Macademia encrusted Ahi

I normally don't love the fish selection at Whole Foods. I know that will surprise some people, but often most of what they have on display is previously frozen or just looks abused.  This ahi tuna though made me decide it was worth the gamble.

I used an 8" fry pan and our panini pan. I use this for a surprising amount of dishes, and I don't think I've used it for a panini yet. Turn the heat on under both pans so they will be ready when you begin to cook. Cut a lemon in half and set aside. Trimmed the asparagus and tossed with a light amount of sesame oil and salt then placed in the panini pan on medium high. With the asparagus cooking I threw macadamias in the food processor with a light amount of breadcrumbs, salt, cracked pepper, a sprig of fresh thyme, and a clove of garlic. Blended this to a thick paste and spread it over the both sides of the tuna. Make sure to check the asparagus regularly, you want the tips crispy but not burned but you also need to ensure the bases are thoroughly cooked and not crunchy. I placed the halved lemons in the corners of the asparagus plan.

Your 8" pan should be quite hot at this point. I put in a tablespoon of grapeseed oil and then dropped in the fish. The fish cooked for two minutes on each side.

Improvements, next time I'll sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds and make a point to have the ahi cooked more evenly. The oil was probably too hot, it wasn't burned but you can see that the crust got a little darker than is appetizing. Also the thinner end got cooked a little too thoroughly for my taste.

Seared Salmon

This piece of salmon is served on a bed of wilted spinach, topped with crispy fish skin and a light sauce composed of orange and shallots. It's a quick and easy meal that took fifteen minutes from beginning to end.

For preparation, I took the salmon fillet and put a touch of olive oil on it, squeezed the juice of half an orange, salt, shallot flakes, and pepper. Let marinate for five to fifteen minutes. In my case I was impatient and it was just over five minutes.The spinach was washed and tossed with a light amount of olive oil. Then I began with two ten inch fry pans and placed them on medium high heat.

In one pan, after it was hot I added about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil, then I placed the salmon into it skin side down. I reserved the marinade. The fish was seared at that high heat until the skin was the roasted color you see above, approximately three minutes, then turned. The skin peeled off in the turning, and I lowered the flame temperature when turning over the fish. At this point I placed the spinach in the other heated pan with the reserved fish marinade. Turned this pan down to low and covered it. After the fish was cooked, approximately another two to three minutes, I turned off all the heat. Plated the salmon over the bed of spinach. Poured the orange sauce over it, topped with the crispy skin, cracked some pepper, and sprinked a bit of parmesean over it all.

The dish was delicious and even more gorgeous than my phone did justice to the photograph. If I were to do it again I might thicken the sauce  but as it was everything came together brilliantly.