My first experience with tuna and noodle casserole came when I was 17. My mother had just died and we were invited to the home of a family friend who was separated from her husband, and who it turned out was in a relationship with our father, for dinner. When it was time to eat, this little monster came out of the oven and was plunked in the center of the table. No sides, no salad, just that casserole. The casserole itself was sweet and Asian in flavor, and full of canned Chun King crunchy noodles with a sauce that involved ketchup and soy sauce. It was an awkward meal on every level. I never ate it again, until....
Mike Filigenzi posted a recipe here. To overcome my unfair bias I made it and really really liked it.
But for no reason I can think of except that one-dish meals a la casserole were never common here at Chez J, I never made it again. As well, for Bob--talk about unfair bias!--all things casserole reminded him of his mother's horrible home cooking and even if I made such a dish I had to avoid using the C word. Instead I had to invent elegant, complex-sounding new names, like "oven-baked chicken with sherry sauce", gratin even when not technically correct, or--this was a fave--a "layered treatment". But I didn't do them often, so again the tuna/noodle combination never rose to the top of my to-do list.
Until today's lunch, where I reheated a small one sent home with me by my BIL. This one had carrots, peas, mushrooms and lots of onions. Too much onion, and there was no tuna flavor (I do like canned tuna) whatsoever. He used albacore where actual tuna might have been better.
So that's it: exactly three in a lifetime of otherwise adventurous eating. If you love the combination and have a favorite recipe, what makes yours work?
