Meat on Your Bones

Here is what I learned about oxtails when I hit google for ideas for the stew: you need 6 or 7 pounds of meaty bones to yield 4-6 servings of meaty stew. My 1.75 tail yielded about 3 ounces of meat.

So it was homemade tuna casserole for dinner. that recipe follows.

On the bright side, I now have several quarts of rich, delicious beef stock.

My Tuna Noodle Casserole
(adapted for "Joy of Cooking")

4 Tbsp. butter (I use either unsalted or salted, depending on what I grab when I open the fridge)
1/2 cup of chopped onions, celery and bell pepper ( usually I use 1/4 cup of celery and make up the difference with the rest.)
1/4 flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1 Cup of cheddar, and then a little extra, grated
2 cans of tuna (6 oz)
Three big handfuls of dry noodles

Salt
Pepper
Old bay
Breadcrumbs

Optional: frozen peas

Melt butter on stove top in a pan you are like to whisk in over medium heat. Sautée veggies for about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for a minute or two. Slowly whisk in milk. Whisk while the sauce thickens, about 6 or 7 minutes.

Cook noodles according to package instructions while the sauce thickens up. Drain.

When sauce is thick, stir in salt, pepper and old bay, along with cheese. Drain tuna and crumble into sauce. Want peas?add as much as you like now.i

Stir sauce and noodles together and pour into butter baking dish. I use a 2 and 1/2 quart Pyrex dish. Top with breadcrumbs.

Back at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Yum.

My friend Lisa puts French's onions on top of her TNC. You know, the ones that go on green bean casserole.

My entire family polished off the entire casserole for dinner last night. A winner, as always!