Month: June 2013

Tuscan Style Grilled Tuna Steaks

Since our local supermarket had some great looking tuna steaks, we had to buy them. Both of us like tuna tartare (yes, the raw stuff) but we wanted to try grilling the steaks. The result was great!  This is perfect for a small get together over the long weekend, which is why I am posting this early this week!

Tuscan-Style Grilled Tuna Steaks
As seen on Food Network with Rachael Ray

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 12 min

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

4 fresh tuna steaks, 8 ounces each, 1-inch thick
1 lemon, zested
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, about 2 tablespoons leaves stripped from stem
Handful flat leaf parsley
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Coarse salt and black pepper or grill seasoning
Extra-virgin olive oil, for cooking

Rinse and pat tuna steaks dry. Place zest on top of cutting board. Pile rosemary and parsley leaves on top of zest. Pile garlic and some coarse salt and black pepper or grill seasoning on top of herbs. Finely chop the garlic, herbs, and spices. Drizzle the olive oil over the tuna steaks just enough to coat each side. Rub herb and garlic mixture into fish, coating pieces evenly on each side. Let stand 10 minutes.

Grill tuna steaks 6 minutes on each side or 4 minutes on each side, if you prefer pink tuna at the center. Cook steaks over: high setting on indoor electric grill, medium high heat on outdoor gas grill or, 6 inches from hot, prepared charcoal.

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Flour Substitutions

Quite often one does not have all-purpose white flour or chooses not to want to use it. Below are some substitutions we came across that you can consider….

FLOUR SUBSTITUTIONS

When a recipe calls for 1 cup of sifted all purpose flour, try one of these –

¼ cup soy flour plus ¾ cup white flour

1/3 cup wheat germ plus 2/3 cup white flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour plus 2/3 cup white flour

¾ cup coarse corn meal

¾ cup rice flour

1 ½ cups rolled oats

1 cup of oat flour

Add 2.5 teaspoons of baking powder per cup to compensate for the all purpose flour for heavier yeast breads.

Baked Eggs in Avocado with Bacon, On Toast

Great menu idea for a single person. It’s amazing how good the baked avocado tastes!

Baked Eggs in Avocado with Bacon, on Toast

Yield: Serves 2 Total Time: 30 min Recipe adapted from CA Avocado Commission.

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium or large avocado
  • 2 small eggs
  • 2 sliced of bacon, cooked then crumbled (consider using the Ready Cooked bacon)
  • 2 slices of toast
  • sea salt, to taste
  • fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
  • hot sauce, optional
  • fresh chopped tomatoes, optional
  • cumin (these three items are our friend Naomi’s suggestions)
  • chopped cilantro
  • sour cream

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Crack the eggs in a medium bowl, careful to not puncture the yolks. Set aside.

I used an egg separator to first separate the yolks and whites!

  1. Cut avocado in half and carefully remove seed. Leave it in the skin. Depending on how big the seed is, the hole in the avocado should be big enough for one small egg. But if the hole looks too small, scoop out a little at a time till it matches the amount of egg.
  2. In a medium baking dish, (sprayed with a little oil) try to rest the avocado half inside the edge of the dish so that the avocado doesn’t tilt over. You need to keep the avocado from tilting so that the raw egg does not spill out.
  3. You can crack the egg directly in the avocado, but it might overflow and make a mess. Place the yolks in the avocado first and then add enough whites to fill each hole. Add salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and cumin on top of the eggs, to taste.
  4. Top with bacon pieces…
  5. Gently place the baking dish in oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on how much egg you have and how big your avocado is. So keep checking the egg to see if it’s cooked to your desired consistency. My eggs took 20 minutes.
  6. Sprinkle crumbled bacon on top.(unless it was baked WITH the bacon). Spread the avocado/egg onto toast. Add addition salt and pepper to taste, chopped tomatoes, hot sauce, sour cream and cilantro if needed. Enjoy!

Greek Salad a la Larry

Larry decided to explore several different Greek salad recipes one day – the result was his version below, which turned out to be very good!

Larry’s Greek Salad Recipe

Dressing Ingredients:

1 1/2 TBS  lemon juice

2 TBS     red wine vinegar

6 TBS       olive oil

2              small garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped

1 tsp      white sugar

1 tsp      salt

½ tsp     course ground pepper

1  tsp     Dijon grainy mustard

6 to 8     black / Kalamata olives finely chopped    Note: 15 oz can, the remainder go in the salad.

Mix all ingredients well in a salad dressing mixer or glass jar with lid.  Adjust quantities of ingredients to your individual taste.  The small amount of sugar cuts the acidity and is pleasant on the tongue without being sweet tasting.

Salad ingredients:

1              small red onion, very finely sliced

 Cut into approx.  one inch cubes:  1 green pepper,  1 red pepper,  1  yellow pepper (seeded, etc)

½ c          coarsely chopped flat parsley leaves  (if you like, you can also add some chopped mint leaves)

12 -16    Kalamata / black olives, pitted and halved

4              mini  cucumbers  (Costco), quartered lengthwise, and cut in 1” thick slices

200 gr    feta cheese, cut into small ½” cubes ( in Mexico, I use Apetina brand found at Superama, in brine)

1 cup     Plum tomatoes, halved ( more if you like)

Mix all the ingredients together and toss with some of the dressing.  I like to add the feta cheese to the individual salad bowls.   Guests can add more dressing if they like.

Another option:  let guests add their own dressing and feta.  If there is salad remaining, it will store better without the dressing added.