Carrot soup with miso and sesame

 

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 4 regular or 6 small garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated ginger, or more to taste (it could easily be doubled)
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1/4 cup white miso paste, or more to taste
Directions
 
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, onion and garlic sauté until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add broth and ginger. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
 
Puree soup in batches in blender, or all at once with an immersion blender. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso an a half-cup of the soup. Stir the mixture back into the pot of soup. Taste the soup and season with salt, pepper or additional miso to taste.
 
Ladle into bowls and garnish each with a drizzle of sesame oil.
 

Tuna with Braised Leeks and Ginger Mint Salsa

Yield: 2

Fresh tuna steaks are so fatty and rich that to preserve their flavour they should never be cooked beyond ‘medium rare’ doneness. Braised leeks have a wonderfully creamy texture that complements the fish perfectly.

Ingredients Leeks

  • 2 tbsp of butter
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 4 x leeks, white bottoms only, roots still attached, halved lengthwise
  • 1 cup of red wine (I think I used 2 cups wine)
  • 2 cups of vegetable broth (I think I used a cube with 1 cup water)
  • Salt and pepper

Salsa

  • 2 x very ripe tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tbsp of fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/2 cup of fresh mint, chopped
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 x preserved lemon, minced or the juice and zest of one lemon
  • Salt and pepper

Tuna

  • 1 tbsp of red peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp of green peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp of black peppercorns
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 x 6 oz tuna steaks, 1 inch thick
  • 3 tbsp of olive

Directions Leeks

Preheat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and butter and when it foams, add the leeks, flat side down. Pan roast for a few minutes until the face browns and softens. Add the red wine and chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid, reduce heat and braise at a slow simmer for 30 minutes, until leeks are very soft and braising liquid has reduced and thickened to a sauce-like consistency. While the leeks braise combine all the salsa ingredients. Crack the peppercorns in an electric spice grinder or using a mortar and pestle. Don’t grind to a powder. Mix on a plate with the salt then press each tuna steak into the mixture, coating both sides well. Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat, add corn oil and sear tuna steaks for no more than 3 minutes per side. Cook just long enough to form a crust but not long enough to allow the heat to penetrate and cook the center of the fish. Tuna should be rare in the center. Cut into thick slices with a very sharp knife. Place 2 leek halves in each bowl, fan tuna on top of them and spoon the leek broth over the top. Top with a heaping spoonful of the salsa.

(source)