Tuna Taco Ceviche Style with Avocado Watermelon Salsa

Man hunts and gathers. Woman makes meal.

My man love was part of a tuna tournament last weekend and came home with a pretty hefty amount of tuna. What to do? What to do?

Another successful search at FoodNetwork.com led me to Tuna Taco Ceviche Style.

There were no comments on the recipe so I was a bit nervous but I was off on another kitchen adventure. It takes a lot of preparation time as so many things need to be cut and diced. Save some time and buy as much as you can pre-cut, like watermelon.

The tuna ceviche turned out great. Nice citrus flavor. I added cilantro (duh, it makes everything better).

The salsa was good but had too much liquid. I’m not sure if I was responsible for miscalculations when doubling the recipe or not.

Bottom line, it is a great recipe to enjoy a summer catch; light, fresh and travels well as the leftovers made two beach appearances on Saturday and Sunday.

Tuna Taco Ceviche Style with Avocado Watermelon Salsa from Food Network

Ingredients

Ceviche:

    8 ounces sushi grade tuna steak, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

    1/4 cup lemon juice

    1/4 cup lime juice

    1/2 teaspoon Serrano pepper, minced

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salsa:

    1 cup 1/2-inch cubed seedless watermelon

    1/2 cup cubed ripe avocado

    1/2 cup chopped red onion

    2 cloves garlic, minced

    1/3 cup chopped parsley leaves

    1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves

    1/3 cup lime juice

    1 teaspoon finely chopped Serrano pepper

    1 teaspoon finely minced jalapeno pepper

    Salt and freshly ground black pepper

    1/3 cup vegetable oil

    2 ounces premium tequila

Condiments:

    1 package flour tortillas

    1/3 cup grated white cheddar

    1 tablespoon sour cream

    1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce

    1/3 cup caramelized red onions (pinch salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

To prepare the ceviche, in a medium-sized bowl combine the tuna, lime juice, lemon juice, Serrano pepper, and salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Make sure the ingredients cover the tuna, and let it stand for 1 hour, occasionally folding ingredients with a rubber spatula.

To begin the salsa, combine the watermelon, avocado, red onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, lime, peppers, salt, pepper, oil, and tequila in a medium-sized bowl. Toss all ingredients together gently. Let it stand for 30 minutes.

To warm the tortillas, season a hot grill or non-stick pan with a touch of oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper (to season the grill, take a thick cloth pour tablespoon of vegetable oil on cloth and rub cloth on grill, then sprinkle grills with salt and pepper). Put the tortillas on the grill until they are warmed through on both sides.

To plate, spoon 2 tablespoons of the tuna on the tortilla, followed by 1 tablespoon of salsa, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and lettuce and caramelized onions.

Suffolk’s Vintage Tavern

A Suffolk road trip led us to Hampton Roads #1 restaurant per Hampton Roads Magazine. We kicked off our top 10 food tour with VintageTavern last Friday and I must say it was an incredible evening.

It wasn’t just the food and wine, but the people. Food is great - but it is more enjoyable when shared and appreciated with others.

The Vintage Tavern physically captures everything your mind conjures up when you think of a tavern. There are dark woods, dimmed lights and in the actual tavern (bar) the heads of your potential entrees. In the banister leading to the upstairs dining is a coin that was found on the property dating to the 1800s. It is rustic.

The waiter was great and recommended a fabulous bottle of wine that he said they were able to offer at a discount ($70) after having one of the owners visit the Napa winery. It was a great introduction for me to the Cabernet Franc which is one of the major black grape varieties principally grown for blending. A Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon. We enjoyed at least four bottles of Trespass Vineyard’s 2005 Cabernet Franc. The same bottle can be ordered from the winery for $47. I recommend it.

We started with the Taste of Southern Goodness which included buttermilk biscuits, deviled eggs, shaved Virginia country ham, Tavern sausage and house-made strawberry preserves. By far my favorite. Call me weird but I have been craving deviled eggs and these were so unique and tasty. I couldn’t put my finger on the smoky goodness that lingered in each bite. We also sampled the Vintage Tavern “Wine House” Charcuterie with house sausages, cured meats and pickles.

Taste of Southern Goodness

I split the summer peaches and fresh mozzarella salad with Benton bacon and toasted pecans. It was good but not nearly as good as the peach caprese salad I just had at Sonoma.

Summer peaches and fresh mozzarella

As a special that evening was tenderloin of wild boar. Yes please! After hearing the waiter describe that dish there is no way that any veal chop or roasted pig plate could sway me. Granted, I have never had wild boar but I am so thankful I have now. I was surprised to discover how un-pig-like the tenderloin was. To me it was like a good beef tenderloin or buffalo perhaps. Delish! I did sample the veal chop which is on the standard menu and it too was super tasty.

We also enjoyed a side of crab mac and cheese as did everyone else at the table. The waiter said it would feed two. I’d say three to four people would get a good sampling from one order.

The only disappointment for me for the evening was my dessert selection. As a special they had a peach upside down cake with homemade blueberry ice cream. The ice cream alone was awesome but the cake was too dry. Others desserts were sampled without complaint; I think this was just a case of me being out ordered.

Cheers to you Vintage Tavern for your number one score. We have nine more joints to discover to ensure you are worthy of the honor. Heck, I may have to come back at the end just to verify; if not for anything other than the Taste of Southern Goodness. You spoke to my heart with that one.

