Heeey! Real short post. I am bogged down with papers right now. It really isn’t bad, I am staying above water and still enjoying school. But real quick, I want to share a slight twist (with big impact) on Tuna Hotdish I made last night.
I brought together two of our favorites, one from Minnesota and one from Oregon. Old Dutch potato chips are kind of a big deal here. If you have ever lived here and moved away, you get it. There is a grieving period once you discover Old Dutch isn’t available outside of the upper Midwest. Luckily, our favorite cheese that happens to be made in Oregon IS available outside of the Pacific North West. I used Tillamook cheese and Old Dutch potato chips for the topping on this casserole staple. The only thing that I would have changed is to make it with some fresh tuna my late mother-in-law canned herself. I want to save that stuff, so tonight I used store-bought.
The other changeups were very subtle. I used a little bit of lemon juice, a few shakes of dried dill from last summer’s harvest and melted in some parmesan cheese. For the seasoning, I used Epicure’s Tuna Casserole seasoning packet. I had several. Why not use them up?? It was delicious. Our 15-year-old, currently maintaining TWO hollow legs, ate a ton of it. Couldn’t have been that bad! My husband liked it. He said I was running at a 95% success rate with my food over the years. Not bad! I will take that, no one can be perfect.
PS–know your audience. I left out the celery tonight.
Mid-WEST meets WEST Coast Tuna Hotdish
Ingredients
2 cans tuna
1 red onion, chopped
3 stalks celery (optional)
3 cups Chicken Stock or Water (or a mix of both)
2 cups Milk
2 packages of Epicure Tuna Casserole Seasoning
1 package of egg noodles
3 tablespoons or so Parmesan cheese
A few sprinkles of lemon juice
A cup or 2 of frozen peas
A few shakes of dried dill
3/4 cup or so shredded Tillamook sharp cheddar cheese
2 handfuls of Old Dutch ripple potato chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Saute onion and celery in large saucepan for a few minutes.
- Add liquids and seasoning mix, bring to a boil, add noodles.
- When noodles are almost al dente, add your parmesan cheese, lemon juice and dill. Stir thoroughly. Mix in tuna.
- Transfer to a shallow-ish baking dish.
- Crush potato chips over the top of hotdish mix, sprinkle with shredded cheese.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, then turn oven to broil for 2 more minutes until cheese is bubbly and chips are slightly toasted.
- Serve and enjoy!
