Mediterranean Tuna Steaks

The sizzle of meat hitting a hot grill has this wonderful therapeutic effect that wakes you up to the weekend. Grilling's especially great with a fish like tuna, with light seasonings and herbs to complement the rich flavour or dense texture of the fish. I've made a mediterranean inspired tuna chermoula with sumac and cilantro. The sumac can be replaced with fresh lime juice, but juice the fish after the cooking's done, as lemon juice gets quite bitter when heated. I also used a grill pan for the fish, so this can quite easily made indoors, but a charcoal grill would be ideal for the fish. Also, it should be served with something that can soak up the juices of the grill, like rice or pita.

Ingredients

• 200 g tuna filet, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tbsp sumac
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 stalks of cilantro, chopped
• 1 capsicum, cut into square
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 1 cup cooked rice and lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. Mix the olive oil, vinegar, rosemary, oregano, garlic, cilantro, pepper, salt and sumac together to create a thick chermoula. Baste liberally over the tuna pieces and leave aside for an hour to marinate.
2. Clean and oil two skewers and oil a grill pan. Thread the tuna pieces, capsicum and tomato pieces in sequence on the skewer. Baste the skewered meat with the remaining chermoula.
3. Heat the grill pan on high heat and place the skewers on the pan.
4. Cook once on both sides and then lower the heat to medium. Cook it evenly on all four sides.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, add the remaining chermoula and rice. Toss the rice around and create a bed of the rice on a plate. Loosen the meat and serve up on the skewer with lemon wedges.

Tuna Tagine with Fresh Capellini

I found this wonderful store here that stores mediterranean spices and preserves, like sumac and preserved lemons; I jumped at the bottle of preserved limes, simply for that wonderfully tart flavour that it brings to stews. Tuna season's also back, and since I'm presently obsessing over fresh pasta, I decided to bring all of it together with a tuna tagine served over fresh capellini. The capellini recipe can be found here, and use the finest white flour available, else the capellini wouldn't hold its form when thinned down.

This tagine is a simple enough dish, with a thick tomato base and light lemony tones brought in by the sumac and preserved limes. Also keep a little sumac aside for dusting. I've used tuna for the tagine, but any firm white fish can be used. However, if you're using a mild flavoured white fish, marinate it in the chermoula over-night. With tuna, as it is a strong flavoured fish, around 2 hours in the chermoula should suffice, as it would lightly complement the flavour of the tuna.

Ingredients

Fish and Chermoula

• 400 g fresh tuna filet, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 small bunch parsley, roughly chopped
• 3 stalks coriander, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tbsp water

Tagine

• 1 medium onion
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
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Grilled Quail with Couscous

My local supermarket's started keeping quail, and it felt like a good day to try something a little more gamey. Quail's an interesting meat, and is quite lean. It like chicken, but a lot softer in texture and with a slightly sweeter taste. It's especially popular around Ramzan, where its lathered in a thick ginger-onion marinade and deep fried whole. In this recipe, I've grilled the quail with sumac, rosemary and thyme and served it with a fruity couscous and a light vinaigrette. To help with the grilling, I had the quails halved and spread out, but you can get them spatchcocked/butterflied as well.

Ingredients

Quail

• 2 quails, halved and 
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Couscous

• 1/2 cup instant couscous
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 walnuts, chopped
• 3 almonds, chopped
• 6 raisins, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped mint

Vinaigrette

• 1/2 purple onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp mint, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp pepper

Method

1. Mix the quail ingredients together to create a marinade, add it to the quail pieces, and leave aside to marinate for at least 2 hour, and preferably overnight.
2. For the couscous, add dissolve the salt in the water, mix the other couscous ingredients together and add the salted boiling water. Cover and leave aside for 7-8 minutes.
3. Mix the vinaigrette ingredients together and store in the fridge until use.
4. Once ready to grill, heat a grill pan or a barbecue on medium, and baste the grooves with oil.
5. Once heated, pour the marinade over the quail one last time, then place each piece on the grill.
6. Cook on each side for 4 minutes, until the quail pieces are cooked through. Take off the grill and let it rest for 2-3 minutes.
7. To assemble, make a bed of the couscous and place two halves of the quail on top. Pour the vinaigrette over and serve up.