Jack Fry's Tuna

 

This is the recipe that was printed in our "local" newspaper (if you can call a Gannett-owned newspaper "local") back when people read "newspapers".

Ingredients

Lentils

• 2 cups French green lentils
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced green pepper
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar 

 Sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/4 cup diced onions
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup beef or veal stock
• 2 cups port wine

 Tuna

• About 1/2 cup cracked (not ground) black pepper
• 1/4 cup sea salt
• 2 6-ounce yellow fin tuna steaks
• 1 tablespoons olive oil 

Preparation
 
Lentils

1. Cook lentils according to package directions until they are soft and only slightly chewy. Set aside.
2. In a separate pan, heat olive oil over medium temperature until it shimmers. \
3. Add carrots, onion, green pepper and celery. Cook until vegetables are softened and have browned edges (about 8 minutes).
4. Stir in sherry vinegar and cooked lentils.
5. Continue to cook until warmed through (about 12 minutes). Set aside.

Sauce

1. Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat.
2. Add carrots, onions and celery; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft.
3. Remove cover, increase heat to medium-high and add stock.
4. Bring stock to a boil, then stir in port.
5. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by half.
6. Remove from heat and set aside.

 Tuna

1. Mix pepper and salt in a rimmed plate.
2. Press tuna steaks into mixture, coating all sides. Discard remaining salt and pepper
3. In a sauté pan, heat oil until it shimmers.
4. Add tuna and sear about 2 minutes on one side; 1 minute on the other.
5. Remove from heat and serve at once over lentils, topped with port wine sauce.

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Needless to say, I tweaked the recipe a bit to conform to my preferences. For example, I used a lot more olive oil than was called for, and I used a lot less salt. I also used Sangiovese wine rather than port because, doh!, I didn't pay enough attention to what I was doing.