Cooking 101: Grilled Indian Tuna Salad

      Another very simple recipe, takes no time but is TOTALLY dependent on one ingredient. You must have Sashimi quality Tuna available in your area, (shockingly our local Costco has some fresh and beautiful steaks). Start by finding your favorite spice mixture. For this recipe I used an Indian rub I had in the spice drawer,( you do have a spice drawer correct?), hence the name.

      I like to add layers of flavor to a dish, so I started with some liquid Jamaican jerk sauce rubbed into the steaks, followed by a healthy tablespoon of spice rub  and lastly I toasted some sesame seeds, (toasting gives them another layer of flavor, all about layers) and thoroughly covered each steak with sesame seeds. Then I let them sit for a couple of hours in the fridge, to let the flavors sink in. Just a couple words of caution about toasting sesame seeds, A) sesame seeds go from toasty to burnt in a split second, B) As sesame seeds toast they pop and jump around alot, have something over the top of the pan, (I used a grease screen) and finally C) If you think your cool and can do the wrist flip to flip over the food in your pan, remember that sesame seeds ALL OVER the kitchen make a mess.

      While your tuna sits in the fridge, prepare your salad. In this case I had found a nice "bag a salad" at Costco. It was called Parisian salad and came with some mixed lettuces, candied almonds, dried cranberries, feta cheese with a white balsamic vinaigrette. Sounds weird, but there is alot going on in this salad, some sweet, some sour, some salty, all of it very good and the flavors mixed incredibly with the finished tuna. Speaking of, now would be a good time to get that grill heated up, crank it up to high because you want a good crust and not much else, as we shall see. Once the grill is red hot, drop in your steaks, this is critical DO NOT walkaway, you want just a minute or two on each side, yea, yea, I know you don't like rare fish, get over it. Believe me when I say this is a totally different meal if the fish is cooked well done or even medium. The tuna will take on a whole different consistency, not necessarily bad but different. When good tuna is rare it has the feel of butter, soft, melts in your melt, luscious. Medium or (shudder), god forbid, well done tuna taste and feels more like what you get in the can, and if that's what your after, WHY oh WHY, pay for these gorgeous steaks??

      As always, lets your steaks rest a bit and then slice into 1/3 to 1/2 inch wide slices, (no, you don't need a ruler).  Arrange around the salad, (yes, presentation counts, even at home) and enjoy.

      A word about wine. As most of you know from reading here, I do not always subscribe to the "white wine with fish" theory. Salmon goes incredibly well with an Oregon Pinot Noir and for Tuna Steaks you need a big hearty red, look at the picture, does that not remind you of a big juicy steak.  So for this meal I chose a wine from one of our favorite little wineries, Oso Libre, ( you may remember them from the Tiny Thai review). I chose their 2008 Carnal, this is big wine, a nice blend of six different grapes, the majority being Syrah at 51%, Mourvedre at 21% and Grenache at 22%. We once went to a great wine school and something the instructor told us always stayed with me, pair spice with spice. And while a Zinfandel would have more pepper notes, the Carnal has some great mocha spices going for it, not to mention some wonderful stone fruit on the nose, mainly cherries. This turned out to be a PERFECT pairing, the flavors of the salad, the tuna and the wine blended together in perfect harmony. Total Bliss, If you can't find Oso Libre, look for a nice California Zinfandel or Syrah, these will all match great.

Cooking 101; Grilled Pesto Salmon

        OK, this one is very easy. All it takes is some good salmon, some fresh pesto and a grill. This is literally one of those 5 minute meals you are always hearing about. I don't know about you, but every time I see one of the Food Network shows about 5 minute meals I cringe. Sure, maybe if you have a team of chefs behind you doing all the prep and clean-up but for us normal folks it's an hour at least. Not so this one, it's a snap to prepare, have ready, and on the table in no time. First the ingredients;

1) Side of good salmon ( you know how I feel about farm raised but if it's all that is available go ahead).
2) Pesto, homemade is best but if you are lucky like us to have a great farmers market nearby, go ahead and buy some there. I try to avoid the supermarket stuff as it has usually been made months ahead of time and uses alot of preservatives to keep it stable. Here is our excellent farmers market find;

Here is great recipe for homemade;

