CHEAP & EASY EATS:

An Exercise in Cookbook Nostalgia:

Tuna Casserole That’s More Like a Soufflé

By Gail Harlow

humbing through cookbooks, you always know when you’ve come upon a keeper recipe when you find a page that’s spattered with grease stains and the sticky remnants of many meals prepared and consumed over the years.

            I tend to fall into a rut, making the same favorite recipe over and over again, having it once a week for months at a time, until I replace it with a new favorite. The fun is in pulling out old cookbooks and leafing through them to rediscover old favorites, decades after you last prepared them. The recipe for fancy tuna casserole, below, is one of my old faves.

            It’s creamy, with a zesty flavor that comes from the addition of chopped pimento and lemon juice. All in all, a very sophisticated dish, more like a soufflé than a casserole. In fact, I always baked and served it in soufflé dish.

            The recipe was submitted by Mrs. Sylvester B. Kelley, of the Ladies Committee of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and it appeared in “The Fine Arts Cookbook” (c 1970), compiled and edited by Mrs. Robert L. M. Ahern. This was one of the first cookbooks presented to me as a gift when I was a young bride, and I burned many a wooden spoon, learning how to cook from its delicious recipes.

Serves 6-8

4 cups rich milk

8 tablespoons butter

10 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups tuna, flaked

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup minced onion

2 tablespoons chopped pimento

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Bread crumbs for topping

Preparation

Heat the butter and flour, until the roux is yellow-golden and bubbly. Scald milk and add to the roux of butter and flour, stirring to make a cream sauce. Stir in sugar, salt, and pepper. Cool. Stir in eggs, tuna and remaining ingredients. Pour into buttered casserole and top with crumbs and small bits of butter, to form a crusty top. Bake 25-30 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Serve with cooked carrots or a salad for a light yet filling meal.

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Gail Harlow is the Founding Editor of MAKING BREAD: The Magazine for Women Who Need Dough. E-mail her at gail@makingbreadmagazine.com with your comments.