This past week was International Women’s Day and I was generously invited (by my dear colleague and friend, Andrea) to the City of Brampton’s 2015 Women’s Day Event and the keynote speaker was none other than celebrity chef Anna Olson! I’ve been a long admirer of Chef Anna’s work from the very first time we dined at Inn on the Twenty in Jordan, Ontario where she and her husband Michael were the executive chefs, more than 15 years ago! These days Chef Anna works with Food Network Canada and is currently starring in Bake with Anna Olson as well as authoring cook books, managing her website, blog and social media outlets not to mention the presentation gigs. On Thursday, Chef Anna recounted her path on how she arrived at where she is today and it was inspirational! She was engaging, funny and interesting, the time just flew by. The audience of 140 were primarily comprised of entrepreneurial women and some young ladies from a local high school. Thank you Andrea for the invitation and the reminder that these networking events are worth every minute because you never know who you’ll meet and where that will lead (of course, I gave Chef Anna my contact info ;-)).
Chef Anna’s primary food influence was her grandmother and as I reflected on who my primary influence was (my dear Mother, of course) I also thought about other influences I’ve had over the years, like JT’s mother. JT’s mother was a typical North American cook of that era, not overly adventurous but she made a tuna casserole in the 80’s that was a family favourite. Canned cream of mushroom soup (or cream of celery), a can of tuna, some cooked noodles, perhaps some chopped onion and the pièce de résistance: crumbled salted potato chips on top! Bake in a casserole dish until thoroughly warmed through and serve immediately. Being raised in a Hungarian home, I had never had tuna in this way (or canned tuna any other way for that matter) and having potato chips on top was such a treat. Of course, these days we don’t buy canned soups (too much sodium) nor do we indulge in potato chips, but I wanted the flavour of this retro meal so I reinvented it in a slightly healthier way. I got the thumbs up from JT. Definitely a keeper!
Tuna Casserole Makeover
A Kitcheninspirations Original Recipe!
Ingredients for Creamed Mushroom Soup (yields 300 mL):
- 60 g little button mushrooms
- 125 g chopped onion
- 20 g dried wild mushroom mix (rehydrated in 375 mL (1 1/2 cups) water, reserve liquid)
- 20 g red lentils (thickener)
- 3 cloves garlic
- Sea salt
Directions for the Creamed Mushroom Soup:
- Rehydrate the mushrooms in 375 mL of hot water (you can microwave this for a couple of minutes to get it going faster). Strain into a fine sieve (I use a dedicated coffee filter) and reserve liquid. Wash the mushrooms thoroughly. Chop mushrooms into smaller bits (allows for the really chewy parts to hydrate faster) and set aside.
- Cook the onions with a spray of canola oil until translucent, add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add lentils and 375 mL of mushroom broth and rehydrated mushrooms. Cook until lentils are completely cooked and mushrooms have no chewy bits, season with salt.
- Pulse with an immersion blender until smooth and silky. You may push this through a fine sieve if you’d like, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Set aside 250 mL (1 cup) and freeze the rest, it’s great for soups, gravy or even a base for pizza.
Ingredients for the Tuna Casserole:
- 120 g drained albacore tuna in water
- 1/2 cup pearl barley
- 150 g green beans, washed and cut into thirds (bite-sized pieces)
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions for the Tuna Casserole:
- Pre heat the oven to 350° F (176° C).
- In the same pot as you made the creamed mushrooms, toast the pearl barley in a little oil, add about 250 mL (1 cup) water and cook the barley until about 3/4 done (it will continue to cook in the casserole) until almost all of the water has been absorbed and what’s left is thick. The barley should still have quite a chewy texture.
- Combine the cleaned and cut green beans and roughly separated, drained tuna with the barley, add the creamed mushroom soup, 1 cup of water and give it a good stir. You may keep everything in your pan if it’s oven proof, I transferred it to two small oven proof casseroles that I lightly oiled.
- Combine the Greek yogurt, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and dollop on top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature is 160°F (71° C). Serve with a small green salad.
