Tuna Melt

Method

1. prep3 min
   press with the can lid or a fork
   drain tuna and press it genuinely dry — packing liquid is the whole failure mode of this sandwich, because it thins the mayonnaise into something that wicks straight through the crumb once the pan heats it
2. mix3 min
   cold, fork not spoon
   tuna + mayonnaise + celery + onion + relish + lemon juice + mustard + salt + black pepper, flaked rather than mashed so the salad has structure = tuna salad. Taste now; it should be a shade under-seasoned, since the cheese brings its own salt
3. top2 min
   cheese on the inside of both slices
   bread + a slice of cheddar on each face + half the tuna salad between them, so the salad never touches bread directly — the melted cheese sets up as a waterproof seal on both sides
4. prep1 min
   outside faces only
   butter the outer surfaces of both slices right to the edge; buttering the bread rather than the pan means the fat is already where the browning happens and can't pool and burn
5. fry5 min
   medium-low, lid on
   assembled sandwiches, first side down, covered — the lid traps enough heat to melt the cheese through the cold salad. Cook hotter and the crust darkens in two minutes while the center is still a cold brick
6. fry4 min
   medium-low, uncovered, press lightly
   flip and finish uncovered so the steam escapes and the second face crisps; press once with a spatula to bond the cheese to the salad, but not hard, or the filling squeezes out the sides and scorches
7. rest2 min
   on a rack, then cut on the diagonal
   rest on a rack, not a plate — a plate traps steam under the sandwich and undoes the crust you just built. The two minutes also let the cheese thicken enough to hold the halves together when cut