It’s a cold messy rainy day, and I’m thinking about tuna. I got to thinking about tuna because I love tuna and Dale was thinking about potato chips. If you put the two together, it adds up to a chunky tuna salad sandwich with just the right amount of mayonnaise and dill pickles or perhaps a creamy tuna melt with cheddar on sourdough and a side of crispy chips. Crinkles?
Perfect for a rainy day. Unless you’re thinking about tuna casserole.
That’s what I’m thinking about, anyway. I haven’t made it in years, but tuna casserole is on my brain now. I recall egg noodles, cream of mushroom soup, peas and a topping of crushed potato chips. Probably some cheese involved, and that can’t be a bad thing. I never met a cheese I didn’t like.
I looked through some of our old cookbooks and couldn’t find the combination of ingredients that spoke to me. So far, this recipe sounds the best. It’s a bit boujee compared to what I grew up with, but it sounds good to me. I would probably add some peas.
Certainly, there are those among you who do not care for canned tuna and are horrified by the thought of tuna casserole. It’s hard to fathom, but I know everyone has different tastes. I bet a bunch of us still love it.
I’m excited about making tuna casserole … but I don’t know, the tuna melt sounds good. Maybe with corn chips? I’ll probably cook tomorrow, since we are actually going out tonight (a rare occurrence). A new Asian bistro opened up not too far from our house, and it’s getting good reviews. Rain is forecast through the end of the week.
I tell you all this so you have time to send me your tuna tips. Thanks in advance.
We fucking love tuna casserole. No recipe. I make a bechamel sauce, add peas and tuna. Chips on top? Of course. Egg noodles, while so prevalent as a kid are now hard to find. I grab good German egg noodles at World Market or our favorite German store in Redwood City.
Canned soup. NO!
Sorry about the comment problems. I think I figured it out. No canned soup! I couldn’t find the German egg noodles, so I’m going with shells.
My husband, son, and I all love tuna sandwiches, tuna melts, and tuna casseroles. When my son was in college he once took some tuna casserole back to his college apartment. He heated it up in the microwave and his roommates hated the smell. They told him to never do that again!! We still laugh about that.
I think there’s an unwritten rule of communal living — thou shalt not heat up tuna!
Love tuna melts with lots of melty cheese. I have to have the albacore, though. As I’ve gotten older, my tastes have changed so the 50 cent cans of tuna seem like cat food to me. I used to take a weight lifting class from a woman who was in her 70s and incredibly fit, into nutrition, etc. She advocated not eating airplane food. She always took a can or packet of tuna and ate that. The class really snickered at that–can you imagine the smell? We pitied her seatmates.
Oh, yes, I am a big tuna snob. Albacore for me, too. The other thing I’m weird about is gas station or convenience store tuna sandwiches. It just grosses me out to think about it. Sometimes as a prank Dale will grab one and say, “Donna, here’s the sandwich you wanted!” As for airplane food, I love bananas but can’t stand to have someone sitting next to me eating one. Or even an apple for that matter. Obviously, we need to talk more about public food.
This is a great conversation! Let us know how it turns out! Public food… there’s another good conversation!
Public food is on the list for a future post.
As for the tuna casserole, I followed the recipe I linked to in this post. I used two cans of Italian oil-packed tuna instead of the jar. I also added a heaping 1/2 cup of diced celery, which I sauteed with the onions. I added another heaping 1/2 cup of frozen peas at the end. It was so delicious. The best tuna casserole I ever had. I cut it into sixths — we ate two and froze four in individual servings. Oh, and we happened to have a stash of Gibble’s potato chips from Pennsylvania. They are fried in lard. Just another tasty addition!