tuna noodle fish casserole

One of the small food drawbacks in the UK is the lack of Campbell's soup. I know it's strange that I say this, firstly because Campbell's soup isn't that fantastic as far as soup goes. Secondly, I usually poo-poo any recipe that has "...and now add a CAN of cream of BLANK soup". The soup is typically high in sodium and low in flavour.

However...

There are some times when you really want to slap together a quick little casserole or make a special recipe from your childhood that is of that 'can of soup' vintage and nothing really works in those recipes except Campbell's. I've learned this by sad experience. And I'll tell you what that's sad:

This past summer my sister left me some groceries that they weren't able to take back to Alberta with them (when we were all in NS). Included were two cans of Campbell's Chunky Soup (recall the 'Fork!'/'Spoon!' ads of the late 80s?). At the end of our stay we decided to eat one for lunch. I put it on the table and after taking a few slurps asked MBC if it was condensed soup. She didn't know, so I checked the tin: No, it wasn't. Holy salt! I mean, it was Fran-and-Gordon-salty-ham salty! It was like mechanically separated meat and vegetables in a light brine.

So, yeah, Campbell's... not really that fab.

On the positive side of things, if you must buy canned soup in the UK, Baxters (made up in Fochabers) is great (I also approve of their crinkle cut beets). However, their soup tastes too much like soup you might make yourself to be right as an ingredient. I'm afraid their cream of mushroom soup tastes too strongly of mushrooms to be right for tuna casserole. Sorry Baxter's. but you are just too good.

So, what are you to do? Well, I prefer to do it better. At this point, I'd like to welcome Mr Christopher Kimball in (although only metaphorically, as in real life I'd be too afraid to speak to him because he's so amazing).

Last year, the March & April Cook's Illustrated had a great method for Stroganoff and I plundered a small portion of it for my very own Tuna Noodle Fish Casserole. Campbell's soup be gone!

Here is the recipe, the way I do it, apologies to the slight changes and entirely different application from the Cook's Illustrated one.

Tuna Noodle Fish Casserole

1 can tuna (drained)

3ish cups of macaroni

1/2 cup peas

1 lb white mushrooms

1 Tbsp dijon mustard (a good French kind)

1 tsp sugar

ground black pepper

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large shallots, minced (or a small onion if you aren't cooking for MBC)

salt

4 tsp flour

1/3 cup dry vermouth (or white wine, but vermouth is way better)

1-1/2 cups vegetable stock (we use Marigold Swiss Style)

1/2 cup creme fraiche (or sour cream if that's all you can get)

1 Tbsp of fresh dill

Method:

1. Get macaroni cooked as you are doing the rest.

2. After rubbing clean, chop up mushrooms to a reasonable size and put in the microwave on High for about 4-5 minutes (till they've decreased to half the bulk). Drain mushroom water and discard. Mix up sugar, mustard and about 1/2 tsp of ground pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Heat up oil in skillet until just smoking and add mushrooms, onion and 1/2 tsp of salt. Cook until the vegetables are brown and starting to form dark bits on the bottom of the pan (6-8 min). Add tomato paste and flour, stirring constantly, until everything is well coated (about a minute). Add the vermouth and vegetable stock de-glazing the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the mustard paste and tuna. Reduce to medium heat and let thicken (about 5 min).

4. Once sauce is reduced sufficiently, add creme fraiche, peas and dill. Make any final seasoning adjustments (with salt and pepper if needed) and mix the whole lot with the cooked macaroni in a casserole dish.

5. Top with crunched up crisps (potato chips), or crackers or panko or whatever you fancy. and cook at 350 F for about 30-40 minutes (or until the top is nice and brown). I'm not too sure about this final bit as we use our Remoska and it takes about 25 minutes.

So that's how to beat 'the man' and not have to use canned soup. Of course it takes about 20 minutes more and uses a bunch of things, but it does taste about 37 thousand times better.

Yum.