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Lisa0825

(14,489 posts)
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:16 PM Jun 2016

So tonight I made tuna casserole for dinner.

I had been thinking about tuna casserole for several days. No idea why. I mean, it is not exactly a gourmet meal, right??? LOL

But my mom made it sooooo good, and I never made it quite as good as hers. It finally dawned on me - while I was cooking - why it was on my mind. It's comfort food. It reminds me of her. She has been gone since 2001. She would be really happy about this primary. She loved Bill and Hill, and I remember how pissed off she was by Ken Starr, Whitewater, etc. - the whole right wing conspiracy endless hunt to try to bring them down. (She'd also be happy about how Starr f'd up at Baylor, though sad for the young women.)

So I raise my fork to my mommy. I hope I am wrong about an afterlife, so she can be watching this election. Bring it on home for momma, Hill!



FWIW, I think I finally made it as good as hers tonight!

34 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
So tonight I made tuna casserole for dinner. (Original Post) Lisa0825 Jun 2016 OP
Would you share the recipe? Or do you do it on the fly? applegrove Jun 2016 #1
Kinda on the fly, but here is the run-down... Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #4
You had a mom who was a real homestyle cook and a democrat. You won the lottery. I don't applegrove Jun 2016 #11
She was a treasure, and I miss her every day. Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #16
Yes. They are with us even when they are not with us. applegrove Jun 2016 #23
i've never had a casserole. what's in it? DesertFlower Jun 2016 #2
Never had a casserole? Or never had Tuna Casserole? Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #5
never had a casserole. my mom was a great cook and baker DesertFlower Jun 2016 #10
Essentially it's a one-dish meal baked in an oven; in Minnesota it's called "a hot dish." Hekate Jun 2016 #9
It's a great way to use leftovers. Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #13
thanks. nt DesertFlower Jun 2016 #15
Here are 2 Kindle casserole books for 99 cents each if you want to give casseroles a try. braddy Jun 2016 #30
Awesome, thanks! :-) nt Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #31
Hey, Lisa. sheshe2 Jun 2016 #3
Thank you sheshe2 Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #7
This is one of my all time favorite posts on DU ever. nt LaydeeBug Jun 2016 #6
Awwww, thanks LaydeeBug Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #8
This is so dear. Here's to our Moms... Hekate Jun 2016 #12
Cheers! Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #14
I come from "Lace Curtain" Irish. Roast Pork with boiled potatoes, gravy and... Walk away Jun 2016 #17
LOL! I raise my fork to you! Cheers :-) nt Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #18
And I tip my chopsticks to you!!! Walk away Jun 2016 #19
Yes, Comfort food from back in the day when our Mamas' made it! Cha Jun 2016 #20
You are most welcome, Cha - I am so verklempt at this moment :-) Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #21
It's a Verklempt Moment in Time! Cha Jun 2016 #22
From "How To Talk Minnesotan": betsuni Jun 2016 #24
OMG I want t try them all!!! :-) Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #25
And here is a song for you: "Tuna, The Food of My Soul" betsuni Jun 2016 #26
ROFLMAO! Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #28
wish i could beg some MFM008 Jun 2016 #27
You're a bit too far to deliver... Lisa0825 Jun 2016 #29
Thanks MFM008 Jun 2016 #34
Comfort food Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Jun 2016 #32
Beautiful tribute to your mother. greatlaurel Jun 2016 #33

Lisa0825

(14,489 posts)
4. Kinda on the fly, but here is the run-down...
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:35 PM
Jun 2016

First, keep in mind that comfort food is totally dependent upon what one experienced growing up, so what feels like home to me may not be what you are looking for in a recipe.

It is really not the same way she did it, but it comes closer to how hers tasted than how my past attempts did. She just used the condensed soup plus seasonings and sauteed onions, but I couldn't get the complexity of flavor she did that way. Something was missing. So I experimented today.

I crushed saltine crackers (but you could also use bread crumbs) and mixed them with melted butter and garlic in a plastic bag and set aside.

With the melted butter left in the pan (about a tablespoon), I sauteed about a quarter cup of chopped celery a few minutes and then added 2 cloves of shallots and 2 cloves of garlic and sauteed a few more minutes. I added about a tablespoon of flour and stirred it all together and sauteed a couple minutes, and then added about a half cup of milk. Heat until thickened. I added about a teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon chicken base and a can of cream of mushroom soup. I added a bit of water to thin it out and some garlic powder, celery salt, thyme, and white pepper. I added the spices to taste, so I can't tell you how much.

