Tuna Casserole

One plated serving of my Tuna Casserole.

The Best Tuna Casserole

This is better than a basic recipe for a Tuna Casserole but it is easy and it’s delicious. Last week, I made a very simple and basic recipe, which was descent, but it didn’t strike me as a yeah I want more kind of a dish so, I decided to step it up. The end result turned out great and I really think you’re going to be pleased because I stuck with all of the basics and through in some ingredients to give this dish more bite.

Frying pan on the stove half full of chopped Holy Trinity ingredients, garlic and peas.

The Holy Trinity with Peas

Many basic Tuna Casserole recipes call for frozen peas but I decided to take it a step further and add the Holy Trinity. As you may or may not know, the Holy Trinity is just 3 simple ingredients made famous in in French and Cajun Cuisine; chopped onion, celery and bell pepper. These three ingredients are a fundamental start to many recipes and I decided that this dish shouldn’t be any different so, I added them.

Mixed Tuna Casserole ingredients, in a large bowl, before baking.

Creamy and Crunchy

One of my favorite things about a casserole is the top layer. I like the crunchy flavor of salty Potato chips and/or fried French Onions. In this case, I decided to add both for more flavor. I crush the potato chips and add them to the mix and add the french onions as a topping with cheddar cheese. That’s not the only cheese I add to this recipe, however. Again, I’m going for flavor and I like anything creamy to be rich so, I added grated Parmesan cheese to the mix along with some cream of mushroom soup and a little milk.

You have to be careful with the mixture of all of these ingredients because you can, very easily, do one of two things; either make it runny, with too much liquid or dry it out with not enough. Those potato chips and the “Al dente” noodles like to suck up that moisture with the casserole is baking so, be sure you’ve added the right amounts that I’ve listed below. And, if by some chance you’re tastes are different than mine, just adjust the liquid, milk, accordingly.

Oh, I almost forgot… I usually salt the boiling water before I cook my noodles to add more flavor but, in this case, I chose Chicken Bouillon. Just think of it like adding the seasoning packet to your ramen and flavoring the noodles. It isn’t weird, it’s pretty much the same frickin’ thing!

Tuna Casserole video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Tuna Casserole Ingredients:

1 12 oz bag Egg Noodles
Cook the Noodles in Chicken Broth or use Bouillon. Approximately 4 quarts of water and 1/3 cup of Knorr Chicken Bouillon.

1 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 bunch Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 stick Cellery, diced
1 Bell Pepper, diced
1 cup Peas, frozen
1/2 Onion, diced
2 cans Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated
1/2 cup French Onions
1/2 cup Potato Chips, crushed
3 cans tuna, Solid White Albacore
1 tbsp Worcestorshire

Salt and Pepper to taste

Bake at 400° Fahrenheit for 20 minutes then add the Cheddar cheese and French onions and bake for another 5 minutes, then serve.

P.S. You can easily turn this dish into a Chicken Noodle Casserole by swapping out the canned Tuna for Chicken and the canned Cream of Mushroom Soup for Cream of Chicken Soup, instead.

Breakfast Combo Bar

Six stacked Breakfast Combo Bar Patties on a small purple plate.

The Best Breakfast Combo Bar

If I’ve never expressed my love for breakfast foods, particularly hot breakfast foods, I can sum it up in a word… GIMMIE! This Breakfast Combo Bar is no exception. What is it? It’s a crispy fried scrambled egg, ham and cheese patty and, if you’ve never tried one before, believe me when I say, they’re amazing. These can’t be purchased by the average consumer, by the way, and you don’t usually find this item on a restaurant menu so, you’re going to have to learn how to make these and try them your self.

One carton of 20 chicken eggs.

Where does it come from

I learned about the Breakfast Combo bars over 25 years, when I attended trade school, and I fell absolutely in love with them. I’ve never seen them served any where else but I have since learned that they are a bulk product, made by Hormel, and they’re only sold to distributors and restaurant supply companies like Sysco; which also explains why my school cafeteria was serving them up in the mornings.

Eggs are the main ingredient in this recipe, mixed with minced ham and cheese so, be sure you’re stalked up to make these because it takes 2 eggs to make 1 Breakfast Bar.

One box of Original Velveeta Cheese.

What Kind of Ham and Cheese

The ingredients in the Hormel recipe says that the cheese in these Breakfast Combo Bars is pasteurized and American so, I chose to go with Velveeta Cheese. You can use what ever you want but, I’m telling you, the Velveeta, in my opinion, is spot on the way I remember these bars tasting. So, it’s something to consider if you prefer real cheese.

Cooked ham and cheese with scrambled eggs.

The Ham I use is just a classic hickory smoked ham that I add to the eggs, chopped, after they’ve cooked. I melt down the Velveeta cheese in a smaller pan with a few tablespoons of whipping cream to make it creamy and easy to poor over the eggs and ham mixture. Then, I mix everything together, remove from the heat and form patties on a cookie sheet.

