Creamed tuna on toast

So for today, a blog with food you can make when you are down to your last five dollars.... That may be the focus of the next couple. I think its important to highlight all aspects of food, even the things we eat because we have to make rent...

One of our regular "broke this week" recipes is creamed tuna on toast. When I started looking for information on where this recipe originated, I found... well, I didn't find where it came from, just that it has been just the way it is now for a LOOOOONG time.

A trusty google search of the term pulled up a timeline of the usage. The earliest result: May 25, 1913. An archive of the LA Times has an advertisement for, "Avalon tuna" After saying of this specific brand of tuna, "is even better than chicken... always tender and sweet-the flavor is ever so delicate-so white and attractive looking it makes a dainty dish to serve an any..." the archive goes on the quote, "It is splendid creamed on toast."

In the "What to Eat Next Week" column by Biddy Bye in the Miami News, dated August 15, 1919 Friday's lunch suggestion was creamed tuna with Rice. Alright, a little bit of a tangent, but I would like to quote the beginning of this article. It is still advice being given today by experts of both nutrition and economy and it is interesting to see it in a 1919 paper.
"Now, if ever, come the days when it is most important to follow the advice of the best domestic economists and buy "only foods in season." And now the market affords its richest plenty in fruits and vegetables. We may happily dispense with meat altogether- except for the occasional sandwich- thus taking a satisfying little personal prod at the profiteering meat merchants and at the same time saving our health and purses...."

Anyhow, back to creamed tuna. So with a start at least as early as 1913, you may wonder what we are doing still eating it. Well, it is still tasty! and economical! Those reasons are probably why even more recently, such as in the Orlando Sentinel March 15, 2001, there are still quotes of, "What would we do without canned tuna to get us over a grocery budget crisis? Creamed tuna on toast comes to the cook's rescue once again."

So lets get down to giving you a recipe. You will easily find hundreds of versions of this recipe online. Some use canned vegetables, some used canned soup, some use... well, there really is a little of everything. But that is to be expected with a beloved recipe that has been used by millions of families throughout history's various budget crises. Below is the way we make it around here. I like to keep it simple because I think it is tasty without a bunch of... accessories. And I like my vegetables separate from the other stuff...

Creamed Tuna on Toast, appropriately nicknamed, "Shit on a Shingle"
serves: 2-4
2 tbsp unsalted sweet cream butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups skim milk
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can tuna packed in water, drained
4-8 slices of whole wheat bread, toasted

in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add in flour, whisking to combine. While whisking continually, add in milk. Stir continually while allowing the sauce to come to a simmer. (This is the same as making a bechamel sauce if you are familiar) The sauce will thicken. Add tuna, seasonings and serve over toast.

Sometimes, a drizzle of hot sauce is a nice addition. Now, I mentioned that some recipes use cream of mushroom soup in place of the bechamel sauce. This may sound wonderful to you. If you are looking for that kind of flavor for your creamed tuna here is what you should do: add sliced mushrooms to the above recipe. Canned soup is insanely high in sodium and usually fat. We will not even get started on the preservatives involved... Any recipe I find with cream of anything soup as an ingredient I avoid or try to change in order to exclude that element. As far as the vegetables go, add whatever you want. Using minimal butter and skim milk, some people find the sauce to be a nice addition to often bland canned vegetables. I have seen suggestions for canned green beans, peas, corn, etc...

Lastly, nutritional content. Assuming a full 8 slices of toast and 4 servings, things come out to look like this:

calories: 306
fat: 8.7g
saturated fat: 4.4g
trans fat: .5g
cholesterol: 30mg
sodium: 622mg
carbs: 37.3g
protein: 19.2g
Vitamin A: 9%
Calcium: 22%
Iron: 12%

So there you have, tasty, economical, and once you have a taste, you will probably remember your grandma serving it to you as a kid as she remembers her grandma serving it to her...

CHEERS! LiA

references:
http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php?

"Display Ad 145." LA Times. III5; May 25, 1913 Quote found via: http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com

"Quick, Healthful meals for Budget Minded Families." Susan Nicholson, Orlando Sentinel. H2; Mar 15, 2001 Quote found via http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com

"What to Eat Next Week," Biddy Bye. The Miami Metropolis. 7; Aug 15, 1919. Quote found via: news.google.com