Grilled Tuna with Stuffed Baked Potato

Sliced tuna fillet with creamy stuffed baked potatoes and chickpeas

I love fresh tuna but tend perhaps to serve it most often with the likes of spicy salsa or a simple salad. On this occasion, I not only fancied a more substantial meal, I wanted to try out this new idea I had for making stuffed baked potatoes. The potato idea worked even better than I had expected and the combination equally proved a winner.

Potato is pierced and skewered prior to being baked

Ingredients (Serves 1)

1 large baking suitable potato
1 small egg
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley for potato stuffing and 1 teaspoon for chickpeas
Salt and white pepper
Small 6 ounce can chickpeas in water
6 ounce fresh tuna loin fillet
Vegetable oil
Black pepper

Potato is wrapped in foil for baking

Directions

Start your oven preheating to 450F/220C/Gas Mark 8.

Take a metal skewer and force it through the centre of the potato, length ways. Pierce the potato a few times with the tines of a fork to allow steam to escape during baking. Wrap the potato loosely in some tinfoil to protect the skin from the heat and lay the package on a roasting tray. Place it in to your oven for one and a quarter hours.

Baked potato is unwrapped

Take the tray containing the baked potato from the oven and with your oven gloves, lift the potato parcel to a chopping board. Continuing to wear your oven gloves, carefully unwrap the foil, being aware that a lot of hot steam is likely to escape.

Skewer is removed from baked potato

The skewer should easily be able to be pulled cleanly free.

Baked potato is cut in half

You can either continue to use your gloves to hold the potato with one hand or do what I did and use several sheets of kitchen paper folded over several times while you cut the potato in half lengthways.

Flesh is scooped from potato halves with spoon

Sit the halves one at a time in the palm of your (still protected!) hand. Take a teaspoon and carefully spoon most of the flesh out and in to a bowl, leaving a core shell around half an inch (just over a centimetre) thick.

Potato flesh is added to mixing bowl with egg and parsley

Break the egg in to the bowl with the potato flesh and add the tablespoon of chopped parsley. Season with some salt and white pepper. You can use black pepper here if you wish but you may find some black specks spoiling the presentation of your served dish.

Potato stuffing ingredients are combined with a fork

A fork is best used to carefully combine all the filling ingredients together as you essentially have to mash the potato flesh.

Potatoes are carefully stuffed for further baking

Divide the filling between the two potato shell casings with a spoon. Lift them carefully back on to your roasting tray and put the tray back in to the oven for fifteen to twenty more minutes.

Chickpeas are gently heated

I drained the chickpeas through a colander at my sink and rinsed them under running cold water. This gets rid of all the chemical preservatives and impurities. I then added them to a pot of cold, slightly salted water and brought the water to a simmer for two or three minutes just to heat them through.

Starting to fry tuna loin

Bring your cast iron grill or griddle pan up to a smoking hot heat. This will take a few minutes. Oil the tuna fillet all over using a pastry brush and lightly season with salt and pepper. Lay the fillet carefully in to the hot pan and cook for two minutes.

Tuna fillet is turned in pan

Turn the tuna fillet with cooking tongs and cook for two minutes on the second side. Note that the tuna fillet should be left pink in the middle to avoid it drying out and becoming unpalatable.

Parsley is added to drained chickpeas

Drain the chickpeas through a colander at your sink and return them to the empty pot. Stir through the teaspoon of parsley.

Grilled tuna fillet is rested

Lift the tuna steak to a small plate or flat bottomed bowl and let it rest for a couple of minutes.

Stuffed and baked potato halves are plated

Take the potato halves from the oven and lift them to your serving plate with a spatula.

Tuna is sliced and added to serving plate

Slice the tuna fairly thickly across the grain on a chopping board with a very sharp knife. Arrange the slices between the potato halves.

Cutting in to soft and fluffy stuffed potato

Spoon the chickpeas around the tuna and potato halves and serve immediately.

Griddled Tuna Salad with Bruschetta

Griddled/grilled tuna fillet slices with a simple salad and bruschetta

This is a super quick to make as well as delicious and healthy meal, perfect for a weeknight when you're perhaps tired and can't face spending a great deal of time in the kitchen. It's ready to eat from starting the prep to finish in an absolute maximum of fifteen minutes.

