Pan Seared Tuna with Mango Salsa

Today we dive into a splashy summer fish dish, pan seared tuna with a mango salsa!  Knowing some of you guys, this will be the first time you've seen tuna in a form other than canned.  Not only is it good, but it also sounds impressive to a date.  Unfortunately the only person around to swoon when I made this was John O, so the previous statement can not be confirmed.

I totally caught this myself..

First, start off with some nice steaks of fresh tuna.  Ideally, try to go to a fresh fish market or Fairway and not that sketchy bodega that catches fish off of a pier in the Hudson River.  It's will be raw in the center so this is not something to skimp on and ruin the flavor.  

You want to rub them down with some olive oil, lime juice, garlic, and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Let them sit in the fridge for 3+ hours so they soak in the flavors.

I hope these guys aren't related to Nemo.

Now that you have waited an eternity, you can start the salsa!  Saute minced onion in olive oil for about 10 min or until translucent (You can also add ginger here if you're into that sort of thing).  Then add diced bell peppers, garlic and cook another few minutes.  Subsequently, add a crap load of mangoes and lower the heat.  Everyone loves those things, so two ripe mangoes should do.

You could totally eat this by itself

Add some minced jalapenos, a spoonful of brown sugar, salt and pepper, green onions, and some paprika.  You can get all sorts of crazy with this part and add cayenne, habaneros, special sauce, or what ever floats your boat!  Have fun with it. Let it cook for 5-10 min.  Take it off the heat and add cilantro.  Apparently some people don't like cilantro, which is just crazy, so feel free to add to some mint instead.  You can serve warm, cold, room temp, whatever is your prerogative.

Now for the fun part, searing the tuna!  Heat a saute pan over high heat unit it is very hot!!  Once the pan is hot as hell, drizzle on some olive oil and throw on the tuna steaks for 2-3 minutes per side, or until the outside is browned, but the inside is very rare!  Lay it over a bed of mango salsa and garnish as you wish!  (WARNING:  Keep windows open and about 5 fans going.  Olive oil has a low smoke point and it will fill your entire tiny Manhattan apartment in a plume of smoke in a matter of minutes.  We totally didn't do this.)

John O slapped me when I tried to make him
stop eating so I could take a pic of his food

Woohoo, tuna! Pair it with a nice white wine or a summer ale.  Hopefully you enjoyed it and will tell all your friends about our blog.  Next time we finally do a veggie friendly dish! Margherita pizza!  We also did a normal pizza topped with capicola so don't worry, we haven't converted to the dark side.

Adios!

What's the difference between a piano and a fish?

.

.

.

.

.

You can't tuna fish!

Badum-csh!

Pork Chop Sandwiches!!!

Actually, pulled pork sandwiches, but anyone who remembers the GI Joe PSA spoofs from middle school knows what I'm talking about. 

Anyways, first step to pulled pork is roasting a giant piece of pork.  Can't cook without beer, so go ahead and pry open an ice cold Shiner Bock:

NYC has Shiner now!!  And it's not overpriced, since nothing in Manhattan is!

 Pork shoulder or rump roast works.  I'd recommend the rump roast, but I went for Shoulder since that's what C-Town (Town Town) had.  Rub it down with some good bbq rub.  I used some random leftover rub I found in the cabinet, added some extra paprika, mustard powder, and brown sugar.  Any generic BBQ rub will suffice; if starting from scratch, I recommend brown sugar, paprika, mustard, garlic, cayenne or chipotle if you got it, black pepper, and salt. 

Let that hunk of pig marinade for at least 24 hours.  When the time comes, throw it in the oven at around 150-175 for about 6 hours.  Cover it with aluminum foil for the first 2-3 hours.  At about the halfway point start basting it with some butter/sauce.  I browned some garlic and butter real quick in a saucepan, then added a dash of cider vinegar. 

Cook it down so there is barely any liquid left.

Next I threw in a hefty dash of bourbon, cooked it down briefly, then added another half stick of butter.  Once the butter is melted, use a brush to apply evenly over the surface of the pork. 

Added even more butter, just for good measure.

During the second half of baking, baste it every 20 minutes or so to keep the meet moist and juicy.  After the meat comes out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle.  Meanwhile, I browned some onions to top the sandwiches with.  Added a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce while they were cooking, then deglazed the pan with a dash of bourbon at the end.

Have I mentioned how I like cooking with bourbon?

By the time those are cooked up it should be time to shred some pork.  I found it easiest to cut off hunks of meat then shred them with two forks.  It took longer than I expected, but then it was a solid 5 lb pork shoulder.

Or shred a killer solo, if you're Angus Young.

While shredding, you should have some buns toasting.  Also, now is the time to heat up the leftover BBQ sauce from when you cooked ribs.  If you haven't cooked ribs recently, refer here for the recipe.

No, you can't fast forward to the sauce recipe.  You must cook an entire rack of ribs and use the leftover sauce.

Mix that sauce in with the pork:

Now take a bun, thrown on a generous heap of pork, and top with a few onions and a slice of pickle:

This picture doesn't do the proportions justice: there should be way more pork.

The caramelized onions compliment the pork nicely, and the pickles add a nice, crisp contrast.

Bonus Round: title inspiration here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1BDM1oBRJ8 NSFW.  Wow I had a terrible sense of humor in 7th grade.

I've kinda monopolized the last few posts, so look forward to a Graham Gardner double header in the coming days (possibly featuring graham crackers).