Blackened Tuna Steaks with Asparagus on Vegetable Mashed Potatoes

This is my favorite way to cook tuna. The tuna stays tender and has a wonderful spicy herb-and-smoke flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 lb / 450 g potatoes
• milk (as needed)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 10 medium-sized mushrooms (brown or white)
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup / 120 ml chicken (or vegetable) stock
• ½ cup / 120 ml dry white wine
• 1 lb / 450 g sashimi-grade tuna
• 12 green asparagus spears
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Blackening spice:
  • 5 tsp mild paprika
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp garlic powder

Preparation

1. Combine the ingredients for the blackening spice.
2. Peel the onion and cut into half rings.
3. Core the bell pepper and cut into strips.
4. Mince the garlic.
5. Wash the asparagus and remove the lower third of the stems.
6. Cut the tuna steaks if necessary and coat with the blackening spice.
7. Peel the potatoes and boil in water until soft (about 20 minutes).
8. Heat butter in a heavy pan, add onions and cook over medium heat until golden brown (about 5-10 minutes). Add sliced bell pepper and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add stock and white wine, reduce heat to low and keep simmering.
9. Heat olive oil and 4 tbsp water in a heavy saucepan. Add 1 tsp of salt. Add asparagus, cover and cook for about 5-8 minutes (to taste).
10. Heat a stainless steel pan over very high heat. Sear the tuna steaks for 2 minutes on top and bottom and 15-30 seconds on each of the small sides.
11. Mash the potatoes, add the vegetables and stir in milk until the consistency is right. Add salt to taste.
12. Spread potatoes on a plate, put tuna on top and garnish with asparagus.

Preparation time: about 1 hour

Yields 2 servings

Notes

• Blackening the fish produces a lot of smoke. I strongly recommend not attempting this without an exhaust fan. If you don't have one, you can place the fish on a grate, go outside and blacken/cook it with a soldering torch (the little kitchen torches won't work for that). Just sweep the flame over all sides of the fish until nice and blackened.
• In my experience, there is just no way to reasonably prepare mashed potatoes from less than 1 lb of potatoes. You will likely have leftover vegetable mashed potatoes.
• I normally use a pressure cooker to cook the potatoes.