Tuna Fish Sandwiches!

[Jake]

On topic, but slightly tangential -- anyone but me fond of a Tuna Melt?? I love a good tuna melt sandwich and find that it's one of those things one can make at home even better than the local diner can.

Heavenly comfort food!

I'm with you, great comfort food. Much better made at home, too.

[KatieLoeb]

tuna should not be warm. it's just that simple.

Tommy:

I used to think that too. In fact, before I'd ever had a Tuna Melt I thought the idea of warm tuna salad was nauseating. But now I really like Tuna Melts alot. Perhaps it's because I make them the way I like them? It's not something I order out often. In fact, hardly ever order it out.

Anybody ever try this with Chicken Salad? Seems like an obvious lateral move, but I don't think I've ever seen it done. How odd...

[tommy]

Tommy:

I used to think that too. In fact, before I'd ever had a Tuna Melt I thought the idea of warm tuna salad was nauseating. But now I really like Tuna Melts alot. Perhaps it's because I make them the way I like them? It's not something I order out often. In fact, hardly ever order it out.

but you're wrong.

[s'kat]

I've never liked tuna salad sandwiches (can't seem to get over my mayo aversion), but LOVE tuna sandwiches. They are my staple weekend lunch over the summer.

Canned tuna (tried the pouches once- ick); thinly sliced red onions marinated in red wine vinegar, olive oil, s&P, sometimes a pinch of garlic or cheese; tomatoes, lettuce, and capers or olives. Sometimes both.

Edited February 27, 2004 by s'kat (log)

[slkinsey]

I'm with tommy on this one. Warm tuna salad? Oog.

[bleudauvergne]

I cannot believe that only two people mentioned apples in this thread and both were granny smith. Cortland apples are simply heavenly in tuna salad sandwiches. With the obligatory celery. I'm also a no to the cornichons kind of girl, when I'm making the salad. They interfere with the delicate flavor balance, in my opinion.

Not long ago we had tuna steaks and had leftovers. I made a blender evoo mayo and a tuna salad for lunch the next day, and I can say that it was the most wonderful tuna salad I had ever consumed in my entire life. I added fresh parsley and a nice hefty grind of black pepper. It called for a dusting of finely minced mint and the call was answered. I can't say that I'd go out looking for fresh tuna steaks with the idea of tuna salad in mind. But I can say that if anyone is grilling steaks, consider picking up an extra to take you into the next day's lunch. I wrote a letter about it to a friend it was so nice.

-Lucy

edit typo

Edited February 27, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)

[lcdm]

I like tuna a couple different ways.

Usually use chunk lite packed in water drained. For the traditional sandwich it's tuna mixed with mayo on white bread (maybe top with potato chips) or when I'm more creative on whole wheat toast (or a roll) topped with hot pepper rings, tomato, lettuce and swiss cheese. Sometimes I mix with shredded carrots and celery and have on saltines. I also like a good tuna melt from the diner.

[howard88]

I recall David Rosengarten making tuna salad a few years back on the food channel. He spent about five minutes mashing the tuna with a fork until all the tuna was perfectly seperated. This is the way I do it and I find the mayo mixture absolutely coats all the prepared tuna. Also I find the tuna in oil is much more flavorful than in water and the solid light more flavorful than solid white.

[Lone Star]

My mother always made the standard tuna salad - called "Tuna fish". Starkist light in oil, Hellmans, chopped onions, chopped boiled eggs and lots of sweet pickle relish. She would also add pecans, which I could tolerate, but she would also add chopped apples which I just HATED. It takes a long time to pick apples out of a tuna fish sandwich.

"Tuna fish" is on the menu at our house every Saturday. I make a big bowl in the morning and people eat as they come and go. It is expected.

I am also a huge fan of the tuna melt. The tuna does not get all that warm - just under the broiler long enough to melt the cheese topped with thinly sliced tomatoes.

[tommy]

i gotta think that's some pretty shitty oil the starkist and whatnot are packed in. if you want oil, why not add some good EVOO? do we think the crappy oil makes the actual meat taste better? or could we just add our own for a superior product.

[slkinsey]

i gotta think that's some pretty shitty oil the starkist and whatnot are packed in. if you want oil, why not add some good EVOO? do we think the crappy oil makes the actual meat taste better? or could we just add our own for a superior product.

Good point about the shitty oil. But I don't think adding oil to water-packed tuna would quite be a stand in for "tuna packed in high quality olive oil." There's something about actually canning the tuna together with the oil (preferable olive, of course) that greatly affects the quality of the tuna.

