As with most of my recipes, this one was discovered on the gym treadmill TV. Either they do a great job of filming everything to look oh so appetizing, OR I’m just so hungry and delusional from lack of oxygen to the brain that I think it looks better than it really does OR, of course, it really is as good as it looks! Either way, I’m a media marketer’s dream because I’m easily swayed by media advertisement!
This particular recipe definitely tasted as good as it looked and the hubby even said it was really good (he’s a man of few words so this was a compliment!). The mustard spread was not for us though as it was very spicy/horseradishy (I think I may have burned some nose hairs during consumption). Next time I will use plain mustard with the capers. Some other notes about this recipe….tuna is dang expensive! Next time I make this I will only make it when I find tuna steak on sale. I paid $20.99 per pound at our local Wegmans! Since I knew this was a first time recipe and that only 2 of my 4 family members were going to eat it, I only bought one tuna steak which was 3/4 of a pound and reduced all other ingredients in half. This was enough to make 2 burgers.
I also omitted the cornichons (small pickle things) and used kaiser rolls instead of the brioche buns. Too bad I’m not a great photographer to be able to capture the beauty of this burger. 🙂
And my final note, when Rachel Ray says 3 minutes per side for rare tuna burgers, she means it. Not a minute more. Next time I will probably just sear for a minute per side because I think I did maybe 4 minutes per side (purely by accident because I was preoccupied) and the burgers were cooked through.
Enjoy!
Fresh Tuna French-Style Cheeseburgers
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh tuna steak, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence (2/3 palmful)
- 1 teaspoon fennel pollen or ground fennel
- 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed (half a palmful)
- Salt and pepper
- 4 slices Gruyère cheese or 1 cup packed shredded Gruyère cheese
- Celery leaves
- Flat leaf parsley leaves
- A small handful of torn basil leaves or tarragon leaves
- 1/2-inch-thick slices of ripe tomato
- 1/2 cup Dijon mustard or Dijonnaise
- 2 tablespoons nonpareil capers or chopped capers
- Sliced or chopped cornichons
- Brioche buns, split
Preparation
In a small skillet over medium heat, sauté the shallot and garlic in a little EVOO to soften. Cool completely.
Place the tuna in a food processor and pulse into coarse ground meat. Place the tuna in a bowl and add the shallot and garlic, herbes de Provence, fennel pollen, celery seed, salt and pepper. Form four patties and reheat the skillet over medium-high heat with a drizzle of EVOO. Add the tuna burgers to the pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side for pink centers and 5-6 minutes to cook through. Top the patties with cheese after they are flipped; loosely tent the pan with foil to melt cheese.
Combine the Dijon or Dijonaise with capers in a small bowl.
Place cheeseburgers on the bun bottoms and top with a mixture of celery, parsley and basil or tarragon leaves, sliced cornichons and tomatoes. Slather the bun tops with Dijon or Dijonnaise. Set the bun tops in place and serve.
