Although we've had tuna steaks at home before, this was the first time it was me cooking them. They were very simple to sear, but I did notice that they continued to cook after sitting on a plate for awhile. It was good reminder to take it off the heat before you hit the desired doneness.
The sauce was a bit trickier, and I'm still not sure what I did wrong. It calls for a LOT of butter and some cream heated over the stove. I did cook it for 10 minutes (I think), but I did not ever get the dark rust color the recipe mentioned. I've had sauce that's the dark brown color before, so I'll have to try it again.
This dinner was delicious! I loved how the lemon and the capers tasted. This is the first time capers have been in a meal where I've just loved them! The fennel was very nice in this, too. I'll definitely be making this again, but I'll have to either figure out how to do the sauce right and/or try a slightly different version. The recipe was from the quick and delicious section of Fine Cooking, and I'll have to agree that it's in the correct section.
We also tried Sauted Spinach with Shallots. I let Jay be in charge of that part. He cooked it well, but neither of us thought it was all that great. The shallots were a bit overpowering. I love Jay's version of spinach so much, it will be hard to find a better recipe! But we like experimenting... or perhaps just proving Jay's recipe is the best spinach one out there. I'll have to post it sometime.
- Seared Tuna with Fennel Seeds & Caper Brown Butter (Fine Cooking, January 2007, p. 82A)
- Sauteed Spinach with Shallots (Fine Cooking, December 2006, p 94A)
Comments (2)
We love tuna. And capers. I know Gary would love this.
Posted by Amy | January 1, 2007 8:34 PM
Posted on January 1, 2007 20:34
Remember you knew that the banana bread wasn't done yet? Time didn't really matter? Same thing with this sauce.
Now that I've read the recipe, my guess is that you left it at "homogenous" and didn't take it to "will separate and begin to turn golden brown... dark rust color." To achieve that in 10 minutes, you'd probably have to crank up the heat.
Anyhoo, we both loved the tuna. But both would have been just as happy with a lemon caper sauce, sans most of the butter and all of the cream.
Not sure you can tell anything from the very poor photo because the roasted fennel is in focus and the sauce/tuna is not:
Posted by Amy | January 5, 2007 7:39 PM
Posted on January 5, 2007 19:39