December 8, 2009
Tunalicious Creaminess…
Every now and then, perhaps over drinks, folks will start talking about their favorite childhood meal. Inevitably, someone will bring up Tuna Noodle Casserole. They’ll try to convince you that canned tuna, cream of mushroom soup, mayonnaise, and crumbled potato chips really do make a lovely meal. That’s disgusting. Really. I can’t believe you voluntarily ate that. Yeah my mom made Tuna Noodle Casserole too. And as a kid, I reluctantly forced each bite in my mouth, trying to focus on the promise of chocolate pudding for desert, instead of the tunalicious creaminess in my mouth. That’s really enough though. Tuna Noodle Casserole is not welcome here.
Yet my dislike of the Tuna Noodle Casserole doesn’t mean that I never use canned tuna as the main protein in my meal. In fact, one of my favorite childhood recipes is all about canned tuna. It is also all about Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, Kraft Old English Cheese, and of course, mayo.
Tuna Crescent Roll Surprise was my first foray into cooking. A cooking prodigy at six, I would stand by mom in the kitchen while she was preparing dinner, begging to help. After my mom opened the can, I would dump the tuna into the bowl. Standing on a chair, so I could reach the counter, I would spoon mayo into the measuring cup and then dump it into the bowl with the tuna. After my mom added the pickles and the onions, I would get to stir the creamy mixture together. I remember feeling very proud of myself after I spread Old English Cheese on the Crescent Roll layers. It didn’t much concern me that my mom had to go back over my work to smooth it out.
As I got older, I was allowed to make Tuna Crescent Roll Surprise on my own. It was a tasty, affordable meal, that was easy enough for a 12 year old to make without much supervision. Little did I know, that Tuna Crescent Roll surprise would be a defining moment in my culinary career. Like any great chef, I experimented and cooked with the ingredients I was familiar with. If you spend a good portion of your life thinking that Chicken of the Sea is a delicacy, it’s hard to find a reason to learn to sear Ahi. If the pop of a can presents you with hot, fresh, and flaky bread, why would you spend hours making your own? It really seems a waste of time and money to go to an overpriced deli to purchase specialty cheeses, when Kraft makes cheese that is so nicely packaged in a can and available in the refrigerated section of your local Ralphs. With that in mind, I would like to share the recipe for the first homemade meal I ever made.
Tuna Crescent Roll Surprise
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons chopped dill pickles
* 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
* 1/4 cup minced onion
* 1 (9 ounce) can tuna, drained
* 2 eggs, boiled and chopped
* 1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
* 1 can Kraft Old English Cheese
Directions
1. Heat oven to 375F degrees.
2. Unroll dough into 2 rectangles.
3. Place one on cookie sheet. Place the second on a cutting board.
4. Spread each rectangle with Old English Cheese.
5. Mix tuna, egg, onion, mayo, and pickles together.
6. Spoon tuna mix on dough.
7.Place other rectangle on top.
8. Seal edges.
9. Bake until deep golden brown (about 20 minutes).
Life is a journey, not a destination. Sometimes that journey includes Carl Buddig beef, gravy, and frozen apple turnovers. Processed is the written record of my life's journey, and the foods that accompany it.
Processed 