Stadium Rat

Enhanced Tuna Helper

I wouldn't have believed it either: but it's true. It only involves some additions and substitutions. I have done this successfully only with Tuna Tetrazzini and Fettucine Alfredo.

Replace the indicated amount of milk with half and half.

Use only butter.

After putting the butter, half and half and water into the pan, add about one quarter teaspoon of fresh black pepper. The amount varies with the quality of the pepper. In my experience, Williams-Sonoma tastes the best.

Add one dash of Tabasco (original).

Use tuna packed in oil.

Reduce the indicated amount of water by one half cup. Replace it with one cup of dry vermouth. My favotite is Martini & Rossi. Do this just before covering.

Lower heat as liquid is reduced. Cook until quite soft.

Remove from heat and let stand covered for about fifteen minutes. Taste it. If there is an odd lemony flavor, the alcohol has not completely evaporated, so give it a few more minutes.

You may or may not wish to top it with Parmesan or Romano or a mixture of the two. I still haven't decided. But either way, it is good.



Hamburger Helper

Hamburger helper is much better when it doesn’t come from a box! This is a great one-pot dish perfect for the whole family. The cheesy, ground beef-filled pasta is a comforting meal for bone chilling nights. For those unfamiliar, the recipe is basically a hamburger macaroni and cheese. It’s made with minimal ingredients so any additional trips out into the cold to the grocery store are limited. I turn to this as a “clean out the pantry” meal. It’s a great way to use up leftover ground beef! If you’re a fan of nostalgic recipes like this give my beef stroganoff or stovetop broccoli Cheddar mac and cheese a try.

Step 1: Cook aromatics.

Heat a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and heat through. Add the onion and sauté until the onion is soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Step 2: Cook beef.

Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until the meat is browned, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

ground beef and sautéed onions with wooden spoon.

seasoned ground beef for hamburger helper.

Step 3: Add tomato paste.

Stir in the tomato paste and chili powder.

Step 4: Cook pasta.

Add the beef stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes (the cooking time may differ depending on the pasta shape).

Quick homemade hamburger helper recipe with ground beef and noodles added.

homemade hamburger helper made with ground beef, pasta, and cheddar cheese.

Step 5: Finish with cheese.

Remove from heat and stir in the cream, Cheddar cheese and half the chives, stirring until the cheese has melted.

Step 6: Serve.

Ladle into bowls and serve topped with the remaining chives.

Tips
Swaps and substitutions

Meat: The ground beef can be replaced with another leaner ground meat like turkey or chicken.

Spice: While this version is more kid-friendly without added spice, try adding a touch of cayenne or a bit of hot sauce for a bit of added flavor.

Broth: The beef broth can be swapped for chicken stock for a more mellow flavor.

What to serve with hamburger helper

Balsamic Sriracha Brussels Sprouts

Blanched and Sautéed Green Beans

Honey Glazed Carrots

Quick homemade hamburger helper recipe with ground beef and cheesy pasta.



Italian Fettucine Alfredo Tuna Helper

1 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs flour
1 cup whole milk or cream
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried parsley or 1 T fresh
1 can drained tuna
8 oz fettuccine pasta

Cook pasta according to box directions until al dente. Don’t over cook it or it won’t absorb the sauce.

Meanwhile, sauté garlic and parsley in butter for about a minute over medium heat. Add flour and whisk together until a paste forms, then slowly stir in the milk, whisking constantly. Stir until the sauce is smooth and lump-free. Sprinkle in cheese a tablespoon at a time, whisking and letting the cheese melt between additions. Add drained tuna, and cooked pasta. Stir gently to combine and let sit for 3-5 minutes off heat so the sauce can be absorbed by the pasta. Enjoy!

Servings: 4



Tuna Tetrazzini Tuna Helper

11 oz package of tuna
16 oz box of linguine
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 Tbs butter
1 Shallot chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

Boil water in large pot and salt water. Add pasta and cook til El dente

In skillet on med heat melt butter and saute shallot and garlic. Add in cream and stir constantly for about 5-8 min. Add in pepper and simmer for 1-2 min. Add in cheese and stir well. Then add in the tuna and mix.

