Family Favorite Tuna Salad

Hard-boiled egg yolks mashed into the mayo/mustard mixture mimics the flavor of homemade mayonnaise in this delicious family favorite tuna salad with a hint of onion.

In my family, tuna salad and chicken salad are both made with hard-boiled eggs. That’s just the way we’ve always made them and I didn’t realize that not everybody did until I was fully grown up because in the south, we all add eggs.

The first time it was brought to my attention was when I made tuna party sandwiches to share at a non-profit board meeting of the American Association of Malaysia, scheduled for lunchtime. All the board members brought finger foods so we filled our plates and the meeting was called to order. 

All of a sudden, the president of the board exclaimed, “Who put tuna in their egg salad?” “On the contrary,” I responded, “I put eggs in my tuna salad! You don’t?” She declared that from then on she certainly would, and after a good laugh and a discussion about who did and didn't put eggs and where in the States we were from, we all got back to business.

Not a very scientific poll but it seemed that those from the southern United States always add eggs. Those from the north or midwest mostly don't. Please leave me a comment yay or nay on eggs in tuna salad and where you are from. I'm just curious.

Family Favorite Tuna Salad

I grate my onion so that there aren’t little crunchy bits in my tuna salad, which I abhor. Grating the onion also creates some onion juice, giving the salad a nice onion flavor throughout. If you don’t mind little crunchy bits, feel free to mince the onion instead and, bonus, you won’t have to share your tuna salad with me.  

Ingredients

4 eggs, hard-boiled, cooled and peeled

1/2 cup or 115g mayonnaise

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/4 small onion

2 cans (5 oz or 142g) tuna chunks in brine or spring water

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne, depending on your spice level

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon (or to taste) fine sea salt

Method

Cut the egg whites around the circumference of the yolks. Remove the yolks and put them in a small mixing bowl. Set aside the whites.

Mash the egg yolks with a fork, adding in a few spoons of the mayonnaise.

Once the yolks are relatively smooth, add in the rest of the mayonnaise and mustard. Mix until completely homogeneous. 

Grate the onion, making sure that you catch any juice which should also go into the mixture. You can do this on a saucer with a regular grater or directly into the mayo bowl with a microplane. 

Add the black pepper, cayenne and salt and stir.

Using a sharp knife, cut the egg whites into irregular pieces, adding them to the bowl. Stir well. 

Open your cans of tuna and use the lids to drain the water, squeezing a little. You don’t want the tuna too wet or the tuna salad will be runny. 

Add the tuna to the mayo bowl. 

Stir gently to mix it in. It’s nice to still have some small chunks of tuna so try not to mash it too much. 

Taste the tuna salad. Add a little more salt and pepper, if desired. 

This tuna salad is perfect as a sandwich filling but it can also be served with crackers or used to fill a ripe tomato or an avocado half. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing sandwich recipes to celebrate National Sandwich Month. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below.

• Caramel Pulled Pork Banh Mi Sandwiches by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chicken Caesar Wraps by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Family Favorite Tuna Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Grilled Cheese Extra Ordinary by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Hung Curd Veggie Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• Pie Iron Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches by Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sunflower Pesto Turkey Sandwich by Our Good Life

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Roast Chicken Bacon Cauliflower Bolognese

This roast chicken, bacon and cauliflower Bolognese is rich and flavorful, putting your leftover roast chicken to the best use, a whole new delicious meal!

I must confess, and I don’t think I’m alone here, but I am generally incapable of going to Costco and not buying one of their roasted chickens. They are so much bigger and cheaper than grocery store chickens so I know that there will always be leftovers to make another dish. Often more than one! 

Our favorite is chicken salad with hardboiled eggs but it is followed on closely by any sauce to serve over pasta, sometimes creamy and/or cheesy, sometimes tomato based. And, then, of course, I must simmer the bones for stock/soup.

Honestly, priced at $4.99 since 2009, there is no bigger bargain that can be stretched to make a few meals than a Costco roast chicken.

Note to my friend Wendy and others who are vegetarian or have vegetarian family friends and family they cook for: Skip the bacon and set aside some sauce before you add the chicken and everyone can eat together! 

Roast Chicken Bacon Cauliflower Bolognese

If you have a little more or a little less chicken, if your cauliflower is a bit smaller or larger, it’s all good. This sauce is very forgiving on amounts and will still taste wonderful. P.S. Just to be clear, I am NOT being paid to talk up Costco. I just love that store, its staff members and their inclusive ideology.

