1 c. Italian salad dressing
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper
1/2 tsp. tarragon leaves
2 lbs. tuna steaks (1 inch thick)
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 c. chopped green onions
1/2 c. chopped bell pepper
1 c. cream cheese
1 c. half & half cream
1 c. chopped, cooked shrimp
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
Combine salad dressing, lemon juice, garlic powder, red pepper, and tarragon leaves in a 2-quart mixing bowl. Blend thoroughly. Add tuna steaks to the blended marinade sauce, coating each steak thoroughly with the sauce. Cover tuna steaks and refrigerate at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove tuna steaks from marinade sauce and place in 2-quart casserole dish. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, turning steaks once.
In a 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped onions, green onions, and bell pepper. Saute until onions are clear. Add cream cheese and half & half. Stir over low heat until cream cheese melts and sauce thickens. Add chopped shrimp and parsley to sauce.
Blend thoroughly and cook sauce over low heat until tuna steaks are removed from oven. Remove steaks from oven. Drain liquids from casserole. Pour shrimp sauce over tuna steaks. Place steaks in oven and bake an additional 10 minutes. Serves 6.
Monday, September 8, 2008
TUNA STEAKS WITH CREAMY SHRIMP SAUCE
BROCCOLI TUNA CASSEROLE
1 1/2 c. cooked flaked tuna pressed firmly into a measuring cup
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 (11 oz.) can cheddar cheese soup
1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
Salt and pepper
1/4 c. milk
1 tbsp. minced parsley
1 tbsp. steak sauce
6 drops Tabasco sauce
1 1/3 c. cooked broccoli buds or 1 pkg. frozen broccoli
In a large saucepan cook onion for 3 minutes in 1 tablespoon of water. Add soup, mushroom, milk, parsley, steak sauce and Tabasco to the pan and heat, stirring occasionally. Fold in cooked broccoli and tuna and add pepper. Heat to boiling point. Pour into a well-greased 1-quart casserole dish. Cover and bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serves 4.
BROILED TUNA STEAKS WITH JAPANESE
4 yellow fin tuna steaks, 1-inch thick
Sesame oil
1 rounded tsp. cornstarch
1/3 c. rice vinegar
1/3 c. mirin
1/3 c. soy sauce
1 lb. spinach leaves, rinsed, stemmed and dried
1 (6 oz.) box Saffron Rice, cooked per box directions
3 tbsp. minced crystallized ginger
Start coals, start rice. Make sauce: dissolve cornstarch in vinegar. Combine with mirin and soy sauce and simmer until mixture is a clear dark brown and thickened. Remove from heat but keep warm. Stem spinach leaves for 2 minutes.
Grill fish rubbed with sesame oil over hot coals 5-7 minutes per side
Assemble: Arrange a bed of spinach on each plate, place a tuna steak on top of spinach. Spoon a ring of yellow rice around plate. Spoon sauce over tuna and sprinkle with crystallized minced ginger.
Baking Versus Cooking
We're all different. No two individuals are exactly alike; however, there are some general categories that seem to hold true. For instance, there are the Morning People and the Night People. I am definitely of the latter variety. About 9:00 p.m. something kicks into gear—a burst of energy, creativity, and feeling totally alive—and I could work until daylight, and have done so many times. Mornings are an entirely different story—for the first 30 minutes of the day I hardly know which planet I'm on. There are some Morning People in my family. They awake with the birds, happy, cheerful, and ready to meet the day with a smile—it's disgusting! Suffice it to say, we just don't understand each other.
In the culinary category there are also two basic classes of people as I see it: the Bakers and the Cooks. Baking is a very precise science. Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, soda, milk, buttermilk, flavorings, shortening, oil, butter or other ingredients are used in a variety of ways in baked goods recipes, but they interact with each other in very specific ways. Measurements have to be precise or it's disasterville in the kitchen. Commercial bakers even weigh their ingredients to assure they're using just the right amount. Cookbooks have recipes that are tested and re-tested until the directions shown, if followed, will result in a tasty dish. There is very little room for personal variations unless the baker has a great deal of experience. When we see a famous chef on TV appearing to simply mix in this and that in a somewhat carefree manner, it's just because he or she has put in a great deal of time learning basic measurements and techniques that yield that mouth-watering masterpiece.
