I am not overly fond of tuna that doesn't come out of a can for some reason, but recently used some to make a Salad Nicoise. Very tasty!

Linda

Oh that sounds wonderful! I love fresh tuna in all ways 'though simmered doesn't sound that great to me.
I would want some big steaks grilled rare with lime butter.
I know you said not just Asian foods, but an Asian cabbage slaw would be good along with fried cream cheese crab wontons, angel hair pastas, vegetable sorbets, good cheese.

Really good but really heavy, and admittedly the sauce overpowers a bit. If you're interested in showcasing the tuna in some apps and then providing a filling final course this could fit the bill. With the ginger and cilantro it's got a bit of Asian flair to go with your other ideas.

Wish I was invited!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce

I tuna to be very simple, and so I usually do not add other flavors, but occasionally I will as some of my own Cajun seasoning (equal parts oregano, basil, thyme, cayenne, salt, and black pepper), but I sprinkle it on very lightly. When made this way, I serve it with tartar sauce (mayo, lemon juice, fresh dill, minced green onion, freshly ground black pepper, and minced dill pickle).

The other way I make it (for grilling) is to use a marinade composed of soy sauce, minced ginger, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, wasabe (or jalape), sesame oil, black vinegar, and olive oil, which I combine with a stick blender. The marinade not used I add to a roux to make a sauce, perhaps adding a little water if it is too intense. If I use the marinade that the fish was in, I microwave it first before adding it to the roux.

But then my favorite way to have it is as sashimi. I have not made spicy tuna rolls - yet.

Lars

To us, tuna goes really well with clams.

When we buy our yearly tuna from the docks and after we can (jar) our supply I use the scraps and bits to make the Ears of Charlie Twofish. We usually use canned tuna but fresh is a whole other thing, right?

Just tuna bits and whole clams (steamer sized) in a very stretched Alfredo with some red pepper, scallion and S&P over medium shell pasta. I just make one batch of Alfredo and use white sauce to stretch it to the volume needed for the dish. Tight or loose, your choice. Garlic!...don't forget the garlic while you saute the scallion/pepper thing part. Oh and red pepper flakes too. Just enough. In the oil, not just into the sauce.

But, if I was doing a party such as yours I'd think about a deconstructed antipasto. All the ingredients of antipasto but laid out on a long and narrow rectangle platter individually. Mix and match, have fun with oils and stuff. Marinated button mushrooms, smoked corn kernels, roasted peppers strips, etc.

Loin steak wrapped in bacon on the grill. Serve with grilled asparagus or zucchini for some green! Maybe a good artisan bread.

Some sort of Tuna Salad served in tomatoes or avocados.
Especially if there's folks who've not eaten fresh tuna salad. What a difference!

Congrats on obtaining that big ol' tuna!!
I don't remember where you live, but I'm sure I can't make it in time! Darn it!

Deanna

What a feast you'll be able to have with your tuna!

If you want to make a tuna pasta dish, her's one I've made with good results.

FUSILLI PROVENCALE (serves 4)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound fresh tuna fillet, skin discarded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup very finely chopped onions
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and cut into julienne strips
One 16 oz. can Italian plum tomatoes, undrained but slightly squished
One 6 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and cut into 1/4 inch lengthwise pieces
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped, or 1 tsp. dried
3/4 cup Nicoise or other flavorful black olives pitted and halved
Pinch of hot pepper flakes
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound fusilli pasta

Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the tuna and cook, stirring, until the cubes are lightly browned on all sides, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and reserve.

Heat the remaining oil in a 1 1/2 to 2 quart heavy saucepan. Add the garlic and onions and cook over low heat until they are softened but not browned, about 10-15 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and continue cooking over low heat until they start to soften, about 1 or 2 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except the pasta one at a time, stirring. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until all the elements have come together and sauce is slightly reduced, about 10 minutes. Add the reserved tuna and season with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm on low heat while you cook the pasta. Divide the pasta into 4 warmed oversized soup bowl and top with the sauce.