Ingredients

10 1/2 oz or 300g leftover chicken (weight without bones or skin)

1/2 head cauliflower (about 1 lb or 450g)

1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1/2 cup or 60g cooked real bacon crumbles

1/2 cup or 120ml red wine

2 cans (14.5oz or 411g) crushed or petite diced tomatoes (no salt added)

1 can (6 oz or 170g) tomato paste

2 teaspoon Italian seasonings

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 bay leaf

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

To serve:

1 lb or 450g of your favorite pasta, cooked al dente to package instructions. 

Grated Parmesan

Chopped parsley

Method

Pull the chicken apart into pieces. I like to make most of them a bit bigger than bite-sized because then they don’t completely shred while cooking. Set side. 

Blitz the cauliflower, including stalks, in your food processor. You may have to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your processor. We are looking for fluffy pieces like cauliflower rice, not puree. 

Chop and peel your onion. Finely chop it or since the food processor is already out, go ahead and chop the onion in it. No need to wash it between uses.

Smash the garlic on a cutting board with a knife. Give the garlic a couple of casual chops as well. 

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, fry the bacon crumbles over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. 

Add in the onion, garlic and cauliflower. Sauté until the vegetables have softened. I find this goes faster with a lid on but make sure to remove it and stir often. 

There’s a lot of moisture in the cauliflower and onion but it can still catch if your lid isn’t really tight fitting. Add a little water if you need to stop it from scorching. 

Add in the red wine and cook for a few minutes. 

Add in both cans of tomatoes along with one can filled with water. Stir.

Add in the can of tomato paste and the Italian seasonings. Stir until the paste has dissolved. 

Add in the bay leaf and the baking soda. Stir well them simmer over a low heat, covered, for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you have more time, a longer simmer won’t hurt.

Add in the leftover roast chicken and simmer, covered, for a further 20 minutes. 

Taste for salt and add some if necessary. We are watching our salt, so I rarely add any in a meaty Bolognese. Even the “no salt added” tomatoes have natural sodium (adding 140mg to the sauce) and, of course, the regular tomato paste adds about 100mg. In this case, the cauliflower is pretty bland so I think it needs some salt. But you do you. 

Give the whole pot a good few grinds of black pepper and stir. 

Serve over your favorite cooked pasta with Parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley, if desired. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing one pot recipes. Many thanks to our host, Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures| Check out the links below.

• Bean and Kielbasa Stew by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Korean Style Beef Short Ribs with Bok Choy by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Pečena Piletine Sa Rižom (Baked Chicken & Rice) by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Roast Chicken Bacon and Cauliflower Bolognese by Food Lust People Love
• Sama Pulao by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Sukhi Roti Ki Khichdi by Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Homemade Peach Preserves

The perfect spoonful of sweet summer, these homemade peach preserves are a family favorite, on toast, biscuits and cornbread or stirred through yogurt.

Peaches were my mother’s favorite fruit so their rich fragrance always brings me good memories of her. I often made peach preserves just for her, so she’d have jars to enjoy all year round. 

Homemade Peach Preserves

If you don’t have peaches, this recipe works with most stone fruit, for instance, nectarines, apricot and plums. 

Ingredients

2 lbs or 910g fresh peaches

3 1/2 cups or 700g sugar, divided

Half pack pectin - Just less than 1 oz or about 25g (I use the Sure-Jell brand and the box says 1.75oz or 49g.)

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 cup or 60ml lemon juice

4-5 clean, sterilized jam jars

Wide-mouth funnel for filling jars

 

N.B. Make sure your jars and lids are thoroughly sterilized because this quick canning method does not require a hot water bath or pressure cooking. If you have any doubts whatsoever, store the jam in the refrigerator once cooled.

 

Method

Halve your peaches and remove the pits. Cut them into thick slices.

In a large pot, add your peaches with 3 cups or 600g of the sugar, the sea salt and the lemon juice and give it a good stir.

 

Cook over a low to medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming any white foam that forms around the top. The peaches should start falling apart and turning to pulp.

Get your sterilized jars ready for filling by lining them up on some paper towels (to catch the inevitable drips onto your countertop) and inserting a metal teaspoon into each one. A wide-mouth funnel will make this so much easier! Put the funnel into the first jar, at the ready.

 

Meanwhile, mix your pectin with the remaining half cup or 100g of sugar.

 

Remove the pot from the heat and allow it to cool for just a few minutes. Use your hand blender to puree the mixture to your desired consistency. I like to blend half and leave the other half as it is. If you don’t have a hand blender, you can use a blender/liquidizer or leave the peaches as they are. 

Return the pot to the heat and add in the sugar/pectin mixture. Mix well and bring the pot to a full rolling bowl for at least a minute.

Ladle the boiling hot jam into the clean jars, moving the funnel along as you go. Do be careful not to splash jam on yourself.

 

Remove the teaspoons and screw the lids on the jars very tightly, using a towel to hold the jars and turn the lids, starting with jar one. When you get to jar three or four, start over at number one, trying to tighten them all just a little more.

