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 The talented drummer of The Feelers, Hamish Gee, joined us in the nzgirl kitchen to cook his famous Tuna Surprise accompanied with a Waldolf salad.
Created while he was a student at university, this dish has stood the test of time and is still a regular request amongst his colleagues.
Hamish tells us the band is having a well deserved break after just completing their Heartland tour which involved 19 gigs in small towns around New Zealand. However, it won’t be long till The Feelers hit the road again from December 26 through to January 3 to perform their summer beach tour in New Plymouth, Nelson, Lake Hawea, Coroglen, Waihi Beach, Mount Maunganui and Magawhai. The boys have also recently released a greatest hits album, The Best of ‘98 – ’08. It’s packed with their classic hits, including Venus, Fishing for Lisa and Pressure Man – a must have for any Kiwi CD collection!
Hamish has a huge passion for cooking. Any opportunity he gets to cook, he takes. His favourite dishes to cook include curries, pastas and of course his signature Tuna Surprise. When asked what the band do for food on tour, Hamish told us that they always try to get accommodation with cooking facilities and that a cook off amongst the band members is a regular occurrence.  When asked who the best cook in the band was, Hamish said “Matt (the guitarist) claims he’s hands down the best at cooking, however none of us have tried any of his meals, so who knows?”. Hamish told us that he has always dreamed of having his own cooking show so he was stoaked to have the opportunity to put his skills into play. Even before commencing the cooking, Hamish was put to the test when it was discovered that we were missing our one and only pot! However, this didn’t discourage our aspiring chef and he did an incredible job improvising with a frying pan, and even better, it worked! Hamish's Tuna Surprise Time to prepare: Pretty quick to whip up, all in all from preparation to clean up it takes about an hour. The $$$: Roughly $40, but there’ll be leftovers for days and you can of course freestyle the dish, jus throwing in what you have in your cupboards! Taste Rating: The meal was absolutely delicious! Our whole team nibbled away at it all afternoon and now you can make it for yourself! Ingredients 1 packet of large spiral pasta 1 can of tomato puree 1 jar of Five Brothers tomato pasta sauce 1 box/packet breadcrumbs 1 zucchini 1 bottle of light cream cheese 1 big can of Tuna * Mozzarella Cheese * Tiny amount of pumpkin * Pitted, sliced, black olives Waldorf Salad: * Rocket lettuce * Walnuts * Blue Cheese * Pears * Balsamic Vinegar * Olive Oil *Ingredients optional Steps 1: Turn the oven on to 180 degrees. Place some water into a pot (or in Hamish’s case a frying pan) and place on the stove to boil. Starting with the salad, add the rocket lettuce to a salad bowl and then add some chopped up blue cheese, walnuts and chopped pears to taste. Hamish says “the pear thing is really weird but the dressing absorbs it up so it’s delicious!” You can also mix together some olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a separate bowl, but do not add it to the salad yet!
2: Add the spiral pasta to the pot and let simmer. Meanwhile cut up the zucchini and pumpkin and add to a separate pot to boil. Hamish says you can use any vegetables you want and he tends to use whatever veggies are in the fridge at the time.
3: Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water from the pasta and add the tuna, while your at it add the pasta sauce. Alternatively, Hamish says you can use V8 vegetable juice or any type of vegetable sauce or liquid you want. Hamish is also very persistent when it comes to getting all the sauce out of the jar and adds a little water to mix around and get the rest of the sauce out and into the pot.
4: Stir around all the ingredients in the pot and add the cream cheese. Hamish says you want a medium heat on the stove so that you don’t burn the food. He also says that you can use sour cream if you prefer.
5: Once everything is mixed together add the tuna and vegetables and continue to stir till everything is mixed in.
6: Now take the pot off the stove and add to a casserole dish. Then put some tomato puree on top of the dish and top with some mozzarella cheese and breadcrumbs and olives. Lastly drizzle lightly the dish with olive oil to stop the breadcrumbs from burning in the oven.
7: Finally place the dish into the oven for a roughly five to ten minutes to melt the cheese. Hamish suggests a good pinot noir to drink while both cooking and eating the meal. Enjoy! Francesca de Jong (393).jpg)
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