What’s Cookin in My Kitchen
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.
