# tuna sandwich



## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

In another thread some people asked for a tuna sandwich recipe. 

Everyone loves mine. 

chop:

1 carrot

1 stalk celery

1 onion (red., sweet, or a scallion with all the green)

a tomato (if you can find a good one) (or 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes)

Good, real, mayonnaise.  (Here we have a very good one, calve', but in the states, i find even the hellmans to be tasteless, so add a little lemon, if you use the bottled one.  I've made it from scratch for tuna salad and it's wonderful). 

Parsley

chives (optional)

capers (optional)

Add a couple of cans of DARK MEAT TUNA (the white stuff tastes like rags), well drained of oil or water. 

mix it all up so the tuna is in smaller pieces (but not homogeneous)

Add enough mayonnaise to hold it together so you can pick it up in a mound in a spoon. 

Put it on soft whole wheat or white bread or rolls, or on a crusty roll, ciabatta, or whatever. 

Alternatively:

my husband has fond memories of being a student in rome and going to one of the many small neighborhood grocery stores, asking them to open up a rosetta (small, crusty roll) and having them open a can of tuna (dark meat is all they have here) in oil, and put it in the bread, oil and all.  He said it was wonderful.  (I find it too oily, but he says that's where all the taste is!)


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## adiian (Aug 17, 2010)

Sounds good. I like the combination of tuna meat from a can with sliced eggs.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

If I served dark canned tuna, they would send it back. Solid white albacore in water only.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Just goes to show you that everyone likes their tuna sandwich different.  My hubby likes lots of celery and onion in his (too crunchy), my best friend puts potato chips right into her sandwich for more crispness (don't they get soggy?) .  My Mom wants lots of lemon juice, a little mustard and only a drop of mayo (too sour).  My Dad likes his with toasted bread and slices of tomato, lettuce and lots of ground pepper (aaaaaachooo!).

Me?  I like my tuna packed in water, drained, then mixed with salt, dill relish, and as much hellmans mayo as I can put in without being accused of "want some tuna with your mayo?"  Fresh and soft slices of whole wheat bread are my favorite, and the amount of tuna salad on my sandwich should be no more in thickness than a slice of bread.  Utz plain potato chips are the mandatory accompaniment.

I used to always get dark meat tuna (Starkist) but in recent years I've seen the quality go down drastically.  I now buy white albacore tuna but would prefer a decent can of dark meat if one was available.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I know lots of americans think dark tuna is gross but when mixed in with all those ingredients, and in the sandwich, it won't be noticed.  I've had some pretty squeamish americans enjoy my sandwiches.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Tuna Salad to feed a lot of kids cheap

1  66 oz can chunk light tuna   Drain and SAVE the water\and the empty can

1 head celery washed and fine dice

1 pint Good Mayo

dash of worchestire black pepper 3 T real lemon juice

,

Fill empty can 3/4 with cracker meal  add the water you drained from tuna mix together.  Now add this mixture to the tuna salad which you have already mixed together.. Let sit in fridge at least 2-3 hours  Ok now its ready, almost double the amount by weight of tuna salad..Almost impossible to detect the cracker meal because it absorbs the water from tuna. Similar to adding textured soy protein.  Some brands of tuna salad, chopped liver and chicken salad that come already made do this. Always check the labels( Panko crumbs can be used also but cracker meal works the best.


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

Tuna in brine drained

Chopped red onion capers, gherkins, tarragon black pepper and celery

The only time I use Hellmans light...50:50 with greek yogurt

Grated lemon zest and a squeeze of juice

Piled high on well toasted granary bread and served with my ubiquitous rocket and red onion salad (seems to go with absolutely everything) simple evoo salt and blackpepper dressing

Healthy yet scrummy

PS. Also works really well with smoked mackerel


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## gypsy2727 (Mar 9, 2010)

Yes it is so true we all like our tuna differently.....even in my family my mom made a big batch of water based canned tuna for all of us plain  with S&P and MIRACLE WHIP!   ( yuk) oh well she had a family of 7 to feed on the cheap! She did put lettuce in the side for those who prefered a little crunch.....Later I found out her true recipe was with Hellmans, small diced celery, fresh dill and scallions outta her garden. and capers too....but my dad and everyon else shut that down! She's back eating what she wants for the past while now being retired for over 15 years and my dad gives in to whatever is on the table ...most of the time he's just happy my mom still cooks for him as he does not know what is in the fridge ....he coudn't tell you where the can opener was!

