yapidka’s Neighborhood

I made this particular dish the other day and it was absolutely wonderful. My wife, who normally does not eat big portions, cleaned off her plate and wanted more, so that is a very good sign.

The thickness of the tuna steak you use really depends on how rare you like your tuna. Because you are only searing the outside of your tuna steak, it will not be in the pan for very long. So the thicker the steak, the more rare the center will be.

I personally do not like my tuna too rare, so I usually make this recipe with thinner cuts of tuna. This is just a preference, not a requirement. Many people, including chefs say the only way to eat tuna is rare. I guess you will have to be the judge.

Let us move on to the recipe shall we?

Seared Sesame Encrusted Ahi Tuna with a Cilantro, Garlic and Lime sauce..

I should mention one thing before we begin this recipe. I do not follow exact measurements in recipes. I measure everything by eye, so the following measurements are only to be used as a guide. So don't get too mad at me!

This is optional, but I like to toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan first before I put them on the tuna. The seeds become nutty and aromatic when you toast them. This is highly recommended if you have the time and is quite easy to do. Simply heat a dry pan over medium heat, then add the seeds shaking the pan occasionally. You may have to do this in batches, depending on how many seeds you are toasting. You do not want to overcrowd the pan. Keep an eye on the seeds and make sure they do not burn. Toast them until they darken a bit and start to become fragrant. Remove and let them cool before adding them to the tuna.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 Cup Black Sesame Seeds
1/4 Cup White Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
2 - 6 ounce Ahi (Also known as Yellow Fin) Tuna Steaks
Salt and Pepper to Taste

MARINADE/ DIPPING SAUCE

1/ 2 Cup of Low Sodium Soy Sauce (Who needs the extra sodium, right?)
1 Lime (Juice and Zest - If you want more lime flavor, add another)
1- 2 Cloves of Garlic Minced
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoons of Freshly Chopped Cilantro Leaves

1) Prepare the marinade. Add all marinade ingredients to a small bowl and mix well. Reserve half of this marinade in a separate container to use as a dipping sauce.

2) Get a glass baking dish or other non-reactive container to marinade the tuna in. You want the tuna steaks to fit snuggly in the dish so that they are surrounded nicely with the marinade. Pour the marinade into the dish and put the tuna steaks in and kind of swirl the marinade around so that you coat the fish well. Cover with some plastic wrap and refrigerate. Another option is to pour the marinade in a large zip lock bag, add the tuna, and then squeeze out the air. Marinade for 30 minutes to an hour, turning the tuna about half way through.

3) Remove tuna from fridge and let stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes or so.

4) Remove tuna from marinade, shaking off any excess marinade and dry on paper towels.

5) Heat a saute pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. The oil should be hot but not smoking.

6) While the pan is heating, arrange your sesame seeds on a flat dish. Roll the tuna around in the seeds pressing down as you roll ensuring the seeds are packed into the tuna nicely.

7) Add the tuna to the hot saute pan and shake it a bit to make sure the tuna does not stick. Sear for 30 to 40 seconds on both sides.

8) Remove and serve with the reserved dipping sauce.

For side dishes with this recipe I usually keep things pretty bland as I don't want anything to compete with the flavors in the tuna. So I usually prepare a side of steamed green beans with a bit of butter, salt and pepper or other vegetable along with some lightly seasoned jasmine or basmati rice.

There you have it. I do hope you enjoy this Seared Sesame Encrusted Ahi Tuna recipe. I am not a big wine drinker, but for those of you who like a glass or two with dinner, I heard a nice Pinot Grigio goes quite well with Tuna. Buon Appetito!

Happy Birthday, Shesgot!!! Hope you have a great one!!

Here is a little tip to keep in mind as you are making this delicious ground beef recipe. There is a chance that your ground beef steaks can fall apart while cooking. To prevent this from happening, form your steak patties and put them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so before you start cooking. This will help hold your steaks stay together.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion finely chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1 tablespoon montreal steak seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 small package of freshly sliced portobello mushrooms or by them whole and slice yourself
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, egg, garlic, onion, steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. From the mixture, make steak shaped patties that are about 2 inches thick.

2 Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef patties and cook about 4 minutes per side until the outside of the steaks are nicely browned and the juices run clear. Remove the steaks and cover with foil to keep them warm.

3 Add the rest of the olive oil along with the butter to the same pan. Add your mushrooms and then cook over medium heat until they are tender. Approximately 5 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add the flour to the mushrooms, mix and cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add in your beef stock. Stir and cook until your sauce has thickened.

5. Pour gravy over steaks and serve.�

I was born and raised in California. I lived there the first almost-24 years of my life.

Living in Kentucky for the past almost-five-years, people have many times assumed that I must be some kind of earthquake expert (okay, we were trained well in school, etc.). People assume I must have lived through The Big One(tm) or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof. People are often surprised to hear that nope, I never so much as felt a tremor my entire life.

Until today.

Karma - Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others.

Luck - Luck is a chance happening, or that which happens beyond a person's control. Luck can be good or bad.

Ever say, "well if that's the worst thing that can happen?, then it's all downhill from here!" OR "I hope that’s all the bad luck we are going to have?"

Ya see, I was just about to close the laptop for the night and I spilled a whole cup of ice water all over the keyboard of the laptop.  I immediately pulled the power plug and flipped it over while turning off the power button. At least it was water and not coke (my normal drink). After gently shaking it to dispense the water out, I took it to the bathroom and used the hotel hair dryer on it. Then after some more shaking was almost satisfied I had all the big stuff out.  I wasn’t completely convinced so I placed it on the end table in front of the air conditioner for an hour.

While waiting for it to dry some more in front of the AC, I got a new cup of ice water and then knocked it over on to the alarm clock on the other end table by the bed. Ok, no more water for me tonight.

