Pan-Seared Tuna with Avocado, Soy, Ginger and Lime

I got some fresh fish over the internet! Yup, fish over the internet. The sucker was caught on Monday or Tuesday and at my house on Thursday. How cool is that? I'm a big fan of tuna so when I heard about Kona Kampachi from Kona Blue I knew I wanted to try it. Within a few days I had the most amazing sushi-grade Hawaiian yellowtail sitting right in my fridge. Now, what to do with it . . .

I sliced a few pieces and made up a dipping sauce. MMMmmmmm, good. But I had three pounds of the sucker so I also decided to make Pan-Seared Tuna with Avocado, Soy, Ginger and Lime. I found this Tyler Florence recipe online at Food Network. Pan-searing is a perfect way to cook this high quality fish because it just gets seared for a bit on the outside and the inside is still pretty raw. I doubled the recipe since it is only for a single serving. We served it over a few handfuls of fresh baby spinach. The avocado and the yellowtail played off of each other so well. It was a really simple and tasty meal. And very healthy too!

The recipe was really good but it was the fish that stood out. I wish I had some more time this week so that I could play around with some sushi rolls. I'll have to order some more and try that next time.

#23: Maple Flakes

Maple Flakes are listed as #23 on Food and Wine's 100 Tastes to Try this year. They were hard for me to get a hold of. When I first started searching in the beginning of the year, they were only available in Canada! I did have a trip planned to Vancouver and was going to try and figure out how to order them and have them delivered to my hotel. But thankfully I didn't have to go to that extreme to get a hold of these. iGourmet.com started selling them around the middle of the year.

So what are maple flakes anyways? They are similar to sugar. Except they are made from maple syrup. You can get regular or cranberry flavored. I got both. Food & Wine suggested that you spread them on cereal or over ice cream. I went to the company website decacer.com and found some recipes there. When I saw the recipe for Red Tuna Tartare I was intrigued. Tuna and sugar? But the cranberry maple flakes just added some crunch. I suppose you could add some more if you really want to taste the sweetness.


Red Tuna Tartare
1/2 lb. sushi-grade ahi tuna
drizzle of olive oil
few drops of lemon juice
2 Tbsp. finely chopped chives
Fleur del Sel (to taste)
Freshly ground pepper (to taste)
1 Tbsp Cranberry Organic Maple Flakes

All the ingredients can be prepared in advance, but do not mix until right before serving so the flakes stay nice and crunchy.

Cut the tuna into small cubes, then season with a drizzle of olive oil, a few drops of lemon juice, finely chopped chives, fleur de sel, a little freshly ground pepper, and maple flakes. Blend quickly and serve. The texture of the fresh tuna cubes with a sprinkling of maple flakes is sensational.

Sliced Tuna Soft Tacos

When preparing the Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon this weekend I decided not to cook all the tuna at once. I have a bad habit of that. I know I can never eat all the food in the recipe and I want to half it, but I forget that at shopping time! So I ended up with way more tuna than I would eat at one setting. Perfect for Leftover Tuesdays which I am hosting this month.

At first I planned to make another Japanese dish with the leftover tuna. I had my eye on another recipe in the Japanese Light cookbook. But I changed my mind and decided to make the Sliced Tuna Soft Tacos which I found in the March, 2007 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine.

Of course I could have thrown together my own version of tacos, but I was intrigued by the one featured in this issue. It is made with cabbage! I like cabbage every now and then. But I've never had it in tacos before. Also, the spice blend used as a rub on the tuna is very different from what I prepared the other night. The tacos were very flavorful. I really enjoyed the combination of cabbage and tuna together with the spices.

There is an avocado, cream and lime sauce which is part of the recipe which I am on the fence about. The lime and creamy factor was really nice and added a bit of zip. But I didn't really taste the avocado. Maybe mine weren't ripe enough. I'm also not a big fan of making a fuss with a sauce in a food processor and all that. It was an impressive addition, but I probably would not make it again.

Find the recipe for Sliced Tuna Soft Tacos on the Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine website.

Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon Dressing

I almost cried when I had my first bite of this Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon Dressing from the Japanese Light cookbook by Kimiko Barber. I used sushi-grade tuna and I think that was key because I love my tuna rare. The marinade is so simple and really compliments the natural flavors of the tuna. I'm definitely going to have to make this for my mother the next time she comes down to Florida to visit me because I know she will love it too.

I made a few changes to the recipe in the book: I used sesame oil instead of vegetable oil and I omitted the arugula because I could not find any at the grocery store. The daikon called for in the recipe I found at an Asian grocer and I didn't even look at my local store so I am not sure if it is widely available or not.

Seared Tuna Steak with Daikon Dressing 4 tuna steaks, each weighing about 4 ounces and cut 1 1/4-inches thick 1 tablespoon vegetable oil handful of arugula leaves 8 chives, finely chopped for the marinade 1/3 cup soy sauce 3 tablespoons sake 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 garlic clove, minced for the daikon dressing 1/4 cup grated daikon (Japanese white radish) 1/4 cup soy sauce 4 teaspoons lemon juice

Instructions:
In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together for the marinade. Add the tuna steaks and let sit for at least thirty minutes. Turn tuna steaks once or twice.

While the tuna is marinading, mix all of the ingredients together for the daikon dressing in a small bowl.

Remove the tuna from the marinade the pat dry with paper towels. Brush one side of the tuna with half of the oil.

Heat a griddle pan or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Make sure pan gets very hot before adding the tuna. Cook tuna for two minutes and brush the raw side of the tuna with the other half of the oil while cooking. After two minutes turn over and cook for another two minutes. (Tuna will be rare. If you like it more well done you can cook the second side up to five minutes.)

Transfer steaks to a cutting board and slice. Arrange slices on serving plates. Spoon dressing over tuna slices and top of a few arugula leaves. Garnish with chopped chives.