Sunday Gravy with yeah right: Wait. Is that…Tuna Casserole? THAT is Tuna Casserole!

Good morning folks. Great to see so many happy, smiling…

Who am I shittin’? I can’t actually “see” any of you but you know what I mean.

A few weeks back we were shooting the shit in the comment section, as we are wont to do, when we came up with a food inspiration. As I’ve said in the past I’ll take inspiration wherever I can find it. In this case it was a bunch of us making jokes and riffing on various casseroles we encountered when we were younger.

Tuna casserole was mentioned and that’s the shit we’re going to make today.

Once again, I do tend to rag on my Ma once in awhile because goddamn did she take shortcuts when she cooked but at the end of the day the meals she put down in front of the unfillable gullets of my 3 older brothers and I were meals that were always tasty and, believe me, always consumed with never a leftover in sight.

She was a working mom and did the best she could. I’ll say it again, we NEVER had fast food or takeout food during the week. Never. She cooked and put down a hot plate in front of us every Sunday through Thursday night and most Fridays and Saturdays too. Not only is that admirable it’s practically fucking legendary.

Thanks again, Ma!

I tried to be as authentic as possible to my family’s version of tuna casserole but of course I have to offer my own tweaks and taste embellishments here and there but you’re definitely going to get the old school casserole that comes about by opening a shitload of cans, dumping in some frozen crap and adding some things that came out of a bag.

I also wanted to experiment a bit today and possibly find a way to reduce the overall labor required to make a delicious meal.

Let’s see if we can make some garlic bread from some of my leftover French bread that was frozen!

Kick ass.

In the name of honesty I’ve got to tell you that a big reason I took the easy route today was that last week’s recipe? The Chicken Paprikash? While that stuff was stupid delicious, it kicked my ass pretty hard when it came to the labor. Shit, all that time making bread THEN making homemade noodles?

Motherfucker I was wiped out and hadn’t even STARTED on the main dish. Don’t stress over this, I don’t quit easy it’s just that every once in awhile having a “recovery” menu of something that’s easy to put together is just the right medicine to get my old ass over the hump and get me back in the kitchen ready to kick ass again.

Fuck it. Let’s make a tuna casserole!

Last caveat: there are as many various ingredients and preparations of tuna casserole as there are people who make it. This one is my family’s version. Feel free to share your variations in the comment section.

We begin the proceedings.

Gather the usual suspects.

There was a bag or so of shredded cheese that didn’t get in this photo but these are the basics. Can of mushrooms, 2 cans of tuna, some cream of mushroom soup, frozen peas and some egg noodles.

As a complete aside, the same day I made this I made another batch of chicken stock. This time based solely on having some leftover celery. Still not sure why I documented it but what the fuck?

You won’t get to see its use since I made a pot of carnitas with it when my family came over for a gathering on Memorial Day Weekend.

One of the sole reasons I wanted to make this dish today is to allow me to show off this badass motherfucker again.

Break out the old school badassery!

Isn’t that just goddamn SWEET? I love that goddamn casserole dish so very fucking much.

Yes, I’ve brought it to company pot lucks just to show it off.

Let’s get our oven pre-heated to 425.

Get a good lube of oil on that casserole dish. It’s OK she won’t mind.

This could also be called “Can Opener Appreciation Day.”

Mushrooms first!

Of course you could use a jar of mushrooms or, (gulp) even FRESH mushrooms but this is how Ma did it and that was the whole fucking point today.

We are going to boil our store bought fucking egg noodles. I learned my lesson last week when I made fresh noodles.

Those fuckers were delicious though.

Dump about half of that bag of noodles into a pot of salted, boiling water.

It’s tuna time!

Two cans. A solid white albacore and a chunk light tuna for all of its tuna essence-ness.

Had a fun conversation at work with some of my employees regarding the different types of canned tuna. One of my guys who had a less than privileged upbringing says he only eats the solid white albacore now because his mom only gave him the “chunk lite” variety growing up.

He said “I call that chunk lite shit ‘tuna ass.’”

That’s the type of nickname that can stick with a product for life.

The casserole needs to be stepped up in the “healthy” department. Drop the peas in there. About half of a cup to a cup. Make it as “healthy” as you like.

Appearance at this juncture is not a selling point.

We just got started man!

It gets better!

Mix in the cooked noodles, the cream of mushroom soup and a handful of the shredded cheese. I used a mix of shredded sharp cheddar and the 4 cheese Mexican blend. Oh yeah, I added in about half a soup can of whole milk too. Give it a proper mixing. That’s where the flavor comes from!

Cover the entire top surface with the rest of the shredded cheese.

If you look very carefully you will see one of my flavor embellishments right on top.

Right here is where I use my only attempt at fancy-fication. I grated some fresh Parmigiano Reggiano on there.

Debate time. There are many ways and many techniques to finish topping the casserole. I know some who use panko or buttered panko. A nice touch indeed. Some folks use that box of sand that’s called “Italian Breadcrumbs” what-the-fuck-ever. Some use those crispy fried onion dealies that most people top their green bean casserole with.

Me?

Plain old Lays Classic chips.

Shout out to Frito Lay for having the retro old school bag going there.

Crunch ’em up using your hands and scatter evenly over the casserole.

Like so.

See? It’s starting to look better no?

NO!?

Just give it some oven time and you’ll see.

Of course you’re going to be shoveling potato chips in your gob while you do this shit.

That’s totally fine!

Into a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes until all bubbly and shit.

There we go!

Sorry, but that’s about as sexy as this fucker is going to get.

At this time I left the oven going and prepped some garlic bread using my leftover homemade French bread that I had frozen. Just use some melted butter and garlic powder. If I’m feeling inspired I’ll mince in some fresh garlic and maybe another grate of the Parmigiano Reggiano on top.

This was the basic version since I wasn’t sure how it would turn out after being in the freezer for a week. Also isn’t it obvious that “basic” is the order of the day?

We will now plate our masterpiece. Let’s see how our garlic bread turned out.

Oh shit! It looks perfect! We did it! We made delicious garlic bread with our leftover homemade French Bread.

See what I did there? Using the red plate to match my badass red casserole dish?

I try, dammit.

Get in close on that casserole why don’tcha?

It’s simply fucking divine!

Got that creamy thing going from the melted cheese and the mushroom soup. That crispy crunch of the chips on top. The tuna is more of an accompaniment than a lead note but its slightly meaty/briny texture is prevalent. Rich and satisfying with the egg noodles.

You just know you could eat like 3-4 plates of this bastard don’t you?

Well I did and I’m fiercely proud of it!

This was a fantastic throw back and it tasted exactly like Ma’s used to.

You know what else?

It could absolutely be brought over to comfort a grieving family.

I love that photo.

That’s from another casserole dish from 2018.

This would be extremely appropriate for such an occasion, or again a pot luck and such.

It’s important to remember the past and it’s also comforting to have good food memories. Ma has been gone since 2003 but when I cook something like this it brings her memory back a bit.

And that’s a nice thing.

Thanks for reading folks and thanks for allowing me a little break.

I’ll be back and rested and ready to kick some culinary ass next week. I promise.

Stop by and I’ll prove it to you.

Until then…

Be Safe.

Be Well.

PEACE!