodles is about right. I crammed
every noodle I could into my casserole pan but doing so left no room for the
sauce and the resulting dish was a little on the dry side.
2) Unless
you like crunchy onions, celery and pepper in your tuna casserole (I did not),
sauté them a lot longer than stated. A
lot longer. I wish I would have kept
them on the stove until they were almost mushy!
3) Let's
discuss béchamel sauce a/k/a "white sauce." In theory, this is an easy thing to make but
in practice, I am always challenged by adding the flour to the melted butter so
that it doesn't end up resembling a crumbly pie dough! The directive to let this mixture "bubble"
had me howling with laughter because mine didn't even come close to bubbling. My roux base of flour and butter ended up
almost forming into a ball and I'm pretty sure that this was not correct. All was well in the end but I had to ditch
the first batch in order to get (almost) the right consistency. First last week's frosting and now this—what
is going on here?!
4) This
casserole is supposed to cook at 350F for 20-25 minutes until the sides are
bubbling. No bubbles were harmed in the
making of this recipe as the noodle to tuna mixture ratio was too high. Instead, I got baked noodles, san sauce and
this irked.
Despite all that, my husband thought it was good and gave it
a thumb's up. I wanted to tweak it and
if you make it, I think you should too.
And if making this with Cream of Mushroom soup is more to your liking,
then go ahead and use that. Even Whole
Foods gives you the okay: "Some
cooks use prepared mushroom soup mix for the sauce." And I tell you what, it sure would be easier than
dealing with the béchamel sauce!
By the way, I was tempted to make this on Friday for Lent
(not that I really observe but...) but a friend called and invited me to Happy
Hour instead so there went that idea.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm planning a mid-day
"raid" on the Whole Foods
at their new location so as to avoid the crowds that they and I are
anticipating. I cannot wait.
Tuna Noodle Casserole
– serves 6
The Pasta
(Heading assigned by Ann, not Whole Foods)
1 pound dried pappardelle pasta
The Béchamel Sauce
2 cups milk
Freshly ground white pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
The Tuna Casserole
Filling
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped red pepper
½ cup chopped green pepper
2 ½ cups sliced white button mushrooms
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
2 (6 ounce) cans tongol tuna, drained (Ann's Note: or any tuna, drained and by the way, tuna
comes in 12 ounce cans as well.)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce
The Crumb Topping
1 ¼ cups dried bread crumbs
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon lemon pepper (Ann's Note: I didn't have this on hand so I mixed regular
pepper with dried lemon peel.)
1/8 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon butter
To Prepare the Pasta
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pappardelle for 6 to 8 minutes,
until it is al dente, or follow the directions on the box. Rinse the pasta in cold water, and drain. Ann's
Note: I think I'd make a half a
pound to three-quarters of a pound and see how that works first. It's pretty easy to boil up the rest if you
need it.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
To Prepare the
Béchamel Sauce
Heat the milk, white pepper, nutmeg, and salt together in a
small saucepan over medium-high heat just until it beings to boil. Lower the heat, and keep the milk warm.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Using a wire whisk, blend in the flour (Ann's
Note: do this as slowly and as
incrementally as possible or you'll have a mess on your hands and have to start
over.) Cook slowly for 2 minutes,
stirring constantly and keeping the mixture at a medium simmer. Do not allow the mixture to color or brown. Remove the pan from the heat.
As soon as the mixture has stopped bubbling (Ann's
Note: mine never bubbled. Not once.), pour in all of the hot milk at
once. Use vigorous strokes with the wire
whisk to blend the milk and flour together, making sure to scrape up all bits
of the flour from the inside edges of the pan.
Set the saucepan over medium-high heat, and stir with the wire whisk
until the sauce comes to a boil and thickens.
Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the sauce from the heat.
To Prepare the Tuna
Casserole Filling
Heat the canola oil in a medium saute pan over medium
heat. Add the onions, celery, and
peppers, and saute for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the mushrooms, and cook for 1 additional
minute. Ann's Note: Unless you like really crunchy vegetables,
plan on sautéing this mixture for several more minutes. I didn't and wish I had.
Transfer the filling to a large mixing bowl. (Ann's Note:
when they say "large" they mean large; use the biggest bowl or
pot you have.) Add the cooked pasta. Add
the bechamel sauce, peas, tuna, lemon juice, and hot sauce to the mixing bowl
with the cooked vegetables and pasta; toss lightly to incorporate all
ingredients well. Pour into a 2 ½ - to
3-quart greased ovenproof casserole.
Ann's Note: Unless you cut back
on the pasta, you will find it hard to squeeze all this into even a 3-quart
casserole. And if you can't fit it all
in with room for it to actually heat, you may be faced with a casserole that is
a tad dry. You've been warned!)
To Prepare the Crumb
Topping
In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs and the paprika, salt,
lemon pepper, and parsley. Sprinkle the
topping over the casserole and dot with butter.
Place casserole in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes,
until the edges of the casserole are bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden
brown. Ann's Note: the bread crumbs were brown but the casserole
was not bubbling. Sigh.
For those who are interested, here's the nutritional
information for this dish per serving:
Calories 560; Calories from Fat 110; Calories from Saturated
Fat 45; Protein 30 G; Carbohydrate 80 G; Total Fat 13 G; Saturated Fat 5 G;
Cholesterol 40 MG; Sodium 560 MG; 20% Calories From Fat
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