Tuna Noodle Casserole for an Army

Mother Sauces and the Mother of all Casseroles

Oct 6, 2008 Jacqueline Church

Humble, beloved tuna noodle casserole as gourmet food? Choose wild, line-caught albacore, revisit French "mother sauces", et voilà, tuna noodle casserole for kings.

October 5 was national noodle day. One of the finest things to happen to a noodle is the tuna noodle casserole. What does the humble tuna noodle casserole have to teach us about gourmet cooking? About Sustainable Seafood?

Plenty.

What’s a Casserole, anyway?

Casserole is also a “hotdish” or a “covered dish”, depending on what part of the country you’re in. It can refer to the actual vessel in which the meal is prepared, often a ceramic one. Or, the term can refer to the contents, the entree which is baked in the oven, distinguishing it from a stew which is similar but cooked stove top.

In making a casserole, one will come upon recipes that call for cans of condensed soup. These are evil and should be avoided at all costs. Speaking of costs, a very good sauce for your next casserole can be made for far less than that can of sodium - er - soup.

The "mother sauces", as they are known in French cooking consist of Béchamel, Velouté and Mornay, among others. For the moment, we’ll focus on these three as the following recipe essentially demonstrates their differences, as it obliterates them one after the other.

Not to worry, it’s with delicious results.

First stop: Mom’s - Revisiting our Mother Sauces

Béchamel - essentially a roux of butter and flour, thickened with scalded milk. Béchamel, the base of many other sauces, was named after its inventor, Louis XIV's steward Louis de Béchamel.
Velouté - replaces milk with broth. It is also one of the 3-5 "mother sauces," velouté is a STOCK-based white sauce. Enrichments such as egg yolks or cream are sometimes also added. Velouté sauce is the base for a number of other sauces.
Mornay - adds cheese or cheese and egg yolk. Usually Parmesan and Swiss, has been added. It's sometimes varied by the addition of fish or chicken stock or, for added richness, cream or egg yolks. Mornay sauce is served with eggs, fish, shellfish, vegetables and chicken.

Tuna - Sustainable Tuna?

So now that we’ve refreshed our sauce knowledge, what about our Tuna? Aren’t we meant to avoid tuna now? Mercury is one problem, overfishing is another.

Good news. There is a choice that's safe for your family and safe for the environment: Wild Pacific Albacore tuna. This tuna is line-caught by trolling, (not trawling) method of tuna fishing that is sustainable. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, it's a best choice. The Western Fishboat Owners Association ensures that this tuna is troll-caught by a hook and line. This means each white tuna is essentially caught individually, as if you went out and caught it yourself. This personalized service comes at a cost. However, the alternatives caught by large commercial harvesting methods carry a much bigger price tag. Try extinction,for one. Ocean habitat destruction, two. Destruction of by-catch.

Better news: it's a delicious choice. Products include smoked variety, as well.

Health Benefits, too.

Because this tuna is also smaller than traditional tuna caught commercially, it has far less mercury than the larger tuna we are warned against consuming. Significantly, it also carries the healthy doses of our important omega 3’s - the highest levels of any tuna. It’s an excellent source of vitamin A, B12, and niacin. Low in fat, high in protein.

Now come see how one combines this fine tuna, with the humble noodle and the noble mother sauces for a gourmet tuna noodle casserole.

And for more recipes, see: Pacific Albacore.

The copyright of the article Tuna Noodle Casserole for an Army in Gourmet Food is owned by Jacqueline Church. Permission to republish Tuna Noodle Casserole for an Army in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.