Citrus Ahi Appetizer - Two Ways

6/25/2013

Citrus Ahi Appetizer - Two Ways

You may notice that in today's video, I upgraded to a much bigger, whiter, and nicer kitchen. I was home in San Diego over the weekend for a friend's wedding and had the pleasure of cooking in my parents beautiful kitchen, and the best part was finally snagging my mom as a WNB guest star! It was a total family affair - mom and I cooking, boyfriend filming, dog barking in the backyard, brother dancing in the background to make us laugh, sister and dad wanting to taste it before the still shots had been taken . . . it was not my typical WNB filming experience and I loved every minute!

My mom learned this recipe at a cooking class in San Francisco and when I heard about it, I knew it was the perfect summer appetizer for WNB. It's light, healthy, citrusy, fresh, and of course delicious. And it can be served in cute little spoons which makes for a lovely display and a quick one-bite, or on top of an arugula & asparagus salad. Even though it's a super easy recipe to prepare, it's looks really impressive and no one will know that it only took you a few minutes to make . . . our little secret! ;-)

I never thought I liked fennel since I'm not a huge fan of black licorice, but the way it mixes with the sweet sherry vinegar, lemon & orange zest is absolute perfection. I'm usually an Ahi Poki girl, but my heart has been stolen by this citrus ahi. Because I blog about food and recipes, I'm always trying out something new, and even when I love something so much, enough to post about it, I don't always make it a second time because I'm searching for the next amazing meal that I can blog about. I guess that's the nature of a food blog, but let me just tell you that I will definitely be making this one again. The next time I'm entertaining, the Citrus Ahi Duo will be making an appearance. I loved every bite and I know you will too.

Here you go my wonderful WeekNight Biters . . .

Ingredients
1 lb sashimi grade ahi tuna - diced/cubed
1/4 cup chopped fennel
Sea salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tbsp sugar
Zest of one lemon
Zest of 1/2 orange

For the salad:
2 handfuls of arugula
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste
10 raw asparagus spears (cut in half)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 avocado (cubed)

Start this recipe by bringing the orange juice, sherry vinegar, and sugar to a simmer. Leave on the stove for about 5 minutes until it reduces. It will not necessarily get thicker, it will just combine together and reduce a bit. Remove from stove and let cool. Now cut your ahi into diced cubes and mix with 1/4 cup chopped fennel. Add lemon zest,  salt and pepper to the ahi. Pour 1/4 cup of the sherry/orange/sugar marinade over the ahi and mix together.

For the spoon appetizer: Scoop this mixture into your nice serving spoons. Zest your orange over the spoons and finish with one more dash of sea salt.

For the salad: Mix arugula with lemon juice and sea salt. Plate the greens onto a nice platter and top with asparagus, almonds, and avocado. Then add the ahi mixture on top and zest the rest of the orange over your salad. Top with salt and pepper and serve!

Enjoy this perfect summer party dish!