1001 Things To Do With Canned Meats

[Buzzman]

Based on discussion on the "Vegans Make Good Lovers" thread, the Mods decided it was too time consuming for them to set up a "cookbook" section, so we need to have individual threads for all the various
"food varieties".

So here's one for the "canned meats": SPAM, Ham, Chicken, Tuna, Salmon, Crab and so on.

So if you have a favourite recipe you'd be happy to share, post it here on this thread, preferably with a photo of the dish, and once there's enough recipes to make it worth the effort to put in an Index, we can hassle the Mods to delegate someone to do it.

So, all you tinned food afficionados, get the can openers cranking, and post up your best, brightest and the just plain weird. We like weird here at CF! lol

RECIPE INDEX (number refers to the post number)

Corned beef and Cabbage Roll #7
Gnocchi pesto #3
Salmon patties #12
Tuna dip #4
Tuna pesto pasta #2
Tuna, sprouts and shallots salad #24
Tuna/salmon salad sandwiches #6

[Buzzman]

To get the canned food thread rolling, here's my Tuna Pesto Pasta.

TUNA PESTO PASTA

1 can 185gm tuna
2 tbspns Sacla Classic Pesto (basil and pine nuts)
2 handfuls pasta per person, penne, spiralli, farfalla what have you
Grated Parmesan
Grated black pepper
Salt

First put on a pan of water, roughly 500ml per person. Add a largish pinch of salt. Once boiling add pasta of choice.

After 10-12mins check pasta for cooked status, once cooked drain but leave a tablespoon of the cooking water in the pot.

Add pesto and stir in well with a fork.

Add tin of tuna (drained. I use Tuna in Brine rather than oil or Springwater)

Stir again. Reheat if required.

Add grated parmesan to taste. (Fresh is best, but dried if that's all you have).

Add grated pepper (and/or salt) to taste.

Serves two.

With a glass of red wine.

If you'd like a creamier sauce, add sour cream or yoghurt after the tuna, or in a separate pot, make a small qty of white sauce, and add the parmesan to that to make a cheese sauce.

Mix the sauce in after the tuna and before serving. Finely chopped parsley is nice if you have it, as a garnish.

[Buzzman]

Further to the above Pesto Pasta recipe, this is good for Gnocchi Pesto as well.

GNOCCHI PESTO

500gm Packet Golden Pasta Potato Gnocchi
3 tbspns Sacla Classic Pesto (or any pesto, your choice)
Cupful of white sauce
Parmesan cheese
Black pepper

Into a 2 litre pot of boiling salted water add the Gnocchi. It takes a minute or so to cook and once it floats it's done. Drain.

Add the pesto and stir with fork to coat.

In a separate pot make about a cupful of white sauce, add the cheese to that and pour over gnocchi. Stir and serve.

Feeds two hearty appetites, or three if you do a salad and/or veg accompaniment.

White sauce:
In a small heavy based pot, say 1L, add a large knob of butter (approx a tbspn) and melt slowly. Add enough plain flour to form a roux (the flour absorbs the butter and forms a thick claggy brownish paste) stir for a few seconds then add stock or plain water to thin, stir like mad, keep pot off the direct heat (I just wave it around in the heat column a few inches above the burner, which saves setting up a double boiler, but you can do this if you'd rather)

Keep stirring and adding liquid until it stops 'thickening' when you apply more heat, and is a creamy white colour and consistency.

Add parmesan, melt, and pour over gnocchi.

Serve with a finely diced parsley garnish if you have it.

[Seaworthy Lass]

A easy dip to serve with pre dinner drinks.

TUNA DIP

200g tin tuna or salmon drained
200g Greek yogurt
1 tsp Chana Masala (or curry powder)
Rind 1 lemon
Ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Combine first five ingredients. Pack in a glass jar, cover with oil and refrigerate a few hours or overnight (can be eaten immediately, but flavours develop if left to stand).
Before serving mix well and spoon into a serving dish.
Surround with an assortment of fresh vegetables or your favourite crackers.

