spoon of the moment: tuna and raw beet

Inspired while doing the Saturday morning marketing. Tuna belly: the kobe beef of the sea. Fatty. Tender. Complex. Meaty. With the bitter tendency of red meat. Looking at fresh produce at the Organic Market Boulevard des Batignoles (Paris XVII), I saw a bunch of raw beets which inspired me.  Surprising aromas of dried earth and…

Recipes for Port: Tuna steak with black Italian rice, spices and cherry/beetroot sauce

    We cooked the black rice* with salt and pepper and then incorporated curcuma, cinnamon and mild curry.  Into the rice we also added some cherry/beetroot purée that we had made (just pitted cherries, cooked beetroot and a little water to thin it out). We pan seared the tuna with salt and ample black…

Summer Nicoise Salad (and, surprisingly, Vincent Dureuil Janthial 2006 Red Burgundy)

Nicoise is what we like to have in the evening when we are feeling veggie starved because it is light, digestible, and full of flavors. It is a dish that is built upon the marriages of different bitternesses.   What we use: Green lettuce, green beans, cooked artichoke hearts, a ripe tomato, a couple of…