Hi folks, it's me, Chef G. All you fans of my cooking channel probably noticed I took the whole summer off. Big stars like Jimmy Kimmel and me can do that. Unlike Jimmy, however, I wasn't comfortable leaving my wildly popular blog in the hands of guest hosts, so I shut down the entire operation.
The good news is that I'm back in a big way. I've got some new & exciting recipes, some new & exciting food related anecdotes, some new & exciting food facts, and a new & exciting moniker. That's right, I'm no longer known simply as "Chef G." I've upgraded myself to "The Unbelievable Chef G."
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| I even have a new and exciting chef's hat. |
(Don't be thinking "unbelievable" means my brilliant cooking & writing can't be believed. No, in this case, it means most people cannot believe how much of a cooking genius I am.)
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Most of my previous episodes have concentrated on pig meat, cow meat, and poultry meat. My only foray into the world of fish meat on this blog was a delicious salmon fillet. That was over a year ago. I think it's about time I revisit the world of fish.
I do so with some trepidation though. Fish is the most difficult meat to cook properly. Undercooked fish is slimy; overcooked fish is dry and flavorless. Therefore, temperature control, timing, and technique are of the utmost importance. There is very little room for error, and it would be extremely embarrassing for a celebrity chef like me to screw up a nice piece of fish on a worldwide cooking network. I am motivated to try for perfection.
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I like a wide variety of fish from rivers and freshwater lakes, but today I am going to prepare some meat from the Atlantic Ocean--a fresh, ruby red, wild-caught chunk of yellowfin (Ahi) tuna. I hope I don't fail.
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Did you know that most of the tuna eaten worldwide comes in tin cans--especially in Europe, Japan, and Australia? And 88% of Americans eat canned tuna on a regular basis? And canned tuna is not necessarily 100% tuna? And a ridiculously small number of us buy fresh, hand-caught tuna? And real tuna is far from "chicken of the sea," but more like "steak of the sea?"
It's true. When you grill a nice slab of tuna, you come to realize it really is more like a nice chunk of beefsteak than like a canister of minced chicken.
Like steak tartare, real good tuna can be eaten raw. Tuna is my favorite sushi! Mmmm. I would never eat raw chicken! Would you?
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| Most people buy their tuna in this grocery store aisle. |
Sometimes that tuna will be eaten straight out of the can. More commonly it will be mixed with mayonnaise and spread between two slices of bread as a tuna salad sandwich. Another popular dish is mixing a can of tuna with a box of ingredients called "Tuna Helper."
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| I must admit, Mrs. Chef G. and I used to eat Hamburger Helper on occasion when we were a young couple without a lot of money, but Tuna Helper was too much for us to handle. |
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I seasoned my piece of fresh tuna with paprika, salt and pepper before putting it over hot coals. I'll grill it on each side for about five minutes, which should be perfect. My mouth was watering.
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| It looks like a human heart. NICE! |
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| Following my instincts as a professional chef, I turned the tuna steak over at the five minute mark. |
I'm not going to gloss this over. I went back inside my house to watch the last few minutes of an episode of The Office on TV. I lost track of time, and my worst nightmare came true: I overcooked the tuna steak. The insides should be red, not gray. There is no way you could chastise me as much as I chastised myself. Still, it turned out OK, but OK is NOT what I was striving for.
Luckily, I was able to redeem myself with the presentation. The salad greens improved the plate considerably. (So did the fallen leaves in the background.)
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| I also appreciated that a red maple leaf fell onto the plate just before I snapped this photo. I think I'll eat it. |
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| Raspberry vinegarette added a little color, and Diggity forgave me for overcooking the tuna. He got a few pieces as reward. |
I feel for you. At least it was edible, though. A little longer and it may not have been.
ReplyDeleteSwordfish is even less forgiving than tuna. Technically edible when overcooked, but you would still be chewing it today.
Hi Andy. Thanks for the comment, and thanks for the warning about swordfish. I might try it in the future, but for now I should probably stick to battered, pan fried walleye and crappies.
DeleteI've still been following your beer drinking and cycling exploits in Peoria. Good stuff.
Ahh, I would not think fresh tuna would be obtainable in MY TOWN. But some trout cooked in foil in the coals seems likely, so I'm happy to see you've got options. Glad you were able to get decent grilling weather for your return to the blog, hope the distractions aren't so engrossing for the next installment.
ReplyDeleteEmily .
Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I was distracted by a television show while cooking. Besides overcooking a few dishes, one time I almost burned down the house. I was frying some homemade potato chips, left the kitchen for just a minute, and came back to a skillet full of huge flames. I managed to grab the handle with a hot pad, carry the pan and it's flames out the front door, and throw it all into the snow. Luckily, we got away with a charred edge of a kitchen cabinet and some minor smoke damage.
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