Photo is just from Google Images, but close to how it looks:

[mrohr]

Corned beef hash is a great cruising food,works well in heavy weather,keeps well ,good reheated stays put once ingested and hearty.Green peppers ,potatoes and onions are all that is needed ;but eschew the canned product and make your own with a can of good quality beef and lots black pepper.

[WebWench]

I like to substitute canned salmon for tuna to make "tuna salad sandwiches"
Just add: mayonnaise, and vary it with adding chopped hard boiled egg, celery, chopped tomatoes or salsa, pico, etc. Then spice it up with curry powder, chipotle, fresh ground pepper, cumin and or any spices you like to add.
This can be used as a dip with chips or crackers as well.

If you add a raw egg or two to the mix and some bread crumbs you can make some interesting salmon or tuna patties by frying them up in a pan. Eat them on a bun or over rice.

[JPA Cate]

6 oz. tin corned beef
1 sm. onion, chopped,
2 carrots, diced,
1 sm. potato, diced
"enough" cabbage, shredded
biscuit dough made with 2 c. flour

Roll out the biscuit dough into a large rectangle. Combine the corned beef and onion, and any spices you want--I add dry mustard. Place the corned beef mixture on the dough, place the carrots over the meat, then top with the cabbage. Bring the dough to the top of the meat mix, close and seal the ends (moisten dough with water before pinching closed), then the top. Bake at about 425 deg. F. (~210 deg. C) till dough is golden brown.

I imagine you could do this with any kind of tinned meat, but you might want to add a little salt and pepper, noticeably missing from the corned beef recipe. Gravy for it is optional: make a roux as described in the post above, using bouillon of your choice, and there you have it, an underway, one pot, hot meal made from long-stowable items and nice on a cold evening!

[Auspicious]

+1 for Web Wench.

Pretty much every meat in a can may be made a salad out of - diced ham, tuna, chicken, salmon, crab, whatever. All good.

I also enjoy corned beef hash. Good stuff for any meal.

I have not had good luck with whole canned hams.

[tropicalescape]

What about the Argentine canned beef,cook up some potatos and add the canned meat about 10 minutes before the potatos are cooked..It has a name but I dont now what it is,taste good and only takes a few minutes time to prepare..

[JanetGroene]

For those who eschew commercial canned meats because they contain salt and nitrites/nitrates plus unknown measures of fat and other no-no's, here's a reminder that it's very easy to can meat and fish. You can always add salt to the finished dish if need be but those who live on the briny don't need no stinkin' added salt. Many books tell how, or I'm glad to answer emails. In my book The Galley Book (out of print but available used from Amazon) I tell how I can in both glass and tin.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by JanetGroene

For those who eschew commercial canned meats because they contain salt and nitrites/nitrates plus unknown measures of fat and other no-no's, here's a reminder that it's very easy to can meat and fish.

Janet's point is very well taken. I still use my mothers 56 year old 16 qt Presto pressure canner. There are lots of guides available including Janet's, the quintessential Ball Blue Book, and the USDA guides available online for free.

We do sauces and veg, not yet branching out into meats and fish. Perhaps we should ...

[onestepcsy37]

canned meats are also good for chum.

just kidding.

not really.

but i agree with webwench on the salmon patties. one pound can of salmon,
mash it up good, add some bread crumbs and a beaten egg. then make hamburger size patties and pan fry them. some people add finely chopped peppers and/or onions and, of course, seasoning like black pepper.

by the way, you can do the same thing with canned spinach and it tastes great. but you have to really drain the spinach well. i find that you need two cans of spinach to make a good side dish because canned spinach is mostly water.

[h20]

May favorite and had last night.

Open a can of black beens and chicken.
Heat up, put on hot sauce and or Cheese
on top! Soaked dry black beens even better
and cheap!

[Buzzman]

Any chance of a photo????

[h20]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

Any chance of a photo????

ha, ha. I'll have to remember if not too hungry.
Yesm the beans and da chicken in different cans!