Seared Sashimi Tuna with Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad

Grilled Sashimi Tuna Steaks with Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad

Looking at my blog recently, you'd think we are on an Asian kick around our house, and to some degree, we are! When you've been cooking a long LONG time, like I have, it's fun to try new dishes, and to that end, I've been working on my Asian repertoire. I'm on a self improvement kick and while I love the local "Chinese" take-out, I KNOW it's loaded with fat and sodium. SO, to still get my fill of what I want to eat and keep it healthy, I've started making take out food at home.

I found this recipe in a Weight Watcher's brochure. It looked so good, I had to try it! I only made one or two adjustments, and none that would affect the overall calorie count, which is quite low. If you are a Weight Watcher, it adds up to just 6 "Smart Points" the current exchange rate on that eating plan. This recipe also has the advantage of being very simple and quick to make. Once you have your ingredients on hand and laid out, it's 30 minutes, tops, start to finish. You will need a non-stick ridged grill pan if you don't plan to cook the tuna on the outdoor grill. It was COLD here last night, so we opted to cook the tuna inside. If you do cook on the outdoor grill, use the olive oil to oil the grill and keep the tuna from sticking. I made this for 2 of us, and put the noodle salad away for lunch later this weekend. The salad was slightly spicy, sweet and sour all at the same time! If you are totally against spicy food, the original recipe only called for 1 tsp. of Sriracha sauce. Mine was only a little bit hot, so don't be afraid! It was so good the first time, but I'll let you know how the noodles hold up! ***Cooks note, several weeks later: I've made this again and saved the leftover noodles both time for lunch later in the week. They held up really well and tasted great! I held them 2 days the first time I made this and 3 days the nest time. The rice noodles were just slightly softer, not much. New, great pasta salad recipe! 

I'll be making this again soon, I promise!

Seared Sashimi Tuna with Cold Cucumber Noodle Salad
serves 4

3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons rice  wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon Sriracha sauce
3 tsp. Kikkoman Soy Sauce, divided use
a pinch or two of Kosher salt
1/2 c. hot water
4 oz Annie Chun's Pad Thai Rice Noodles (thin)
6 radishes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves
4 Sashimi grade Tuna steaks, about 5 oz. each
1 tsp. olive oil
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
Lime wedges for garnish

1. Put a large pot half full of water on to boil for the rice noodles.
2. In a medium size non-reactive bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, vinegar, Sriracha sauce, 1 tsp. soy sauce, a pinch of Kosher salt and hot water.
3. Add the cucumbers into the salad dressing mixture.
4. When the water begins to boil, add the rice noodles and cook for 4 - 5 minutes.
5. Drain the noodles and rinse well with cold water. Drain the cold water off shaking the colander to make sure they aren't watery. Take your clean kitchen shears, and snip the noodles in a few places. The noodles I bought came in one long strand, so I wanted to make them easier to toss and to serve.
6.While the noodles drain, preheat a non-stick ridged grill pan over high heat.
7. Add the drained noodles, radishes, onion and salt to the salad dressing. Toss well to combine.

Noodle salad, flavors melding, before the cilantro is added. 

8. Sprinkle the tuna with the remaining soy sauce and a little salt and pepper. Add the olive oil to the grill pan or oil the outdoor grill.
9. Place it in the pan, on an angle over the ridges and press it lightly into the pan.You want the tuna to make good contact with the ridged grill for a good sear.  Don't move it for 1 minute. After 1 minute, rotate it to "cross hatch" the grill marks (if you feel like it, I enjoy a challenge), pressing it down again to make good contact with the pan. Turn if over after 1 additional minute. It should look like this:

Grill marks on the tuna, it only stuck a little! 

10. Cook on the other side for 1 minutes, again pressing the tuna down, for rare, 2 minutes for medium rare. I wouldn't take it farther than that, as the tuna is delicate and may dry out.
11. Add the cilantro to the noodle salad, tossing well. Using a slotted spoon, to drain the excess dressing, divide the noodle salad evenly between 4 plates. Or do half of it between 2 if it's dinner for for 2!
12 Place the tuna on the plates next to the salad, and thinly slice the tuna. Garnish with limes if desired. We squeezed some over the dish, but I forgot the limes as garnish for the pictures! It just looked and smelled so darn good! Enjoy!

Umami! Yum! 