Fresh Basil Pesto Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

      
1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

      Now life could not be more simple. Heat up your grill. If you happen to have a few nice dinner rolls, slice them open add a pat of butter to them, wrap in aluminum foil and throw on the grill to warm up. Spread the side of salmon (obviously not the skin side), with a nice even layer of pesto and put on the grill, pesto side down. DON"T walk away, pesto is made of oil after all and this will catch your grill on fire. You want to leave it just long enough to get some nice grill marks. With a couple of spatulas, do a quick flip of the salmon, and continue to grill until fish starts to flake easily. Do not, I repeat DO NOT, overcook. The thickest part of the fish should still be very red, it will finish cooking off the grill. Remove fish and rolls from the grill and let sit for about 5 minutes. This would be a good time to make a quick salad. Don't forget to throw some fresh herbs in the salad, they will pair well with the basil in the pesto. I suggest a nice Pinot Noir from Oregon (shocking really I know, I suggest this wine with everything). Slice and enjoy, voila;

Lamson Family Reunion

          One of our favorite activities of the summer, the annual Lamson Family Reunion. Once again, hosted by Amy and Steve, (thank you guys). And they certainly must be doing something right, as we had an absolutely perfect summer day for like the 6th year in a row. I can't think of a summer activity I look forward to more, the perfect combination of food, friends and camaraderie. Here are just a very few of my favorite pics of the day. OH and Herb the homemade beer was incredible !! Looking forward to trying even more of it.

      After the party, we decided to once again try and find the Old Lane farm, that wifey and her sis used to spend time at during childhood summers. Thanks to Amy's map we found it this year. Couple of pics, one of the old homestead and a great pic of the dam we crossed over. Can't wait till next years reunion already. 

      We are hoping to go to the Lamson Family Farm days in Mont Vernon, NH ( yes it's spelled right) in late September. If we make it I will be sure to post lots of pics.

Cooking 101; Duck a L'Orange (sort of)

      First of all, sorry about the delay between posts. Summer has interfered with my writing. I seem to have scheduled WAY too many things to do in a short period of time. Surprise birthday party for wife's brother. Family reunion on her side of the family (post to come from that ). Vacation to Wisconsin, (LOTS of post from that one) and finally a major home remodeling, windows and vinyl siding ( maybe a post if it all goes well). Whew no wonder I am exhausted (NO nothing to do with age).
      Rest assured in the weeks to come you will have MORE posts than you care to read, (OK maybe one post is more but whatever). First up another product review. I know the title says Cooking 101 but really this is pre-cooked food so how hard can it be. When all is said and done, not hard at all. Let start with the ingredients for a delicious supper, one pre-cooked Maple Leaf duck in two halves, sold at your local Costco store (maybe, the one big complaint with Costco is one week it's here the next it's gone). One salad, your choice of ingredients, we had romaine and arugula with a poppyseed dressing , some grilled bread, again your choice , I love store bought naan on the grill and for dessert, scones in a box, surprisingly good if you dress them up a bit (more on that later).
     Ingredients lined up for cooking;

      First make the scones according to directions on box, I buy the King Aurthur brand ( good old Vermont company) and to the lemon and ginger scones I added some finely chopped candy ginger. Pop them in the oven and turn your thoughts to the duck, don't think long and hard about the sauce for the ducks like I did, there is actually a good orange sauce right in the package DUH !! Could of saved me some time. I suggest cooking the ducks on the grill, cuz even though they are pre-cooked there is still some fat (keeps them moist) and you WILL smoke up the kitchen. Since the ducks are pre-cooked, all you are doing is warming them up and putting some nice grill marks on them. Cooking time is 5-10 minutes per side. Throw some naan on the grill, make yourself a nice salad. We did romaine and arugula, the pepperyness (another new word) of the arugula balanced the sweetness of the sauce nicely. Take the scones out and make a quick glaze, (mix together confectioners sugar and milk to the right consistency to frost scones. I added some lemon juice to compliment the flavors in the scone) and sprinkle over the top of the scones and VOILA;

      Quick, easy and delicious. Try it for your next supper. OH and a perfect meal for either a powerful white like a crisp Chardonnay or a subtle red , California Pinot Noir comes to mind.