TUNA

From November to May the fishing vessel Ventura II pulls into the fishing dock and sells their catch to the public.  They head out 400 to 1,000 miles and come back into port every three or four weeks.  Customers are alerted of their arrival by e-mail, newspaper ads and by signs posted at the marina entrance that simply say "TUNA".  The fish are sold whole or filleted (at a higher cost, of course). 

Last weekend there was an ad in the Los Angeles Times and it brought out customers in droves.  Look at the line!

I could see the crowd from our boat so I waited until the line thinned out -- 5 hours later!

Filleting the fish aboard the boat:

I bought Big Eye Tuna:

First up, a little sashimi:

Next, I decided to conserve some of the tuna in olive oil.  In a large saucepan, add half of a lemon, a couple of garlic cloves, half of a fennel bulb, half of a leek,  half of a red onion, a tablespoon of peppercorns, a couple of crushed bay leaves and kosher salt:

I added the tuna to the pan, covered with water and simmered for 15 minutes.  Then I removed the fish, drained, placed in a container and covered with olive oil.  I plan to use this in salads and maybe a pasta dish:

And then for dinner we seared a couple of steaks (about 1 minute per side) and served with steamed rice and sliced avocado.  

This picture has convinced me I have to work on my photography skills. In reality the rice was not a huge mountain, overpowering a tiny piece of tuna. Imagine a large, beautifully cooked piece of fish. You won't need your imagination after my "table-top photo studio light box" is delivered and I produce incredible food photos.  Yes, the "studio" is on order and should be arriving any day.