Representative Martha Griffiths's "Salmon Casserole"
Unlike last week’s recipe from a pro-segregation Florida Democrat, this recipe hails from a person with at least some sense of morality. Representative Griffiths basically resurrected the Equal Rights Amendment and is a big reason why gender discrimination was added to the Civil Rights Amendment. Just as importantly, she put raisins in a salmon casserole.
Chef Martha Griffiths
Democratic Representative from Michigan
As always, I followed the recipe word for word directly from the powerhouse progressive-in-the-60s congresswoman, no alterations:
INGREDIENTS
1 large can red salmon
1 cup medium white sauce
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 heaping tbsp chili sauce
1 cup raisins
cracker crumbs
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Clean and break salmon into chunks; place half of the chunks in the bottom of a well-greased casserole.
You may recall from the very first post on Cookin’ with Congress, that canned salmon often has bones in it. In fact, it often has a full spine filled with crunchable vertebrae. You can eat these vertebrae, but I am not partial to spine-eating.
2) Mix the next 4 ingredients together and spread half of it over the salmon in the casserole.
I could not fine jarred “white sauce” and so had to make some myself. White sauce is essentially béchamel sauce, Americanized in name only. It is butter and flour and milk, a bit of salt and pepper. More work, but you can’t sub Alfredo sauce without changing the nature of this raisin-forward dish.
3) Put the remaining salmon on top; cover with remaining ingredients.
4) Cover with cracker crumbs. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling hot.
Thirty minutes was just right, and I pulsed my own crackers into crumbs, too, adding another hidden layer of work into this recipe that simply calls for “white sauce” and “cracker crumbs” as if they’re easily findable 60 years after she wrote it. How thoughtless.
Voila! If you want to actually watch me attempt to eat it, go to the Cookin’ with Congress Instagram or TikTok. As with other casseroles, individual slices don’t exactly exude photogenic qualities — it’s rough, multi-colored, sloppy, and impossible to dissect in terms of ingredients. Yet, the house smelled good when I made it, and the pleasant warm orange looked like buffalo chicken sauce when I pulled it from the oven. More appetizing than Steve Largent’s.
Verdict:
One cup of raisins is too many raisins. Over one thousand calories of mayonnaise is too much mayonnaise. One vertebrae is too many vertebrae. But really….the raisins are what killed me here. Weird cloying sweetness where it did not belong.
