Tuna And Eggplant Skewers Food

WHOLE GRILLED JAPANESE EGGPLANT WITH LEMON AND SOY SAUCE

Steps:

• Whisk together the soy sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil in a bowl to make the dressing; set aside. Score the stem end of each eggplant, making a circular cut in the skin (this will make the eggplant easier to peel). Poke a few holes into the eggplants with a skewer or fork to allow steam to escape as they grill.
• Preheat a grill to medium. Grill for about 8 minutes, turning the eggplants a quarter turn every 2 minutes. Try to grill the eggplant all around. Test the eggplants for doneness by pressing against their sides with a pair of tongs. If the eggplants give easily, they're ready. Transfer the eggplants to a plate.
• As soon as the eggplants are cool enough to handle, carefully peel off the skin (the skin comes off more easily if the eggplant is warm; don't let it cool completely). Once you've removed the skin, remove the stems, and slice each eggplant into 4 pieces, cutting on an angle. Transfer the eggplant slices to a platter. Drizzle with dressing, sprinkle with the bonito, and serve.

ROSEMARY GRILLED TUNA STEAKS WITH EGGPLANT AND ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat grill pan to high or preheat grill or charcoal. Coat tuna in balsamic and season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Drizzle fish with oil, coating lightly on both sides, about 2 tablespoons oil, total.
• Preheat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream. Add garlic, onion and saute 2 or 3 minutes. Dice the zucchini and squash while the onion begins to soften. Add the zucchini and squash to the pan and turn to coat and combine with garlic and onion.
• Slice eggplant into strips and dice, then add to the pan. Turn to combine all of the vegetables. Add thyme, salt and pepper to season the mixture. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently, 10 minutes, until vegetables are just fork tender.
• Grill tuna 2 to 3 minutes on each side for rare, up to 6 minutes on each side for well done.
• When tuna is done and vegetables are fork tender, stir chopped tomatoes into eggplant and zucchini mixture and remove vegetables from heat.
• Serve wedges of vegetable antipasto, above recipe, along side tuna steaks topped with vegetable salsa. Extra antipasto slices and vegetables should be passed at the table.
• A nice Sicilian rose, chilled, makes a fine beverage companion.
• 1 loaf crusty bread, 9 to 12 inches in length
• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained, chopped -- 1/2 a small jar
• 1/4 cup black pitted calamata or oil cured olives, your preference, chopped
• 1/2 cup prepared pesto sauce
• 1/4 pound deli sliced provolone
• 1 jar, 16 to 18 roasted red peppers, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
• 1 cup giardiniera, pickled vegetables (hot pickled peppers, cauliflower, carrots available on the Italian foods aisle of market or in bulk bins near deli section with bulk olives)
• Coarse salt and black pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Cut the top off a loaf of crusty bread. Hollow out the inside of the bread.
• Mix parsley, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, chopped olives and store bought or homemade pesto sauce. Spread the mixture evenly across the bottom of the hollowed out bread. Layer the cheese into the loaf. Layer the roasted red peppers on top of the cheese. Coarsely chop the drained artichoke hearts and add them in a layer over the red peppers. Sprinkle in the chopped hot pickled vegetables and drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on top. Replace the top, cut the stuffed loaf into pieces and serve.
• Yield: 4 servings
• Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes
• Cook Time: none
• Ease of Preparation: easy

FISHY MIXED GRILL: SWORDFISH KABOBS WITH GARLIC AND LEMON, TUNA STEAKS WITH ORANGE AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Preheat grill pan or outdoor grill to medium high heat.
• Cube swordfish into generous bite-size chunks. Zest 2 lemons and pile zest on cutting board. Add 4 cloves garlic to zest and chop garlic. Add about a teaspoon of coarse salt to garlic and lemon and combine with flat part of the knife. Chop parsley and mix into garlic and salt. Add a generous amount of coarse black pepper to the pile and mix together with your finger tips. Coat the swordfish in a few tablespoons evoo ¿ enough to coat it evenly, just eyeball it. Slather the lemon zest and garlic mixture all over the fish. The evoo will make it stick. Pile the cubes onto metal skewers, it should fill 2 (12-inch) skewers. Set the fish aside for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut up 1 of the zested lemons into wedges and reserve.
• Cut tuna steak into 6 small portions. Combine the zest of 2 oranges with the remaining 4 cloves garlic and chop. Add chopped rosemary to garlic and orange zest and combine with flat of knife. Add about 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt and about 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper to the mix. Place a few tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup evoo into a shallow dish. Add the orange-rosemary mixture and mix together. Add the fish and coat evenly in dressing and let stand 10 to 15 minutes. Peel oranges and slice into disks.
• Throw together a salad, such as Panzanella with The Works, below, then go back to the fish.
• When you are ready to eat, grill swordfish skewers 3 minutes on each side, 6 minute total. Slide from skewers and squeeze lemon juice over the fish. Cook tuna steaks 2 to 3 minutes on each side for pink, medium-rare fish, 4 minutes on each side for fully cooked fish. Serve tuna with sliced oranges alongside and scatter scallions over both. Each person should end up with 4 or 5 cubes of swordfish and 1 small tuna steak. Serve with salad.
• Combine all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and dress salad with lemon juice, red wine vinegar, evoo, and a splash of the hot pepper juice, then season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

GRILLED TUNA KEBABS

Steps:

• Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over the eggplant cubes and place on paper towels. Let stand for 1 hour. Rinse and drain. Heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add the eggplant and saute until half cooked, about 4 minutes. Using 8 metal or bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water, skewer the tuna, peppers, onion and eggplant pieces, alternating colors and dividing the ingredients evenly among the skewers.
• Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, basil and salt and pepper to taste in a shallow dish. Place the skewers in the dish and turn to coat in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, turning from time to time.
• Preheat a grill or broiler. Remove the skewers from the marinade and grill until tuna begins to char on the outside but is still pink in the center, about 2 minutes per side (about 8 minutes total).
• Heat a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Divide among 4 plates. Spoon the hot rice beside the spinach and top both with 2 skewers per plate. Serve immediately.