What's Cookin in My Kitchen

Originally posted on 24 October 2007.

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I just realized I haven't written about food in a while (hehe), so I figured, while taking a break from school work (t e d i o u s) and house work (CRAZY!), I might as well write about food--and have some fun in the process. As I said before, I'm not really what you'd consider a great cook, heck, I'm not even a good cook, but I've some recipes I've sort of mastered, so suffice it to say, I can cook. Or more accurately, there are certain dishes I can cook, and they actually taste like they're supposed to taste. If not better. Hehe. :-)

One of these is cheesy tuna and mushroom pasta. I make the sauce from scratch--that is, I put cream and cheese together in a pan and I stir and stir until the cheese is one with the cream--that is, all melted--and the color turns into a pale golden yellow. The tricky part is making sure that the sauce is smooth, and there are no cheesy bits. So to get the right texture, I keep stirring. (The problem with the cheesy bits is that they stick in the roof of your mouth, in your teeth, and/or even under your tongue, and it's annoying when that happens. If the cheesy bits cannot be avoided though, say, I got tired of stirring halfway through, I just say it's supposed to be like that, as the cheesy bits bring out the delightful cheese flavor even more. Hehe.)

For the tuna and mushroom mix, I saute some garlic first, then some onion--both minced, by the way--then I throw in the tuna, then the mushrooms. Then I do a bit of stir-frying. I usually use a combination of Century Tuna Hot and Spicy and Century Tuna in Vegetable Oil, so that the tuna is not so spicy, yet, it has a certain zing, which, from experience, I can say goes really well with the cheese and cream sauce. The mushrooms I use come straight from the can, usually Narcissus. I don't know why, but I've always used that brand.

I've always preferred spaghetti, and for the almost 5 years I've been cooking and serving this dish, I've used spaghetti. When I cooked it the last time though, I think about two weeks ago, I used macaroni. I wanted to give this old recipe something new. I wanted to bake it, and when I thought of that, I thought "Baked Mac, yum!" So I used macaroni. (I know, I know. I'm as logical in my cooking as I am in almost all other aspects of my life. :-)) The result was actually pretty successful. It was actually very good. And that's why I don't have pictures. We kept eating and talking about how good the pasta--now called baked cheesy tuna and mushroom macaroni, hee--was that we forgot to take pictures. Ahem. It's up to you if you want to believe that. :-)

But I have to say this pasta dish is not exactly the most healthy of meals, even with the tuna and the mushrooms, simply because of the cheese and the cream, which I use lots of. And, in the baked version, there's also the additional mozzarella on top, because, well, I love mozzarella. Hehe. Seriously though, the gooey texture and the mild and delicate milky taste of mozzarella make it the perfect topping for this pasta dish.:-) But, as I always say, I don't eat it every day (there are other more sinful fares to feast on, hahaha), so when I eat it, I will not be deterred by thoughts of what's healthy or not.

I wonder why I've never thought of baking this dish before. Oh, well, whatever, time to go back to work. Sigh. And, oh, I promise to take pictures next time I make this dish again, baked or not. :-)