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Panko and Black Sesame Seed Crusted Tuna Burger with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Being born and raised right on the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore, MD means that you are genetically predisposed to engage in a lifelong love affair with seafood. My best memories of Bmore (as its affectionately known) are of those quintessential steamy summer Saturday afternoons spent in the back yard hunched over an old picnic table covered with yesterdays edition of the Baltimore Sun while bushels of live crabs, receiving an Old Bay steam bath, clang around inside an old stock pot and friends and neighbors mingle over icy cold Natty Boh (National Bohemian beer, hon).

Oh, how times change! Living in Northern Indiana for the past 5 years, the closest I ever get to salt water is when I am trying to soothe an irritated throat with a good gargle. Fortunately, the distance from my home on the east coast does not completely eliminate my chances of enjoying some other of the seas bounties. I have grown to adore to the meaty consistency and mild sea-like flavor of fresh tuna. My favorite way to prepare tuna, until last night, was just seared on the outside, thinly sliced and served ice cold with traditional sushi accompaniments. Now, (though admittedly a late bloomer) I am tuna burger obsessed. It contains the best of two world. All of the elements of a succulent beef burger (except the cheese, that would be really gross!), and the fabulous flavors reminiscent of your favorite sushi bar.

Inspired by watching Rachael Ray (the self described queen of burgers) yesterday, here is my version of:

Panko and Black Sesame Seed Crusted Tuna Burgers
1 pound best quality tuna, minced
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
1 tablesspoon Asian chili garlic sauce
2 tablespoons Tamari
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

Mince the tuna either in a food processor or by hand and place in a large mixing bowl. Add green onions, chives, chili sauce, and tarami. Stir to combine. Form tuna mixture into patties (I made two 1/2 pound burger from 1 pound of tuna). On a plate, place the panko bread crumbs and the sesame seeds and combine. Press both sides of each burger into the bread crumbs. Fry until still pink in the center, about 2-3 minutes per side, in a preheat skillet over medium high heat with about 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Serve on a soft roll with crunchy iceburg lettuce, pickled ginger and wasabi mayonnaise.

Wasabi Mayonnaise
1/4 cup good quality mayonnaise
1 teaspoon wasabi paste

Place mayonnaise and wasabi in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Adjust the hotness to your liking.

Fresh Strawberries and a New Camera

Monday, May 19, 2014

Its my birthday on July 11th, and my Wife and In-laws surprised me with a much needed digital camera! So, I thought I would do a little experimenting. This was the first food shot ever; some fresh strawberries in all their summer glory. Thank you Michele, Peggy and Al! Hopefully future blog posts will display photos that are of a much higher quality. Dont worry, I have no plans to replace the video clips with photo essays, I just want to improve the overall visual appeal of the site. By the way, if youre thinking that another reason for this post was to inform all you regular viewers that my birthday was coming up in a shameless ploy to solicit a few donantions to the site...well, I can not confirm or deny any such attemp. Enjoy!

Sneak Preview Heaven and Hell

Friday, May 16, 2014

Airing Monday, this unbelievably perfect combination of fiery deviled shrimp ragu on creamy corn custard.