Sunday, January 30, 2011

Maple Glazed Tuna

I know some of you out there might look at this tuna and think it's undercooked. But this is how tuna should be done (even rarer would be good, but I lost track of time while snapping some photos of it cooking in the pan). I was a little weary the first time I made it this way, but once I tasted it, I realized all my past tuna steaks were overdone and dry and this was the way to go. I know those of you who enjoy sushi won't feel the least bit uneasy.

This recipe is from chef Marcus Samuelsson. I've made several of his dishes and I've never been disappointed. The glaze has a nice sweet and sour quality. It's so good, we ended up drizzling it over our steamed broccoli and dipping our tuna in the leftover.
MAPLE-GLAZED TUNA
Makes 4 servings

glaze:
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 (6-ounce) tuna fillets
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cilantro sprigs


1.      Whisk together all the glaze ingredients. Set aside.
2.      Season the tuna on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large cast iron or heavy skillet over high heat. Add the tuna and cook for only 30 seconds on each side.
3.      Remove from the pan and brush both sides of the tuna with the maple-mustard glaze.
4.      Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with cilantro. Serve with Pear-Potato Salad.

from New American Table by Marcus Samuelsson
looking luscious
I accidentally put a little too much oil in the pan, but 
didn't use it all to cook the tuna (it doesn't take much)


4 comments:

Elizabeth (Foodie, Formerly Fat) said...

My God this looks gorgeous! I love tuna (and so does Adam) but we don't buy it anymore because of the whole extinction threats. It's making my mouth water just looking at it!

Susan said...

Translation...nice looking tuna you heartless bastards!

I knew some fish were facing extinction, but I didn't realize tuna was one of them. We probably buy it only 3-4 times a year anyway, so I'm willing to lay off and help save them. Sorry tuna!

How are the salmon faring these days? I have a great salmon salad recipe.

Elizabeth (Foodie, Formerly Fat) said...

Oh no! I didn't mean it that way! I'm just sad about it because I adore tuna so much that I long for it and it's going to be gone soon. Some estimates say that big fin tuna will be gone by sometime in 2012! Wild Alaskan salmon is actually THE model for sustainable fishing, so it's great to buy that.

Susan said...

I knew you didn't mean it that way (that's not how you roll). I was just trying to be funny (trying being the operative word).

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