Drain pasta and place in large bowl. Pour sauce over pasta and toss. Garnish with the fresh parsley and serve!



Upscaled Tuna Helper

This is my take on tuna helper. It's yummy, easy to make and perfect for a quick dinner after a long day at work. Oh and my roommates happen to be big fans so I always make sure to make enough for them too!

olive oil
1 medium red onion (chopped)
red pepper flakes
2 cans tuna in olive oil
3 tbs capers
1/2 cup white wine
splash of chicken broth
salt & pepper
10 oz bow tie pasta
your choice of cheese(Parmesan, shredded mozzarella, ricotta, etc)

Cook pasta according to the box, I add a splash of olive oil to the water so the pasta doesn't stick together. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in medium skillet, add onions and saute for about 5 minutes. Add in red pepper flakes (adjust to your preference). Add in tuna and capers to the pan, then wine and reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. (During this time the pasta should be ready to drain, after drained place in bowl and drizzle with some olive oil) At the end of the 10 minutes add a splash of chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste, add tuna mixture to the pasta and mix thoroughly. Top with whatever cheese you have on hand and enjoy!

Author Notes
When I made it last night I only had ricotta and added about two tablespoons to mix in with the tuna and pasta. It was delish! I love this dish it's one of my favorites and I hope you will enjoy it too :)

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I knew a guy who called his show ans said Panchos was the best Mexican restaurant in NOLA. Fitz about had a stroke on air.

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I saw workers at Panchos literally pouring stuff out of cans.

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All 652 recipes

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That's weird - I did a search earlier and NOMENU.COM was gone, but now I see I needed to search for the recipes.

How did I know it would be Paul Allen to respond?

As I understand it, the secret to commercial bakery poboy bread is that they use steam-injecting ovens. That's what give the loaf its distinctive crust. Maybe look for a recipe where you spray water onto the sides of the oven to create the steam effect.



Also, I've heard true poboy bread has very little oil in it and that's supposedly why it goes stale so fast.

ETA: Just found this Fitzmorris recipe in my collection:

New Orleans French Bread (Almost)

The French bread we eat around New Orleans, from the small loaves that come out with the oysters Rockefeller at Antoine's to the long loaves that enclose gravy-saturated roast beef at Mother's, is a unique loaf. There's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Certainly not in France, where the bread may look the same from a distance but has a much denser texture and t thicker crust.

What distinguishes New Orleans French bread is the lightness of both the crust and the interior. A classic New Orleans French bread has large air pockets inside, with tendrils of baked dough stretching across them. And a light, thin crust that's so fragile that it easily shatters into hundreds of little shards when you break it.

I've been told by the old bread bakers that this style of bread can only be gotten by using the special yeasts they employ, along with ovens whose humidity is kept high by pipes spraying a fine mist of water inside at intervals. Whatever creates that texture, I have been unable to duplicate it at home. Nor have I seen any other baker in a restaurant accomplish it.

I haven't given up yet, but I haven't hit the mark yet, either. However, I did manage to make four loaves of what my guests and I thought was a very good French bread for Thanksgiving. It took two days to make it (most of that was spent waiting for it to rise, but aside from paying close attention it wasn't hard. The easy part: only three ingredients!

You do need one odd tool: a clean spray bottle filled with drinkable water.

You can do this in a pile on the countertop, but it's much easier with a big mixer like a Kitchenaid. That's what I base these instructions upon.

2 packets active dry yeast (I prefer Hodgson's Mill)
7 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp salt

Pour 2 1/3 cups of water at skin temperature into the bowl of the mixer. Stir in the yeast with a whisk and allow to sit for a few minutes while you measure the flour into a separate bowl.

Fit the whisk attachment on the mixer and turn it on the lowest speed. Slowly add four cups of flour (a quarter-cup at a time), whisking it into the yeast water until blended before adding more flour.

