I don’t know about you, Gentle Reader, but after enjoying this recent festive holiday season, I am feeling both penniless and puffy.
So, what’s a girl to do?
I cut back, both in calories and costs. But protein is really important health wise (the ancestors of humans came down out of the trees and started making shoes and reading Mad magazine once they began eating protein). 
One of my life-long favorite foods is also a cheap protein that’s really good for you.
It’s canned tuna.
But first, I am Italian, and as a descendant of the boot, I have very strict notions about food. And one of those beliefs is that cheese and fish do not belong together; except in a filet o’ fish, which is technically neither. So, don’t come at me about tuna melt. It’s an abomination.
Nope.
But back to the fish.
You can eat tuna on just about anything that will hold it—from a fork, to a freshly baked fancy French croissant (Petey’s choice).
A few ideas:
When I’m feeling especially off track, and in need of nutrition but very limited calories, I opt for a roll-up. You can use zucchini, cucumber, carrot, sliced into thin strips, but I just love Boston bib lettuce. I’m not actually fond of the lettuce with anything but tuna, somehow the astringent flavor of the lettuce works well with the rich, fecund tuna and its additions.
When I’ve made a special trip to Whole Foods or La Farm Bakery Cafe for some of Chef Lionel’s Vatinet’s fresh, delicious, bracing sourdough miche, I have a sandwich on it. There are few breads that even come close to Chef Lionel’s. Frankly, it’s tough to find anything that comes close to the flavor and quality of the product they make and serve at La Farm.
And, when I was a child the stable we belonged to Lazy R, had a snack bar, and they served it on a buttered, toasted bun. I still love it that way.
And, when I’m feeling a little more laissez-faire health-wise, a special treat for the entire Matthews family is to eat tuna with a big old stack of scoop-shaped corn chips. Fritos sells scoops, but the dollar store usually sells a generic brand that’s just as good as the name brand, and about two or three dollars cheaper.
Avocado can be a delicious partner for tuna. Put it in the hole of a halved, seeded veg. You can dice it up and mix it in the tuna, along with a splash of citrus juice to reduce oxidation, which causes browning. Or, and stay with me now, mash up the avocado, and use in the place of mayo. 
Just try it.
Mix-ins. I have a confession. It doesn’t matter how puffy I’m feeling, I love mayonnaise on my tuna most of all. But, I don’t drown it (unlike a Petey and a Kid that shall go nameless). I leave the meat in chunks, and toss it with enough mayo to barely coat it.
Then I add interesting, tasty, and nutritious ingredients that ups the flavor and the healthy.
Not always, but occasionally I add hard-cooked egg. It’s great for stretching both egg and tuna. It also changes the flavor completely, but in a really good way. It’s like a disguise.
I always start with a big shake of toasted sesame seed. It’s fiber, vitamins, and minerals in an almost unnoticeable way. White onion, for me is non-negotiable, I love the crunch and that pop of onion funk. 
Then lately, I’ve started using sunflower seeds. The texture it adds is addictive. I’d miss it if I left it out. Petey’s not a fan, but The Kid’s a true convert.
What this new addition tells me is that to keep riffing on tuna. That it’s never too late to teach an old tuna eater some new mix-ins. 
Thanks for your time.
On a related note, I’m also full of about 27 pounds of fair food.
Neomonde Bakery and Deli has a tent every year for baked goods and demos near the chapel. But they also serve hot food at a spot near Dorton Arena. And that’s where you can get their lamb burger. It has fresh mixed greens, caramelized onions, and a harissa yogurt sauce all on their freshly baked brioche bun. It’s pretty darn tasty.
This year La Farm introduced a hand pie. This particular hand pie might remind you of a particular rectangular pastry tart from your youth that comes from the grocery store. My mom never bought them, so I never developed a taste for them, but Petey was raised on them, and still occasionally indulges.
My very own grown-up kid may never eat those mass market, cardboard things again. He loved Chef Lionel’s pies filled with fresh strawberries and Nutella. The chocolate/rye pastry was perfect. It was flaky and delicious, drizzled with chocolate ganache and sprinkled with big sugar crystals.
After downing all this crazy fair grub, we get to vote on the best new food at the fair. The winner this year, Steve Troxler, Agriculture Commissioner informed us, won by a landslide.
2017 is the 150th NC State Fair, and if you go on Thursday (10/12), you can get in for $1.50. Food vendors will be selling $1.50 portions, and state fair staff will be handing out free rides and other prizes to attendees wearing commemorative buttons handed out to the first 15,000 folks through the gates when they open at 3:00PM that day.
Thanks for your time.
Lionel Vatinet is the devil.
I asked Chef Jim about the bags of orange butter cookies at the register. When applying to cook at an establishment, a common practice is for the applicant to actually cook. Jim baked his delicious little orange confections and got the job.
1 & 1/3 cups butter, softened
Pour dough onto surface and knead just until it comes together. Divide dough in half, and roll each half into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. 
La Farm can make a bread loving girl lose her head. I could spend a full paycheck on and eat my body weight in those gorgeous, aromatic, delicious wares.
Thanks for your time.
Except.
But this year is even redder and awesomer than ever before. I was invited to attend the media preview day.
Neomonde, who also has a restaurant/bakery in Raleigh, had Phoenician fish and chips. The fish was Pollock, and very tasty. The fries were tossed in za’atar; a spice mixture of thyme, sesame seeds, oregano, salt, and sumac. I have some of the herb mixture at home and use it on all kinds of things.
And that brings us back to La Farm.
They make a rice porridge from Carolina Gold, an heirloom variety and mix it sourdough bread. This is similar to Colonial era breads made by cooks with far less varieties of grain at their disposal. The result is chewy moist sourdough that I can’t wait to get a loaf of.
bull city mom 