[howard88]

Every five years or so I get focused on a tuna melt, don't know exactly why because I always have the same reaction. I prepare and eat a tuna melt and after I am finished, I make a regular tuna salad sandwich and wonder why I thought I would like the hot tuna thing.

[Big Bunny]

Tuna, Mayo and Raisins.

I did that in desperation once, and it was surprisingly good.

Normally, replace the raisins with a finely chopped Kosher Dill.

BB

[howard88]

While the oil in canned tuna except for the highest quality brands is probably not very good, when I have A-B'd the same brand tuna in water with tuna in oil, the flavor was discernably better IMHO.

[tommy]

But I don't think adding oil to water-packed tuna would quite be a stand in for "tuna packed in high quality olive oil."

i'll buy that. but most of these products, with the exception of the expensive imported italian brands, contain oil that probably doesn't come close to what i have on my countertop.

Edited February 27, 2004 by tommy (log)

[tommy]

While the oil in canned tuna except for the highest quality brands is probably not very good, when I have A-B'd the same brand tuna in water with tuna in oil, the flavor was discernably better IMHO.

did you add oil to the tuna that didn't have any?

[chow guy]

For tuna sandwiches I use white Albacore tuna packed in water. celery, chopped onion. good mayo, celery salt, pepper and a bit of wasabi powder. Spread on rye toast with lettuce and sliced tomato. My wife adds pickle relish but I prefer it plain.

When It comes to Nicosie salad or one of my FAVORITE summer meals VITTELO TONNATO I use good italian tuna packed in oil.

[mags]

Love tuna melts -- and yeah, with sweet pickles -- but as a low-carb girl these days, I've taken to mixing tuna with chopped scallion, mayo, chopped olives, black pepper, and parsley, and piling it into halves of a big red pepper. By me, that's a real nice lunch. I've thought of trying to do the melt number with this, but a big part of the pleasure is the juicy, crisp pepper, and the broiler would kill that.

[GG Mora]

Tuna with peanut butter.

[Jaymes]

Tuna with peanut butter.

I'd never in a million years have thought of that. And it doesn't sound particularly tasty. But you're the second person on this thread to mention it, so clearly I've got to give it a try. It sounds like a perfect way to take something basically good for me and make it really fattening. Something I always appreciate.

[Richard Kilgore]

I use water-packed canned tuna, but may try the Italian oil-packed that everyone says is so very much better. At any rate -- more Dijon than mayo (and altogether fairly dry) with minced onion and capers on Corner Bakery's Steak House Rye. Lettuce and tomato optional. Sometimes once a week, sometimes once a month.

[John Whiting]

. . . one of my FAVORITE summer meals VITTELO TONNATO . . .

With veal at an astronomical price and of dubious provenance, we've adapted it to Pollo Tonnato: thin slices of poached chicken breast with the usual sauce. Both veal and chicken are of such mild flavor that guests to whom we've served it haven't spotted the difference.

[JAZ]

Tommy:

I used to think that too.  In fact, before I'd ever had a Tuna Melt I thought the idea of warm tuna salad was nauseating. But now I really like Tuna Melts alot.  Perhaps it's because I make them the way I like them?  It's not something I order out often.  In fact, hardly ever order it out.

but you're wrong.

On tuna melts:

A long time ago on Chowhound a poster was wondering what the attraction of the tuna melt was, and I described it this way:

there are two different types of sandwiches called tuna melts. The first is an open faced tuna salad sandwich topped by cheese and run under a broiler so that the cheese melts but the tuna salad is still relatively cold. The second is cooked on a griddle like a grilled cheese sandwich, until the cheese melts and the tuna salad is heated. I take it this is the type you don't understand, so I'll give you my explanation, as I am a big fan. The appeal to me of the second sort is the same as the appeal of a heated crab dip -- you have a warm creamy seafood base, gooey cheese (cheddar is my preference) and crunchy fried bread to keep it all together.

Now, I'm aware of all the Italian "no cheese with seafood" rules, and although in many cases I agree, I have to admit to loving the whole 50's style hot crab dip thing, as well as the grilled style tuna melt. (The broiler style is fine, but not my preference.)

What I really don't care for is a cold tuna salad sandwich with cheese. Now, that's wrong.

[tommy]

The appeal to me of the second sort is the same as the appeal of a heated crab dip

heated crab dip is all wrong as well.

[chow guy]

With veal at an astronomical price and of dubious provenance, we've adapted it to Pollo Tonnato: thin slices of poached chicken breast with the usual sauce. Both veal and chicken are of such mild flavor that guests to whom we've served it haven't spotted the difference.

Excellent point about the veal. I've never tried chicken but I often do substitute turkey breast when I make it myself, except on my birthday in July when I have the veal. It became a birthday ritual many years ago.