My recipe only my kids like ,,,I've brought them up on it ,,,,toasted on whole wheat although I found the most amazing gluten free bread store in a town called Port Perry bread is like $4 a loaf it.It does contain more suger than usual but toastd with tuna ,,,,to die for and I also had it in a ladies lunch menu that was well received.

Water based canned whole white tuna

Hellmans whole Mayo

Green apple  brunoise

fresh chopped green onion

fresh celery brunoise

fresh chopped dill

No salt just pepper as I find tuna packed in the can salty enough


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## paulaspencer (Aug 20, 2010)

When the dark tuna is marinated with balsamic vinegar, red onions, salt, black pepper it is never noticed.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Paula et als,

What is the point. Dark tuna in oil usually is more expensive to begin with. So if you're mixing in things that cover up its stronger flavor, may as well start with albacore in water to begin with.

The ultimate in this had to be Giada. The other day she was using tuna in a pasta dish. Specified that it _*had *_to be Italian dark tuna. She then poured the oil away "because it sometimes tastes on the fishy (doesn't she mean "tuna?") side" and replaced it with fresh oil.

So the only reason to specify imported tuna, seems to me, was for the snob factor. Obviously she's not into the stronger taste.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

It's more than taste, KY, it's texture.  The white stuff is dry dry dry.  I can get dark tuna in water too, and it's not dry.  It's not the oil that makes it tasty or less dry - it's the kind of meat.  Like the difference between white meat and dark meat in chicken.  Some, obviously, prefer breast meat, but really, in a lot of cases (most maybe?) they;re put off by the color.  Breast meat in chicken is drier and stringier, and the same for tuna. 

If i buy chicken  parts, i usually buy thighs and if i need a fillet, i do it to the dark meat (admittedly i do use breasts sometimes when i want something in a hurry, but always have to compensate for its tastelessness and dryness in the way of cooking - it takes more effort. 

Same for tuna,

Anyway, i've made my tuna salad for VERY finicky americans who would never have touched dark tuna - even kids - and no one noticed.  They all said how come the tuna sandwiches we have at home are not as good. 

As for draining the oil, i always do too, because the oil in tuna is rarely good quality.  I prefer to use better oil in my food.


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## gypsy2727 (Mar 9, 2010)

There is no right or wrong way when it comes to "canned tuna" It is all a matter of preference. It's canned tuna for goodness sakes!...Some like the oil others don't. Some like dark meat others don't ...Live and let live ...celebrate the almighty canned tuna ...I do not see it going off the market any time soon no matter what the flavour.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Tuna, finely chopped onion, chopped pickle, chopped celery, chopped green olives, Miracle Whip (I like it better than mayo /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif ) all piled on cheap white bread. It is a comfort food thing that I had when growing up!


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

Forgive me - but what the heck is dark tuna? I am assuming what is generally available here is white - can't say I've ever seen any tuna described as dark.

Enlightenmant please, if someone has the time? And albacore - just interested, I just really don't know what it is. Language /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif

My favourite tuna sandwich....I like pretty much all the suggestiions above, but to be honest, just the taste of brined tuna on good thick white bread and lashings of butter with a loads of cracked black pepper does it for me.

KYH - that's hilarious that tuna could taste "fishy". Umm, my brain retracts into the fetal position at her statement./img/vbsmilies/smilies/rolleyes.gif


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi DC,

Your question stimulated me to look on internet.  I thought that, like chicken, tuna had  has dark and light meat.  Instead it seems it comes from different kinds of tunas, that is different species of tuna.  The one you get here in Italy is dark and called "yellowfin" but there are other types of dark.  The white albacore tuna is more popular in the states and i imagine possibly other places, the dark in Italy, and probably the whole mediterranean but i'm not sure. 

You may not have it in your local store, but there being so many Italian immigrants in Australia, i bet you would find it in specialty shops or supermarkets in neighborhoods that have lots of italian immigrants.  It's always been like that in the states.

It would generally be packed in oil, but it can be in water too. 

It's definitely less dry and more tasty - but i guess if someone doesn;t like fishy tasting fish, they may prefer the white. 

I just read also that since the white albacore they use for white tuna is generally bigger and older, it has more mercury!  Another good reason to try the dark (or as it's sold in the US, "light" as opposed to "white" - weird, like calling chicken breasts "white meat" and legs "light meat"


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I once made fresh tuna steaks for dinner.  Pan seared with wasabi/soy sauce paste, and sesame seeds and lots of black cracked pepper.  Unfortunately I overcooked them and they were dry.  To save the day I flaked them and made them into tuna salad.  Delicious!!! If you've never made tuna salad with fresh tuna then you haven't really tasted tuna salad.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

You beat me to the punch about them being different species, Siduri.

