Seven Seafoods 2007: Recipe for Tuna Tartare with Mint, Sesame Oil, and Hot Peppers (Ταρτάρ Τόνου)

On an eating trip to San Francisco, we enjoyed a meal at San Francisco’s Aqua restaurant when Michael Mina was still the chef. Everything we ordered was delicious; there was not a single false note among the dishes we devoured.

At the time, Tuna Tartare was one of Aqua’s signature dishes, and rightly so. It was beautifully presented: a pile of chopped sashimi grade ahi tuna in the middle of a white plate, surrounded by piles of spices, perfectly ripe pears, mint, and habanero chiles, topped with a quail egg and dressed with sesame oil. With two spoons, the server mixed all the ingredients together tableside, and gracefully created a mountain of tuna tartare in the center of the plate, accented by toast points.

The flavors of tuna, pears, mint, sesame oil, and hot peppers were perfectly balanced in this single dish. After the tuna tartare was gone, we were left wanting more.

Shortly after returning to Alaska, we recreated Aqua’s tuna tartare. I make it regularly for special occasions; my husband wants it every year on his birthday and we often have it as part of our Seven Seafoods Feast on Christmas Eve. I’m always happy to make it; Aqua’s Tuna Tartare is delicious.

Tuna Tartare with Mint, Sesame Oil, and Hot Peppers (Ταρτάρ Τόνου)
Serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as an appetizer
Adapted from Aqua Restaurant, San Francisco
When buying tuna to be eaten raw, as it is in this dish, buy the highest grade big-eye tuna (also called ahi) available. Make sure your fishmonger trims off any skin or dark flesh before you buy it. We prefer making Tuna Tartare with habanero chiles, as at Aqua. However, habaneros are very spicy and not always available at our markets. If you prefer less spicy food, or can’t find habaneros, substitute jalepeno or serrano peppers. To toast the pine nuts, put them in a dry frying pan over low heat and cook just until the pine nuts are lightly brown. Pine nuts burn very easily, so watch them carefully. Because the yolks are eaten raw, I use the freshest, free range, vegetarian, organic eggs I can find.

1/2 pound sashimi grade bigeye tuna
4 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 – 1 tsp. minced habanero chiles, or 4 tsp. minced jalepeno or serrano peppers
1/4 cup diced ripe pear, 1/4” dice
2 Tbsp. minced fresh mint
2 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. chile powder, preferably New Mexican
2 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 small chicken egg yolks, or 4 quail egg yolks
8 thin slices of bread

Wash and dry the tuna very well. Cut it into 1/2” dice, and arrange half the tuna in the center of each of two plates (or a quarter of the tuna on four plates, if making appetizer servings). Use a measuring cup or ring mold to shape the tuna into attractive rounds. Make a small depression in the center of each tuna mound deep enough to contain an egg yolk.

Divide the remaining ingredients by two or four, depending on the size of the servings, and arrange them in small piles in a circle around each tuna mound. Drizzle the sesame and extra virgin olive oils over each tuna mound, and top with an egg yolk.

Toast the bread; cut large slices into cracker-sized pieces. Serve two spoons with each plate, so guests can mix their own tuna tartare.

Recipe: Baked White Beans with Tuna and Sage (Φασόλια με Τόννο και Φασκόμηλο)

We all have kitchen standbys: recipes we’ve cooked a hundred times and can throw together without thinking. Standbys are delicious and turn out well even when we’re tired or inattentive.

One of my standbys is white beans, baked with olive oil, garlic, sage, tuna, and lemon juice. I’ve never been disappointed by baked tuna and beans, and rely on it when refrigerator shelves are bare. It is made entirely with pantry staples and takes 10 minutes to put together and less than an hour to bake.

I usually make Baked White Beans with Tuna and Sage using canned cannellini beans, but have also made it with Great Northern or navy beans. For tuna, I prefer canned albacore packed in water, but any kind of tuna will do. The only ingredients I use each and every time are fresh lemons and fresh garlic; their bright flavors are necessary to the recipe’s success.

During winters past, I’ve relied on dried rubbed sage to enhance the tuna and beans, but this year we brought sage in from the garden. It’s growing in the bedroom along with parsley, rosemary, thyme, and the geraniums that have been blooming since late May.

When people hear we live in Alaska, they want to know how we survive the cold. For me, the cold is a minor inconvenience; short winter days and too much darkness take more of a toll.

To combat winter blues, I moved live herbs and flowers into the bedroom. They reside on stainless shelves, with grow lights on a timer set for 6:30 in the morning. I wake up to bright lights and green plants, starting my day in a better mood than when I used to wake in a pitch black room. The bonus is having fresh herbs for cooking. It’s well worth the extra electricity.

Baked White Beans with Tuna and Sage (Φασόλια με Τόννο και Φασκόμηλο)
Serves 3 – 4

2 15.5-ounce cans cannellini or other white beans
2 6-ounce cans albacore or other tuna
2/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 - 4 Tbsp. minced fresh sage, or 1 – 2 Tbsp. dried rubbed sage
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Drain the beans into a strainer and rinse them well. Drain any oil or water from the tuna.

In a 10” x 10” glass baking pan, mix the beans, olive oil, garlic, half the sage, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans from the oven.

Stir the tuna, lemon juice, and remaining sage into the hot beans; break the tuna into bite-sized pieces as you stir. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Taste, and add sage, lemon juice, salt, or freshly ground black pepper, as needed. Bake for 5 more minutes.

Serve with olives, feta cheese, pickled peppers, and crusty bread.

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This is my entry to the "Grow Your Own" event hosted by Andrea's Recipes.