 

Turn the jars upside down so that the hot jam further sterilizes the insides of your clean lids.

Leave the jars upside down until the jam has completely cooled, which could take several hours. Turn the jars upright and check that the center button on the lids have popped in, if your lids have those. 

Any jars whose buttons have not popped in should be stored in the refrigerator as this means the seal is not good and bacteria could get in. If the jam lasts that long. :) 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are celebrating National Peach Month by sharing recipes with peaches! Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day of the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below. 

• A Day in the life on the Farm: Fresh Peach Salsa 
• Food Lust People Love: Homemade Peach Preserves 
• Sneha's Recipe: Keto Peach Iced Tea 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Peaches and Cream Mini Cheesecakes 
• Our Good Life: Peach and Prosciutto Flatbread 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Peach Baked Oatmeal 
• Culinary Cam: Roasted Peach-Tomato Gazpacho with Crème Fraîche

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Copycat Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers

These Copycat Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers are crunchy, spicy and totally more-ish! When you cannot simply buy a favorite snack food, sometimes you just gotta make them yourself. 

A couple of years ago I invited a friend to join us for Sunday lunch and she arrived with hot boudin and Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers to serve as an appetizer. The boudin - a Louisiana sausage made with cooked pork, rice, onions, peppers, and seasonings, all stuffed into a casing - was tasty but it was the spicy crackers that stole my heart. They were HOT.

I immediately asked where she had bought them and added Hobi’s Bites to the shopping list. I discovered that they come in many flavors but the original hot are the best, very spicy with a lovely crunch. I don’t buy them very often because they are that addictive, high in sodium and calories, and they disappear quickly. 

When our Sunday FunDay host proposed celebrating National Junk Food Day which is July 21st, I was excited to make my favorite spicy crackers, as a special treat. A little research revealed that some people call them fire crackers and recipes abound. 

Another thing I learned was that in the UK, they don’t have saltines! That ubiquitous cracker of my childhood, which, along with a glass of 7-Up, could cure any stomach bug. I guess they eat water crackers but those seemed too bland. I chose to use two different crackers, one French, the other from the Philippines. Both turned out great. 

In fact, I shared a bag of my copycats with my neighbors because I know they are fond of spicy food. I was hanging out the laundry yesterday when he popped over to tell me how addictively delicious they were and could he please put in an order for more! So you can bet I’ll be making these again! You know, just for them, because they are such good neighbors. 

Copycat Hobi’s Bites Original Hot Crackers

This recipe is adapted from one on the Southern Living website. Use whatever plain crackers you can find and as I mention below, buy some 2 or 2 1/2 gallon Ziploc bags, the better to coat the crackers evenly with the spicy oil.

Ingredients

1 cup or 240ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml hot sauce (I used a mix of Louisiana Habanero and Dunn’s River Jamaican-style hot sauce.)

2 tablespoons ranch dressing mix

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

16 oz or 450g saltine or similar crackers

Method

Place oil, hot sauce, ranch dressing powder, crushed red pepper, cayenne, smoked paprika and salt in a small mixing bowl. 

Whisk to combine.

Add the crackers to a 2-gallon size Ziploc bag. (*See note below.) Pour the seasonings over them. 

Seal and gently turn the bag over several times to coat the crackers with the spice mixture. The more times you do, this the better the coating. 

*Note: As already mentioned but let me reiterate, when I make these again, I will use a bigger bag because I found that the crackers stuck together in the 1-gallon bag so it was hard to coat all sides. With more room in the bag, they’d be easier to shift around. I recommend using a 2- or 2 1/2-gallon Ziploc bag. 

Let crackers soak at room temperature at least 1 hour turning the bag over every 10 to 15 minutes. Be gently with them to keep the crackers mostly intact. 

Preheat your oven to 300°F or 149°C with racks in the upper third and lower third positions. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil.

Transfer the crackers to prepared baking pans, arranging cracker in a single layer. 

Bake in the preheated oven until dry, crisp, and golden, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating baking pans between top and bottom racks halfway through bake time.

Remove from oven. Carefully remove the crackers to wire racks to cool. 

Repeat the process to bake the remaining crackers. 

Let the baked crackers cool completely, about 30 minutes. 

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are celebrating National Junk Food Day! Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below.

• Brownie Pizza by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Copycat Hobi's Bites Original Hot Crackers by Food Lust People Love
• Crunch Bars (copycat) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Donuts & Chicken Strips by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Roasted Pumpkin Hummus Veggie Wrap by Sneha's Recipe
• Walking Taco by Mayuri's Jikoni

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin these Copycat Hobi’s Bites
Original Hot Crackers!

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