My father died in 1979. It was unexpected and people flocked to the house. One of Mom’s friends, Doris, just came over and stationed herself in the kitchen. She managed all the food that was being brought and made sure there was always something put out with plates, and things whenever anyone was hungry. She also cleaned up. As an adult, I look back and I know just how much work she did.
People brought tons of food. It was a constant stream. But we had as many as 40 people in the house for days. Even with all those gifts, the food eventually ran low.
One morning I came into the kitchen and she had the biggest can of tuna I had ever seen. It was huge. Now I know she must have gone to some place that sold restaurant food, but at the time it was just a mystery.
I’m not a huge fan of tuna, but she did something to it and I loved it. Everything in it was chopped fine. You really couldn’t identify individual things. They weren’t a mush, but they were very finely chopped. I asked her to tell me what she did to make it so good.
She didn’t really have a recipe, but she told me what she put in. This recipe is what I do to make Doris’s tuna salad.
2 cans tuna, drained (I use white albacore in oil if I can find it)
2 hard boiled eggs
1 peeled apple
1 small onion
2 medium dill pickles (or sweet if you prefer)
1 cup pecans
Mayonnaise
Salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste
Put each item through the food processor until it is chopped very fine, then into a large bowl. Toss everything together gently. Everything should be very minced up and you shouldn’t be able to identify anything clearly.
Add mayonnaise until the mixture holds together. Taste. (remember tuna, pickles and mayonnaise have salt, so don’t salt until you have tasted).
Add salt if it needs it, pepper if you want to give it a kick (a splash of something like Sriracha or Tabasco would also work here), and a squeeze of lemon or lime if the taste is dull.
You can make sandwiches out of this or just put it on a lettuce leaf or in an avocado half. You will be surprised at how much it doesn't taste like traditional tuna salad!!