Grilled tuna steaks with white bean salad and buttered asparagus!

After an entire weekend of indulgence, Monday had to be a day in which I needed to settle down on the chocolate cakes and the fried food and go back to "NORMAL" eating. Cooking has always been part of my life, it has always been a passion of mine, so when I create healthy choices for me and my boyfriend Denis, I really do try to make everything taste wonderful.

Grilling meat is one of our favorite things to do. Seafood, chicken, steaks!!!! Everything and anything is grilled in this house. Below is one of my all time favorite seafood dishes to be put on the grill. I created this one night when craving Asian, here is what I came up with.

Grilled Tuna Steaks!!!!! If you enjoy grilled meats, seafood, and the taste of awesomeness doing pirouettes inside your mouth, then you have got to try this recipe.

The white bean salad and asparagus recipe will follow.

Ingredients for the Tuna:

• 1/4 cup of orange juice (if it's summer freshly squeezed would be nice, if not, bottled organic will do)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 cloves of garlic minced finely, or you can use a citrus zester to grate it
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (I have used lime before, and it was fine)
• 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 lbs of tuna steaks (I  like them to be at least 1 ½ inches thick so that we can get a great sear on the outside without overcooking the fish.

Method:

Cut your tuna steaks into 4 portions.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir well so that all flavors get accustomed to each other. Put your tuna steaks into a large Ziploc bag and pour marinate over them.

Shake and massage all the steaks, making sure everything is very well coated. Get as much air out of the bag and seal it.( I like to make sure every steak is coated in the marinade by laying the bag flat in one single layer, then sucking the air out with a straw.) Place bag in the fridge and let it marinade for around 2 hours, or as long as you have. (I turn the bag around a few times if  I remember to do it)  

When you are ready to grill the tuna, take bag out of the fridge and let it stand on your counter for about 15 minutes. Preheat your grill on HIGH, very important, we want a nice sear on the outside.

Lightly oil the grill grates and place each tuna steak on the grill. 

Do not throw away the marinade

Grill on high for about 3 minutes, flip the steaks, baste with a little marinade and grill an additional 2-3 minutes.

Transfer steaks to a plate and cover with foil, let it rest for about 5 minutes.

While the steaks are resting, transfer the remaining marinade to a sauce pan and reduce it until its rich and thick to your own personal taste. Plate the tuna, and pour some of your reduced marinade on top.

Enjoy!!!!!!!

Fried Calamari Rings!

Ahhhhh! There is just something about deep frying! Anything that can be deep fried will taste 10 times better in my book. Although I only allow myself to eat those types of food about once a week, when I do it, I do it BIG!!!!! So coming home on Saturday night, loser I know right! Anyways, its just my boyfriend, the dog, and I tonight, so deep fried is what is on the menu.

The Possibilities are endless; chicken, vegetables tempura, salt cod fritters, and even the occasional coxinha (brazilian chicken dumplings,) but tonight fried squid it is. Yes people, for those of you who don't know, calamari is squid. Not the gigantic, eat your parents kind of squid, but the cute little tentacles you wanna give a kiss type of squid.

Okay, maybe not that cute at this stage!

But once cleaned and properly sliced and separated, the things really start to look appetizing.

I got mine whole, but if you hit up your local supermarket, I usually go to Whole Foods, they will already be cleaned and in tube like formula, all you have to do is slice them and you will be ready to go. As shown above, I also include the tentacles, most people do not care for them but that is a taste thing, include them if you would like.
After slicing through all tubes and washing well, I lay them on a couple sheets of paper towel, so that they dry thoroughly before we put the coating on them. This is a fairly easy recipe. Only a few ingredients are needed, but if done right, these little ringlets of seafoodness are a heaven to enjoy with your loved ones or by yourself ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of baby squid, cleaned and sliced width wise into 1/2 inch thick rings
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano (rub the oregano between your fingers, that releases the flavor)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Lemon wedges, to serve
• Marinara, to serve
• Canola oil for frying

Method:

Put about 2 inches of oil in a pan and bring the oil temperature to 350' F over a medium high heat.