Ingredients (Serves 1)

6 ounce, 1 inch thick tuna loin steak
Vegetable or sunflower oil
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling bruschetta
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 large garlic cloves, 1 for salad and 1 for bruschetta
Generous handful of mixed supermarket green leaf salad
1 cheesy bread roll

Starting to griddle oiled tuna fillet

Directions

Bring a ridged griddle/grill pan up to a smoking hot heat. This will take around three to four minutes. While the pan is heating up, oil the tuna steak all over. A pastry brush is perfect for performing this task. Season the fillet lightly with salt and pepper. Lay the fillet carefully in the pan to fry for an initial three minutes.

Mixed supermarket salad

This supermarket salad was a mixture of different green leaves, cucumber, red bell pepper slices and sweetcorn. You really can use however whatever salad mix you prefer.

Tuna fillet is turned in griddle pan

Turn the tuna fillet with cooking tongs to fry for three minutes on the second side.

Salad is gently stirred through dressing

Mix the tablespoon of olive oil and the lemon juice in a large bowl. Grate in the peeled second garlic clove, season with salt and pepper and stir again. Add the salad leaves and stir fold or toss through the simple dressing.

Griddled tuna fillet is rested

Lift the tuna fillet to a chopping board and leave it to rest for a few minutes while you prepare the bruschetta.

Cheesy bread roll

This is roll was made with cheese and had extra cheese toasted on the top but you can use a plain bread roll if you prefer. Cut in half horizontally and toast lightly on both sides.

Toasted roll halves and garlic clove

Peel the second garlic clove and lightly crush. Rub it over the cut sides of the hot toasted rolls. Drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Salad and bruschetta are plated

Arrange the salad in the form of a bed for the tuna on a serving plate. Lay a slice of bruschetta on either side.

Tucking in to tuna salad with bruschetta

Slice the tuna steak across the grain with a cleaver or very sharp knife. Lay the slices attractively on the salad bed and serve immediately.

Spicy Scottish Venison Cheeseburgers

Scottish venison grillsteaks on rolls with cheese, onion and peppers

Scottish venison grillsteaks quickly griddled before Scottish cheddar cheese is melted over the top and stir fried mixed peppers and onion are subsequently added. Sound good? This idea actually came about when I had bought the grillsteaks to serve in an entirely different way but before I could do so, I discovered some forgotten mixed bell pepper slices and half an onion in my fridge requiring using if they were not to go to waste. Although therefore an accidental creation in a sense, this was super delicious and definitely something I'll be making again.

Scottish venison grillsteaks

Ingredients

2 Scottish venison grillsteaks
Vegetable oil
Handful of mixed sliced bell peppers
1/2 small white onion, peeled and moderately thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
Generous pinch of hot chilli powder (optional)
2 wholewheat bread rolls or similar
4 slices of Scottish cheddar cheese or as required
Teaspoon of freshly chopped coriander (cilantro)

Starting to griddle the venison grillsteaks

Directions

Start your griddle pan heating on your highest setting. It has to be very hot and this is likely to take a few minutes.

Oil the venison grillsteaks all over and lay them in to the hot griddle.

Grillsteaks are griddled on the second sides

The size of the steaks will vary but these ones took three minutes on each side to cook. Cooking tongs make them easier to turn. It's best not to risk using a plastic implement with a hot pan like this. When the steaks are ready, lift them to a heated plate and cover with foil to rest for a few minutes.

Stir frying peppers and onion

Add a little oil to a small frying pan and stir fry the peppers and onion over a medium heat for two or three minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper and a little chilli powder if desired.

Rested venison grillsteaks are laid on roll bases

Cut the rolls in half and lightly toast on their cut sides under your overhead grill/broiler.

Cheese slices are laid on venison grillsteaks

Lay a grillsteak on each bottom roll half and top with cheese slices.

Cheese is melted over grillsteaks

Melt the cheese under your grill until just bubbling.

Spiced peppers and onions are laid on top of cheese

Lift some peppers and onion on to each burger top with cooking tongs.

Coriander garnishes the burgers before they are closed over

Scatter with the chopped herb before adding the tops to the rolls to serve.

