A Busy Day and A Great Recipe

It's late, I'm tired, and I didn't get to write my usual post this morning because the time just ran away with me after I slept until the unheard-of (for me) hour of - gasp! - 7:15! After reading the three-cubic-foot Sunday newspaper, eating breakfast, cleaning up the kitchen, having the usual Sunday morning phone calls with Agnes's parents and my dad, and getting organized for the rest of the day, I was already tired. These relaxing weekends will kill me yet!

Agnes and I rented floor space for an hour at a large local dance studio for some intensive practice this morning, then zipped from there down to our daughter's home for some visiting time with little Leya, the newest grandchild. Leya was in full, all-out, stand-back, watch-out, utterly-cute mode today, laughing and cooing and generally acting like the most adorable baby on earth. We had a great visit and it was hard to leave, but we realized it was time when our daughter started trying to coax us into taking our granddog Punky home with us...something for which the time has not yet quite come.

On the way home, we had to make a quick stop at Agnes's favorite store - G Street Fabrics - for "invisible thread" for one of her projects. Of course, there is really no such thing as a "quick stop" at G Street Fabrics, and so I had plenty of time to buy myself a new pair of shoes at another store while Agnes roamed the G Street store, chumming with her quilting friends and deciding on all the things she'll buy when we hit the lottery.

Once home, we lived the latest installment of the Adventure of the Enormous Quilting Frame ... but that's a story for another day.

Before I go, I wanted to share with you a great recipe I made last night for dinner. We've done this one before, and it's absolutely great. It can be a little pricey, so it's a good special occasion dinner...in this case, the special occasion was that I was hungry for something luscious and decadent. Here you go...

Pan-Seared Tuna with Ginger-Shiitake Cream Sauce

Ingredients:
Tuna steaks, about 1” thick, one per person
2 tbsp peanut oil
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
¼ cup chopped cilantro
2 tbsp peeled fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
8 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced
6 tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ cups whipping cream
3 tbsp lime juice

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 200º F (about 90-95º C). Sprinkle one side of the tuna steaks with pepper. Heat two tbsp oil in a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Place tuna steaks pepper side down in the hot oil and sear two minutes. Turn the tuna over and continue cooking to the desired doneness, about two more minutes for rare. Transfer tuna to a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.

Add butter, sliced green onions, cilantro, ginger, and chopped garlic to the same skillet and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the mushrooms and soy sauce and simmer 30 seconds. Add whipping cream and simmer until sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon, about three minutes. Stir in lime juice. Spoon sauce onto plates and arrange tuna atop sauce. Garnish with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs if desired, and serve with rice. Your guests will worship you.

I personally recommend doubling the sauce, which is wonderful. In fact, you can just make the sauce itself to serve with grilled steaks or other meats. And any leftover lime juice goes well in the nice gin and tonic you earned for making such a great dinner.

Have a good evening. Bon appetit! More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo