Carefree Cooking

Tuna Sandwich

Sandwiches are very versatile since you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, snack, or dinner. You can spice up the meal by choosing different side dishes that match the mood that you are in. If you feel like eating healthy, you can make a quick side salad. If you are feeling very hungry, bake (or fry) some seasoned curly fries. If you don't feel like making a side dish, a bag of chips would suffice. In any case, having different side dishes can add variety to the same sandwich.

Sandwiches can be as simple as the "bread, meat, bread" topology, or as complex as the multi-layer extra cheese double patty club house sandwich that you might get in fancy restaurants. One of the more complex sandwich is a tuna sandwich. It's complex because it requires preparation before assembling the sandwich, rather than just taking the meat from the package and slapping it on the bread.

I always think that toasting the bread is the way to go. Regardless of how fresh the bread is, I always toast it. The added texture of a toasted bread seems to improve the taste of the sandwich. You can use any type of bread you like. Tuna spread can be an excellent dip for crackers or toasted baggettes.

To make the tuna spread, you'll need a can of tuna (or any canned meats you have handy but it won't be called tuna sandwich anymore), a couple of eggs, mayonnaise, horseradish, mustard, relish, salt, and pepper. First thing to do is to hard boil the eggs. Cut the eggs into small chunks. Drain all the liquid from the tuna (otherwise the tuna spread will be too watery). Combine the rest of the ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Be generous on the mayonnaise since this acts as a binder for the spread. You can put a little at a time and add as you go along until you get the desired consistency. If you don't have horseradish (no leftover packets from Arby's?), you can use dijon mustard instead of regular mustard. If you don't have that either, don't sweat it. It will still taste good. Make sure you add sufficient amount of salt and pepper to bring out the flavour of the tuna. Most of the tuna's saltiness comes from the brine that it was soaked in. Since we drained it away, we need to add salt. Remember, taste as you go along and you'll get your perfect tuna spread.

To assemble the sandwich, you can choose to add some lettuce and tomato. If you can't wait to eat it, just put a generous serving of tuna spread on the bread and enjoy.

posted by carefreecooking @ 4:16 PM