(Dolen Perkins-Valdez, hardback). From the title you might think this is a book about the s-x word. It’s not. By a long shot. But the story, set in about 1852, is about a black slave woman, and her somewhat misguided “love” for her master. About the children she bore him, under the eagle eye of the master’s wife. But it’s all tied together with a yearly journey made to a place called Tawawa House, a rural inn of sorts in southern Ohio (a free State), that for some years allowed white slave owners to stay at the resort in rustic cottages with their black slaves, as couples. This place existed, according to the author’s afterword, and finally closed because some of the regulars (white couples who stayed in the main house) didn’t fancy this concubine business going on out in the woods. It’s about Lizzie’s relationships with the other slave women, about their desire to run to safety through the local underground, about them secretly meeting some free blacks, finding out more about abolition, and about the hardships all these black mistresses endured, and how little their lives were valued. A real stunning book. (I was sent this book as a perk from Harper Collins – because I had mentioned The Help. No strings attached – I could choose to mention this book, or not, here on my blog. I’m glad to because it’s a very good read.)
(Jamie Ford, on my Kindle). A poignant story about a Chinese-American, growing up in Seattle at the beginning of World War II. Henry falls in love with a young Japanese girl before her family is interned in a relocation camp. It a very secretive relationship because his parents would highly disapprove. The story goes back to the 40’s and forward to the 1980’s when Henry is in his 50’s and his wife (not the Japanese woman) has just died of cancer. The story pulls you in from the first page, especially when some artifacts are found in the basement of an old hotel which contain personal belongings from several Japanese families who were suddenly taken away back in 1942. You can see where it’s going, can’t you? I heard criticism of this book that it was just a little bit contrived. Halfway through I’m enjoying it very much.
(Kathryn Stockett on my Kindle, an excellent read); 
by Jetta Carleton (Kindle edition, eh); 
by Susan Richards (Kindle edition, good book); 
by Sally Gunning (Kindle edition, very good read)
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(Mario Batali & Gweneth Paltrow); 
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You can count on one hand the number of recipes on this blog using canned tuna. And I don’t know about you, but mostly I use canned tuna for sandwiches, or salad, but not much else. The other day I ran across a recipe from w-a-a-ay long ago. Back to the 1950’s when my best friend Linda C. and I used to spend hours and hours every day together. We were young teens then, too young for boyfriends. So we played Parcheesi, and Monopoly, and watched Linda’s older sister get ready for dates. Linda’s mother would fix lunch for us sometimes, and occasionally I’d spend the night at her house too, and usually I was invited for dinner, or Sunday breakfast. Or both.
The Sunday breakfast was almost always waffles and homemade sausage gravy that was served on top of the waffles. Linda’s dad was the Sunday breakfast cook, and he was really proud of his waffle spread. Brings back lots of nostalgic memories thinking about that. Linda’s mother, Van, was a good cook. I have one other recipe of hers – a Lamb Curry, with about 21 condiments. It’s been years since I made that. Linda’s parents used to entertain with some regularity and the 21 curry was a favorite. Sometimes Linda and I would help in the kitchen mincing and chopping.
But one of their family favorites was this tuna dish. And I used to fix it every so often, although I’d lost track of the recipe until I found it in MY mother’s recipe box a few weeks ago. As you can imagine, it’s an inexpensive meal, what with just a can of tuna and some English muffins. The other things usually were readily available too. This does contain the ubiquitous cream of mushroom soup, which I keep in my pantry – you just never know when you’re going to need it. Like I did the other night when we returned home from a weekend away. We weren’t overly hungry, so as I stood in the pantry I spotted the tuna. Aha moment.
This recipe is WAY EASY. Probably takes about 10 minutes to make if you’re slow. Toast the English muffins (I used some seeded baguette thick slices that I toasted in the oven) and the tuna comes together in about 7-8 minutes, I’d say. Van’s original recipe didn’t call for peas, but somewhere along the line I added them, and have continued to use them. Her recipe also called for a huge amount of sliced black olives. They aren’t my favorite thing, so I reduce the quantity a lot and add Kalamata instead, but you can use whatever you want to. The fresh lemon juice is key – it gives the sauce a nice tang, although it really isn’t noticeable. So this recipe is a salute to my friend Linda, and her Mom, Van.
Tuna La Scala on Toasted English Muffins
Recipe By: From the mother of an old friend of mine, Linda C.
Serving Size: 3
1/2 small red onion — diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
7 ounces tuna — drained
10 1/2 ounces cream of mushroom soup, condensed
1/2 cup 2% low-fat milk — (or may need more, up to 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — or Pecorino, grated
1/2 cup olives — sliced (or may use Kalamata)
2 tablespoons Italian parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese — or Pecorino, for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian parsley — for garnish English muffins or thick bread, toasted
1. Heat a medium skillet and add olive oil. Add onions and saute until onions are translucent.
2. In a small bowl mix the soup and milk until it’s smooth. Add to the onions, turn down the heat and allow to hear through.
3. Drain the tuna and flake it apart with a fork. To the cream sauce add the tuna, cheese, olives, lemon juice, thyme, parsley and peas. Continue to heat through on a very low, gentle heat.
4. Meanwhile, toast whatever bread you’re using and prepare the garnishes.
5. Place bread on plate and spoon the sauce over them. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley, then serve immediately.
NOTES: The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of sliced black olives. I don’t use that much, and prefer the Kalamata instead. I also like more lemon juice (noted in the recipe). The peas are also my addition. Back in the 1950’s when my friend’s mother would fix this, she used the dry canned Parmesan. I never – ever- use that stuff, so the recipe should be better for using the real stuff. If you prefer, use the canned. A serving was one English muffin, split in half (so, 2 halves). For very hearty appetites, this might serve just two.
Per Serving: 361 Calories; 22g Fat (53.6% calories from fat); 24g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 1263mg Sodium.
printer-friendly PDF recipe
A year ago: Soup Season
christine
said on October 23rd, 2009:
omg. thank you for reminding me of one of my favorite childhood dinners… only we didn’t name it as fancy as you name it here!
my mother used to make this with toasted white bread and called it “creamed sh*t on toast.”
yeah, she was classy that way.
guess what i’ll be making at some point this weekend.
Yes, indeed, this brings back old memories. My mother also made “creamed tuna on toast,” but my mom would never have used that kind of language your mom did – never a swear word passed the lips of my parents! That was the “wash your mouth out with soap” era. BUT, the tuna mixture is gosh-darned good however you say it! . . . carolyn t