Treats and Tuna

Just a short post and alas my camera is at work! So no shot of the lovely dinner we had...been awhile since I have had more than five seconds to prepare dinner on a weeknight.

Got home early and found to my despair I was out of popcorn; so made an impromptu treat of dried cranberries, soy nuts and walnuts. Tast-ee!

Dinner was:
Sesame Crusted ahi tuna with beurre blanc
grilled fava bean pods and crusty potato saute

The tuna recipe came from here. I left off the wasabi/rice wine bit as my wasabi powder tasted stale. I also used frozen tuna steaks, which were just fine, though I cooked them to med rare versus rare as frozen fish gets a little weird if eaten too raw.

The favas I have mentioned before, but after preparing them a third time now, I think we have perfected their process...

Snip ends off as many whole pods as you like (at least 3 per person). Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and lay in one layer on a foreman/panini type double contact grill. Cook for 15 minutes. So tender...

The taters I have also mentioned, but this variation was pretty darn good. Or could have been the beurre blanc drizzled on top...

Choose 1 tater per person. Wash, prick and wrap in wet paper towel. Cook in microwave for 8 minutes. If you have time, let it cool a bit before handling, if not, c'est la vie, but watch your fingers. Dice tater and throw in a pan with one chopped shallot, 1 large garlic clove, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, a couple sprigs of fresh thyme (or about 1tsp dried) and a splash of olive oil. Don't mess with it too much, just let it cook on med high for a couple minutes. Then turn and cook the other side for about two minutes...Just enough to crisp the outsides.

I threw my taters in one side of my large saute pan, and cooked the tuna on the other side, worked out pretty well, time wise and one less pan to wash!

Wine was interesting: 1999 Baywood Cellars Symphony from Cali...I think I liked it. It is a newer blend of Grenache Gris and Muscat grapes. Closer to a Riesling than a Chardonnay or Sauvingon Blanc. Fruity. Crisp.

The boy said I was annoying him because I was moaning in pleasure too much during the meal. Again, I say it was the beurre blanc; it's been a while since it's decadence has touched these chaste lips. I gently chastised him for complaining about my noises declaring "How can you be annoyed by another's pleasure? You should be happy for me that I can find a scrap of loveliness in this typical workday that moves me to moaning." He agreed; it was bad form of him.