Yes, We Cook!

Work and life has kept me from cooking the last week or so.  I’ve been flat out drained, so I took a day off today to recharge.  One activity to help my reach my goal was trying a new dish… just throwing something together… the result is the Wasabi-Butter Seared Tuna below.

Needed:

2 tbsp freshly milled peppercorn

3 tbsp sesame seeds

1 stick of butter

1 cup of white wine

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp, 1 tsp wasabi paste

2 6 oz tuna steaks

Recipe for the sauce

1. Over medium-high heat reduce the white wine and white wine vinegar to roughly 20% of the original volume.  This should not take long, between 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Reduce heat to low and stir in your soy sauce and wasabi paste. Continue to stir until the wasabi is fully mixed into the liquid.

3. Add butter in 1/8th sections until the entire stick is used. Make sure to do this slowly as too much butter too fast will make the sauce thin/break apart

Quick note: As you are making the sauce make sure to continuously stir to avoid burning. Once all the butter is into the sauce remove from the heat and set aside.

For the fish

1) Mix the peppercorn and sesame seeds in a bowl. Toss your tuna to cover.

2) Sear the tuna over a medium heat, roughly 2 minutes on each side.  If needed splash with a little water (about a tsp) if needed to help along the searing.

3) Plate, cover with sauce and enjoy!

Wasabi Butter Tuna

I decided to plate over asparagus and top off with edible flowers.  A wonderful dish for seafood lovers. The sauce had enough kick but not overwhelming.  Obviously you can make it to your desired taste…  Good stuff!

So here’s a recipe I am SO glad to have found!  This was spectacular!

For cucumber yogurt sauce:

1/2 c peeled, seeded, and finely chopped cucumber

1/2 c plain non-fat yogurt

2 tbsp snipped fresh dillweed or 2 tsps dried and crushed

2 tsps fresh lemon juice

1/8 to 1/4 tsp pepper

Stir above ingredients together – cover and refrigerate.

For tuna cakes:

2- 6 oz cans albacore tuna in distilled/spring water, drained and flaked

2 large eggs or you can subsitute

1/3 c crushed fat free no salt added whole wheat crackers ( or you choose)

1/4 c chopped green onion (green and white parts)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp prepared horseradish

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all tuna ingredients and shape into 6 cakes about 2.5 in in diameter.  Heat a skillet over medium heat and prep with vegetable oil.  Cook cakes for 6-8 mins or until golden brown, turning once.  Serve with sauce and sides of choice – Enjoy!

Frying up the tuna cakes. . .

Voila! (And as always I have to have my salad)

***The side is a corn pudding which was actually a great accompaniment.  Here’s the how-to on that one:  Combine 2 c whole kernel corn, 1 1/4 c low fat buttermilk, 2 lg eggs (or substitutes), 1 tbsp melted margarine, 1 tsp salt and white pepper each.  Prep a 6.5 in baking pan and bake for 45 – 50 mins (closer to 50) at 350.

Nutritional Information:

Tuna Cakes (per cake):

Calories: 133

Total fat: 4 g

Cholesterol: 24 mg

Sodium: 416 mg

Carbohydrate: 6 g

Fiber: 1 g

Protein: 17 g

Corn Pudding:

Calories: 133

Total Fat: 2.5 g

Cholesterol: 3 mg

Sodium: 313 mg

Carbohydrate: 22 mg

Fiber: 2 g

Protein: 8 g

Being in a kitchen that had a grill allowed me to once again do some seared Ahi Tuna… I don’t know what it is but the open flame is my fav way of doing Ahi Tuna.  This rather simple dish uses a teriyaki / soy glaze that mixes perfectly with the peppercorn flavor.

Here’s what you’ll needed (serves one)

6 oz Ahi Tuna Steak
1 tbsp crushed peppercorn
1 tsp sesame seeds
4 tbsp teriyaki
2 tbsp soy sauce

1) Mix your crushed peppercorn and sesame seeds in a bowl, please tuna steak in bowl and cover both sides.

2) With your grill fired up to about 250, place your Tuna on off-set from the flame (not directly over the flame).  Do side one for about three minutes and side two from one to two minutes.  The whole point is to sear the tuna, not cook all the way through, as the dish is intended to be seared with a rare center.

While the steak is tuna is cooking, fire up the stove and mix your teriyaki / soy sauces together over a very low flame.  Make sure to constantly stir the mixture as it would be easy to burn the sauce if the flame is too high and/or the sauce isn’t given attention.  Once your tuna is ready just plate and drizzle your glaze onto the fish.

With my dish I decided to side with rice and broccoli, just about anything lite in flavor would work so not to take away from the main portion of the dish.

Enjoy!