Eggs, ham and cheese mix formed into patties on a cookie sheet for the freezer.

It’s good to use a non-stick cookie sheet or some non-stick spray that will keep the eggs, ham and cheese mix from sticking, once you’ve made patties. I use an egg pan mold approximately 3″ inches in diameter. The mold is only about one 1/2″ inch so, it makes it easy to press them flat too. The patties must be frozen before they’re battered for frying or they will not sustain their shape. 1 hour, minimum, in the freezer is required to obtain a frozen patty. In fact, I usually keep half of them in the freezer while I’m frying the first batch because they soften quickly and fall apart in the egg wash.

2 canisters of both Seasoned Panko and Bread Crumbs.
Breading and Batter

Once the egg, ham and cheese patties are fully frozen, they can be put through a 3 step breading. First the flour, then the egg wash and the seasoned Panko and bread crumb mix. Each patty only needs to go through these steps once. There’s no need for a second coating, trust me. Now all you need is a half inch of oil, in a hot pan, for frying. Fry at 350° Fahrenheit for approximately 2 minutes, or until golden brown, on each side. Then remove from the heat and let them rest on a rack or paper towels, to remove the grease, and serve.

Breakfast Combo Bar video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet
Breakfast Combo Bar Ingredients: Makes 6

12 eggs, scrambled and pre-cooked with Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Ham, minced
1/3 cup Velveeta Cheese, melted
2 tbsp Whipping Cream or Milk

1/3 cup flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp water
1/3 cup Bread Crumbs, seasoned
1/2 cup Panko, seasoned

Oil for Frying

Watch and follow all of the instructions in the Breakfast Combo Bar video tutorial.

Drinking under Quarantine

Spicy Jalapeno Margarita Mix & Grapefruit Cocktail Mix by LAVA.

These are Great Mixers

This company contacted me recently for a collaboration, which pretty much means that I get to try their product for free and pass on a discount for you, and all for the small price of show casing their product. So, just know that I’m not getting paid for this and I’m sharing my true opinions about these two products.

First off I’m happy with the shipping, 3 days from Florida to the mid-west and nothing was broken. That’s important because I ordered a 6 gallon carboy last week and it arrived shattered with bubble wrap. These mixer bottles are glass too but they both arrived unscathed with no bubble wrap so, that’s saying something.

I received a Spicy Jalapeno Margarita Mixer and a Ruby Grapefruit Cocktail Mix. The Margarita Mixer recipe requires, of course, tequila and Lava recommends vodka or gin for the Grapefruit cocktail mix. I chose to go with gin.

The Jalapeno Margarita I thought was amazing. I salted the rim with chamoy and tajin, which gave it some more kick, and I felt like they paired very well together. Over all, I’ll definitely be adding Jalapeno to my Margarita’s in the future.

The Grapefruit cocktail was good too and probably about as good as it could get. The second time I tried it I liked it even better because I rimmed the glass with honey and sugar and I think that helped balance the sour. My wife thought it was great but we both agreed that we liked the margarita’s better.

Margarita and Grapefruit Cocktails.

How much do they Cost

I only have one con for these products and it is simple; I don’t like the price, and not just because I’m the Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen or because I’m frugal. They’ve included a 10% off discount for purchases over $20 dollars but at $12.99 per 1 ltr bottle(33.8 oz), that still only knocks you down to $11.69, plus tax and shipping costs. Sorry Lava, I’ll stick with Mr. & Mrs. T Margarita Mix for $6.99 per 1.75 ltr (59.2 oz)and just blend in a Jalapeno. And, their Strawberry Daiquiri/Margarita mixer is even cheaper than that but tastes incredible. Plus, I can get it at any Walmart and most grocery stores.

I’m all for supporting small business’s and I love these products but LAVA has just got to be reasonable. If they want these drinks to take off, they need to drop that price down a little more, get people addicted to it, like crack/cocaine, and then hike up the price. Just my two cents.

UPDATE: LAVA has the following response to offer in regards to pricing.

“As far as product pricing goes, we definitely feel you but for online orders unfortunately the shipping company makes most of the money as it costs us anywhere from $9~$10 to ship our glass bottles which are much heavier than plastic and require better packaging. Add to that credit card processing fees, packaging, cost of goods, etc., and it doesn’t leave a whole lot. At retail stores here in California, the bottles retail for about $7.99~$9.99 since we don’t need to ship across the country. Just wanted to let you know for reference. 
The good news is, we are working on a better discount structure for online orders based on bottle volume so if someone orders 2, 3, 4, bottles we can pass additional savings (that we get from the shipping company) on to the customer.”

Lava Mixers Unveiling/Review – Drinking Under Quarantine – PoorMansGourmet