"Ken Knecht" > wrote in message
...
> I'm hungry for tuna casserole. Anyone have a recipe they think is
> especially good?
This is from my family cookbook that I put together for my extended
family. It was made by my mother since I was born in 1949.
WARREN TUNAFISH CASSEROLE





4 Tbs flour

4 Tbs butter

4 cups warmed milk

½ tsp salt

pepper to taste

12 oz sharp Colby cheese

3 9¼ oz cans tuna

3 stack packs Ritz crackers





Make the white sauce by sautéing the flour in the butter briefly and then
adding the milk and seasonings. Cook the mixture over moderate heat until
thickened. Add the grated cheese and stir in until combined.

In a large casserole, layer the ingredients. First, cover the bottom with
the drained and flaked tuna. Top that with 2 cups of the sauce. Crumble an
entire stack pack of Ritz crackers over the layer. Repeat the layering
twice more. Bake the casserole for 30 minutes in a 350° oven until it is
bubblely and the top browns slightly.



This recipe is basically from my mother, Mary Virginia Norment Warren. It
has always been a staple in our home and one of my favorites. It was
usually served with peas and carrots. My rendition, given above, makes a
lot so that leftovers are available (it is often better the second time).
Mother used cheddar cheese, but others can be tried for variation. Also, a
medium sized onion, diced and sautéed in the butter, is a nice addition.

I recommend using water packed tuna. The white albacore is very nice in
this, and its cost can be justified because dolphins are not killed in the
catching of them, as happens with tuna fishing. Whenever I make a white
sauce, I envision the starch molecules denaturing and unraveling in the hot
butter. It is then the electrostatic forces between the chains that
thickens the milk. All of that brings to mind a quote from my father,
Joseph Benjamin Warren, "Cooking is just applied organic chemistry."