Orange Chicken

My husband LOVES orange chicken. It seems like no matter where we eat "Chinese" or get "Chinese" take out, Orange Chicken is what he orders. I feel like that is probably one of the worst dishes you can order off the menu -- the chicken is fried, the sauce has something obviously sweet in it and there aren't even too many vegetables. I always scold him about his choice, but alas, it really does NO good. So, I decided to try to make some myself. Since this was my first try at making a "fried" Chinese dish, I figured I better follow a recipe. I saw "The Pioneer Woman" do it on the Food Network, so I used her recipe. Here's how mine turned out:

I must say that the dish was absolutely delicious, but it honestly was kind of a pain to make. Frying up the chicken thighs which had been soaked in egg white and corn starch was not easy. I don't know if my oil wasn't hot enough or if it wasn't deep enough, but the pieces of chicken kept sinking to the bottom of my pan and sticking! That made the pan a mess to clean up. On the plus side, you could absolutely make this dish ahead of time, like way early in the day and then just put it together at meal time. I used the orange zest as she suggested and it added a lot of flavor. The sweetener that I chose for the dish was honey, since that's what I found first in the cupboard! I also halved the recipe to make just enough for the two of us. I added broccoli, which is sometimes included when you order take-out, to make things a little more balanced and healthy. I also used a 50/50 mixture of brown and white rice, with that same interest in mind. If you feel like experimenting in the kitchen, go for it. The taste was absolutely wonderful!

Here's the recipe I used :  Pioneer Woman Orange Chicken

Let me know how it goes, I'd love to hear. Maybe I can figure out what I can do to keep the chicken from sinking and sticking! I'd make it again if I could!

Philly Cheese Steak Subs at Home Or More Manly Man Cooking

We have a tradition in our family that you get to pick whatever you want for dinner on your birthday. Short of an 11 year old demanding shots of tequila, the tradition is pretty sacred at our house. Your birthday is YOUR special day, and you should get what you want on your birthday. I've written about this before when my husband chose ribs on his birthday (read about that day here ).  My mom always honored this custom and I loved it as a kid. I was a traditionalist and almost always chose spaghetti with meat sauce, my favorite thing that my mom made. Sometimes I picked apple pie for dessert, sometimes angel food cake. My youngest son likes to mix it up when it's his turn to choose. He's often chosen rockfish stuffed with crab meat, but this year he choose to have me concoct Philly Cheese-steak Subs.

The internet is truly a wonderful thing when you are searching for recipes. Instead of buying a bunch of cookbooks you'll never use again or spending hours at the library looking through recipes,  you have the info you need right at your fingertips. My husband got involved -- he's pretty sure that HE'S the KING OF SANDWICHES (not that guy on TV who claims he is) and he narrowed it down to 2 recipes, one on a website labelled "Real and Authentic" and one from Bobby Flay. Bobby called for using hot peppers and we decided we didn't want that this time, but maybe later we'll try that. The "Real and Authentic" recipe writer claimed that the secret of authentic Philly taste was to use only Olive Oil to fry the meat and vegetables, so that's what we did. Also, don't get smoked provolone if provolone is the cheese your prefer. My son had his sub cut in half, with provolone on one half and American cheese on the other half, both with mayo. He preferred the provolone, in the end. Here's how we did it at home.

Philly Cheese Steak Subs at Home

Philly Cheese Steak Subs
makes 5 - 6 large subs

1 3 lb. sirloin roast
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive Oil
Large sub rolls
2 green pepper, sliced
1 large yellow onion sliced
1 can sliced mushrooms
Light Mayo (optional) 
Sliced American or Provolone Cheese
OR Cheese Sauce 

The method is the important thing here. Freeze your sirloin roast for about 45 minutes so that it firms up and will be easier to shave. Shave or slice the raw meat into very thin slices. We used our electric meat slicer for this. If you don't have one, make sure your knife is very sharp and that the meat is frozen until just firm. That will make it easier to slice. Try to slice it as thin as you can. After you've got it all cut up, preheat a large skillet and put a Tablespoon or 2 of olive oil into it and add the meat. Sprinkle with the Worcester, a pinch or 2 of salt and some black pepper. Fry it quickly, about 3 minutes, stirring it around to brown the meat on both sides. Don't over cook it. Remove the meat from the pan and chop it up like the guys in the deli do it. It's very manly, chopping meat with two knives, just sayin'. (IF you've got a man who loves to cook, try this!)

