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Seared Tuna with Avocado, Mango & a Honey Soy Lime dipping sauce

20 Aug

tuna avo mango

Easy & quick- this is an insanely tasty creation. This recipe was inspired by many sushi meals– and one particular Ahi tuna salad at Aspen bakery. They rested quick-seared tuna on some greens- that were drizzled with honey, lime & orange zest. So ya know, i took it up a notch. That’s how we do.
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a snacko backo recipe:

1 tuna steak (half pound – or a bit smaller per person)- sushi grade if possible

olive oil
salt and pepper (if you have a big crusty salt- like a maldon- that is what gives a beautiful crust)
avocado
mango
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dipping sauce:
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
juice of 1/2 lime
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Serve:
with rice or over greens/salad. (I have decided instead of making rice– way easier to pick up a carton of sticky rice from the thai place on my corner. )
wasabi & pickled ginger (can get from grocery store- either in jar- or sushi counter if available) If no pickled ginger- could also put some finely minced ginger into the dipping sauce but would give a  stronger bite.
garnish w. lime and orange zest (for long zest strips- take a vegetable peeler- get one strip- then cut into tiny lines).
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1) chop avo & mango- toss in small bowl, set aside. in a separate little bowl- whisk all dipping sauce ingredients together
2) Take a stainless steel pan. Coat w. olive oil. Heat on med-high. Take tuna- wash, pat dry. Very generously sprinkle salt and pepper- gently press in with finger tips [i like to do one side- and do the second side while on the heat]. Once oil is very hot- put down tuna. Cook 2 mins (applying s&p verso if needed). Flip. Cook 2 more minutes. If you bought ahi-grade- you are done. Take off and eat. I bought mine from whole foods- so was unsure about the raw-factor. So (after taking the pic) I quickly picked up with tongs- and seared- only for a hot second (pun intended) along each side/edge.
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Fast & Easy: Miso Salmon

11 Apr

miso salmon2Let’s just call this the fastest, easiest & tastiest salmon recipe out there. Thought i’d share it–  just as I received it.

miso salmon recipe

I add all those ingredients in a bowl first- whisk together. then pour over salmon. My 8oz piece of salmon took about 8 minutes in the broiler (remember to use broiler safe pan- pryrex is not broiler safe!) I used a small bread loaf pan—then to reduce the extra glaze- I put the loaf pan directly on my stovetop flames. Only reduce for a minute or two- you want it just thick enough that when you run the back of a wooden spoon across it—it leaves a path.

Swordfish w. Roasted Red Pepper & Caper Relish

12 Jan

Quick, healthy and delicious week night meal. I made the red pepper and caper relish the day before, so all I had to do when I came home from my run w. Jess P. was to cook the fish for 10 minutes. Served w. an arugula and broccoli sprout salad and roasted fennel. The shallots/onions give a nice bite and crunch to the relish, and they mellowed  a bit overnight too- but don’t use too much- and if you have a raw onion aversion- leave out. By the way– when buying fish– I go to counter w. an idea in mind, but then just pick out the one that looks the freshest. Take it home and you know it’s fresh when it doesn’t smell fishy. (after some slow months of posting– i have quite a backlog- so many posts!- so hope you enjoy)

1 swordfish steak
2 red peppers
red or white wine vinegar
olive oil
salt & pepper
1 tablespoon capers
1/4 of a shallot or red onion, optional
rosemary, if you have it. Take a couple leaves off the spring- hit w. a mortar and pestle, pan or knife to bruise and release the flavor
lemon

To roast red pepper: Preheat to 400. Line baking sheet with foil. Lightly coat whole red peppers with olive oil, sprinkle w. salt and pepper. Cook for 30-40 mins. Flip over once during. The peppers will get charred and black on outside- that’s what you want. When done, take the peppers out and cover w. foil while cooling– or put in brown paper bag- tupperware w. lid or bowl w. seran wrap– you get the idea. This makes them a world easier to peel. When cool, using hands, slide off skin, seeds and top.
Chop red peppers, put in bowl. If using onion/shallot, chop finely and add. Add generous tablespoon of capers, teaspoon vinegar, teaspoon olive oil, and generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Let sit for a few mins while you cook the fish so flavors can blend. Also works if make a day ahead.

Grill swordfish. Heat a grill pan on medium. Let it go for a few minutes until really hot. Brush w. olive oil. Rinse fish, drizzle w. olive oil,salt and pepper and rosemary. When sizzling hot, lay fish down and cook for 5 minutes. Flip over and cook for another 5 mins. You will have lovely grill marks. Finish w. a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Top fish w. roasted red pepper & caper relish and enjoy.