                   ( Pointer: I do not have a thermometer, so over trial and error, i learned a trick. Bring the oil in a pan over medium high heat, until a wooden spoon inserted, releases bubbles on the bottom of the pan. This should take about 5 minutes depending on the power of your heat source.)

While the oil comes to temperature mix the flour, paprika, oregano, salt and pepper in a brown bag. This is the easiest way for me, allowing me to do this in large batches.

Grab half of your calamari and put inside your bag with the flour mixture, shake vigorously so that every ring is coated. Remove with a slotted spoon so that you only grab the calamari and not the excess flour. Drop the rings in oil and fry till golden, this should only take about 2 minutes if your oil is at the right temperature. DO NOT OVERCOOK YOUR CALAMARI!!!! You will end up with rubbery and chewy wheels of sadness instead of the beautiful, tasty, rings of bliss my boyfriend and I feasted on.

Serve with lemon wedges and marinara sauce. Enjoy!!!!!

PS>  Diesel was so sad that he didn't have any left overs, we ate everything, look at his face.

Ahi Tuna Towers at Home!!!!!!

Yum!!!!! The day started as the rest, wake up early, eat breakfast, work and so on and so forth. By the time I arrived home I was craving one of my favorite dishes, but looking way too tired to go to one of my favorite restaurants. Nothing wrong with heading to the local seafood market though. 

TJ's Seafood Market and Grill is a local spot which carries many types of high quality ingredients and seafood.  The seafood is flown in fresh every single day people!!!!! You will pay for the difference but the fresh and recognizable flavors are spot on. 

Arriving at TJ's you are greeted by the friendly folk who work there and mesmerized by the beautiful fish counter before your eyes. But I am here for the big baby!!!!! Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna!! The sight alone makes me cry sweet tears of joy.

I arrive home and unpack the Ahi and start assembly the rest of the ingredients for my tuna tower. 

For the tower you will need:

• 3 oz of sushi grade ahi tuna
• 2/3 cup of shredded crab meat (I use the real stuff, but you may use imitation if you would like)
• 1/2 of an avocado, diced into very small pieces (careful not to smash the avocado)
• 1/2 cup sushi rice
• 3 tablespoons of mayo (I use Japanese mayo)
• 1 tablespoon of sriracha sauce
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sesame seed oil
• Ponzu sauce
• Eel sauce
• A bottomless cylindrical container measuring about 3in wide and 5in tall

Step 1. Prepare the tuna by chopping it into very small pieces. The tuna will almost look like a paste, but you will still be able to see pieces of fish. Transfer to a container and add the sesame seed oil, and the soy sauce to marinate the fish while we prepare the rest of the ingredients. Keep in the fridge.

Step 2. Mix the mayo and the sriracha sauce in a small container and set aside. Chop the avocado into very small pieces and set aside.

Step 3. Grab your crab meat and mix with half of the mayo and sriracha mixture, reserving the other half for the presentation. (I usually start with 1/3 of the mayo mixture and go up from there.) Use more or less to your personal taste.

Assemly:

On the plate of your choice, drizzle with eel sauce, ponzu sauce, and some of your mayo sriracha mixture. Set your mold right in the center. Grab your sushi rice and place it inside the mold, pressing gently to create the bed of your tower. Next add your crab mixture, again pressing gently so it will stick to your rice layer. Next comes the avocado, again press gently, and finally the ahi tuna. At this point we want to again press gently with the bottom of a glass that will fit into your mold. While we press down on the tuna, we want to pull the mold up so we can free the tower. This might seem complicated but it is no trouble at all. I got it on my first try. Again, just press down with a cup on the fish, and lift up your mold.

Don't forget to show off your final product to whoever is around, now mash everything and mix it all together and enjoy. The final product equals 2 appetizer servings or in my case, dinner for that night. I like to have a bit extra sriracha and soy sauce on the side to adjust the flavors. Hope you make this and enjoy.