But, tastewise, your analogy to white and dark chicken is pretty good. Dark tuna has a deeper, richer flavor than white. In general (although it's slowly changing), Americans do not care for strong tasting fish. That's why tilapia is so popular, for instance. So it makes sense that the white tuna is more appealing here.

Dark tuna, because it's mostly imported, is generally more expensive than white or light. That's why I was confused by the people who insist that by the time they're finished you can't tell the difference. Why pay extra for a more flavorsome product, then add things that cover up it's difference?

Not only on this tread. My reference to Giada was about that very thing; she's a snob who insists that anything from Italy is automatically better than anything from the U.S. Doesn't matter that she took that Italian dark tuna and made it taste like American white. The dish had to be better by definition, because it started with Italian tuna.

It's like the San Marzano tomato thing. I'm willing to bet you good money that if I made a dish, half with San Marzano (whatever is really meant by that, as there are at least six tomatoes called San Marzano) and half with another plum tomato, such as DePinto, Giada couldn't begin to tell them apart in a blind taste test.

BTW, any tuna packed in oil will have a better flavor than the same tuna in water. Here, again, with our passion against fats and oils, water-packed is more popular. But there's a definate flavor difference.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

KYHeirloomer said:


> You beat me to the punch about them being different species, Siduri.


That's because i have the time zones on my side, KY!

About the san marzanos, i heard but never really got the whole story, that there are no more real san marzano tomatoes, they;re extinct. I know there are plenty they call by that name but i have to go ask my tomato expert - a guy at the market who has at least fifteen to twenty types of tomato each in three stages of ripeness - green,, mature and wrinkled. If you ask for tomatoes for sauce, he will say "what type of sauce?" ah, fish sauce. "What kind of fish?" and he will go through taking a little of this and a little of that and it's always unbelievably good. (apparently shrimp need a different type of tomato or something). Same if you want it for meat sauce or pasta caprese (he gives you tomatoes that will disintegrate in the hot pasta so there are no pieces left at the bottom of the bowl).

If i remember when i go there to ask, i'll let you know.


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## gypsy2727 (Mar 9, 2010)

I love dark tuna also.....it is bottom of the barrel cheap here in Ontario....I have a ton of friends  and customers who like the dark meat..... including me .....We do although, all agree that dark tuna has enough oil in it for flavour ...why pack in oil then rinse it off?


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Rinse off?  I just pull up the top of the can (all the cans are with a ring pull here) and press on the lid over the sink to remove the excess oil.  If i'm making pasta sauce or rice salad or something, i replace it with better quality olive oil.  Rinsing would remove more than the oil, it would remove the taste, no?


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Siduri,

My understanding is that tomatoes grown in and around San Marzano take on a particular flavor characteristic---same as, say, Vidalia onions. But it has to do with the soil composition and growing conditions, not the variety per se.

There are at least 6 varieties bearing the San Marzano name. However, if you grow them anywhere else they're not much different than Romas (the original Romas, I mean, not the cardboard crap that passes for them nowadays) or other good paste/plum tomatoes.

Now it seems to me that if I could actually discern a special flavor from those maters I'd be using them in a light sauce that let the tomatoey goodness predominate. I wouldn't be making a sauce that included all sorts of herbs and spices and garden truck and bacon, cook it two days longer than forever, and then brag on my choice of tomato.

But, of course, "San Marzano" is the tomato choice de jure. So if you're a celebrity chef, especially one preparing "Italian" food, then I suppose you have no choice but to rave about them---whether there's a true flavor difference or not.


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## gypsy2727 (Mar 9, 2010)

siduri said:


> Rinse off? I just pull up the top of the can (all the cans are with a ring pull here) and press on the lid over the sink to remove the excess oil. If i'm making pasta sauce or rice salad or something, i replace it with better quality olive oil. Rinsing would remove more than the oil, it would remove the taste, no?


siduri

I was not replying directly to your thread ....but I will now...yes it's the Euro way to go oil and all I agree .Many times I have been tested by the rest of the world and their oil!

