I stare at food all day. At least recipes and photos of food. Some days I get the “cooking bug” and want to rush home to whip up the various dishes that inspired me, others times I just get a bit overwhelmed by it all. When that happens it’s either a quick stop at the market to pick up a roasted chicken or heading home and yanking something out of the freezer.

Last night was an “I’m-too-tired-to-cook-and-we-don’t-have-anything-in-the-fridge” kind of night. So Barnaby took charge. He opened the freezer, pulled out a bag of edamame (soy beans) and some sashimi-grade albacore tuna, and looked at me and said, “Oh, there’s always something in the freezer.” My contribution was putting rice and water into the rice cooker, pushing the “Cook” button and pouring us glasses of wine. That’s about all the energy I could muster up.

True to Barnaby’s form, he produced yet another fantastic meal in no time flat. He boiled the edamame, then pureed them with a bit of white miso and mirin.

He gave the tuna a quick sear on both sides, then sliced it thin and laid it on top of the rice. For added color and flavor he sprinkled it with a bit of furikake.

Healthy, delicious and quick! All I had to do was drink my glass of wine and wait!

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I’ve started smoking. No, not cigarettes, but food. I wrote before about the electric smoker I gave Barnaby for his birthday in December and we’ve been going crazy throwing down various meats and fish on the grill: mangalitsa pork, trout, skirt steak, shrimp, scallops. Next on the list is cheese: provolone, mozzarella and cheddar.

Last night we tried a new preparation: cold smoking. Traditional cold smoking requires cooling the smoke before applying it to food, however, that’s both difficult to achieve and requires special equipment. Our version of cold smoking is much easier: toss a piece of frozen fish on the grill and let the smokin’ begin.

Starting with frozen fish minimizes the amount of cooking so the result is a delicious smokey flavor and ever so minimally cooked – perfect for sashimi! We used a 1.2 pound sashimi-grade albacore tuna loin and smoked it over alder pellets for about an hour and a half. If you’re looking for a more fully cooked preparation, or you are smoking meat, then you can sear it afterward.

Our meal was Japanese-style; the tuna drizzled with a bit of ponzu sauce and served with rice, seaweed salad and yaki imo (grilled sweet potato). The smoked tuna would also be delicious in a salad, such as niçoise.

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I don’t know what’s better in this dish: the fresh tuna or the mango salsa? The fresh-from-the-sea albacore tuna loin we purchased stayed so moist and tender during grilling, often times a fish that easily dries out. What perfectly topped it was the mango salsa. The sweetness of the mango balanced beautifully with the fresh cilantro, onion and lime juice. It’s also a great addition to grilled pork or chicken.

Mango Salsa

1 fresh mango, diced
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
2 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
optional: 1 small Thai chili pepper or 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

In a bowl, combine all of the above ingredients. If the mango is firm, mash the chopped pieces a bit with a fork.

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You’ve had a long hard day, haven’t you? You’re hungry, you’ve worked your tail off, and the last thing you want to do is slave over dinner. I know the feeling. It’s days like this when all I want to do is veg out in front of the evening news with a nice glass of wine.

Where is that house boy when you need him?

Here’s a dinner for you that’s so easy it’s just silly. Hopefully you already have that bottle of white wine open. If you can also muster up the strength to open a can of tomatoes, crack open a jar of capers and quickly sear some fish, then a great meal is minutes away. And, your family will think you really outdid yourself. No need to be a hero and admit you just whipped it up. Some things are just better left unsaid <wink>.

Tomato Caper Tuna
We always have a few fillets of fish, such as albacore loin, in our freezer. Although just about any type of fish would be wonderful in this dish. There’s no need to measure, this is what I love about one-pot cooking.

Slice fish into 1/4″ medallions. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pan on medium-high and quickly sear both sides of the medallions (about 1 minute or less on each side).

Toss in a can of chopped stewed tomatoes and pour in about 1/2 cup of the white wine you have open (then do it Julia-style and take a little swig of that wine yourself – again, it’s been a long day!).

Add a couple of tablespoons of capers and stir. Simmer a couple of minutes until the alcohol in the wine burns off.

Remove from heat and top with the zest of one lemon. Great with rice and a nice green salad.

Now wasn’t that easy!

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The clean, crisp air of Seattle, with its slightly salty breeze, calls for a meal of fresh fish. Luckily, it’s quite easy to find good sushi-grade fish in the Emerald City. Just head to the market -Pike Place Market, that is – and buy yourself a top-grade troll-caught albacore tuna loin. What is troll-caught, you ask, and why would I want it? Younger (3-5 years old) troll-caught albacore contains more Omega-3 fatty acids than larger, older albacore tuna. And, because of the higher content of fatty acids you need less fat in your recipe. It always comes out buttery and tender.

Trolling (fishing with jigs behind a slow-moving boat) is also a low-impact, environmentally responsible fishing method . We like that!

Sesame Seared Albacore Tuna

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan.
Combine equal amounts of toasted and black sesame seeds on a plate.
Thoroughly coat each side of the loin with the seeds (no need to use any egg wash as the seeds will stick).
Sear loin on each side about 1 minute (a bit more if you want it less rare inside).

To cut the loin use an exceptionally sharp chef’s knife. To come out with clean, unbroken slices, I find it easiest if you place your hand perpendicular to the loin and carefully slice between your index and middle finger. This way you can stabilize the loin while you slice and prevent it from falling apart. Take care to make nice long slices, not short back-and-forth slices as if cutting bread.

Serve on a bed of wakame and drizzle with a little ponzu sauce. It’s also delicious with a little soy sauce and wasabi.

Tip: How can you tell how well-done your fish (or meat) is? Check out Men in Aprons‘ Hand Test Method.

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