Delicious Dinners...

This Sunday was tougher than most to get through, but here we are--alive Monday morning with only a few battle scars and some seriously dark circles as evidence.  Boy am I glad I made it through.  The highlight of my weekend (and possibly my cooking experiences thus far) hit me as I reluctantly began preparing a dinner that there was no turning back on.  Long ago I discovered that all commercial fish is frozen before you buy it--whether you are purchasing from the case or not--so I've started to stock up on organic cuts of firm fishes for easy dinners without a smelly fridge (resulting from one too many optimistic trips to the grocery store).  With defrosted tuna steaks in hand, I frowned at the lemon, rosemary, and garlicy combination I always fall back on when preparing such a dish. And then it hit me--let me remind you I am a self taught "chef" with virtually no experience in pan sauces and marinades--Asian style tuna. I'm completely aware that this is no culinary break through, but for a 10 minute dinner (and a $10 budget), this fit the bill and is worth sharing. Enter Honey-Soy Glazed Tuna Steaks, pan seared--paired with roasted asparagus, my favorite preparation of this veg, and red potatoes. 

Honey-glazed tuna steaks

1/4 cup soy sauce (I chose a low sodium variety)

2 tablespoons honey

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

ground black pepper to taste

Whisk together all of the ingredients and coat one side of tuna. Place tuna, marinade side down on a pan over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes.  Turn fish and pour the rest of the honey-soy mixture over the tuna and reduce heat to medium. (use caution when adding liquids to hot pans). Stir soy mixture as it bubbles and reduces as the second side of the fish cooks. Mixture will reduce to a syrup-like substance ready to be served over your fish or on the side as a dipper. (variation: let reduction cool and add a spash of vinegar and olive oil to make honey-soy salad dressing).

*if you are choosing to grill your fish: coat both sides with the marinade as you grill. Then return the rest of the marinade to a small sauce pan on medium to medium-low heat to reduce into the sauce. 

If I made this again (which I will because it's restaurant quality delicious, and basically fool proof), I'd top the final product with some toasted sesame seeds. 

This would be a fantastic dish to entertain with as you can easily double or triple the marinade and the end product is show-stopping.