Tuna Poached in Olive Oil

I was dubious about this one.  I found several recipes on the internet for this with most of them requiring an hour of poaching time.  From poaching salmon I thought this a bit odd so I came up with my own recipe and 20 minutes results in nicely cooked fish from a frozen slab with next to no prep time.  You don't even have to defrost the fish!

When I tasted it I was blown away.  This is really good!!  I'm not a huge tuna fan but this tastes wonderful.

If you like your tuna on the rare side, use sushi grade tuna and cook for 5 minutes per side.  If you cook it from frozen put it into the oil while the oil is still cold otherwise the oil will spray all over the place as the ice boils off.  Very dangerous!!  So put the frozen fish in the oil, put on the pan cover then heat.   Using a clear pan lid lets you keep an eye on what is going on inside the pan without having to lift the lid.

Ingredients
serves 1-4

1/2 - 1c good quality olive oil  (I used Spectrum Organic Mediterranean Olive Oil)
sprig of fresh rosemary or 1/2t dried
several sprigs of thyme or 1/4t dried
crushed clove of garlic
generous pinch salt & pepper
1-4 tuna steaks (I used albacore cut about 3/4" thick)

1. You'll need a heavy skillet with a lid for this.  Fill with about 1/2" of olive oil.
2. Add seasoning and fish.
3. Cover and heat on low so the oil just bubbles.  I used a clear lid so this was easy to monitor.  I started at a higher temp and as the oil heated up I kept turning it down so it stayed at a nice low simmer.
4. Cook for ten minutes on each side.
5. Use pan lid as a shield in case you drop the fish into the oil and splatter.  There is nothing worse than hot oil burns.   And yes, I did drop the cooked steak.  It fell apart as I was trying to get it out of the pan.

Serving suggestions:

• Serve hot with rice and garlic green beans or asparagus.
• Serve hot with a large spring mix salad with a light dressing.
• Tuna can be stored in the cooking oil and then served up flaked on top of salad.