From Erik's Kitchen: Tuna Melts!

Right, a lot of people I know either don't like fish or they don't like mayonnaise.

I can understand the second one.  Maybe you like Cool Whip.  Maybe you'd like homemade mayo (which is awesome and really easy, by the way).  Either way, I get it.

But fish?  To simply say "I don't like fish" is like saying "I don't like vegetables" when there's such a wide variety of tastes, textures, colors, and styles of preparing them.  This is one of those things that, try as I might, my brain is never actually able to comprehend.



Maybe it's because I eat pretty much anything put in front of me, but even foods I don't really "like" I've tried prepared different ways and in various recipes to see if I can find a balance that I like, or something the ingredient I'm not fond of plays really well with.

With fish, there's so many varieties.  You have red meat fish like salmon, you have whitefish like cod or tilapia that can flake apart and have so many flavors added to them.  You have cuts like steaks from tuna or swordfish (in fact, they actually are loin steaks because of how the fish swim, but that's another post).  There's so much variety, that when I hear someone say "I don't like fish" I want to interrogate them to see if they've had every kind of fish.

Now, for those people who say "I just don't like canned tuna," I can get that.  I don't use canned tuna unless I have to.  I encourage you to try the tuna fish in the sealed bag.  There's a huge difference between the two, since...well, okay, a slight diversion.

Here's how tuna gets canned.  Step one: cook the tuna.  Step two: put in can.  Step three: seal can.  Step four: cook the tuna again to kill any microorganisms.   This is why canned tuna sometimes tastes, well, overcooked.

Now, the bagged tuna is flatter, which means more surface area.  This means it can get cooked really quickly for that second cooking, which means the fish is much, much less damaged.  Would I still prefer a tuna steak freshly cooked?  Sure.  But for sandwiches and melts, the bag stuff is still satisfying.

So, here's how I make a tuna melt.

This recipe makes four sandwiches, so have some friends over.

Crank the oven or a toaster oven up to 350 degrees.

Get 12 ounces of tuna from packets, drain any excess liquid, break it up in a small bowl.  Mix in four tablespoons of mayonnaise and two teaspoons of mustard (as spicy or mild as you want it).

Now, I like to mix in some herbs.  I keep a few mixtures, but depending on the day I might use a lemon and thyme mixture, I might use just some dried oregano, or a mixture of that, parsley, and rosemary, or whatever the mood strikes me to do.  Either way, mix in two teaspoons of herbs.

Spread the tuna equally over four pieces of bread (again, your choice, but I find that whole wheat sandwich bread works great).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Put four slices of cheese (your choice, I use cheddar most of the time) on top of the fish.

Transfer the bread to a sheet of aluminum foil, slide the foil into the oven for ten minutes so the cheese melts and the bread turns brown.

Eat with a pickle and a nice glass of lemonade.  Congrats!  You're done!