Scrumptious Seafood Tapas

To continue with the homemade beach creations . . .

Rachel and Johnny made us two tapas, or ‘small plates’, one evening.  These dishes were oh-so-kind to our palates, super fancy, and ultra-amazing.  To start, we enjoyed the most beautiful plate of food, which showcased “Poke” (pronounced “po-kee”).  Poke is a Hawaiian raw fish salad dressed with a marinade – it is so delicious. 

Here is a photo so that your eyes are fed first ~


After our course of Poke, we savored bites of pan-seared sea scallops created by Johnny.  These scallops rested on a comfy bed of homemade herb oil (tarragon, parsley, orange zest, olive oil) and were topped with crunchy, smoky bacon.  Bright, fresh orange segments and spheres of chili oil brought it all to fruition.  Another beautiful plate of food ~

Holy yum. 

Here is the recipe for “Rachel’s Poke”.  I highly encourage you to make this salad at home.  The way she paired it with fresh avocado chunks, salty crinkle cut chips, and a creamy-spicy 'Sushi sauce' was perfection.

Rachel’s Poke

Inspired by:  R and J's 1^st anniversary trip to Hawaii

Ingredients (courtesy of Rachel - thank you!):

2 lbs. of sushi-grade Ahi Tuna
1/2 cup Sesame Oil
.5- 1 tablespoon chili oil (depending on how hot you like it)
2 tablespoons of LOW sodium Soy sauce. (You can use more,  but it may get too salty.)
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5-6 stalks of green onions, chopped
1 tsp sugar
sesame seeds (optional)
Black pepper and salt to taste (limit the salt)

The Process:

Assemble your marinade in a bowl with all of the above ingredients (minus the tuna, of course) and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.  Next, cut the Ahi Tuna up into 1" cubes.  You can cut up the pieces however big or small you prefer.  Once the marinade is ready, add the tuna to it, and toss everything together so that all of the ingredients become really, really friendly.  Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, and you are ready for a delicious experience! 

I would highly recommend serving it along with the sides Rachel chose:  diced avocado, crinkle-cut chips, and Sushi sauce.  Don't forget your chopsticks!  We alternated between scooping up the Poke with chips and using the chopsticks to take bites of Poke solo. 

 Bon Appetit! 

We topped off dinner with the “trough” (as we called it because the trough housed about 3 zillion) of Mom’s award-winning chocolate chip cookies during an animating - to say the least - round or two of Catch Phrase. 

Until next time . . .