Rosie's Making Seared Tuna And A Corn Purée With Pomegranate Reduction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Today we're having seared tuna, a mango and pineapple salsa, sautéed asparagus, and a corn purée with a pomegranate glaze that's absolute perfection.

 

 

  I really like this mango salsa.  I make it quite often and I make all sorts of variations on it - from mango and pineapple to mango and black beans and everything else in between.  It's a versatile dish.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Pineapple Mango Salsa

1 small pineapple, prepared and diced

1 mango, peeled and diced

1 red pepper, diced 

1 jalapeno, minced

1/2 red onion, diced 

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine all ingredients.

If you decide you want more of an ingredient, by all means adjust.

 

For dressing: 

Juice of two limes

Zest of one lime 

2 - 3 TB honey

Whisk all together.

Add kosher salt, to taste.

Again, taste test and adjust more or less of whatever to your own likings. 

 

Pour dressing over salsa ingredients and toss to coat.

Let sit in fridge for at least an hour so all the ingredients can get nice and friendly with each other. 

 

       

 

 Pour dressing over the fruit and vegetable mixture.

Toss to coat evenly.

 

Adjust ingredients to your own tastes.

If you want more of something, go for it.

 

 While the salad is sitting in the fridge with all its ingredients getting to know each other, start on the pomegranate reduction.  This is a simple reduction comprised of pomegranate juice, balsamic vinegar, and honey.  And it's also referred to as a gastrique, which is a French term for a classic sweet and sour sauce made from a sugar (granulated sugar, honey, or maple syrup), an acid (wine, apple cider, vinegar, sherry, or citrus juice), and a flavoring (fruit, berry, citrus zest, herbs).  This is a simple gastrique - it's a tart and slightly thickened syrup - but the flavor combinations, variations, and tweakages here are endless.  Also, a little gastrique goes a long way, so plate accordingly.  I'm serving my gastrique with a corn purée.  The tartness and tanginess of the gastrique pairs perfectly with the sweetness of the corn.

For the pomegranate reduction (gastrique), I have:

8 oz.pomegranate juice

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 TB honey 

 

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.

Cook over low heat until reduced to about 1/4 volume

and mixture is thickened and glaze-like.

It will get thicker as it cools down. 

This takes 30 minutes  or so, depending on the heat factor. 

Watch carefully as it can easily

 turn on you and burn if your heat's too high. 

Let it barely simmer until reduced.

  

 

 

 

 

I use a skewer to check the level. 

While the pomegranate juice mixture is reducing and becoming gastriquey,

prepare the corn purée.

For the corn, I prefer using corn on the cob, not corn in a can.

 

Corn Purée 

5 ears corn, kernels cut off  (2 cups thereabouts)

1 small onion, diced (1/2 cup)

3 TB unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

 

Sauté onion in a little oil (1 TB) over medium heat until translucent.  I like to add a couple pinches sugar and a pinch kosher salt in with the onions to give another dimension of flavor and also to help the onions caramelize a bit.  Add 1 TB butter, then the corn, and cook, stirring for a couple minutes.  Pour in the cream and more butter (2 TB) and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper, to taste. 

 

 If you have an immersion blender, go for it and coarse-purée the corn mixture.  If you don't have an immersion blender, pulse the mixture in a food-processor or blender.  I'm not going for a pure purée here.  I want some chunks of corn.

 

Slice kernels off cobs.

Sauté onions with a pinch of salt and some sugar.

Add butter and corn. Stir around a bit.

Add in cream and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes.

Immersion blend.

Like I said, I like a few kernels in the purée.

 

Corn purée and pomegranate gastrique ready.

Keep warm.

For the asparagus:

Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat.

Add asparagus spears.

Cook about 2 minutes.

Season with salt, to taste.

You might consider adding more unsalted butter and perhaps a squeeze of lemon juice. 

 

Cover and keep warm.

 

 If you like mushrooms, slice a few and sauté those before you put the asparagus in. 

For the tuna:

Rub brown sugar, ground pepper, smoked paprika, and kosher salt onto each side of your tuna fillet.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat with a film of oil in it.  When oil gets about 425°, add in a plop of butter.  Let it sizzle and spit, then place in the tuna fillet.

Sear first side for 60-90 seconds, until blackened, then flip and cook for about a minute more.  I like my tuna rare.  Remove from skillet and let sit for a few minutes before slicing.

Enjoy.