When My Husband's Away... (I still cook)

I know we talk about comfort food a lot. Frankly, that's in large part due to the fact that I just don't see a point in making food that doesn't make me feel good.

There are some comfort foods, though, that you just don't often share with other people. Late night Oreo binges and cold pizza for breakfast notwithstanding, one of those has been with me since I lived in Paris.

Don't get your hopes up. I was poor when I lived in Paris. I spent so little on food that the woman at the Chinese Takeaway down the street had pity on me and would send me home with sticky rice for dessert when all I was buying was Riz Cantonnais (fried rice) for dinner. Truth be told, I really love fried rice - probably because of the attached memories.

Even more, though, I love a good bowl of one-pot tuna and noodles.

Let's get down to business.

As you might suspect, the ingredient list is pretty basic:

I'd give you amounts if I had them. Basically, though, it's all about how hungry I am - and whether I want more mustardy or more mayo-y.

As for prep, the first step is boiling water - which we've learned over time is really not terribly exciting on a blog post. So we'll start with some pseudo-action shots:

Adding salt...

The salt cellar is pretty, right?

Waiting for it to boil...

One strange step that I do with this is adding the "tuna juice" into the water as it comes to a boil. As with the salt, this means that the flavor will find its way into the pasta.

Once the water is boiling and the pasta goes in, I've adopted the old wives' tale version of resting a wooden-handled spoon across the pan to keep it from boiling over.

While the pasta was boiling, it was time to get to work. You know, the strenuous work of dicing the cheese. I actually tend to leave the chunks a little "long" - so that it does better in the melting department.

With the water at a boil - and being kept at bay by the wooden handle - I was starting to get a little excited.

Truth be told, I moved the spoon for a while, and it boiled all over the top of the stove - even putting out the burner. Oops.

The cooked pasta got drained, then went back into the pan.

I'm of two minds on whether or not to keep the heat on under this. On the one hand, it has to be warm enough to melt the cheese, but you don't want it to scorch to the pan.

Next up: the rest of the ingredients. Cheese...

Added first, so that it has time to melt.

Tuna...

New cans are only 5 ounces. Old cans were 6 ounces. Plan accordingly.

Mayo and Dijon mustard...

I typically do about 3 parts mayo to 1 part mustard. Sorta.

And enough elbow grease to stir it all together well...

We made it to the point of serving up the meal I'd been waiting for for ages:

Was it worth it?

Yeah. It was totally worth it. And, even better, there was more still in the pan.

It didn't last the night. As much as I'd love to have it as leftovers, I just couldn't stop eating it. 

So what comfort foods are in your repertoire? Is it something you share with anyone else, because I'd love to hear about it - and maybe put it into another post.

Oh - and, no, I wasn't kidding when I said that the pup had given up and decided to have a nap. Here's how she relaxed while I enjoyed my dinner:

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I'm serious. I'd love to know what your favorite comfort food--especially if it's something that you enjoy on your own with no one around. Let me know what it is, and I'd love to try it out in a future post!