Note: I usually add a tablespoon of drained tiny capers.

Thank you all!

Just for fun, has anyone used a deep fryer with tuna?

I am thinking of accompanying with oysters (simply shucked with a mignotte). Other suggestions for sides?

I am going to do a fair number of dishes, each one needs to have intense flavours and very little bulk (high flavour to mass ratio) so that people can get through 6 or 7 dishes.

Sort of a tapas concept.

If anyone has a tuna ice cream recipe, I will be quite indebted!

Tuna is thawing in a ice bath in the cooler. I had to cut the tail off so he'd fit. Fish is (was) 33'' nose to tail and cooler diagonally is only 27''. I figure, the ideal is to have it in water that is as close to 32F as possible, so that the thawed parts are well refrigerated while the core thaws. Does that make sense? I'm told it will take 24 hours to completely thaw like this.

One of the reasons we love living in Mystic is the fishing. DH goes tuna fishing every year. Your fish will take at least 24 hours to thaw...I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer. You will have a fantastic feast to share with your friends.

This is my favorite way to prepare tuna for salads & appetizers.

2 1/2 pounds fresh tuna fillets
Sea salt
6 cloves garlic, smashed
2 to 3 sprigs fresh oregano
2 to 3 sprigs fresh marjoram
Extra virgin olive oil, to cover
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

In a pottery or ceramic baking dish just large enough to hold the tuna in 1 layer, place the tuna and sprinkle generously with the salt on both sides. Add the garlic, oregano and marjoram, then add enough olive oil to completely cover the tuna. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook until the tuna is thoroughly cooked and flakes easily, 3 to 4 hours.

Note: this will depend on the thickness of your tuna; you will know that it is done when it flakes easily and the fillets feel firm from the edges all the way to the center.

Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven (be careful - dish full of hot oil!) and set on a rack to cool completely. (This takes a while)

Transfer the tuna to glass or ceramic bowls & add enough of the cooking oil to cover the fish. Refrigerate until ready to use.

/tricia

This may or may not be helpful, but one of the slicker ways to cook tuna steaks is the George Foreman grill. Depending on how thick, just a couple of minutes of sear time does it nicely. Of course, you want to err on the rare side; well done tuna, especially if it's really nice tuna, is a culinary sin as bad as well done filet mignon.

tricia, I like the sound of that oil poaching technique. I've never tried that.

johnliu,

The oil poached fresh tuna is delicious. You'll never buy canned tuna again! Experiment with different herbs based on how you're going to serve...I like rosemary but just a little 'cause it's powerful & I don't want to overwhelm the fresh tuna.

/tricia

Tricia, with the oil poaching, I'm going to be cooking only about 1 lb of tuna in this manner (because of the tapas approach - many small dishes, each dish will be just a few bites per person). Suppose the piece is 1'' thick and 1 lb. What might a cooking time be - not still 3 hours? Just a guess, if you have one - I'll still check it for doneness as you describe. We have rosemary in the garden, so that's likely what I'll use as herb. Would this go nicely in a salad nicoise? One more thing, would you cut the tuna into portions first then poach, or would you poach the piece then portion?

Now, to search for another cooking method. I keep thinking about 1'' cubes of tuna, coated with tempura batter and briefly deep fried. I wonder if the batter can be crisp before the tuna is overdone. I don't want to end up with tempura cat food.

Another way I like fish is ceviche i.e. acid-cooked. But I've never seen tuna, mackerel, or any other oily fish used in a ceviche. I wonder why.

This is shaping up. There'll be sashimi. Spicy rolled. Simmered with sauce. Seared, or grilled, or blackened. With cream sauce and (a teeny amount of) pasta. Oil poached, maybe in a salad. With clams. Maybe deep fried. I need one more. Where's that tuna ice cream recipe?

Thank you all. The dinner went well.

