Broiled Ahi Tuna Provencal

Ahi tuna is a great dish for dinner.  It is packed with 133 mg of Omega 3 and only 61 calories.  Of course this just cooked with no sauce etc.  This recipe came from one of my seafood cookbooks.  Sometimes it is really hard to figure out just what you want to do with an ingredient, so this is when I rely on a cookbook for inspiration.

Broiled Tuna
2 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Prepare Provencal Sauce and keep warm.  Combine olive oil and lemon juice.  Place steaks on a greased broiler rack and brush them with oil mixture.  Lightly salt and pepper.
Place steaks about 6 inches from heat source and broil until top side is tender about 8 minutes.  Turn and repeat until done, about 6 minutes.  Serve with sauce.
**NOTE:  I found that cooking the fish under the broiler for this amount of time cooks the tuna on a more well done side.  If you are like us we like our tuna cooked on the rare side.  My suggestion would be to reduce the amount of time the fish is cooked on both sides.

Provencal Sauce 
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon pressed garlic
1 large tomato, cut up
1 teaspoon fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
In a small saucepan, heat oil.  Add garlic and saute until tender.  Add tomatoes and basil.  Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add parsley.  Spoon over hot fish.

The meal was served with couscous and a small Caesar salad.

Salmon Cooked on a Himalayan Sea Salt Plank

When I did a order last week for seafood through SeaBear I saw this really cool cooking tool called a Himalayan Sea Salt Plank.  I was intrigued by how you cooked using this huge chunk of salt.  So I bought one and tried it for the first time tonight.

Here is what I did:
While leaving the skin on, cut salmon fillet into strips approximately ½” wide. Set aside on a cold platter for cooking later.   Brush each side of the salmon with olive oil.
Properly heating your salt plank will take approximately an hour or so.  Place your dry salt slab into a cold oven and turn the heat to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oven has reached 250 degrees, carefully remove the salt slab and let cool for about 30 minutes on a stove top, or other safe area. Then return it to the oven and set the temperature for 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit  for 30-35 minutes. The heat will distribute slowly and evenly throughout.  Remove plank from oven, place on a safe surface.  Place salmon strip onto plank.  It will take only a couple of minutes each side for the salmon to cook.  Here is a cool video so that you can see how the salmon is cooked.  


I made a herb aioli to go along with the cooked salmon.  I didn't have any fresh herbs available so I used dried.  You only want to use a little bit of each and make it to taste.
It consisted of homemade mayonnaise, dill weed, parsley, thyme, tarragon, cilantro, fresh ground pepper,  little bit of lemon juice and a splash of Tabasco sauce.


Along with this we served couscous and a small side salad.  This kept the meal nice and light.

Salmon while on the sea salt plank beginning to cook

Chicken with Lime Butter

Here is what was for dinner tonight:

Chicken with Lime Butter
3 boneless chicken breasts (I flattened them out to help then cook evenly)
3 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1 lime
6 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon minced chives (I used dried, this is what I had on hand)
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
Season chicken with salt and pepper.  In a large pan heat oil over medium heat.  Add chicken breasts and cook until lightly browned on both sides. Cover and reduce heat to low, cook for about 10 minutes.  Remove chicken to a platter, keep warm.  Discard any residual oil and wipe pan.  Add lime juice and cook over low heat until bubbly.  Add butter, stirring until butter becomes opaque and sauce thickens. Stir in chives and dill.  Spoon over chicken and serve.

I also made couscous.  Take 1 cup of water bring to boil; stir in couscous.  Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  I added some fresh grated lime zest to the couscous when it was covered.  It added a touch of flavor to the couscous.

Also had some cooked frozen spinach.

Red Grouper

We picked up a fish at the market that we have never cooked before.  It is Red Grouper.  Upon looking up information on it we knew that the flesh could dry out when cooked.   I Took some mayonnaise and spread it on the flesh part of the fish and then sprinkled it with a fish seasoning.  The mayonnaise helps to keep the fish moist while it is being cooked on the grill.

Made a couscous with saffron and chives.  Grilled asparagus that was drizzled with olive oil.  A side salad with lettuce, cucumber, and tomato that was drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

SIDE NOTE:  After having the fish cooked this way I have decided that I would not cook red grouper this way again.  Grouper has a very meaty and dense texture.  It doesn't have a lot of flavor on its own. I think the next time I decide to make something with this fish, I will cook it a different way so that it can be really flavorful.