I am Canadian and I consider the best Tuna in the world from my own country....give me a little leway on that one ....albacore ...the white....although as I have stated we do like the dark


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

gypsy2727 said:


> siduri
> 
> I was not replying directly to your thread ....but I will now...yes it's the Euro way to go oil and all I agree .Many times I have been tested by the rest of the world and their oil!
> 
> I am Canadian and I consider the best Tuna in the world from my own country....give me a little leway on that one ....albacore ...the white....although as I have stated we do like the dark


Gypsy, i hadn't thought you recommended rinsing it, I thought you were referring to what some people do. In fact i don't like all that oil myself (my husband who grew up here does - he used to open the can of oily tuna and dump it directly on a roll, and the oil dripping all over the place was the best part! No accounting for taste!) I always squeeze it out unless it's packed in a good quality oil and i'm using it in a dish that calls for more oil - not tuna salad sandwiches.

Anyway, always under any comment of mine is the presumption that everyone has the right to their own taste! I certainly have some pretty quirky ones and get very indignant if someone says mine is "wrong" - how can preference be wrong? There are so many snobby beliefs in the food world that make no sense - no cheese on fish, no cappuccino after lunch, no coffee but espresso, pasta and rice only as a first course, salad before the meal, salad after the meal, and on and on, all held with religious fervor! The only thing that might be _wrong_ is to prefer something without having tasted the other.

In that case, i enjoy having people over and presenting them with something they thought they would never like and waiting till they say they like it before revealing the secret ingredient.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

_There are so many snobby beliefs in the food world that make no sense - no cheese on fish, no cappuccino after lunch, no coffee but espresso, pasta and rice only as a first course,_

Interesting point, Siduri.

I wonder, though, where do with draw the line between snobery, on one hand, and a "rule" that's become part of a culinary structure, on the other?

Take that matter of no cheese with seafood. That's so firmly embedded in Italian cuisine that it's like pulling teeth to change it. So it's part of the cuisine, which you either accept or not. Yet, when it becomes a straight jacket, as it does to folks like Scott Conant, it certainly reflects a level of snobbery. You know, the "I'm an expert on Italian food, and the Italians never mix cheese and seafood (which, btw, isn't 100% correct, anyway), and therefore anyone who does is wrong" school.

But your basic thesis is righ on the money. Individual preferences may be different. But you can't say that one is right and the other wrong---except as part of a greater context.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

KYHeirloomer said:


> _There are so many snobby beliefs in the food world that make no sense - no cheese on fish, no cappuccino after lunch, no coffee but espresso, pasta and rice only as a first course,_
> 
> Interesting point, Siduri.
> 
> ...


I think there's a way of looking at traditional foods that would say that you can't call it an italian meal if you have salad as a first course with a "dressing" and pasta as a side dish; or a first course of pasta and a second course of pizza. You can't call "pasta primavera" (just to mention something people were doing in the 80s i think) an italian pasta dish. It's a little like spelling the name of the dish wrong, pene all'arabiata (which by the way, would be censored in italian since it would be hugely vulgar) is wrong, don;t spell it that way, yeah spelling foreign words is hard, so no stigma, but if someone points it out on your menu, you change it. .

But it's another thing is to say that if italians don;t put cheese on fish, it is WRONG to put cheese on fish. (Apart from the fact that there are indeed cheese-fish dishes here - notably in sicilian cuisine, maybe others). Or since italians like dark tuna that's the only tuna that is good.

What is that called that separates the *in* folks from the *out* folks? A shibboleth? (I seem to remember some biblical story about this sort of password?) Many people are so insecure they must at all costs be in the IN group, and use these little details to lift themselves out of the crowd of culinary infidels - "I know this so i'm better."

I've lived in rome for over 30 years. The food is good, but you know, i;m really SICK of eating always the same things when i go out - every dish is always done the same way, little experimentation, so many rules. I love the creativity of cooking. Yes, I had a truly wonderful neapolitan pasta dish with little squid the other day. The quality of each of the maybe four ingredients in it was tops, and the dish was great. There's something to be said about this sort of simplicity and emphasis on the quality of the ingredients. But to tell you the truth, I would be much more inclined to eat something completely new next time i went out to eat. I can make that dish just as easily at home. Teach me something new!

Also, in the case of tuna, many people will just not try the dark meat and taste it with a prejudice if they do, so they can't really compare. I think that is a different story. Taste them both, then sure, if you like the white, go for it. I'd be an idiot to object. It's better FOR ME but that doesn;t mean Better in absolute, which can;t exist in taste.

