Weekend Herb Blogging: Tuna With Tomato Butter and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

It's Friday, so that means by my particular logic, it's Weekend Herb Blogging.  I think that Fridays should be added to the weekend. Three day weekends--it works for me.  My herb of choice this week is oregano, which grows happily in my backyard.   Nary a bug nor snail ever bothers it. Instead, all the pests are waging war on my innocent eggplant seedlings.  It's a sad thing for the eggplant, but not the oregano. I had plenty to use for this dish of tuna with roasted cherry tomatoes.  Now, if you go over to Kalyn's site, you'll find links to other herb bloggers, who all have fabulous dishes to share with you. 

This was pretty simple, which is the way I like my tuna.  The tomato butter was very good and I had some of it left over, which I tossed in the freezer.  I've never gotten over Nigella Lawson's freezer, which she shared with her viewers.  She stashes everything in hers, including the dregs from her guests' wine glasses.  I can't top that, but I do have a lot of different stocks and flavored butters in my freezer. Unfortunately, I tend to forget putting the butters in the freezer.  Months later I'll discover an unlabeled frozen blob of it and search my mind in vain for it's true identity.  This one is orange colored, so maybe that will help me remember.

Tuna With Tomato Butter and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes  (Williams Sonoma)

Tomato Butter

3 shallots minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut in 1 inch pieces, at room temperature

2-6 tuna, mackerel or bluefish fillets, about 8 ounces each (to be honest, my tuna fillets were bigger than this, but I only used 2 fillets))
2 tablespoons olive oil
up to 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (depends on the amount of fillets you use)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped, with whole sprigs for garnish
salt and pepper to taste.

To make tomato butter, combine the shallots, butter, tomato paste in a food processor and process until combined.  Spoon butter into a bowl and set aside.

If your wish, you can roast the fillets in the oven by placing them in an oiled pan large enough to hold the amount of fillets you are serving. Brush them with oil and sprinkle with the oregano, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.  Roast at 400 F until the fillets flake, about 8-10 minutes.

But, this is how I do my tuna fillets. After I rinsed them with cold water and patted them dry. I rubbed olive oil on them and rolled them in the oregano.  I heated a heavy skillet, with barely 1 tablespoon oil, over high heat until it was hot. I scattered salt onto the bottom of the skillet and placed my fillets into the skillet.  I cooked the tuna about 1-1/2 minutes on each side. I like my tuna rare and I don't hold with that "flake" test.  I sprinkled some lemon juice on the fish, plated it with some cherry tomatoes, and put a pat of the tomato butter on top of the tuna.   

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes   (Williams-Sonoma)

1-1/2 Lb. cherry tomatoes
1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Select a roasting pan large enough to hold tomatoes comfortably and line it with aluminum foil, then oil the foil.

Cut the tomatoes in half an layer them, cut side up, in the pan.  In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, basil, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the crumbs over the tomatoes.

Roast tomatoes until they are soft and begin to shrivel around the edges--about 15 minutes.

Comments

[kristi]

Not a tuna fan here, but definitely an oregano fan! Very impressed that you grow your own. And Nigella? Is fabulous. But storing the dregs of her guests' wine glasses? That's kind of gross.

[steven]

Yay! Rare Tuna! There's no reason to ruin perfectly good fish by cooking it until it flakes, with carry-over heat, by the time you get flaky fish to the table it's dry. Boo! As for storing the dregs of wine, I'm not that bad, but I do make vinegar from the bottles and glasses I don't finish and my freezer is full of chicken carcasses, shrimp shells and meat bones for the stock pot.

I wish it was hot and dry enough here to make growing oregano worth it.

[mae]

Mmmmm Tuna... ooh la la! I love my tuna rare too - nice pairing with cherry tomatoes. *drooling*

[sher]

Kristi,

As I recall, she said she collects the wine from the glasses and freeze it, using it in recipes calling for wine. :):) I thought that was a bit much. I'm sure the cooking would sterilize the wine. But still.....

Stephan,

That's a great idea of making vinegar with the left over wine. I hate to throw it away, so I always try to make some kind of stew calling for wine.

Mae,

Thank you Mae. Boy, you have a nice site! The picture of the Tom Yum soup had me drooling.

[Shannon]

I'm amazed to hear that anyone actually has leftover wine. I am not familiar with the concept of leaving wine unimbibed. :)

[kalyn]

We must be channeling each other because I'm also doing tuna with cherry tomatoes for WHB. Yours sounds great; love the idea of the tomato butter.

I must confess my freezer is also pretty much stockpiled with stuff to use in recipes. Some people say I'm a little obsessed with it.

[ann]

tomatoes + butter = tomato butter?
where did i miss this most logical of equations??
i think my head might explode with the wonderful possibilities of combining my favorite vege (ok, fruit) with my favorite fat, damn, its just too amazing to comprehend!
thanks Sher!

[sher]

Shannon,

Well, then you might be horrified to learn that I poured an entire, freshly opened botte of Corona beer into a bowl and put it out for the snails last night (no lime). And it killed over 12 of the little bastards.

Kayln,

You and I often share the same thoughts on our recipes for WHB. :)

I had the best of intentions in keeping everything labled properly that went into my freezer. But, someone stole my Sharpy pen and freezer labels (others say I misplaced them) and it was all downhill after that.

Ann,

I had the same reaction when I made the tomato butter. "Hey, this is too easy...wow, this tastes great!" I must admit, I spread some of it on bread and it was yummy that way. So yummy I had to tell myself, "Put the butter knife down and walk away...walk away!"

[gattina]

sher,
I think your dish is gorgeous! I can't wait to try making tomato butter!
gattina