db Bistro Moderne

Culinary Recipes

Moroccan Spiced Tuna with Carrots and Mint Oil

Adapted From:  Chef Daniel Boulud:  Cooking in New York City

Daniel Boulud and Peter Kaminsky, Assouline 2002

 

Makes 4 servings ( download recipe)

 

For the Mint Oil

• 1 bunch mint, leaves only
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive or grapeseed oil

1. Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl and set aside.  Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil.  Plunge the mint into the boiling water and blanch until tender, 1 to 2 minutes.  Transfer the mint to the prepared ice-water bath.  Once cooled, squeeze the leaves free of excess water.
2. In a blender, purée the mint leaves and grapeseed oil together until the emulsion is a bright green.  Immediately strain the oil through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.

For the Vegetables:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 spring onions, trimmed, peeled and each onion cut into 8 wedges
• 5 California carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut on the diagonal into very thin slices
• 10 cumin seeds
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon thinly sliced meyer lemon confit
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 5 sprigs cilantro

Warm the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook, while stirring, until tender and translucent, 7 to 8 minutes.  Add the carrots, cumin, and orange juice, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated.  Add the meyer lemon confit, and season with salt and pepper.  Set aside and keep warm.  Just before serving add the cilantro sprigs. 

 

 

For the Tuna:

• 2 teaspoons zatar
• 3/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 pounds yellowfin tuna loin (1-inch thick), divided into four pieces
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Cooking oil

1. Finely ground the zatar, paprika, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns and cayenne pepper in a spice grinder.
2. Season the tuna with the salt then with the ground spices.  Drizzle the olive oil over the tuna on both sides.   Prepare a very hot grill.  Brush the grill with the cooking oil, add the seasoned tuna, and grill for 2 minutes on each side for medium-rare.  Let the tuna rest for a minute before serving.

To Serve

Place a mound of the vegetables in the center of each warm dinner plate.  Top with a tuna fillet and drizzle the mint oil around.

 

Wine Selection:

Hermitage Blanc (France), Domaine Jean-Louis Chave 1999.  This wine is full-bodied with aromas of white flowers and peach kernel that intermix nicely with the spices used in the recipe.  The richness and roundness of the wine mesh well with the firmer texture of the tuna.