Seared Tuna with Caramelized Onion

2010-7-15

Bought some Ahi Tuna at the store today. Since we've been in this house one year as of today and that's anniversary of sorts, thought we'd celebrate.

I caramelized a red onion, by cooking it on lower heat with a bit of olive oil, until the onion turned a bit transparent. Then i added the tuna. It wasn't frozen when I was ready to cook it. So, I cooked it no more than a few minutes on each side, adding a bit of sea salt on each side.

Delectable seared tuna

Delectable Seared Tuna

My of my favorite grocery stores had a sale on the Ahi Tuna. We've been trying to watch our grocery expenses, since that is one expense that's not fixed. But, I couldn't pass this up.

If you have been following me on this recipe blog, you're well aware that I'm trying to avoid cooking meats and seafood when possible, to maintain the juiciness and flavor of the item in question. I believe this tuna is sushi grade, so it can actually be safely consumed raw. I thought seared tuna would be absolutely delectable. When I first took a photograph of the cooked tuna, "oh crap, I cooked it too long went through my mind." As you can see, it's not very pink in the middle one the right hand side and no trace of pink can be seen on the left. Turned out and tasted exquisite. Could have been cooked just a tad less. Not too chewy (a mark of cooking it too long).

Here it was at the beginning of the cooking process. Not a bad looking piece, eh?

Oh, and by the way, those are fresh calamata olives in the top photograph. I purchased them whole and not pitted, at the same store. I have a olive/cherry pitter, so the job of pitting and cutting those olives wasn't hard. NEVER use canned olives, because they don't have that deliciously rich taste. Oh, and I did not cook the olives.

Didn't leave me hungry or too full. Satisfied and feeling great. Can't wait for my husband to come home so he can enjoy his portion. I was too hungry to wait for him.