Tuna Hot Dish Cakes

Roughly chop the peas and corn or pulse a few times in a food processor. You still want recognizable pieces, but cutting down the size helps the cakes hold together better.

Melt butter in a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and toss to coat. Stir after two minutes, then allow to cook undisturbed for another two minutes. Add onions and half of the salt and reduce heat slightly. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft. Return heat to medium, add corn and peas and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until warm. Stir in a pinch each of salt and pepper, plus desired amount of hot sauce if using. Empty mixture into a bowl and put it in the fridge to cool quickly.

In the meantime, process the chips to a fine crumb in a food processor (a minute or two of pulsing).

Flake the drained tuna into the bowl of mushroom mix once it’s cooled to room temperature or colder. Add chip crumbs and chives and stir, breaking apart large tuna chunks. Stir in mayonnaise and mustard. Important: taste it now before adding raw egg. The egg acts as a binder and shouldn’t affect the current seasoning much. I added a pinch of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. The chips I used were very well seasoned so it didn’t need much more.

Add the unbeaten egg and stir until incorporated. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 15 minutes, allowing chips to absorb moisture and bind the mix.

Remove bowl from the fridge. Form 1/3 cup-size patties and shape them to roughly ½ to ¾” thick and 3 inches in diameter (palm sized). Set patties aside on a plate.

Wipe out the non-stick pan used earlier with a paper towel or dish cloth. Add 2 teaspoons of oil into the pan and heat over medium heat for a couple minutes—you want it thoroughly heated over medium heat before adding the patties. That way the patties sizzle a bit when added. Depending on the size of your pan, add about two patties at a time and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side. If the patties get too dark on the outside before four minutes is up, decrease the heat a little. The goal is to cook the patties (namely, the egg) through without burning the outside. Remove cooked patties to a clean plate and finish cooking the rest using more oil in the pan if needed.

Serve with lemon wedges and garnish with additional chopped chives (or some more potato chip crumbs for a fun look).

Notes:
1. Will serve 6 as a lighter entree and 12 or more as small, appetizer-sized cakes.
2. See the blog post link for information on making appetizer-sized patties, ingredient substitutions, and make ahead options.