I crossed my fingers and turned the laptop back on and it booted. Everything seems ok.

So, if that’s the worst thing that can happen for this trip, I’m glad it's out of the way.

Arrived at my hotel in Miami and got settled in. I actually unpacked and used the dresser drawers since I’m here for 2 weeks.  Then drove down to the school (3 miles away) to make sure I knew where I was going in the morning. On the way back took note of all the Starbucks (one on every other corner), fast food, and especially any Chinese restaurants or buffets. 

Stopped and took pictures of the hotel, school, and found a fire station on the way. Also found St Augustine’s Catholic Church in case I can squeeze in a Mass. (doubt I will have time).

Grabbed dinner at Kyojin’s Japanese Buffet and came back to hotel to blog and crash early for the beginning of a long two weeks of intense studying.

Holiday Inn University of Miami

The Academy

Arrived at my hotel in Miami and got settled in. I actually unpacked and used the dresser drawers since I’m here for 2 weeks.  Then drove down to the school (3 miles away) to make sure I knew where I was going in the morning. On the way back took note of all the Starbucks (one on every other corner), fast food, and especially any Chinese restaurants or buffets. 

Stopped and took pictures of the hotel, school, and found a fire station on the way. Also found St Augustine’s Catholic Church in case I can squeeze in a Mass. (doubt I will have time).

Grabbed dinner at Kyojin’s Japanese Buffet and came back to hotel to blog and crash early for the beginning of a long two weeks of intense studying.

Holiday Inn University of Miami

The Academy

Arrived at my hotel in Miami and got settled in. I actually unpacked and used the dresser drawers since I’m here for 2 weeks.  Then drove down to the school (3 miles away) to make sure I knew where I was going in the morning. On the way back took note of all the Starbucks (one on every other corner), fast food, and especially any Chinese restaurants or buffets. 

Stopped and took pictures of the hotel, school, and found a fire station on the way. Also found St Augustine’s Catholic Church in case I can squeeze in a Mass. (doubt I will have time).

Grabbed dinner at Kyojin’s Japanese Buffet and came back to hotel to blog and crash early for the beginning of a long two weeks of intense studying.

Holiday Inn University of Miami

The Academy

If you are ever in Miami, just down the street from the University of Miami, there is a Japanese buffet on South Dixie Hwy (US1), you have got to try.  Kyojin Japanese Buffet.  It was my first sushi buffet experience.  And a close second to my best sushi experience.

I walked in expecting the normal, at least for me the normal is a Chinese buffet with poor sushi. This was the opposite. Kyojin has over 60 items of fantastic sushi and a few items of Chinese (Hot Food). And they do offer the traditional Hibachi Grill that cooks to order if you don’t mind waiting.

My second thought was, ok looks good but is it? The sushi was to die for. My favorite was the pan seared Tuna Takaki. The portions of Tuna and Salmon nigiri sushi were large and of fine grade on and off rice. There were over a dozen slices of various sashimi.  And over 40 different sushi rolls.  My favorite, which I came back for over twice, was the dynamite roll with crab meat and some kind of sauce.  I think I had almost one piece of everything accept squid and may be on or two other unidentifiables I don’t care for.

My other favorite for the night was on the Hot Food buffet. Crusty Tempura Shrimp. The best tempura I have ever had.  There was also a seafood buffet with crab, shrimp, muscles, and oysters.   

Price is a little higher than I am used to for a buffet.  $21.00 a person – all you can eat everything. And I did.  Compared to the sushi I eat back home, I ate over $60.00 in sushi.   The only bad thing, I left in pain from eating way too much food. I never even made it to the desert bar.

 Service staff was excellent, filling glasses before you could ask and whisking away finished plates. Not only very polite, but thoughtful. My waitress (without asking) brought me hot butter and a pair of crab pliers as soon as I sat down with crab legs.

For me, “The Ultimate Sushi Experience”

Kyojin

6212 S. Dixie Hwy (US1)

South Miami, FL 33143

305-722-1888

Here is a great recipe for marinara sauce using canned tomatoes. This marinara sauce is delicious over your favorite pasta, on top of pizza and over mussels and shrimp. The beauty of this sauce is that it can be used with a number of other recipes, so it's a great starting point in Italian Cooking and it is very easy to make.

You can use either fresh or canned plum tomatoes for this recipe, however using fresh tomatoes requires more time and preparation, so I prefer to use canned. If you do plan on using fresh tomatoes, make certain the tomatoes are ripe and in season.

For the canned tomatoes, I prefer Rienzi brand tomatoes. I have tried a number of different brands of canned tomatoes and Rienzi has the best flavor amongst the supermarket brands, in my opinion.

Marinara Sauce Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped (More or less depending on how much you like garlic)

1 35 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes with liquid

Salt to taste

Crushed red pepper to taste (You can use black pepper if you wish)

10 - 12 fresh basil leaves , torn

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

Directions:

1) Open your can of tomatoes and crush them by hand into a bowl and set aside.

2) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add your garlic to the oil and cook until soft and lightly browned. Be sure to watch the garlic to make sure it doesn't burn.

4) Carefully add the tomatoes along with their liquid into the pan with the garlic and oil. Use caution when adding the tomatoes to the hot oil. The oil can splatter. Add the oregano.

5) Stir the mixture and bring to a boil. Season with a bit of salt and red or black pepper. Lower the heat so that the sauce is reduced to a simmer. Break up the tomatoes as it cooks with a spoon until your sauce is chunky. You want the sauce to simmer until thickened, about 20 - 25 minutes.

6) Add your fresh basil a few minutes before the sauce is done. Taste the sauce and add more salt or pepper if needed.

7) Serve over your favorite pasta. �