That's similar to the one my Mom made. Her recipe called for a jar of
the red pimentos, and melting the cheese with the butter and
pumpernikel bread. And of course the elbow macaroni.

maxine in ri

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 00:55:06 GMT, "Dr. Edward Warren"
> connected the dots and wrote:

~
~"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."
~