Fit the dough hook on the mixer. Sprinkle the salt into the dough and run the mixer about two minutes. Then speed the mixer up to about 3 or 4 and resume adding the flour, continuing at the rate of a quarter-cup at a time, and allowing the flour to blend in thoroughly before adding more. Incorporate all the remaining flour, except for the last quarter-cup. (Reserve that.) Run the mixer until the dough ball cleans the side of the bowl. (You might have to pull the dough off and drop it to the bottom of the bowl if it gets tangled in the hook.)

It should take a total of about 25-30 minutes to add all the flour and knead the dough. It should come out smooth and damp but not sticky. Form it into a ball.

Grease the sides of a large metal bowl and roll the dough ball around in it to coat the sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator overnight. (Or leave it out at room temperature and let it rise for about two hours, then pick up at the next step.)

The dough should have about doubled in size. Punch it down, fold it and knead it for about two minutes, then make it into a ball. Return it to the bowl and re-cover with plastic wrap. Put it in a warm place to rise again. If the dough is still cold from the refrigerator, let it rise for two hours. It it's already at room temperature, 50-60 minutes should allow it to double again.

Punch the dough down again and put it onto a clean, floured countertop. Divide the dough into four or five balls of equal size. Cover these with the plastic wrap and let them rest for ten or fifteen minutes. While waiting, grease baking sheets (or, if you have them, one baguette pan per loaf).

Take a ball of dough and press it down hard with your hand into a rounded rectangle about eight inches long and four inches wide. Fold one of the long edges over to meet the other. Pinch the seam together with thumb and forefinger until it's sealed all the way around, and flatten the dough again, trying to make it longer rather than wider. Fold it over, pinch it closed, and flatten again. Then fold and pinch closed one final time, leaving any air pockets inside be. The loaf should now be about 16 inches long. Take your time doing all this; the dough needs to have these manipulations done slowly, or it will shrink back.

As you finish each loaf, place it seam side down on the baking sheet or pan and cover with a damp cloth. If using the baking sheets, leave about three inches between each loaf. Let the loaves rise one final time for about an hour.

Fit a shelf in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

When the loaves have doubled, cut diagonal scores across the tops of each loaf using a very sharp knife (professional bakers use a razor blade). Put the loaves into the oven and bake at 450 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Every five minutes or so, open the oven and spray four or five sprays of water around the oven, above and below the loaves. The loaves are done when the very tops are getting a rather dark brown.

Remove the loaves to cooling racks until they're just warm to touch. At this point you can serve them or freeze them, but the bread is actually better if you let them cool completely and then warm them back again.

Makes four or five loaves, enough for 8-12 poor boys

Author: Tom Fitzmorris

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is MeriidianDog still posting?

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No, MD hasn't been around here in some time.

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Tabasco's vinegar is what makes it best for Red Beans.

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A little acid helps gumbo, too.

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Deep in the heart of southern Louisiana, surrounded by marshlands, ancient salt deposits, and the rich cultural traditions of Acadiana, a simple combination of peppers, salt, and vinegar gave rise to one of the most recognizable food products in the world. Tabasco sauce, first commercially produced in 1868, became far more than a condiment. It grew into a symbol of Louisiana's culinary identity, an enduring family enterprise, and an internationally recognized brand whose distinctive flavor has crossed cultural and geographical boundaries for more than a century and a half.

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Louisiana Passport article

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Every time I watch the replay of the “Bluegrass Miracle,” I can't help but wonder whatever became of that young Kentucky fan in the blue blazer and tie.

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Me too.

I can't believe nobody in the media tracked him down to have him tell his story. His reaction was pure gold.

As a side note, I'm the guy that captured the Kentucky radio broadcast off of Broadcast.com after the game and posted it online. I thought it would be interesting to hear, but little did I know that the "They're on the goalposts. I don't know why" line was in there. Hilarious.

Here's a link to download it: LINK

I used to have the entire game, but I lost it on my old hard drive.

ShortStop has a decent one.

They were easily the best I've ever had.

To me, they tasted like they were coated in Popeye's batter.

Anybody?