As I've said before, the Hawthornes don't do "leftovers." We have what I call "moreovers." I take what wasn't all consumed at one meal and make something "more" out of it for another meal. For example, take breakfast today. For breakfast, we had homemade biscuits with honey ham and some buttery, yummy grits. And I overdid it on the grits. So the grits made it into lunch - in the form of shrimp and grits.
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Rosie Makes Shrimp And Grits
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Rosie Makes Marinated Tuna.
I recently posted about tuna steaks - perfectly seared and served either with a gremolata or a strawberry/kiwi salsa. Once I get started on tuna, there's no stopping me. Today, it's going to be marinated tuna. The marinade is an orange and soy sauce concoction which is then cooked down to reduce it and concentrate those flavors. The resultant sauce is enhanced and enriched with butter, giving it a luscious finish.
Now, about that ginger juice. When I buy ginger, I slice the roots into 1-inch cubes and freeze them so I'll always have ginger on hand. When I'm ready to use the ginger, I pull out the cubes, peel them, then nuke for about 15 seconds. You can easily squeeze out the juice now by hand, or you can use a garlic press, scraping some of the pulp to use also.
Let tuna fillets marinate for an hour. Remove from marinade and shake off excess.
Sear tuna according to above directions. Remove from pan.
Lower heat and pour in marinade. Let simmer and reduce a bit. Finish off the sauce by swirling in a tablespoon or two of cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. This is to enrich, thicken, and give the sauce a nice glossy sheen. When adding butter to a sauce, have the pan off your burner or over very low heat. Add the butter gradually and whisk constantly. Boiling or rapid simmering can cause the sauce to separate and break up. To achieve that velvety consistency of an emulsion, incorporate the butter over low heat (or off heat) just enough to melt and thicken, but not hot enough to break and melt into oily puddles.
Enjoy!
Friday, June 4, 2021
Tuna Steak Two Ways. With Gremolata. Or With Fruit Salsa.
Gremolata is a classic Italian condiment, zesty and herbal, typically made with parsley, garlic, and lemon zest. Once you’ve made the original version, you can get creative and make variations on the theme. For example, try substituting basil or mint, or even spinach for parsley. Scallions, nuts, and various citrus zests (lime or orange) would be welcome flavorings also. Any leftover gremolata can be used over vegetables, stirred into pasta dishes, added to your next batch of meatballs, or, with a little balsamic vinegar and more olive oil, used as a salad dressing.
I cooked up some basmati rice, steamed the asparagus until just crisp-tender, seared the tuna, then spooned the gremolata over the tuna and asparagus.
The next day, I finished up the gremolata with more seared tuna, steamed broccoli, and wild rice.
For my second tuna dish, bright colors and fresh flavors in my fruit salsa complement the fish perfectly. I marinated the tuna steaks for about an hour in a mixture of 2 TB ginger juice with pulp and 2 TB soy sauce. Whenever I buy ginger root, I slice it into one-inch chunks and freeze it. That way, I always have ginger on hand. Also, I've found that the best way to get juice out of ginger is to freeze it first, then peel it, and nuke the chunks for about 20 seconds. You can easily squeeze the juice out by hand, or use a garlic press and get the juice and scrape off some of the pulp.
Sear fillets according to above instructions. Serve with fresh fruit salsa.
Cook about 2 minutes first side.
About 1½ on the other side.
At the last minute of cooking, I poured in the marinade.
Remove tuna from heat, plate, and pour cooked marinade over top.
Add in peppers and onions.
Toss around. Cook about 30 seconds and you're done.
Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
I served the tuna on a bed of wild rice, with snap pea stir fry on the side, and fruit salsa on top.
Enjoy!