As for tradition and culinary structure, these are academic questions that don;t interest me, really. I taste with my tongue, my nose, somewhat with my eyes, occasionally with my ears (a wonderful sizzle, perhaps) but not with my brain. I can see where these may be of interest and I can understand it on a scholarly or sociological level, but for me, food is for the body.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

KYHeirloomer said:


> Siduri,
> 
> My understanding is that tomatoes grown in and around San Marzano take on a particular flavor characteristic---same as, say, Vidalia onions. But it has to do with the soil composition and growing conditions, not the variety per se.
> 
> ...


I was actually in san marzano once. It was a very sad place. It was interesting in that it was full summer and gigantic caravans of open-top trailer trucks were driving in to the town's canning plants, with their mound of tomatoes visible over the top (a great scene for a comic movie, a tomato truck accident), but the town is so poor and crappy - the napolitan mafia (camorra) own the place and all around it - and it shows. Poverty, lack of any kind of planning, desolation.

Anyway, the earth around naples is volcanic and makes the most amazing tomatoes. But i believe the actual original species is extinct for some reason. Perhaps the originals were so hybridized or something so that none of the original seeds remain. Or perhaps few. some websites said that some of the original seeds were saved, and sold to the slow food movement. I don;t know. I looked quickly and apparently there are species and subspecies that are protected like wines with a DOP label and only certain towns can produce them. But with the camorra involved, who knows. (This is the area (Sarno) where there was a major mud slide that destroyed many houses and killed people due to bad uncontrolled development on an area that was subject to mudslides. )

Anyway, maybe these tomato snobs should talk to my tomato expert! He would say it all depends on the type of sauce you want to make. He's no snob at all, and looks even unsavory, but he's the nicest guy and incredibly knowledgeable.

About the vidalia onions, it is apparently the soil that lacks any sulphur at all. In italy there are the tropea onions, sweet as can be, long and thin and red - short season, i buy braids of them when they;re available. Nothing caramelizes like these, and i love them raw too.


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## kyheirloomer (Feb 1, 2007)

Can you imagine, Siduri, if we could grow a tropea that had keeping abilities? Just think what the food snobs would do with that!

"Well, yes, my dear, it's similar. But the true red onion sauce for veal is made only with caramelized tropea, each of which is no more than an inch long....."

Alas, it's a trade off. The sweeter an onion is, the shorter its keeping time. Although I notice there's a trend to partially dry cipilinis, and sell them in net bags like shallots. Be interesting to see how that takes off, as it has ramifications for other specialty alliums.

My point about vidalia, though, was that the same seed, grown in other soil, produces a different onion. Vidalias are, after all, just another Granex. Same with the San Marzano. You can call it anything you want, but a San Marzano variety grown in California does not taste like the true gelt. And, frankly, domestically grown San Marzano's that I've had don't even come close the the DePinto that I grow.

_But it's another thing is to say that if italians don;t put cheese on fish, it is WRONG to put cheese on fish. _

Exactly. Which is just one of the ways Scott displays his snobbery.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I believe, KY, that the soil is also important in tropea onions - they only grow there. 

I once bought some shallots when i went to france and couldn't find them in rome.  As usually happens, i used them sparingly since there was no chance of going to france again for many years, and noticed they never sprouted.  I believe they were irradiated which kills all the cells so they don't reproduce and therefore don;t mature, and therefore don;t rot.  It was back in the late 70s.  I remember hearing that food was all going to be irradiated but i guess it never caught on.  Sounds pretty scary.


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## cward3 (Oct 3, 2010)

I'm brand new to this community so first I'd like to say "Hello"! 

I joined so that I can get some good recipes to try out because it would be great if someone other than my dogs got excited when I entered the kitchen! 

I am actually thrilled to have my first post be a recipe though - Who would've thought?!  I do make a great tuna sandwich and everytime I go to a party I am usually asked to bring my tuna salad - hopefully not because it's the only safe thing to ask me for, but I'd like to share it anyways - before I start taking ;o)...

Start with Solid White Tuna in water

This next step might be the reason why everyone loves it, I can't think of anything else out of the ordinary that I do:

Strain the water and then rinse the tuna thoroughly under running water - then strain it again compressing it to get ALL of the water out

Add a good amount of real mayo (everyone watching usually says "that's too much" until they taste it)

Add black pepper

Add chopped (small cubes) crunchy kosher dill pickles

Best served on some really fresh bread and I usually top my sandwiches with a nice ripe tomato slice unless it's for the kids who prefer crunched pretzels or chips!

I hope someone here enjoys this, it may be one of the only recipes I ever contribute!

Now I'm off too get some of the great recipes here to try out!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Welcome Cward, thanks for your recipe!


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