Summer is finally in sight, and we cannot wait.
While I am not a super fan of the high temperatures that summer brings, I do love all the braais and picnics that happen during the season.
The summer season is full of opportunities to show off your cooking skills using the season’s freshest produce.
There is just something special about grilling your dinner and preparing delicious salads to go with it.
Slobodan Stefancic, the new executive chef at Radisson Blu Hotel Sandton, gives us one of his favourite salad ideas; tuna Nicoise tataki salad with aioli.
Cooking tuna steaks from scratch may seem like a daunting task by some since it’s not a typically used ingredient in most households, however, Stefancic says it’s not something to be feared.
Actually it is quite easy once you break it down.
He believes once you’ve conquered the simple dish, the possibilities to get creative with the fish as your base ingredient, become endless.
Instead of your typical tuna niçoise tataki salad which usually has a boiled egg in it, this salad is paired with homemade garlic aioli.
Aioli ingredients
3 egg yolks
15ml Dijon mustard
5g fresh chopped garlic
50ml white wine vinegar
800 ml olive oil
25ml water
A pinch of salt and ground pepper
Tuna ingredients
Yields: 1 portion
180g tuna steak
100g baby potato boiled and quartered
60g blanched green beans
30g red onion sliced
40g cherry tomato quartered
30g kalamata olives
10mls olive oil
50ml aioli garlic
2g salt
2g ground black pepper
Method to create the aioli
Add the yolks to a mixing bowl or blender.
Add the mustard and whisk until combined.
Gradually pour the sunflower oil to ensure the oil emulsifies.
Add the chopped garlic.
Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper.
If needed, add water to create a runny consistency.
Method to cook the tuna
Heat the oil in the pan.
Add the potato and saute until nicely browned.
Add olives and onion and saute briefly
Add the beans and cherry tomato, and keep cooking until warmed through.
Season the tuna steak with salt and pepper.
Sear the steak in the pan or flat top, and cook to your liking.
Plating method
Slice the tuna steak into medallions
Place the vegetables in the centre of the plate.
Fan the medallions on top of the veg.
Drizzle with aioli dressing and garnish with micro greens.
Have you checked out the latest IOL Food & Drinks digital magazine? Read it here.
