A mother-daughter conversation on food and cooking (mostly)

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Tuna Melts


I really love canned tuna. I make tuna salad with curry powder and pecans and grapes, or cubed raw apples and red peppers, or balsamic vinegar and walnuts and parsley -- it's good all kinds of ways. But I think tuna melts should be more basic, and until last night I hadn't made one I was totally happy with.

For the tuna salad:
- 2 cans tuna. I think water-packed chunk light Starkist is A-OK.
- 1 tablespoon mayo
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- a few teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon mild coarse grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- lots of black pepper

Mix together and spread on:
- Homemade bread or other thick, serious bread. I used some half-whole wheat half-white long-fermented bread I made the day before (more on that soon).

Top with:
- 2-3 thin slices of sharp cheddar
- a small handful of grated mozzarella

Saute for one minute in olive oil, then move entire pan to under broiler until cheese is bubbly and brown.

I garnished it with tarragon for no reason other than that it's hard to find uses for tarragon. And as with nearly every summer meal, we ate it with fresh chiles, sliced tomatoes, and steamed okra.

1 comment:

Kris said...

I'll have a tuna melt for lunch today--can't wait!