The Cliff House BlogThe Savage Kitchen: Tuna Provencal

01 Aug, 2014

À la mode amp;hellip

It doesn amp't really mean amp;ldquo with ice cream amp;rdquo it actually translates to amp;ldquo in the style of amp;rdquo and is truthfully' a fantastic way to cook.

Tuna Provenç al is a dish prepared à la mode de Provenç al' and the long name describes the key accompaniments to the tuna: in this case olive oil tomato and garlic. À la Bourguignonne on the other hand is amp;ldquo in the style of Burgundy amp;rdquo and includes red wine small mushrooms and white onion. There amp's numerous other amp;ldquo styles amp;rdquo so named for the regions from which they emerged and they all include their specific set of ingredients. Take your Provenç al dish and add some black olives and anchovies' and you amp've got a dish à la Nicoise.

Now' how is this exactly a fantastic way to cook? Well imagine you have some surprise guests coming over for dinner and you have no clue as to what to make. An easy way to toss together something delicious and that amp's sure as hell gonna impress them' is to proudly proclaim that you will be preparing amp;ldquo chicken à la Bourguignonne. amp;rdquo

What will you have to do? Well' sauté some chicken in a pan deglaze with red wine toss in some mushrooms and onions and you amp've got it. Not difficult at all and your guests will think you a culinary genius' all because you knew the key ingredients for a style of cooking.

These styles are highly flexible' which means you can really substitute most any protein you amp'd like and as long as you have a relatively balanced amount of the ingredients (i.e. not handfuls and handfuls of garlic and only half a tomato) you don amp't need a specific recipe. Just use some basic techniques keep the key ingredients in mind' and you amp'll be good to go!

-Chef Savage

 

Tuna Provencal

Ingredients:

6-6 oz. tuna steaks
Salt'' fresh cracked black pepper
¼ -cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic fine chopped
1-cup diced onion
1-cup diced yellow bell pepper
2-cup diced fresh tomato
1-cup chopped calamata olives
1-cup chopped green olives
1-cup basil chiffonade
2 cup white wine
3/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
Fresh basil sprigs


**********
Method:

Season the tuna. nbsp; Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Start to sauté the garlic and onions for 3 minutes. nbsp; Add the bell pepper and sauté for a 3 more minutes. nbsp; Add the tomatoes and the olives and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. nbsp; Add the wine and allow to reduce by half. nbsp; Add the romano and the basil' toss. Sear the tuna in the olive oil very quickly and remove. The Tuna will be rare. Place a little Provencal mixture on a plate and place tuna on top. Place more Provencal on top of tuna. nbsp; Garnish with romano shavings and fresh basil sprigs.