Food Quest: tuna casserole, the ultimate blueprint

by Sarah Gilbert, Posted Jan 31st 2006 @ 6:15PM

When my husband dreamed of marriage as a little boy, I'm sure that tuna casserole was one of the three rights he assumed due all husbands (along with making babies and gravy, of course). Nothing says fifties housewife, to me, more than tuna casserole.

And yet.

Despite having been married for years and having two of the aforementioned babies, I had never secured a recipe for tuna casserole. None of my new millennium gourmet cookbooks included the all-important tuna casserole section.

So when I had the opportunity to purchase The Casserole Cookbook (copyright 1956, 1955, 1954), of course, I jumped. There were several tuna casserole recipes, but they all followed a similar format. So I've developed a fool-proof tuna casserole blueprint (which you could use for - shhh! - other meats and proteins, too). Why don't you come along with me...

Step One: starch, four cups cooked. Every casserole starts with a starch of some sort, whether it's rice or pasta or cubed potatoes. Noodles are, of course, the very soul of the fifties. I almost used some curly egg noodle circa 1955, but ended up selecting orzo instead. You could really use anything. Cook according to package directions to al dente, or toothy, or not quite tender. You'll want 3-4 cups of starch once it's finished cooking (eight ounces of pasta is perfect).

Step Two: sauce, two cups. My casserole cookbook has an all-purpose white sauce recipe that makes about a cup. For the tuna casserole, they suggest doubling the recipe and adding four ounces of shredded cheese. A.k.a. cheese sauce, which I discussed earlier. You can add a can of tomatoes here, but I didn't choose that option.

Step Three: protein, two cups. Fifties housewives knew how to make their meat stretch a long way thanks to the memories of World War II rationing. Two cans of tuna is plenty. If you choose another type of protein, it could be 1-2 cups of shredded, poached chicken or fish, or cubed roast beef, or browned hamburger or other ground meat.

Step Four: veggies, two cups. Got frozen peas & carrots? This is the place to use them. My favorite addition is frozen spinach (easy to portion, really good for you, goes with everything), or frozen asparagus pieces. You could use canned veggies but I really don't recommend it.

Step Five: Mix everything. Turn into a buttered casserole dish, 3-4 quarts.

Step Six: Top with buttery crunchy stuff. Popular 50s toppings included pastry (i.e. pie dough), crumbled-and-buttered Saltine or Ritz crackers, or biscuits. I picked a more 70s-style topping, crumbled potato chips sprinkled with melted butter. Yum.

Step Seven: Bake, 400 degrees F, until top is browned, about 20 minutes. Eat, enjoy.

the finished product

[Photos Sarah Gilbert]

Filed Under: Food Quest, Retro cookery, Ingredients, Books, How To, Methods
Tags: america, baking, comfort food, dinner, fish, Food Quest, retro food

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-01-2009 @2:05AM Nits said... Troubled marriage relationships also harm the psychical and mental health of the couples and family members. Healthy diet and food is also responsible for happy and nurturing marriage relationships. Troubled relationship causes emotional distress like anxiety, depression that further changes human behavior and psychical health. Consequently it affects immunity system which is responsible for preventing body from other several diseases. In such case couples and family have to seek marriage counseling by some trained professional counselor. There you will learn communication skills, conflict resolution tips, anger management, and relationship enrichment tips.
http://www.marriage-counselors.net/
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11-17-2007 @6:43AM wana said... I personally agree that in a marriage cooking can help. I found it in http://www.marriagemax.com , it gives marriage help, counseling and so on. Anyway, I tried. And I can definitely say that I've had lots of fun with my husband. This kind of activity will put a smile on anyone's face. You know, love goes through the stomach!

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