Once I had the flavor I wanted, I added about 2/3 of a can of La Seur peas (I know fresh or frozen is better, but I was aiming for mom's recipe- LOL), 2 of the envelopes of tuna (so you don't have to drain it), and enough cooked medium egg noodles to get it to the right consistency.

I put it in a casserole and then topped it with the buttered cracker crumbs, and a few shakes of each spice and heated until the crumbs were lightly browned.

EDITED TO ADD: Oh, I forgot - I also added a couple tablespoons of grated parmesean-reggiano to the crumbs

applegrove

(123,016 posts)
11. You had a mom who was a real homestyle cook and a democrat. You won the lottery. I don't
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:53 PM
Jun 2016

blame you for wanting to go back to her during these trying times.

Lisa0825

(14,489 posts)
5. Never had a casserole? Or never had Tuna Casserole?
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:38 PM
Jun 2016

Oh goodness, casseroles are food for the soul! LOL! So many hearty meals!

I just ran through the one I made in a reply above.

DesertFlower

(11,649 posts)
10. never had a casserole. my mom was a great cook and baker
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:51 PM
Jun 2016

but she never made a casserole. neither did my grandma. i'm almost 75 -- i guess it's weird that i never had one. my first mother in law never made one either. i do remember my second mother in law making one from a soup recipe she thought my husband would like. he ate it but i didn't. i tend to remember i didn't like the ingredients.

my mom made a great meal with left over chicken. she made a butter gravy with some left over chicken gravy which had a lot of butter and served it over noodles. when i was growing up nothing got wasted.

my first father in law used to put together amazing dishes with leftovers, but never a casserole.

Hekate

(94,488 posts)
9. Essentially it's a one-dish meal baked in an oven; in Minnesota it's called "a hot dish."
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:51 PM
Jun 2016

It's a favorite of busy moms; you can take it to potluck dinners; it's a wonderful thing to take over to a sick neighbor or drop off for a grieving family after the funeral. It relies on a lot of ingredients being pre-cooked.

A protein, already cooked (i.e. canned tuna, or night before last's roast)
A starch, like potatos or pasta
A vegetable or two
A sauce (canned mushroom soup used to be a favorite in the 1950s and 1960s)
Bake at 350 for an hour until bubbly and brown on top.

Whatever your mother's favorite recipe was will always say "home and comfort" to you.

Lisa0825

(14,489 posts)
13. It's a great way to use leftovers.
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 08:55 PM
Jun 2016

My mom would freeze any leftover meats and veggies during the week and make a casserole of some variation on the weekend.

Walk away

(9,494 posts)
17. I come from "Lace Curtain" Irish. Roast Pork with boiled potatoes, gravy and...
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 09:02 PM
Jun 2016

some green vegetable that no one actually ate, was our comfort food! So I'm having delivery Pad Thai, Red Curry with chicken and an ice cold Singha beer! Even my Mom would love it!

betsuni

(27,255 posts)
24. From "How To Talk Minnesotan":
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 10:20 PM
Jun 2016

"A traditional main course, hotdish is cooked and served hot in a single baking dish and commonly appears at family reunions and church suppers. Hotdish is constructed on a base of canned cream of mushroom soup and canned vegetables. ... As of the November 1987 state hotdish survey, there were 3,732 different hotdish recipes in Minnesota ... . Here are eight hotdishes taken at random from that survey.
Spaghetti-Tuna Hotdish
Garbanzo Bango Hotdish
Velveeta-Hamburger Hotdish
Ketchup Surprise Hotdish
Back of the Refrigerator Hotdish
Doggone Good Hotdish
Turkey Wiener Doodah Hotddish
Organ Meat-Cashew Hotdish.
The three-volume 'Official State Hotdish Cookbook' can be ordered from the Hotdish Institute, Mendota Heights. If you order before the end of 1987, you will also receive the beautiful album of the most loved hotdish songs, with baritone Ernie 'Hotdish' Johnson and his Mushroom Band. Order before Memorial Day and you will also receive 'Hotdish on the Prairie,' a collection of poems by Minnesota's best-known food poets."

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(114,921 posts)
32. Comfort food
Tue Jun 7, 2016, 11:39 PM
Jun 2016

It's like mac and cheese or grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. Nice to have now and then.

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