Black Rice and Tuna

We started with a pear and Pear and Blue Cheese Salad.

We saw a recipe for Tuna au Poivre With Red Wine Sauce in the New York Times and decided to make it. We invited Tom and Scott over to join us for dinner.

McCall’s Meat and Fish sells Black Rice and we thought that would be the perfect accompaniment for the tuna. It is very different from white rice. It is much chewier and slightly smaller. Once again we started with my favorite Bread from McCall’s: it is made with Bacon and Cheese it is only sold on the weekend and they usually run out by noon. It is yummy!

The sauce is for the tuna is delicious, and we ate every bit! We had purchased quite a bit of Tuna and I expected there to be leftovers. I guess it is a testimony to the recipe that we ate it all!

Tom and Scott brought an assortment of desserts from Proof Bakery.

Tuna au Poivre With Red Wine Sauce

By DAVID TANIS

New York Times

TOTAL TIME

40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

            1 1/2 pounds fresh tuna, cut into 6 steaks about 1-inch thick

            Salt

            2 garlic cloves, smashed to a paste

            1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly toasted and ground

            1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly toasted and ground

            2 teaspoons coarsely crushed black peppercorns

            2 tablespoons olive oil

            1 tablespoon butter

            2 shallots, finely diced

            1/2 cup red wine

            2 1/2 cups chicken broth

PREPARATION

1.

Season tuna steaks with salt. Sprinkle with garlic, coriander, fennel and black pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Rub to coat evenly with spices on both sides. Let marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes (or refrigerate for up to 4 hours and bring to room temperature before cooking).

2.

Make the red wine sauce: Melt butter over medium-high heat and add shallots. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. Add chicken broth and reduce until 1 cup sauce remains, about 10 minutes. Season with salt, set aside and keep warm.

3.

Set a wide cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat (or use 2 smaller pans). When hot, lay in steaks and sear for 2 minutes, until nicely browned. Flip and cook 1 minute more for rare, 2 minutes for medium rare. Arrange tuna on a platter or individual plates. Spoon wine sauce over each steak.

YIELD

6 servings