First Time: Tuna Steaks

When it comes to poultry, I’m solid. I can cook a mean turkey burger, an epic hunk of chicken breast and my chicken salads are BOMB. But ask me to make you something else and I start to sweat. I don’t cook other things, I eat them all the time, but I play it pretty safe when it comes to meats in my kitchen.

Today I wanted to try tuna steak. I found a cool recipe for tuna in aluminum foil pockets and I wanted to try it. It seemed simple enough. I did what I had to do, but alas, I always find a way to second guess myself and overcook a perfectly find slab of meat. Anyway. The taste was SO there, god it tasted good. But boy was that sucker tough. I recommend baking it for 30 minutes TOPS. I’m gonna try again on Sat for 23 minutes and then I’m sure I’ll be happy with it. I also made a green bean, mushroom and carrot salad. By no means was it pretty but it sure was tasty. Next time I’d go with fresh asparagus, drop the carrots and go for full on buttons rather than sliced mushrooms.

Tuna Steak Pockets:

Gather:
A lemon
A pint of cherry tomatoes
One red onion
Tuna Steaks (2)
Spinach
Salt & Pepper
Olive Oil/Butter
Aluminum foil

(This recipe pretty much works well with ANY fish and you can add the fixings to your likings. Just want to do this with lemon and thyme? DELICIOUS. Maybe some balsamic and green beans? WIN. Whatever your heart desires can probably be thrown into some foil and baked into magic happiness for your mouth.)

Magic Time:

Pre-heat over to 400 degrees.
Tear up some aluminum foil- long enough so you can turn it into a neat pocket after all of your fixings are in it.
On your sheet of foil, place a handful of greens- Spinach works nicely. I used mixed baby greens and it was great.
If you’re serving for two, slice up a quarter or a red or spanish onion. Set aside.
Halve about 20 cherry tomatoes. Set aside.
Take half of a lemon and slice into about 6 thin slices. Set aside.
Rinse your steaks and make sure they are free of any bones.
Place your steaks on the bed of greens on your foil.
Sprinkle salt and pepper (I also added some crushed red peppercorn)
Divide your lemons, onions and tomatoes among both steaks.
You can either drizzle some good EVOO on your steaks or some butter. I OBVIOUSLY went with some “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” which rocked. Butter and Fish go magically together.
Fold up your foil to completely cover the steak from every side. It’s pretty much a foil burrito at this point.
Drop those babies into a baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes depending on how cooked you like your meat. (Mine was in for about 35 minutes and it was too tough –sadness–) But the flavor was there.

- Note: Seriously, be careful. The juices are boiling hot and you don’t want to burn yourself.

Either transfer the entire pocket to a plate and have at it, or get all fancy and remove it from the foil (DON’T FORGET THE JUICES!)

Anyway. If I would not have overcooked this it would have been perfect. So try it, don’t over-cook it and report your success immediately. Thanks!