One of our favorite Saturday lunches these days is a classic diner sandwich, the tuna melt. It’s always been one of my favorites, but I’m often disappointed when I order it out. The tuna salad can be fishy or just dull, and the cheese can be rubbery or tasteless. A few weeks ago, I decided I would make the best tuna melt I could, and, if I do say so myself, it was delicious. I think we’ve had them every weekend since.
The key to success is using the best ingredients: flavorful whole tuna packed in olive oil, nutty aged Gruyere, good bread and, yes, homemade mayonnaise. Stay with me. I never really liked mayonnaise until I started making it myself. I think commercially prepared mayonnaise is, at best, a neutral moistening agent: it adds a nice texture (and a lot of fat and calories), but very little flavor. Homemade mayo, on the other hand, is lick-the-bowl delicious: the rich yet fresh flavor of light olive oil is bound in a silky suspension with creamy egg yolks and brightened with lemon. The fat and calories are worth it. And, contrary to popular opinion, it’s also quick and relatively easy to make, if you know what you’re doing. Once you get the hang of it, I don’t think you’ll ever go back to the jar.
Recipe
(for two large or three medium sandwiches)
A preliminary note on making mayonnaise: I think all of the writing (and video) out there about making mayonnaise may be putting people off by making it seem more difficult that it really is. Making mayo does require some precision and a few minutes of focused attention, but it’s not cold fusion. With a little practice you can reliably whip up a delicious batch in about five minutes. If you’ve never done it before, or if it’s been a while, take the pressure off by allowing enough time and ingredients to make a small practice batch.
You can make mayonnaise in a food processor, and this is probably the easier way to go, particularly for larger batches. We don’t go through a lot of mayo, though, so I like to make small batches by hand. It’ll keep for a about a week in the fridge, but I think it tastes best fresh out of the mixing bowl.
There are detailed instructions below, but here are my keys to good homemade mayo:
1. Start with all of the ingredients, and the bowl, at room temperature;
2. Stick to the ratio of 3/4 cup of oil per large egg yolk;
3. Beat the egg well before adding oil;
4. Add the first 1/4 cup or so of the oil as slowly as you possibly can.
For more information about mayonnaise, I think the best source is still the great classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck.
Ingredients
For mayonnaise:
1 egg
3/4 cup of mild-tasting extra virgin olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and canola oil. (I usually use about half olive oil and half canola or grape seed oil, but this is entirely a matter of personal taste.)
1/4 teaspoon of dry or prepared mustard
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
salt
For the sandwich:
a 5 or 6 ounce can of good whole tuna packed in olive oil
1 rib of celery, finely chopped
1 green onion, white and light green parts finely chopped
good crusty white bread
about 4 ounces of good aged Gruyere cheese, coarsely grated
salt and pepper
Instructions
For the Mayonnaise:
1. If your egg is cold from the refrigerator, place it in a small bowl and cover it with warm tap water for a few minutes to get it to room temperature.
2. Separate the egg and put the yolk in a large mixing bowl (which should also be at room temperature — if it’s cold, fill it with warm tap water and then dry it well before using). Tip the bowl to the side and beat the yolk with a whisk for at least a minute until it is sticky and starting to thicken.
3. Add the lemon juice, mustard and a generous pinch of salt and beat the mixture for another minute.
4. Now add the oil. Lay the bowl flat or nearly flat on the work surface. (A coiled damp kitchen towel will help keep the bowl from scooting around the counter.) Whisking constantly with one hand, add just a drop of oil with the other and whisk to incorporate. Add another drop, and then another until you’ve added about 1/4 cup of the oil. After that, you can add the oil in a very thin stream and rest your beating hand from time to time if you need to.
When I add the oil, I pour it to the side of the egg mixture and then draw it little by little into the egg with the whisk. This prevents oversaturating the mixture (and ruining the mayo) even if you slip and pour a little too much oil into the bowl too quickly (as I often do).
As you add the oil, the mixture should get thicker. If at any point it turns into a smooth yellow liquid (this generally happens during the first 1/4 cup or so of oil), the emulsion has failed, probably because the oil was added too quickly. You’ll need to start over. (There are lots of tips out there on fixing “broken” mayonnaise, but none has ever reliably worked for me.)
After you’ve added all of the oil, the mayonnaise should be thick enough to form soft peaks.
At this point, you can adjust the salt, mustard and lemon to your taste. The mayonnaise will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
For the sandwich:
5. Preheat broiler to 450F.
6. Mix together the tuna, celery, onion and a good dollop of mayonnaise.
7. Spread on a thick slice of bread, top with the grated cheese, place on a baking sheet and broil until the cheese is melted.
I like my tuna melts with a pickled medley of green olives, cornichons and caperberries, but a green salad is nice too.
