Tag: one-dish meals

Aunt Lil’s Tuna Casserole—A Quilling Family Recipe

In 1934, Campbell’s Soup Company introduced Cream of Mushroom and Chicken Noodle soups to the American consumer. Today, these two products still rank in the top ten shelf-stable food items sold in grocery stores.

It’s easy to understand why these soups have remained so popular. They are excellent emergency foods. When I was a kid, if the family had a flat tire or some other problem and got home late, Mom could open a couple cans of chicken noodle or cream of mushroom soup, slice some homemade bread and leftover roast and have a meal on the table before Dad finished his beer.

But the success of these soups goes well beyond their consumption as soups per se. Shortly after buying her first can of cream of mushroom soup, some inventive housewife probably said, “I wonder what would happen if I mixed a can of soup and a can of tuna with these leftover noodles?”

What happened, of course, was that a family quickly became addicted to tuna noodle casserole. At the urging of her husband and offspring, she took the casserole to a church potluck and shared the good news that it was easy to make, cheap and popular with the kids. The rest is history.

Something very similar happened with chicken noodle soup. Now, after eighty years, there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of recipes that call for a can of condensed soup, water and whatever else might be available in the refrigerator or pantry. Campbell’s has of course published quite a few recipes as a way to increase sales, but their efforts are dwarfed by the many contributions of adventurous cooks who simply wanted new dishes for the family table.

When I asked our friend Lorrie for a recipe she remembered from her childhood, she came up with “Aunt Lil’s Tuna Casserole.” It’s a good example of how cooks created variations on the standard tuna noodle casserole. To be entirely honest, I wondered whether we would like this dish, but it turned out to be much tastier than we expected. You should give your family the opportunity to try it too.

Here is Lorrie’s introduction to the recipe:

“This dish was a staple when I was growing up, and as noted in the recipe, my Grandma Quilling used to add a drained can of Veg-All to make it a complete meal.  Of course she always had a dessert course, often something one of us had baked (that was often my duty, though Grandma and Aunt Camilla baked as well) or something canned the previous summer–usually applesauce or a peach half in an amazing heavy syrup…

“Aunt Lil’s identity is somewhat shrouded in mystery.  My mother claims to have met her, but my Grandpa Q. was an only child and my Grandma had two brothers.  Exactly whose aunt she was, no one is quite sure.”

Here is how to make Aunt Lil’s Tuna Casserole.  

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup rice
1 can tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken noodle soup
2 cans water
1 can Veg-All or or other canned mixed vegetables (optional)

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 375° and grease a nine by thirteen-inch flat casserole or baking pan.

Spread the rice evenly in the casserole or pan. Flake the tuna evenly over the rice.  Use a teaspoon to spoon the mushroom soup and then the chicken noodle soup evenly over the tuna and rice. Drain the vegetables and scatter them over the other ingredients. Rinse the cans with the water and pour it gently into the pan.

Bake uncovered for forty to fifty minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is done.

Serve with salad, bread and dessert.

NOTES: When we shared this casserole with some friends, I included the vegetables. We all liked it, and a couple of us had seconds. However, we thought that it would be interesting to sprinkle some “crunchies” like crushed corn flakes on top.

Since tuna cans are smaller today than they were a few years ago, you might want to use two cans of tuna. Lorrie says that she sometimes uses two cans.

Although the original recipe does not call for vegetables, I think that her grandmother was right to add them. They add color and flavor.

Jerri’s Hamburger Pie

In spite of the fact that we have been using our Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook at least once a week for over forty years, it is in pretty good shape. The title page and page two, a note from the editors, have torn loose and some of the section tabs have torn off. But every recipe is still there, and many taste just as good today as they did when we first tried them.

That, coupled with the fact that the recipes are easy to read and follow, helps explain why the book has been in print continuously since it was published in 1930. Over forty million copies have ended up in the kitchens of America.

Our copy is the 1968 edition and the copyright page states that the book was published by Meredith Corporation of Des Moines, Iowa, and “Printed in the United States of America.” I was glad to learn that, as it gave me the perfect answer to the question that Minnesotans like to ask visitors from the Hawkeye state, “What is the best thing to come out of Iowa?”

I-35 indeed. Ask the jokers how many cookbooks from Minnesota have sold forty million copies.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook is still published in Des Moines, Iowa, but I note sadly that it is no longer printed in the USA. Instead, it is now “Printed in China.” Alas.

One of the recipes that Jerri discovered in this wonderful cookbook is “Hamburger Pie.” Like many casseroles, this one lends itself to being put together ahead of time and cooked just before the meal. When she was giving piano lessons, she made this casserole at least a couple of times every month. She assembled it before her first student arrived, put it into the refrigerator and then popped the casserole into the oven an hour before we sat down to eat.

Even our kids liked it. Give it a try.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 small onion (about 2 inches in diameter)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 cups canned cut green beans
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) condensed tomato soup
4 large or 5 medium potatoes
Water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese

PROCEDURE:

Peel and quarter the potatoes and put them in a two or three-quart saucepan. Cover them with water and add a teaspoon of salt. Bring the pan to a boil and simmer the potatoes until they feel tender when you jab them with a fork. It will usually take about twenty minutes for the potatoes to cook, but check them after fifteen minutes or so, as you want them tender but not falling to pieces.

While the potatoes are cooking, brown the hamburger over medium heat in a large skillet. Use a wooden spoon to break the hamburger into crumbles and season it with a half teaspoon of salt and about an eighth teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Chop the onion medium fine and mix it with the hamburger. You want about a half cup of chopped onion. Remove the pan from the heat.

If there is more than a tablespoon of fat in the pan, drain the excess before you add the beans and tomato soup. Drain the beans and mix them with the meat. Then stir in the soup.

Grease a one and one-half or two-quart casserole and spread the meat mixture evenly on the bottom.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

The potatoes should be cooked by this time. Drain and mash them. Heat the milk until it feels very warm but not hot and use the masher to stir it vigorously into the potatoes. Beat the egg in a cup until it is lemon yellow and stir it into the potatoes along with an eighth teaspoon each of white pepper and salt.

Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the meat mixture.

Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the top. Bake the casserole for twenty-five minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned around the edges of the casserole.

NOTES: Jerri uses medium Cheddar most often for this casserole, but I think that it is even better with sharp Cheddar. In an emergency, you can use mild Cheddar or even Colby.