Ready to eat spicy Scottish venison cheeseburgers

Avocado, Cheese and Tabasco Toasties

Spicy avocado paste with tomato slices, cheese and Tabasco sauce toasties

Ideas for recipes can come from a virtually endless number of different sources. I couldn't even guess how many different ways I personally have come up with ideas for preparing and serving food. This recipe is one which I adapted from a very appealing creation I happened to see on Twitter, shared by the sports' journalist and broadcaster, Eilidh Barbour. What she had done was spread some mashed avocado on toast, melt cheese over the top and sprinkle with some Tabasco sauce to finish off. Although I loved the idea as it was shared, I decided to play around with it a bit and this creation is what I developed.

Vegetable ingredients for toastie

Ingredients (Serves 2)

1 large, ripe hass avocado
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper
1 mild green chilli
1 large garlic clove
2 teaspoons freshly chopped coriander (cilantro), plus extra to garnish
1 medium tomato
Slices of cheddar cheese as required
2 cheesy bread rolls (or rolls of choice)
Tabasco sauce

Stoning the avocado

Directions

Sit the avocado on a chopping board broad end down. Take a large sharp knife and cut down through the top centre just until you hit the stone. Carefully turn the avocado away from you until you have cut all the way around the circumference, right through to the stone. Set the knife aside and twist the two halves in opposite directions. They should separate easily, leaving the stone embedded in one half.

Protect your weaker hand with a thickly folded over towel and sit the half with the stone, cut side up, in your palm. Sit the knife blade on top of the stone and moderately firmly lift the knife and bring it down to embed it in the stone. Twist and remove the stone.

Avocado is mashed and seasoned

Scoop the flesh out of the two avocado halves with a teaspoon and add to a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice (to stop it oxidising and browning) and mash with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.

Preparing green chilli and garlic

Cut the top off the chilli, half it and remove the seeds and membrane. Peel the garlic clove.

Green chilli, garlic and coriander added to avocado

Finely dice the chili and add it to the avocado along with the coriander (cilantro). Grate the garlic clove in to the bowl and stir well.

Cheesy bread roll

Cut your cheese rolls in half horizontally.

Avocado paste spread on roll halves

Divide the avocado combination evenly between the four roll halves and spread out to even thickness with a knife.

Tomato slices laid on avocado

Slice the tomato moderately thinly and cut each slice in half. Lay on top of the avocado as shown.

Cheese slices laid on top of tomato

Lay cheese slices on top of the tomato to fully cover.

Tabasco sauce is added to melted cheese

Lift the assemblies carefully on to a grill (broiler) tray and place under a high heat just until the cheese is melted. Use a spatula to carefully lay two portions on two serving plates and sprinkle with Tabasco sauce. (Important note - this stuff is hot, so be careful!) Garnish with the last of the coriander.

Coriander garnishes avocado, cheese and Tabasco toasties

Kangaroo Burgers with Bacon

Kangaroo burgers with bacon and spicy mango chutney served with tortilla chips

A few months back, one of my local supermarkets was selling kangaroo leg steaks. I had a great time devising a number of different kangaroo recipes using these steaks and when I saw kangaroo burgers for sale in the same supermarket, I knew I had to give them a try. I wasn't disappointed.

Kangaroo burgers

Ingredients (Serves 1)

2 kangaroo burgers
Vegetable oil
4 strips smoked streaky bacon (standard bacon, USA)
Generous handful mixed green salad leaves of choice
2 soft bread rolls
2 teaspoons spicy mango chutney
Hot and spicy tortilla chips to serve

Starting to griddle kangaroo burgers

You can cook the burgers in a frying pan over a fairly high heat for four or five minutes each side but I prefer to use a cast iron, ridged griddle/grill pan like the one shown above. Put the pan on to preheat on the highest setting until it is literally smoking hot. This will take at least two to three minutes. Lightly oil the burgers (not the pan) and fry for three to four minutes each side, turning once. Lift to a plate, cover with foil and leave to rest for five minutes.

Starting to fry bacon

Pour a little oil in to a non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon for a minute or so each side until done. Lift to the plate with the kangaroo burgers.

Rested kangaroo burgers and bacon strips

Wash the salad leaves through a colander under running cold water and shake dry. Cut the bread rolls open and lay the salad leaves in the form of burger beds on the bottom halves. Lay a burger on each salad bed and top with a teaspoon of spicy mango chutney.

Spicy mango chutney is spread on kangaroo burgers

Lay two bacon strips on top of each burger.

Bacon strips are laid on kangaroo burgers

Close the rolls over and add a generous handful or so of tortilla chips to each plate to serve.

Kangaroo burgers with bacon ready to serve