This week's French Garden recipe

People who know me would tell you that it's hard to tell which I like more: gardening or cooking. I'd say it depends on which I'm doing at the moment. Anyway, French cooking and French gardening go hand in hand. For me, cooking is an on-going adventure. Join me here on my culinary explorations, where I share with you both my old favorites as well as new inspirations. It's my fondest wish that these recipes serve as a springboard for your own new creations.

08/21/2010
Tuna (or salmon) with grapes, green tomatoes, and capers (Thon (ou saumon) au raisins, tomates vertes, et capres)

Ingredients:

To serve 2 as a main course or 4 as a first course:

A generous pound fresh tuna steak, cut 1"thick, skin removed
Sea salt, freshly ground pepper
E xtra virgin olive oil (1 T. + 1 T + 3 T. + 1 T.)
2 medium green tomatoes
About 30 black grapes, preferably muscat, peeled
2 T. capers
1 c. dry white wine
2 1/2 T. saba
1 t. best balsamic vinegar
1 T. verjus, or 2 1 t. white wine vinegar
Several pinches raw sugar
2 T. fresh fennel florets (fennel 'pollen') or 1/2 t. fennel seed ground in a mortar

Peel the grapes ov er a small bowl to  catch their juice.  With a swivel-blade serrated knife, peel the green tomatoes, cut them in half horizontally, seed them, and cut them into even small dice.  Reserve.

Rub the fish with salt, pepper, and olive oil and reserve at room temperature.

Heat 1 T. olive oil over high heat (preferably in a Staub cast iron, waffle-bottom skillet) and saute the green tomatoes 3 minutes until slightly softened and colored.  Scrape into small bowl and reserve.

Heat the 3 T. olive oil over high heat in the same skillet.  Sear the tuna about 2-3 minutes on each side, until just colored.  Remove to a platter and keep warm.

Add the wine to the skillet and boil until reduced by 2/3.  Add the Saba, verjus, balsamic vinegar, and a couple of pinches of raw sugar.  Cook 2 minutes over medium heat and taste.  The sauce should be lightly syrupy and have a pleasing balance of sour, salty, and sweet.  Adjust with more pinches of sugar or verjus as necessary.  Whisk in the remaining olive oil.

Return the tuna to the skillet, letting it glaze in the sauce for 1 minute on each side.  Remove again to the warm platter.

Stir in the chopped fennel florets, green tomato dice, grapes, ande capers.  Heat for 1 minute.  Taste and season with freshly ground black pepper and salt (caution as your capers may add salt enough).  Cut the tuna into thin slices and distribute on warmed plates.  Spoon the sauce over, garnish with more fennel flowers if abvailable.  Serve immediately.

Note:  This is my take on the classic sweet-sour-salty treatment of tuna in Italy.  The green tomatoes add  superb acid note.  We only eat tuna once in a great while as a treat, due to its endangered status.  You may substitute salmon if you like.

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Try some of our past French garden recipes:

Appetizers and small dishes

Basics

Beef, pork, lamb, and veal