Tuna patties

Where I come from this would be a more complicated process involving boiling potatoes, cutting them, making a mash out of them with a decent flavor, and all that before you can even START making the dish itself.
I make the pantry version because it's quicker.

1 pouch instant mashed potatoes (there's a variety of flavors, pick any one you like)
Canned tuna (I use 4 small ones because that's usually what's in my pantry. You could get a big can, I guess)
1 egg
Bread crumbs
Crushed garlic
Parsley (FRESH parsley changes the flavor of these things tremendously, but I don't have any. =( )
White pepper
Olive oil

Preheat oven, 400F.

Make the mashed potatoes following the directions on the package. Mix in the garlic (as much as you want), bread crumbs, parsley, and white pepper. Set aside to cool a bit while you drain the tuna.

Add the tuna BEFORE adding the egg, because those potatoes retain heat well and you don't want scrambled egg in your mix.

Make patties in whatever shape or size you desire, brush some olive oil on both sides, and set on a cookie sheet. Top rack, 400F for about 15 minutes (they'll start looking a bit dry), then flip them, turn oven down to 375F, and give them another 15-20 minutes.

This would make about 12 decent patties, but I skimped a bit and they ended up being 13, so I didn't have room for that last one on the cookie sheet. I made it in the toaster oven and it came out crispier and more golden than the others (which I kinda liked better, personally).

You can eat these in sandwiches if you'd like. I prefer them over lime juice-sprinkled iceberg lettuce. They taste like summer to me and my 9-year-old loves them.

(I also put some grated ginger in them to appease my ginger fixation. The child did not notice and I didn't feel the need to fill her in)

Stuffed mushrooms

Bear with me, I'm going to try to remember what all was thrown into the mix.

White button mushrooms (the pack had 24 big ones)
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
BACONNNN
Chopped onion
Minced garlic
Bleu cheese crumbles
Parmesan cheese
White wine vinegar (it WOULD have been white WINE, but I don't have any)
Bread crumbs
Assorted herbs from my pantry (namely - thyme, parsley)
Chicken bouillon powder
Olive oil
Butter
Salt & pepper

If you're looking for measurements, you're on the wrong blog.

Preheat oven, 400F.

Cut up the bacon into small pieces (I used 3 nice, thick slices), fry it up, set aside to drain. Hang on to that bacon grease for a minute. Hold it like you don't wanna let it go. YOU LOVE IT AND YOU KNOW IT.

Clean the mushrooms with a damp towel, separat the stems, and chop those up like the little bitches they are. Throw some herbs in there, a dash of the bouillon powder (how much you use will determine how much salt you'll need), bread crumbs, salt, pepper, all that jazz. Mix those up a bit, set aside.

Over a medium-high flame, heat just enough of that bacon grease to coat the surface of a pan, add a dab of butter, and cook the onion and garlic until they start to turn golden. Add the mushroom mixture and a splash of the white wine or white wine vinegar. Cook for about 5-ish minutes, stirring frequently. It should look like a gooey brown paste and smell like the food of the gods.

(This is where my father made fun of my mushroom-stuffed mushrooms and guess who doesn't get to have any, now. If you guessed my father you get to pat yourself on the back, good job!)

Transfer to a bowl and add the bacon, some more of the bread crumbs, and the three cheeses. Mix well and set aside.

Line up your mushroom caps with the stem(less) side down. Mix some olive oil into the rest of the bacon grease and lightly coat the tops of the mushrooms using a pastry brush.

Stuff the caps with the cream cheese mess and press the stuffed sides into a combination of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl. Set them on a baking sheet as you go. Make sure you use the kind with sides and not a flat cookie sheet, because they WILL release liquid and you don't want it sizzling at the bottom of your oven.



Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the tops turn a pretty color and you're done!

Try not to eat too many. 'Shrooms are best in moderation, as we all know.