Friday, January 23, 2015

Spice Crusted Tuna

This week's recipe and a make-up too !


Spice Crusted Tuna
Per Nana~
Tuna - $26.99 a pound. Egads !!!
  I'm glad I am not trying to feed a family at those prices. 
I bought one small piece of fresh tuna that I prepared with the spices, 
but I have to admit that neither Jim nor I cared for the taste.  The 
combination of the spices was okay, it was the tuna we did not like.
 It is certainly a quick and easy recipe for a week night meal, 
but it just didn't work for us. 
Per Tricia~
My husband loves fresh tuna and often orders it out in restaurants, 
so I was excited to make this recipe for him. I was also delighted 
(for once) to be empty nesters as the pricey ingredients hit. My kids 
have a tendency to like the expensive ingredients best.  Go figure. 
The recipe was a snap as it simply involved taking Dorie's suggested 
spice combo and rubbing it onto the tuna prior to cooking it with a
 touch of olive oil. I always do appreciate her suggested cooking 
times because they are spot on. 
 While my husband did enjoy the recipe he also explained that he likes 
tuna so much that he prefers it prepared in a lighter manner.  He said
 this reminded him of all the the "blackened" recipes that were found in 
restaurants in the late '80's.  OK for chicken or catfish, but for him it
 was too strong for tuna steak - especially at this price point :) 

Arman's Caviar in Aspic
Per Nana~
Let me start by saying that Cher would love this interpretation of the recipe :) 
I do not like aspic or jello (something about the texture just gets to me) 
however I decided to make the recipe for the technique. 
Jim does not do caviar, his loss, so I decided to change things up a little. 
For the aspic I used a chicken flavored bouillon cube and topped it with 
chopped chicken livers.  the aspic set up nicely in the refrigerator for a day
 and I had no trouble removing it from the pan. It sliced beautifully. 
I scooped a little circle out and filled it with the chicken livers. 
The end result was quite elegant and Jim actually liked it. 
Per Tricia~
Like many tasks that you approach with trepidation, I found myself happy 
with the results in part simply because the task was over. I also learned 
not to make aspic in my Cannelé pan.  The dish you see below is the one 
"blob" that came out in a large enough hunk that it managed to survive.
 Let's just say the cat loved this French Friday.  
                            
While mine was not exactly a high end caviar selection, it is still caviar. 
Not a fan of fish to start with, this was an adventure - to say the least.  
I am not planning to make it again, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it 
would be either.  And I definitely would now try the "real caviar" if I 
am lucky enough to encounter it at some fancy buffet. 
Which is saying something. 
                   
My fish loving husband was game for anything and thought this was quite 
an interesting combo, but was not upset that so much aspic was lost in the
 "Great Cannelé Failure" either :)  I did get a kick out of  reporting to the boys 
that I was serving caviar at home now that they were both away at school......

Happy French Friday ~

14 comments:

  1. Nana - I love your reinterpretation of the aspic recipe and I'm guessing that I would have liked your version better than my more original one. But like you, I'm just not a fan of the whole jello thing. I think it's still bad memories of eating it for a week straight after I had my wisdom teeth pulled in college.

    Tricia - I'm highly entertained (and I'm guessing your boys less so) that the high end recipes are coming out as soon as they are out of the house:-) I'm hoping that we can get lobster on the menu for next month!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL, Tricia! I think my boys would tell me to ONLY serve caviar when they're not home :) You both did a marvelous job with the aspic and the tuna!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nana: well, I'm sorry that the tuna didn't work out for you. I do love how you changed up the aspic recipe! Looks good and sounds really interesting! Tricia: I read that line about caviar and your sons out loud to my husband and we both had a good chuckle. :) Glad you enjoyed the tuna and that the aspic wasn't terrible!

    ReplyDelete
  4. First, Ladies, let's discuss the $$$ of food. I honestly don't know how young families do it. We all grew up in an era of cheap food. Those days are gone forever. Tricia, it's lovely your boys learned to appreciate the "finer" foods in Life already. And, yes, that you can educated kids and eat caviar at the same time is astounding!!! Ro, these were strong flavors on tuna so I can understand them not being a favorite with you. You both were quite creative with the jello/aspic/caviar treat. (Arman has received much more publicity than is his due from the Dorista crowd.) The best line of your entire Post was "I am not planning to make it again, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be either." That is maybe the most hysterical sentence I have ever read in a food blog. Way to go, Tricia. Glad you Ladies are back and have knocked out that flu bug.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This has been a very expensive month for FFWD, hasn't it? I love fish, but my wallet definitely won't be sad when we take a little break from it. Nana, I'm sorry you didn't like the tuna, but I'm glad you found a way to make the aspic work for you. (I was not so smart). Tricia, I'm impressed that you own a cannele pan! You're also braver than I am. I don't think I'll be trying the caviar the next time I see it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tricia and Nana, the price of fish is outrageous isn't it - Australia is the same. Nana, I might even eat your chicken version of the aspic. Tricia, this one was definitely for the cat.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nana, Sorry the tuna was not a winner for you…especially at 26.99 a pound! I love your take on the aspic…although I still wouldn’t eat it! I guess my taste is just not that sophisticated enough! I think gelatin should not taste like chicken or fish!
    Tricia, Your tuna looks lovely! I used the spice mixture sparingly because I know my hubby isn’t fond of heavy spices. Mine were quite good, and you are so right, Dorie always gets the cooking time down perfectly! Your aspic looks quite pretty…but not for me!
    Happy weekend ladies!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Tricia, I'm still smiling about our getting together last weekend. Howard and I both really enjoyed it. I laughed to hear the cat was the one that liked the aspic best. I liked the tuna, but would make it with a different fish next time because I prefer my tuna raw.

    Nana, your version of the aspic is a winner. Cher probably still wouldn't eat it, but I would. And I'm sorry you and Jim didn't enjoy the tuna, especially at that steep price.

    Have a great week, both of you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOL, ladies you never disappoint! I don't think I can stomach aspic... jello is such a fruity thing to me, and making it savory just bugs me on some level but I just might try it... ya never know!

    Nana, its too bad you didn't like the tuna - maybe if it was cooked less? I cant believe the price of it though, crazy!

    Well have a great weekend and week ladies! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nana, I am glad I am not the only one who does not like tuna. Kudos to you for making it anyway. Nice twist up on the aspic. My husband loves chicken liver pate so he would go for your version. Tricia, nice looking tuna, wish that I liked it. Bravo to you too for making the aspic. Have a great week.

    ReplyDelete
  11. LOL this is too funny "the cat enjoyed FFWD" ;) Good for you both of you for making the tuna AND a makeup! I like Nana's chicken bouillon with pâté :) Nice one!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nana - I wholeheartedly approve of changing any recipe to fit your tastes. Cher approved!
    Tricia - cannele fish jello. I am glad the cat enjoyed it.
    Lovely job, ladies. Stay safe in the snow.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What delicious photos of your tuna and that sinfully good caviar!

    ReplyDelete
  14. It made me smile thinking of the cat enjoying a great French Friday!

    ReplyDelete