Sirloin Roast chopped and ready for Philly Cheese Steak Subs

 Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Set the meat aside and fry up your peppers and onions in the same pan with a drop more of olive oil. Add the canned mushrooms and push them to one side for anyone who doesn't care for the mushrooms on their sandwich.

While the vegetables are cooking put the buns in the oven, slicing them first to make them easier to handle. Toast your sliced sub rolls until they are starting to get crisp, 5 or 6 minutes. Swipe one side of the roll with mayo if desired and pile on the meat. Top with your choice of onions, peppers and/or mushrooms. Place 2 slices of cheese on top or spoon a little cheese sauce over the meat. Put the subs back into the oven for a minute to make sure it's all hot and bubbly. My son and husband prefer mayo and sliced cheese on theirs. I don't care for mayo so I prefer cheese sauce. I've included the recipe below.
The shaved meat in these was YUMMY as was the gooey cheese over the vegetables. I like peppers, onions and mushrooms, my son prefers his without mushrooms. It's all good, I promise!

PS My son took the picture of the sandwich. We need to keep this real, right?

Easy Cheese Sauce
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1/3 c. milk
1 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
a pinch of salt
2 oz. grated provolone or American cheese or 2 thick slices of cheese, torn up
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and stir until you can't see any white and the flour is absorbed by the butter. Add the milk and Worcestershire. Stir, stir stir, or use a whisk so that there are no lumps and the sauce is smooth. Put in a pinch of salt and add the cheese. Cook over low, stirring often, until cheese is melted. Taste the sauce and correct the seasoning Enough for at least 2 subs. 

Lettuce Wraps

My husband and I love to sit at the bar at PF Changs and order Chicken Lettuce Wraps with our cocktail. However, not too long ago I saw the calorie count for them, and realized that they won't fit in with my current eating plan. I tried a few different lower calorie ones, but none really measured up to my expectations. Then I found this recipe, which I changed up a little to satisfy my craving for those high cal babies. Now, these wraps are made from flank or flat iron steak, which, obviously, is not chicken. Nor does it "taste like chicken" as the saying goes. What they do taste like is delicious and they ARE fun to eat, like the inspiration dish. (IF you have not tried flat iron or flank steak, you must give it a try. It is lean and very economical.) I even invented a side dish to eat with them. You can add the slaw to the wrap, or eat it separately. You may also sprinkle this with dry roasted, chopped peanuts if desired, but we prefer it without.
Korean Style Beef Lettuce Wraps
3/4 lb. flank steak, trimmed
1/2 c. green onions, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 T. sugar
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. sesame oil
1-2 T. canola oil (divided)
1 T. toasted sesame seeds, optional
3 c. hot cooked rice leaf lettuce for wrapping, washed and dried, separated into individual leaves Asian Cole Slaw (recipe follows)
Cut steak across the grain into 1/4" slices and then cut them in half ( it helps to put the steak into the freezer for about 5 minutes before slicing -- this firms it up just a little). Combine steak, onions, sugar, soy sauce, garlic and sesame oil in a large bowl. Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add 1/2 - 1 T. canola oil, swirling to coat (you can use less oil if you use a nonstick pan, just make sure it's deep enough). Add half of steak mixture and stir fry until browned. Remove to a clean bowl. Add a little more canola oil and stir fry the rest of your beef/onion mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Asian Cole Slaw
2 cups slaw mix ( I like the angel hair cut, but any will work) 1 green onion, thinly sliced 1 small cucumber, seeded, peeled and cut into "matchstick" pieces dressing mixture Make your dressing first: 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 tsp. canola oil 1. T. brown sugar 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar pinch of salt Combine those ingredients in a jar or small bowl and shake or whisk to combine. Pour over the vegetables and toss it all around, then let it sit for while at room temp. Stir it now and then to distribute dressing and coat the veggies.
To Assemble Wraps: Separate your lettuce leaves. Take one leaf, and spoon about 2 T. rice down the middle. Top with about 2 T. beef mixture and a spoonful or 2 of slaw, if desired. Roll your leaf and enjoy it. Makes about 8 filled lettuce leaves. 2 main dish servings or 4 appetizer servings. Each "leaf" contains approx. 100 cal. (without the slaw), 3 grams of fat and less than 1 gram of fiber.