Hampton Roads Top 10 Restaurants Food Tour

I know Hampton Roads Magazine is in the business of selling printed, tangible magazines but they are missing out on an entire younger audience who appreciates content via the internet. I say that as that is my preference, and in most circles I’m not really considered young anymore.

Back in January they published the Top 10 Restaurants in Hampton Roads. (I have the printed copy.) I’ve been telling my friends about it for months. Of course, they go searching for it on the internet and – cricket. cricket. Nothing is there. Have no fear! I bring you the Hampton Roads Magazine’s Top 10 Restaurants for 2011.

Rank One - VintageTavern, Suffolk

Rank Two - Terrapin Restaurant, Virginia Beach

Rank Three - Zoë’s, Virginia Beach

Rank Four - Stove, The Restaurant, Portsmouth

Rank Five - BlueTalon Bistro, Williamsburg

Rank Six - Fat Canary, Williamsburg

Rank Seven - Swan Terrace at the Founders Inn & Spa, Virginia Beach

Rank Eight - River Stone Chop House, Suffolk

Rank Nine - Todd Jurich’s Bistro, Norfolk

Rank Ten (tie) - Coastal Grill, Virginia Beach and Salacia, Virginia Beach

Now of course in the magazine there is a nice little write-up on why they were selected

and what the style is, but ultimately people want to get out there and experience for

themselves. And that is exactly what my crew is going to do.

Starting tonight we launch our Hampton Roads Top 10 Restaurant tour. Granted, we’ve

been to a few of them but we are going again, starting with the top ranker tonight,

Vintage Tavern. This is like a field trip for a group of people who rarely stray five blocks

from the oceanfront.

So stay tuned a check back to see what we think, or get out there and tackle the list

yourself.

Girls Dinner Scores Me a New Salmon Recipe

A girlfriend hosted a dinner last night. Pretty stinkin’ fabulous, I must say.She tantalized our taste buds early in the day by sharing the menu and recipe links with us. Thank goodness because they were keepers.

To start with she served us a special cocktail of Sangria Flora, recipe courtesy of St-Germain.

Our cocktail nibbles were brie with honey drizzle on a crostini. She served us a summer salad sensation with a Shrimp Cobb Salad from Cooking Light. Sides included roasted red potatoes with garlic and rosemary and Green Green Spring Vegetables from Barefoot Contessa (done with just asparagus and string beans). 

For dessert, we sweetly devoured Champagne-Soaked Berries with Whipped Cream, another great recipe from Cooking Light.

If you are keeping an analytical track record of the meal you may be thinking, “Wait, where is the protein?” This leads me to my favorite portion of the meal, the Panko-Crusted Salmon.

The recipe came from Ina Garten’s (Barefoot Contessa) cookbook How Easy Is That? It was the one recipe link she didn’t share but thanks to Google I was able to track it down.

PANKO-CRUSTED SALMON

4 (6oz) salmon fillets)

2/3 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

2T fresh parsley, minced

1T lemon zest

Salt and pepper

2T good olive oil

2T Dijon mustard

2T canola oil

Preheat oven to 425.

In a small bowl mix panko, parsley, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and olive oil.  Stir to combine.

Heat canola oil in a 12 inch cast iron skillet or other heavy duty pan over med-high heat.  

Spread Dijon mustard on the top of salmon fillets. Top generously with panko mixture and press down.

Sear salmon in skillet for three to four minutes. Place pan in oven for five to seven minutes.

Remove from oven. Cover with foil and let rest for five to10 minutes. 

Sonoma Scores on its Cheese Board

I used to work for a pretty cool ad agency that was located super close to Town Center in Virginia Beach. All of our important client meetings took place at Sonoma Wine Bar and Bistro. I’ve been a long-time fan of the establishment for lunch and dinner. Last night while shopping for house décor we settled on a late dinner at Sonoma.

Sonoma’s cheese board has evolved since the first time I had it. There are now options which to me are really cool since I’m not a huge fan of strong cheeses like goat or blue. With the options I don’t have to waste. The cheese board we started with last night was AWESOME. I could eat it for dinner every night! We enjoyed the saucission (which is a French sausage, much like salami), duck prosciutto, Quadrella di Buffalo and Primo Sale Fresco (which were both tasty mild cheeses). The board comes with Nicoise olives, cornichons (which are tiny little pickles), candied walnuts, dried figs and honey (oh man the honey was good). I sampled it all, including the olives which I generally don’t like, but these were actually good.

I was super excited to see the peach caprese salad on the menu. I’ve always longed to love tomatoes more just so I could enjoy a caprese salad. I adore mozzarella and basil. So the first time I saw the peach version on the Sonoma menu – I had to have it. I’m not sure if it is running since it is peach season or if it’s been added to the menu for good. None the less, last night it was delicious. Thank you Sonoma for giving me a version of the salad I can enjoy.

By this time, I was pretty full but I still had my entrée coming in which I ordered the panko fried flounder with orange sesame basmati rice, grilled baby Bok Choy and blood orange Serrano coulis topped with a marinated cucumber salad. The fish portion was huge, two large filets. The marinated cucumber salad was perfect, cool and tangy. The rest to me seemed a little bland. I know flounder is a pretty tasteless fish but there is potential there for seasoning and the Bok Choy was just uninspired. It barely looked cooked. My suggestion would be to beef up the coulis on the plate.