Although I can turn out a good cake or pie when I have to, it's not what I enjoy most. A few of my baking experiments have yielded some "interesting" results, like the time I thought I'd vary a mini-chocolate cupcake recipe. I added some extra chocolate, filled the cupcakes with raspberry jam to which I had added raspberry liqueur, and just knew I had created little masterpieces. What I took out of the oven was a pan full of mini-disasters that resembled lumps of coal! So much for baking innovation.
Apart from my creative baking experiments, there's the whole other category of baking blunders. Recently, I prepared a batch of cranberry-orange muffins to thank a friend for his help with a computer problem. When he took the first bite, I knew something was definitely amiss by the scrunched up look on this face. He ran for the kitchen garbage can, spit out the offending mouthful and said, "Sorry, but that tasted terrible!" As I looked at the recipe again it dawned on me that in my haste to get the muffins in the oven before he arrived I had forgotten one very vital ingredient—sugar! This was another reminder to me that baking is a precise science that requires careful attention. If one ingredient isn't measured correctly or, in this case ignored, the result can be completely inedible.
On the other hand, there's COOKING, which I love! I'm fascinated with creating new recipes, varying others to make them look and taste just a bit different, or using ingredients in new ways.
For instance, take that good old American standby, potato salad. Most of us have our favorite recipe, but have you ever thought of some ways to vary your version? Take potatoes, the main ingredient. Do you go with Russet, Yukon Gold, White Rose, Baby Reds, or some of the more than 40 other less known varieties that are grown? And what about the onion family? We have lots of choices there too: white, sweet, and red onions, scallions, chives, or shallots, to name a few. Dressings are another story. Some people prefer mayonnaise; others, salad dressing, a creamy sour cream mixture, French dressing or a light vinaigrette. Then there are the add-ins, which can vary greatly. Some people don't consider it a real potato salad without the addition of chopped, hard-cooked eggs. Others prefer crumbled bacon bits, chopped pickles, sweet relish, or a variety of crisp vegetables. You get the idea—with cooking, there's room for innovation, and that sparks the creative side of me.
I am definitely a Cook as opposed to the esteemed title of Baker. My motto is, "a pinch of this, a smidge of that, a little bit of that spice to kick up the flavor, and don't forget the lemon zest."
Which kind of culinary aficionado are you—a Baker or a Cook?
About The Author
Jeff Gustafson and MyHATT, An international dinner club concept where people get to know people one bite at a time...thank you to Arlene Hawkinson for her contribution and my entire MyHATT staff for the educational content for world culture, the history, world traditions, the international menus for this wondeful family activity website...
http://www.myhatt.com
Tips To Making Your Crockpot Cooking Better
The crockpot may be the perfect cooking appliance for a new cook. It's no wonder it's become so popular in so many American Kitchens. You add the ingredients and turn it on. Let the slow cooker do the rest! Plus, it's really hard to mess up a crockpot recipe.
Here are some tips to make your slow-cooking better.
The best crockpots have a removable liner. The crockpots that have built-in liners are very difficult to clean. You will enjoy cooking in an appliance that is easy to care for. There are many inexpensive models of crockpots available now.
Try to buy a crockpot that's big enough to hold more than the normal amount of food you will need. That way, you'll have extra capacity available when you need it unexpectedly.
Make sure not to over-fill the pot when you are adding ingredients. The experts recommend filling it between one-half to two-thirds full maximum. This will facilitate even cooking and avoid the mess when it bubbles over.
Many crockpot recipes call for some sort of meat. Some of the best pot roasts and chicken dishes I've had have come from a crockpot! Remember when slow cooking meat to trim off excess fat. Due to the prolonged cooking in a slow cooker, that excess fat can really get cooked in giving your dish an odd taste.
No matter how good the meal starts to smell resist the temptation to open the lid. Each time you do, heat escapes, and the cooker will take longer to finish your meal. The ingredients at the bottom will cook faster than those on top, but it is not necessary to stir as often as you would a stove-top recipe. Keep that lid on except when it is absolutely necessary to stir your recipe.
As for cooking time as directed by recipes - keep in mind that one hour on high in a crockpot is equal to about 2 hours on low. If your slow cooker recipe calls for a four-hour cook time on high, but you want to eat in eight hours, cook your dish on low.
Crockpot cooking can be easy, fun and really tasty. Check out our assortment of crockpot cookers at http://www.searchkitchenappliances.com/Small-Kitchen-Appliances/Cookers-Steamers
About The Author
Jeff Jones
I am passionate about food and don't mind stepping out of my comfort zone to make a meal an event to be savored.
Stop by my Reading Room and pick up some tips and tricks you can use today!
http://www.SearchKitchenAppliances.com
