I want to be like Mom - Lent

For many years growing up I wanted to be just like Mom. Stylish, industrious compassionate, generous and always had the right thing to say at the right time. I know relatives would say to me, even today, you were never/could never be like Mom. Maybe not, but I still miss her very much and I wish I could have been more like her. So, last Friday, I made a retro Tuna Casserole ( it's Lent). Mom used to make one of two Friday night specials: either a spaghetti with her homemade sauce ( and I always had chapped lips and had a hard time enjoying it) or she would make a baked potato, creamed corn and tuna out of the can- this was for when she and Dad had a downtown commitment.
I think I'm compassionate and industrious. But the other? Stylish?? I have several sweaters, skirts, many Ferragamo shoes, and one or 3 evening dresses. I am so comfortable in T necks and sweaters and NOT heeled shoes. I wish I could. I miss her style.

Tuna Casserole

Serves 4

• 5 1/2tablespoons butter, divided
• 1cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1cup diced portobello mushrooms
• 1small yellow onion, diced
• 1shallot, diced
• 1celery stalk, diced
• 1/2tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
• 1tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
• 1tablespoon minced chives
• 1/4cup dry sherry
• 1/4cup flour
• 1cup milk (whole)
• 1/2cup chicken stock
• 1teaspoon lemon zest
• 2cans oil packed tuna, drained
• 8ounces egg noodles, cooked until al dente and drained
• Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1clove garlic, minced
• 1/2cup panko

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. In a large sauté pan, heat 1 Tbs. of butter over medium-high until foaming. Stir in mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have given off all of their liquid and cooked through (10 or so minutes). Season lightly with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Add another 1/2 a tablespoon of butter to the frying pan, then cook onion, shallot and celery together for about 5 minutes, until softened. Stir in the chopped herbs and the sherry and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir the mushrooms into this mixture, then set this aside.
3. In a saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high until foaming. Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for about 2 minutes. Then whisk in the milk and chicken stock, bit by bit, to make a smooth sauce. Cook, stirring, until just slightly thickened (another minute or two). Then add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Flake the tuna and combine the tuna, the white sauce, the mushroom-onion mixture, and the noodles all together. Grease an 8 X 8-inch baking pan and transfer the casserole mixture into it.
5. In a small pan, melt the last tablespoon of butter. Stir in the minced garlic and the panko breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until the panko is golden brown. Sprinkle this all over the casserole. Put the casserole in the oven and bake until it is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve! (And if you are in a church basement, you might have to throw together a reduxed jello salad as well!)