I cut up the tuna on Saturday after 36 hours of thawing in ice water. A 17 lb tuna yielded about 10 lb trimmed loins, plus lots of trimmings for the cats. Cut each loin in two, each piece being about 1 lb, wrapped in plastic in the fridge that we cranked to 33 F.

Went shopping Sunday first thing and started prepping around 11 AM. around 3:00 PM things were feeling out of control, so I took a walk, thought about it, axed one dish, and all went smoothly from there. First guests arrived at 4:30 PM. 12 adults and some unknown number of children.

We started eating around 5:30 PM and I was able to keep dishes coming about every 20 minutes. Each serving was just a few bites but everyone got enough to eat. Lots of sangria and white wine too.

Dishes were, in order:

- Sashimi, tuna and salmon, with beets cooked then marinated in red wine vinegar. Pretty straightforward and a hit.

- Spicy tuna rolls. Used a liitle hot sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and a very small amount of mayo. Did my shortcut for sushi rice. This went fine.

- Tuna ceviche. This was a bit odd, I made the mistake of including beets which gave the tuna an oddly pink color (it was an albacore, so normally white flesh). Added jalapeño peppers, yellow and orange bell peppers, each serving on a lettuce leaf. It was okay, not my favorite.

- Tuna simmered in miso. Made dashi, then miso, marinated tuna in the miso. Reduced down some dashi and mirin by 1/2, thickened with cornstarch, added sugar and soy sauce. Brought the marinade to a boil, reduced to simmer, simmered tuna for 1 minute (these were 1/3 lb pieces). Served on cucumber slice with the sauce. This was a hit, tied for favorite dish of the night.

- Quinoa risotto. Thought we needed a break from tuna. Used white wine, beef stock, demi glacé, shiitake mushrooms and at the end some heavy cream.

- Tuna seared on grill. Marinated tuna in honey, soy sauce, and wasabi. Coated with sesame seeds. Filled a chimney starter with wood charcoal, got it hot, then daughter held a blow dryer to the bottom of the chimney so that flames jetted up from the top of the chimney. This is the most heat than I can generate here. Put a grate on the chimney and cooked the tuna for 1 minute per side. The sesame seeds were blackened and crusted, the tuna was seared but still very rare inside. Served over some beet greens, chiffonaded and wilted, with the reserved marinade as a sauce. This tied for favorite dish.

- Tuna in salad nicoise. Infused olive oil with rosemary and garlic, poached 1 lb of tuna in the oil at 200 F. I ruined the first batch by leaving it in too long, 2 hours, it was overcooked. Quickly poached another batch for just 30 min, it was good. Not much to say about the rest, I had everything prepped and a guest assembled it, he is a good cook and knew what to do.

- Tuna in alfredo sauce. Steamed clams and mussels, made alfredo sauce, added pasta and tuna cubes, then arranged with clams and mussels. Tasty but the tuna had the back seat here.

- There was a pasta salad, a fruit salad, and ice cream.

We ate outside which was great except that Oregon has 5X the normal mosquito count for this time of year. Still, it was nice. I'm tired, but it was fun. Of course, I didn't have most of the dishes myself, basically ate raw tuna trimmings all day, yum!

The dish that got skipped was to have been tuna rolled in panchetta and nori, coated with tempura batter, and deep fried. I just coudln't get it together.

Kudos to you, John, for planning an executing such a complex menu to showcase your fish. I was waiting to read about the Tuna Feast. It sounds like it was wonderful.

That sounds like an amazing meal and I'm sure you and your guests will remember it for a long time.

This was interesting. My conclusion was that I still like tuna raw the best. Raw, the flesh is already tender and succulent, what's to improve?

The point of any tuna cooking, as far as I could tell, was simply to create a tasty or textural crust, and to apply sauces. I didn't really find a way to cook tuna that actually improved the flesh itself. Every additional minute of cooking simply dried the flsh out.

I'm not any sort of fish expert, am very much learning my way around our finned friends, and I don't necessarily think this is true for all finfish.