Tuna Steaks au Poivre

Traditional steak au poivre ("poivre" is pepper) is a French bistro dish using strip steaks coated in cracked peppercorns, sauted quickly over high heat. The cracked pepper is not as hot as regular ground pepper.

One of my favorite TV chefs is Jacques Pepin. He had several cooking series on PBS, some with only himself, some with his daughter, and one with Julia Child. One of the accompanying cookbooks had a recipe for tuna steaks au poivre, a variation on the classic method. Here's my take:

The Fresh Market had sashimi grade tuna steaks on sale and I got three. Take out of the fridge about 30 minutes to an hour before cooking.

Our friends Steve and Amy gave us this peppercorn blend for Christmas. Put several tablespoons in your mortar and pestle and crack them. If you don't have a blend, use regular black peppercorns. If you lack a mortar and pestle, crack the peppercorns with a large heavy skillet (put them on the counter or cutting board and press the skillet on them to crack them) or rolling pin (you might want to put them in a ziplock bag first).

Sprinkle both sides with the cracked peppercorns and press in. Sprinkle the steaks with salt.

Get your skillet hot, add some olive oil, add the tuna steaks.

Turn steaks over after a minute or two. Time depends on how thick the steaks are and how well you like them cooked. I try to cook mine to medium rare, but the wife likes her seafood fully cooked. Remove from pan when done and pour out extra oil. In the original Pepin recipe, this was the end. I've added a sauce.

Pour some red wine (merlot or cabernet sauvignon) in the pan and reduce this over medium-to-high heat. Scrape any cooked-on goodies from the pan so they dissolve in the wine. You want about 1/4 cup of liquid left; it starts to thicken and get syrupy.

When ready, add a pat of butter and turn off the heat. Swirl to incorporate butter.

Serve the tuna and spoon some of the sauce over it. Here we had fresh asparagus and brown rice. We enjoyed the dish with a Seghesio Family Vineyards 2008 Zinfandel. Two and a half years ago our friends Clark and Henrik introduced us to a Seghesio 2005 zin and we really liked it. We still have a few bottles left from the case(s) we later bought. Recently the 2008 version was out and I got a bottle to see if it was as good as its earlier version. It was. Both have generous fruit flavors. Some red wines work with some fish, i.e. pinot noir and wild salmon. I was thinking that the peppery notes in a zinfandel would match the tuna, but the Seghesio has little peppery notes. Still, the concentrated fruit made it a joy to drink.

If you don't drink red wine, you can try making your sauce with a chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, and drink either varietal with the dish.

Grilled "Woo Woo" Chicken

“Woo woo” was my mother’s term for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. She used to do a baked chicken breast dish with Worcestershire sauce, margarine, and lemon juice. I’ve modified it and now it’s my favorite grilled chicken recipe.

The basic marinade ingredients are Worcestershire sauce, citrus juice, wine, garlic, and olive oil. For a standard package of 4 split chicken breasts, I use about ¾ cup of Worcestershire sauce, the juice of a lemon or two limes, several garlic cloves put through a garlic press, ¼ cup olive oil, an enough red or white wine to cover the chicken. I usually do lemon juice with white wine and lime juice with red wine. Both are good.

Mix your marinade ingredients in a bowl or large pan. I use a large mixing bowl with a pour spout. This aids pouring the marinade out when I’m ready to grill.
I remove the skin from the chicken because it flares less on the grill without the extra fat. Immerse your chicken in the marinade. I like to marinate the chicken for several hours. You can stir the chicken around once or twice if you like. Remove from the fridge about 2 hours before you plan to grill them. Drain the marinade right before you grill them.

Place chicken breast-side down on grill. Cover. Turn after about 6 minutes and grill the other side. Alternatively, you can broil or roast the chicken in your oven. Cooking times vary; use your judgment.

This is how they look after they’re finished. You can test doneness by pressing on the chicken (it’s firm when done), cutting into it, or using an instant read thermometer.

The breasts are so large, the wife and I usually split one. I cut it off the bone and then cut it in half. Here it’s served with Auburn field peas and the wife’s polenta. Yum!

