Tuna leftovers

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary “leftover” is a noun originated in 1891 referring to “something that remains unused or unconsumed”, especially “leftover food served at a later meal”.  Remember the tuna fish I received as a present and prepared on the grill a few weeks ago? If not, take a look here.  If you do, then let me add that we had quite a few leftovers, which obviously found their way into the freezer.

The Wikipedia affirms that “new dishes made from leftovers are quite common in world cuisine” and, let me assure you, they are more than correct.  Well, those tuna leftovers were found by my wife yesterday, and hence a new dish was offered for us at lunchtime.

First, she boiled some sliced potatoes (an egg was also boiled during the process).  Second, onions and yellow bell peppers were sauté in olive oil, to which the tuna leftovers were added.  The potatoes were then disposed at the bottom of a ceramic platter and the tuna, onions and bell peppers layered at the top.  An extra shot of olive oil was added and the dish placed in the oven for a couple of minutes.  Right before serving the egg was sliced and put at the top of the plate.

Tuna leftovers with boiled potatoes, onions, yellow bell peppers and boiled eggs (don't forget the olive oil).

The result was rather simple, but quite tasty.  And she proved once again she cares about my money. Thanks hun.

Time for tuna – A Saturday surprise

I’ve always been told that you must always have at least 3 types of persons as friends, it doesn’t matter where you live: the Sheriff (Police Chief??), a lawyer and a physician. Last Saturday I became sure you have to add a fourth one to the list, a fisherman.

As I got home from my Porto Alegre adventure I found 2 whole tunas on my yard. Yes, that’s right, a friend, who happens to be a fisherman, had passed by and literally dropped 2 whole tunas on my frontyard (since I was not home yet he simply left the fish on the lawn).

The fish were, Katsuwonus pelamis, a medium-sized Scombridae, also known as striped tuna or oceanic “bonito”, which grows up to 1 m long.

The largest world consumers of skipjacks are the Japanese, who use them to prepare “dashi” (a fish stock) based on “katsuobushi” (or dried “katsuo”, as the fish is known in Japan).

Slicing fresh tuna

As I wanted to take advantage of the freshness of this wonderful fish I decided to clean and slice one of them immediately, leaving some pieces on the fridge for a Sunday lunch. The other one was frozen whole for future use.

Grilling the tuna on wood charcoal - the 3 pieces on the right were also brushed with soy sauce

It took no longer than a couple of minutes to have the slices juicy and ready to eat, served with an aragula salad with sliced parmigiano-reggiano (not the Italian one, but a very good product I bought in Uruguay) and gorgonzola cheese. They were brushed with olive oil and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper right before grilling on wood charcoal.

Since I’m a lawyer myself, I had only to invite some physicians to join my family for lunch. Next time I’ll have to invite the Sheriff.

Grilled tuna