Blackened Tuna Ageless Gourmet

Blackened Ahi Tuna is one of my favorite fish cooked in one of my favorite ways. Blackening a protein is when you cover both sides of the meat with seasoning, then cooking it quickly in a hot skillet. The seasonings char on the outsides but leave the inside moist. Pico de gallo is a great way to use tomatoes and hot peppers when your garden is abundant.

Blackened Ahi Tuna:

4 – 5oz. ahi tuna steaks

New Mexico chili powder – a pinch for each steak

Smoked sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Dried cumin – a pinch for each steak

Fresh lemon juice

Grape seed oil

Pico De Gallo:

4 tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 – 1 large Serrano pepper, minced

Fresh lime juice

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/8 cup cilantro, chopped

Pico de Gallo Ageless Gourmet

Start by making the Pico. Mix the tomatoes, onion, serrano, cilantro and lime juice in a large bowl. Season with sea salt, pepper and lime juice. Taste and adjust if need be. Let sit while you blacken the tuna.

Season each tuna steak with a pinch of chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper on both sides, making sure you don’t get too much salt on either side. Rub seasoning into the flesh to even it out. Then drizzle each with evoo on both sides.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the grape seed oil, and when the oil starts to shimmer, gently place the steaks in the pan, not letting them touch. After about 3 minutes, check to see if the bottom side of the steak is turning dark. Here is where high heat is important. You want to darken the outside of the tuna, while keeping the inside pink.

You can tell by the “cooked line” moving it’s way up to the center of the steak. Turn it before that line gets to the middle of the steak.

Cook the other side until it’s dark, but center is still pink. It will take a total of about 6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the tuna. Adjust your cook time down if the steaks are thin.

When done, remove from the pan and let sit on a plate for 5 minutes. Sprinkle fresh lemon or lime juice over steaks, and spoon pico de gallo over the top.

Try it and let me know what you think!

Happy Cooking!

Christia