Notes:
- You may, of course use canned soup and not make your own creamed mushrooms.
- We prefer to use Albacore tuna in water, but the choice is yours.
- Don’t like green beans? Use celery instead (I had green beans on hand).
- We are trying to cut back so I used this recipe for four servings. JT said he could have easily eaten one small casserole on his own (even though I did serve him 3/4 of it!).
- I have a double oven and I baked this in the top, smaller oven so I was able to get a little browning on the topping without turning on the broiler. If you bake these in a large oven, you may wish to broil the tops for colour and texture!
- Substitute quinoa or bulgur to lower the calories and carbs a bit (makes it 5 points in WW). Leave out the Parmesan and bread crumbs to bring the WW points down even further to 4!
I never heard of this lady chef before but that cookbook sounds like a really good one! You also look lovely, Eva! 🙂
It seems that you had a great day & I also love your special tasty inviting recipe! Yum!
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What a fun time at International Women’s Day—and a great photo! I hate to admit this, but I made that infamous tuna casserole for Bill yesterday! He asks for it every Lent so I went out and bought a can of soup. Next year, he’ll get yours!!!
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Eva… I was so excited about your tuna casserole, it momentarily overwhelmed Anna Olson 😀 — so great that you got to attend her talk and book signing. Lucky you to have so many opportunities to enjoy and explore what you love!
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I have never heard about this lady, but the event sounds very interesting. I guess we all have taken influence from our mothers… (unless we had fathers who were main home cooks but it’s rare even now, not to mention older generations…). I am lucky to have a very open-minded mum who was always happy to try new recipes and new seasonings, though the staple food was traditional of course, but with more spices and herbs (hence probably my very early passion for chilli 😉 ). When I was a teenager tuna and Chinese cabbage salads were quite “fashionable” and I often prepared them, then I discovered the French “homely” tuna and rice salad I still love, but tuna in hot dishes is something recent in my kitchen, but the Korean stew with kimchi is soooo good, I’m glad to discover your recipe and am sure it tastes fantastic. The potato chips on top sound extremely tempting! Thumbs up for skipping the canned soup.
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It looks like you went to a very worthwhile presentation. When I was little my mother travelled to the USA and came back with a recipe that sounds a bit like your MILs casserole except this wasn’t with tuna but with chicken. It definitely had a creamy mushroom sauce and there were boiled eggs in it and salted potato chips on top. I loved it! I do think these days I would prefer your sophisticated take on an old classic xx
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The “traditional” tuna casserole is wonderful. But really, really junky! This looks such much better. Great job of lightening up an old favorite.
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Eva, I love what you’ve done with this tuna casserole… so many thoughtful, gorgeous ingredients and making your own mushroom soup just puts it over the top! I also appreciate how you used yogurt to create a chunky, filling topping rather than just cheese (I have a great fondness for cheese but I find to get that delicious topping that we all crave, it sure takes a lot). Lovely recipe all around!
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You know I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a tuna casserole but I feel like I’m missing out. Lovely picture of the both of you too! 😀
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I left a comment earlier but it seems to have gotten lost in cyberspace.
Don’t care for can tuna and can you believe I never had a tuna casserole, yours look awesome though may just give it a try.
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Good speakers (like Ana seems to be) can indeed inspire us in delicious ways. I was raised on canned tuna and consider it a comfort food. Both in sandwiches and of course in casseroles too. GREG
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I’m loving all these celebrities you’re meeting, Eva. Can’t wait to start flying back to Canada so I can get an invite! Flew over Tronno, yesterday, looks bitterly cold still.
Never saw a tuna casserole looking like this. Ingenious.
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Great days outing. I love tuna casserole but cant seem to get anyone else interested makes me sad. What a great makeover
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We watch Anna here in Australia and I love her down-to-earth baking style. I would have loved that Women’s Day outing.
I’d also love that tuna casserole too. Healthy and delicious.
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I’ve never had a tuna casserole in my life so I can’t really judge the makeover but it looks good.
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It looks very satisfying and delicious. Looks like that you had a great weekend and Women’s Day, Eva.
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