The chicken goes very well with a good chardonnay, like this one we received as a birthday gift from friends Ralph and Anne. Thank you!

Flip the Bird @ Thanksgiving

In 1984 my sister just finished college and started work in St. Louis. She had to work the Friday after Thanksgiving and thus could not make it home for the holiday. I took Amtrak from LR to St. Louis to spend the holiday weekend with her. She cooked a turkey and I prepared to carve it. I wondered why there was so little meat coming off the bone. I turned it over and realized she cooked the turkey breast-side-down. Years later I read several recipes for roast chicken or turkey that recommended starting the bird breast-side-down to slow the cooking of the white meat and keep it moist. Now I do all roast chickens and turkeys this way.

I’m holding what used to be a white kitchen towel over a roasting pan and rack. Some turkey roasting recipes recommend placing moistened cheesecloth over the breast to keep the breast meat moist and slow its cooking. Dark meat takes longer to cook than white meat, so this method is designed to keep the white meat from overcooking when the dark meat is done.

I don’t have cheesecloth, so I use a kitchen towel. After several Thanksgivings, our “turkey towel” is almost the same color as the skin of the roast turkey. In the days before Thanksgiving, we begin our annual search for the turkey towel.

We used bay leaves, rosemary, and sage from our garden. Moisten the turkey towel with water or white wine, place on your rack, drizzle with olive oil. Place a bay leave and some herbs in the turkey’s large cavity and neck cavity. Add some carrot, celery, and onion. Place more of the same herbs and aromatic vegetables in the roasting pan.

Place turkey breast-side-down on the towel on the rack.

Rub the skin with softened butter or drizzle with oil.

Sprinkle with S & P.

Pour some water or white wine in the roasting pan.

Place in preheated 350 degree oven.

Meanwhile, place onion, carrot, celery, a bay leaf, and the turkey neck in a pot with cold water and bring to a simmer. This will make a turkey stock you’ll use in your gravy.

To baste the bird, melt a stick of butter and add dry sherry and some garlic. Smells great!

After about 1 ½ hours, it’s time to … flip the bird!

Take 2 large ziplock bags, turn them inside out, put them over your oven mitts, and secure with a rubber band. Why inside out, you ask? When done, turn them right-side out and you can put leftover turkey in them. Great for sending relatives off with some leftovers.

Grab the bird and towel and flip. Baste the turkey-towel-covered breast with your butter/sherry mixture. Return to oven.

Check doneness with an instant-read thermometer. Remove when done, tilting bird to let cavity juices run into roasting pan. Place bird on cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and let rest while you make the gravy.

It may not be pretty, but it tastes good.

You know the gravy drill. Strain and de-fat your turkey stock. Remove vegetables and herbs from roasting pan and de-fat the pan juices*. Deglaze pan with wine or sherry, add de-fatted pan juices and turkey stock, plus additional chicken stock, and reduce. Thicken with a mixture of cornstarch and wine. *or you can make a roux of some of the fat from the drippings in which you cook some flour. After cooking the flour a little bit, add the liquids and heat until thickened. I prefer the cornstarch method because I can reduce the liquids first, concentrating the flavor. And it’s lower in fat than a roux-thickened gravy.

The Vegetable of Love

Three years ago the future wife and I went out for the second time to a potluck Christmas party. I brought the following vegetable. She asked what that aroma was in the car and I told her, “America’s favorite vegetable: Brussels sprouts!” My sister and I never had these growing up, but I saw a cooking show extolling them and decided to try them. Now I’m a big fan. The wife liked them too, and decided to keep the cook. Now we call them “the vegetable of love”.

Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Grow Brussels sprouts (or have best friend Amy bring you some). This also works well with frozen sprouts.

Trim sprout from stalk and cut an X in the bottom. Cut any large sprouts in half.

Bring pan of water to boil, add salt and sprouts. Cook til tender, then drain well.

Add some cream and sugar and return to heat. Toss occasionally as the cream thickens and starts to coat the sprouts. Add some lemon juice, S & P, and paprika.

Continue tossing. The sauce will thicken and glaze the sprouts.

This is about how they will look when done. Enjoy!