Tuna Casserole

On those rare occasions when Grandma would buy a bag of potato chips, we knew there was a good chance that (1) either she was having a guild meeting and would whip up a delicious crab dip to pair with the chips or (2) she was going to make one of her delicious tuna casseroles.

Her tuna casseroles were unsurpassed for crunchy golden deliciousness and, yes, it has the potato chips mixed in and crumbled on top. This is not only simple to make, but also a good budget meal. However, let me tell you right now there probably won't be any left for lunches or leftovers. It's that good! So savor this one for the record books. You and your family will love it!

Tuna Casserole

5 cups uncooked egg noodles (or No-Yolk Noodles)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or Grandma's homemade version)

    PLUS 1 soup can of half & half
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 regular cans of tuna packed in water, drained
3 cups regular potato chips, coarsely crushed (reserve 1 cup for topping)
1 cup frozen petite peas
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a casserole dish with butter. Cook the egg noodles according to the directions on the bag.

In separate bowl, combine soup with a can of milk. Stir in cooked/drained noodles, Worcestershire sauce, drained tuna, 2 cups of the crumbled chips, and peas. Pour into greased casserole dish and top with ground pepper and reserved cup of potato chips.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.

Salmon with Mango Sauce

Bernard & Jennie (with "Chief") c. 1961

Grandma loved seafood. Any kind of seafood. Fish, shellfish, crab, you name it.  She came from the Midwest, where fish choices were limited. So when she and my Grandpa moved to the Pacific Northwest they were quite naive about the rich supply available to them. That is, until their neighbors Bernard and Jennie showed them. Remember my post several weeks ago about Bernard and Jennie? (I used to call him "Bern-derd"...Hey! I was only about 4!) He was a retired Bird Colonel and she was the consummate cook who was so proud of her Scandinavian heritage and hauled Grandma to many of her Daughters of Norway events. They introduced my grandparents not only to seafood cuisine, but also the fine art of shellfish digging--clams, razor clams, geoducks (pronounced "gooey ducks"). They could make a trip to the beach a real adventure! They enjoyed such vibrant and exciting lives and Grandma and Grandpa shared so many happy memories with them. I think every time Grandma enjoyed seafood, she thought of Bernard and Jennie.

Of all the seafood choices, Grandma enjoyed salmon most of all and she enjoyed preparing it in some unique and wonderful way. Many local restaurants have mastered the fine art of salmon preparation and if Grandma enjoyed a great salmon dish somewhere, you would often find her trying to replicate it at home. She was pretty darn good at it too! This is one of those recipes. I processed the mango but I don't think Grandma did because her sauce had the consistency of a salsa. If you don't like it that way, then by all means process it to a smooth consistency.

Salmon with Mango Sauce

4 filet salmon steaks (baked or grilled)

Sauce:

1-2 ripe mangoes, peeled and pitted
2 Tbsp apricot preserves

1/4 cup tropical nectar (like mango) or juice blend

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and puree in food processor (or if you prefer a "salsier" consistency, then coarsely dice the mango, process all the other ingredients, then combine everything). Pour into saucepan and heat slowly until bubbly and thick. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour over baked or grilled salmon steaks.

PS ~ If you're at all interested in that delicious looking pasta salad in the background, it's Pasta Aioli--with lots of garlic, Parmesan cheese, and even sun dried tomatoes--and it is superb! Get it here (thank you Natural Health Magazine!)

Garlic Butter Prawns

Grandma first discovered the George Foreman Grill way back in the early 90s and after using it for a few months she was hooked. She cooked everything on that thing and because she was nearly 90 years old, it made her life so much easier because she could cook for four people or just herself without heating up the big oven, lugging around pans, and dealing with clean-up.  (Yes--cook for four people--she would sometimes do that, even at 90.)

Now we are in no way affiliated with George Foreman or his grill company, but I have to admit that it is a wonderful invention for fat-free cooking because the grease "drains" away from fatty foods like bacon, sausage, and hamburger.  Plus you can cook almost anything you might typically put on a traditional grill. We are thankful for that because when it's 25 degrees out, we are not keen on putting on our thermals and firing up the outside barbecue. So we pull our George Foreman out just like Grandma did. Matter of fact, it's the same one she used and it's been humming along wonderfully like the Energizer bunny since about 1993!

The other day we almost felt guilty because our dinner was so easy. We were cleaning up after a full day of painting our kitchen and pulled out about a pound and a half of prawns. Our daughter de-veined, shelled, cleaned, and skewered them and we melted some butter, added in minced garlic, poured them over the skewered prawns, and cooked them on--you guessed it--the George Foreman Grill.

Three skewers at a time for about 3-4 minutes, and we had perfectly grilled and delicious prawns. You've got to try this and you'll be hooked like we were!

No recipe needed here, but if you want the particulars--here they are:

Garlic Butter Prawns

1/2 stick of butter

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

Clean, shell and de-vein prawns and place about 6 on a skewer. 

Melt together butter and garlic and pour over prawns. then place 3 skewers at a time on George Foreman Grill for about 3-4 minutes until pink and fully cooked.

Yummmmmm!

PS ~ You'll have to pardon the lame photo, but we were so excited to eat them that we couldn't even focus!!!