Scallops with Passion Fruit

23 Nov

Many years ago, I went to Nougatine with my parents and had lobster with passion tagliatelle.  Man it was delicious. The other day I bought a passion fruit– and waited for weeks as it ripened- apparently they are ripe when they get old and wrinkly looking.  With that Nougatine dish in mind, I set out to apply the passion fruit to the much less labor intensive scallops. This whole dish took about 5 minutes to make. No joke. You could serve with some braised greens or asparagus maybe- but I as I was lazy, I thought I’d put it against the peppery bite of some fresh arugula- just tossed with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice

Passion Fruit vinaigrette– The great thing about the internet (ha!) is that if you have something like passion fruit scallops in mind- somewhere you can find it.  This was adapted from a blog- I had never had seen before- called the Taste of Beirut.
Olive oil- yikes I am a terrible blogger because I don’t remember how much I used- and she didn’t specify but I believe it was 1/8 of a cup- so let’s go with that.
1 passion fruit
Salt, pepper, and sugar

I really like her phrasing in the directions— so I am going to post them verbatim:
Grab a serrated knife and cut the passion fruits in two. Scoop out the flesh (including the seeds) into a bowl. Using your taste as a guide, add some sugar, salt, pepper and olive oil and whip to emulsify.
I would say i started out w. a sizable pinch of each spice- and kept adding on from there. If you are sure what she is talking about when she says whip to emulsify is– you basically whisk together your passion fruit and spices, and slowly add the oil- continuously whisking as you do so- that way the oil incorporates with the other ingredients.

Scallops
I decided to take my scallop cooking advice from Alton Brown- they often talk on various food network shows about getting “a good sear” on your scallops- so I thought this technical chef would have some good advice.

1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
scallops (I was only making three. The original recipe is for 1 to 1 1/4 pounds of scallops- approx 16– and doubles amounts above to 2 tsp each- so adjust accordingly)
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Alton’s first step is to remove the small side muscle from the scallops- and I will admit, I am not sure what this means– I think maybe I bought them with it removed? Anyone? But continuing on…  rinse with cold water and thoroughly pat dry.

Add the butter and oil to a saute pan- you want to use something like stainless steel- i would not go non-stick because then you won’t get a good sear. Salt and pepper the scallops. Once the fat begins to smoke, gently add the scallops, making sure they are not touching each other. Sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on each side. The scallops should have a 1/4-inch golden crust on each side while still being translucent in the center. Serve immediately.

So I put them on top of my dressed arugula. Drizzled w. the passion fruit vinaigrette. Yum. Fancy looking and easy.

 

Best Baked Salmon

While we are on the subject of fish–I only recently started to like salmon. So I decide to try my favorite tofu marinade on a piece of salmon. I was making one small fillet, so I halved the recipe on that post and added a teaspoon of dijon mustard and a teaspoon of olive oil.  Let the fish sit in the marinade for about 15 mins before cooking.  I baked at 425, for about 10-12 mins (the thicker the fillet, the more time it takes). Mine was perfect at 11 mins.

 

 

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Halibut with kale, white beans and lemon vinaigrette

28 Jun

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So Sam, new mother to my most darling niece Eleanor (Ellie), told me I should make up a recipe. And hopefully it could involve white beans. Maybe kale. So here we go. [Let it be said that recipe requests are welcome- so please feel free.] This is loosely inspired by a recipe in the Union Sq Cafe cookbook. I have a lot of trouble cooking fish- falling apart in the frying pan or just not tasting great- so I decided to broil it- to lessen the chances of fucking it up. Also, I used dried beans because they taste so much better.  I was very tempted to use canned beans though- because that would make this a 30 min or less meal.  This recipe made about two of the portions you see pictured above.

1 lemon, juice and zest
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper
1 fillet of halibut or other fish
1 bunch kale (i used purple stemmed)
2/3 cup dried white beans or 1 can white cannellini beans

Vinaigrette: Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, pinch pepper (i found that using the microplane/zester for the garlic works really well too).
Canned beans: Open can, drain, rinse, salt & pepper.
Dried beans- two methods: 1. Soak overnight (6-8 hours) with about 3 times as much water as you have beans (also note that beans expand 3 times in size through soaking). Drain in morning (don’t want them to sit for too long in water because will begin to break down). OR 2. Put in pot w. 3xs water, bring to boil, turn off heat, cover and let sit for 1-1.5 hours. After either method, you then need to cook rehydrated beans. Put beans in fresh water, covering beans by about 3 inches. Bring to boil, then immediately lower heat and cover, cook for 1 hour-1.5. They are done when they squish between your thumb and forefinger (mine took 1 hour.)
Kale: Rinse thoroughly (best way to do this is fill a giant bowl w. water and swish around- do a couple baths). Add a tablespoon of olive oil to pan. If any leftover garlic feel free to add- though vinaigrette is already pretty garlicky (i just had the stub remnants from my microplane zesting). Saute until wilted and cooked. I cover it for a minute or so to steam it a bit. Once done, take off heat, add the beans, spoon a couple tablespoons of vinaigrette over and mix up. Adjust for seasoning.
Fish: Set oven to broil. Line a cookie sheet with a small piece of foil. Wash your fish, pat dry.  Drizzle with oil, salt, pepper, and maybe any last bit of lemon juice you can squeeze out. Cook 8 minutes, rotating pan after 4 mins.  You know it is done when a knife pierces the thick part easily. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of vinaigrette over fish.

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