Southwestern Tuna Poke w/ Avocado-Mango Salsa

Ok, so we all know that I love to throw a good party -- but sometimes life gets in the way of parties and getting a whole mess of people together just isn’t happening.  Sad times....{if I had my way, this February I’d be throwing a Super Bowl party, Mardi Gras party, Oscar Night party and Valentine’s Day party...}

So when I’m getting a little tear in my eye from lack of party planning, I realize that I can throw a dinner party!  Getting just one other couple into my house constitutes me pulling out all the stops for dinner... it’s a sickness, I know, but I just live to cook for people!  Even though a dinner party isn’t a full blown party, it’s still nice to have a central theme and roll with it.  It just helps your meal to make sense as you move through the courses.  This week’s dinner party theme was Southwestern cuisine and I had a great time preparing this meal.  It’s a little labor-intensive but hey, it’s a dinner party, people, not 30 minute meals!  ;)

Today I’m showing you our appetizer -- Southwestern Tuna Poke w. Avocado-Mango Salsa.  A “Poke” is traditionally a raw fish salad -- do not be afraid to make this in your own home.  Here’s how I rationalize this....when I make Ahi tuna at home, I barely sear it and I’m shoveling it down, so why not just forgo the heat all together?  Really, as long as you’re buying fresh fish from a source that you trust, you can make this at home!  There are three components to this impressive appetizer: the tuna, the avocado-mango salsa and the mango-habanero sauce.  You can pile up these ingredients on a plate, or if you have a nice thick biscuit cutter, use it as a mold and you are good to go!

Southwestern Tuna Poke w. Avocado-Mango Salsa (makes 4)

Mango-Habanero Sauce: (makes 1 cup)

1 tbsp canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped

1 habanero, chopped

1 cup white wine vinegar

salt

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add onions, garlic, mangoes, habanero and vinegar and cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.  Place mixture in a blender and blend until smooth.  If the mixture is too thick, add a few tablespoons of warm water or vinegar.  Season with salt.

Tuna:

2 (4 oz) ahi tuna steaks, chopped into a small dice

3 tbsp mango-habanero sauce

1 splash sesame oil

Lightly toss all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Avocado-Mango Salsa:

2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and diced

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced

1/2 small red onion, minced

juice of 2 limes

1 tbsp canola oil

salt and pepper, to taste

1 generous handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Lightly toss all ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

Assembly:

Place biscuit cutter, cookie cutter or mold in the center of small serving plate.  Place 1/4 of avocado-mango salsa into mold and pack down.  Top with tuna mixture, pressing into mold.  Remove mold to unveil your gorgeous appetizer.  Serve with mango-habanero sauce and your choice of chips {I used baked wonton crisps but tortilla chips would be awesome as well!}

{MiniChow} Muffaletta Wonton Cups with Mustard Sauce

I am a sandwich freak -- sandwiches are probably my overall favorite type of food.  Anything tastes great piled onto a great roll or between two slices of fantastic bread, topped with cheese and some kind of condiment.  MMMmmmm I could eat sandwiches every day, for every meal, for the rest of my life.  One of my favorites is the Muffaletta sandwich, which originated among Italian immigrants living in New Orleans.  It’s traditionally a large round loaf of bread, hollowed out and stuffed with meats and cheeses such as capicola, mortadella, salami, pepperoni, ham, swiss cheese and provolone.  What really “makes” it a muffaletta is the olive salad on the sandwich.  Olive salad is made with diced olives along with pickled celery, cauliflower and carrot, seasoned with oregano and garlic, covered in olive oil and allowed to marinate for at least 24 hours.  These days you can find olive salad on the shelves of many a grocery store.

When I first stumbled across this recipe it was for Muffaletta Eggrolls but I’m not a huge fan of deep frying everything I eat so I lighted it up a tad by piling the filling into baked wonton cups.  {Also, the store didn’t have eggroll wrappers in stock and guests were arriving at my house in an hour so I had to improvise :) }.  These are great for a party because you can bake the wonton cups and chop up the filling ingredients ahead of time.  

Muffaletta Wonton Cups with Mustard Sauce

1 (8oz) package sliced provolone cheese

4 oz sliced havarti cheese

4 oz genoa salami

4 oz capicola ham

1/2 c. finely chopped pimento stuffed green olives

1/4 c. finely chopped black olives

1/2 c. finely chopped pepperoncini peppers

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 (16 oz) package wonton wrappers

Mustard Sauce:

1/2 c. light mayo

1/2 c. light sour cream

1 tbsp minced garlic

3 tbsp dijon mustard

fresh ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a mini muffin pan generously with cooking spray.  Fit one wonton wrapper in each mini muffin cup and spray with cooking spray again.  Bake wontons for 5 minutes or until just turning golden.  Remove from oven and set aside.
2. Finely chop the first 4 ingredients and place in a medium bowl.  Stir in olives, peppers and black pepper.  Spoon 1 tbsp of mixture into each wonton cup, pressing filling in. 
3. Bake filled wonton cups until cheese is melted and filling is hot, around 3 to 5 minutes.  Remove from oven.
4. Combine all ingredients for mustard sauce.  Place a dollop of sauce in the center of each wonton.  Serve.

Goat Cheese and Black Bean Dip

I guess my lazy weekend has turned into a lazy week!  I’ve been MIA from my blog!!!  Well last night I made a bunch of food to get back into it and now I’m packed with content that I’m super excited to share with you all!  I also watched Julie and Julia and my blogging spirit has been renewed!  

So today I have a fantastic and flavorful dip for you.  During the fall {also known to many as “football season”}, dips are a-plenty.  Most of these dips are clogged with fat in the form of sour cream, cream cheese or mayo...{and I’m not saying these dips aren’t the most amazing and flavorful dips out there....fat makes the stuff fantastic!}  Here’s a dip that doesn’t have one teeny drop of mayo or sour cream or cream cheese!  The only cheese in it is a sprinkling of creamy goat cheese -- which is a flavor bomb in and of itself.  I also used eggroll wrappers and sliced them into strips then baked them to use as dippers.  This is a much more healthy alternative to tortilla chips.

Goat Cheese and Black Bean Dip

from O Magazine

1 tbsp EVOO

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp cumin

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 c. chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

2 large poblano peppers

1 bunch scallions, sliced

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

10 eggroll wrappers, each sliced into 4 strips

cooking spray

1. First start with the eggroll wrappers.  Preheat the oven to 450.  Spray cooking spray on a large cookie sheet and lay eggroll strips on sheet.  Then, spray each strip with cooking spray.  Bake 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
2. Heat EVOO and cook onions and garlic about 5 minutes.  Stir in cumin.  Add 1 can beans and mash using a potato masher.  Stir in stock and other can of beans.  Simmer 5 to 7 minutes and season with salt and pepper.  Let cool.
3. Broil poblanos and blacken skin.  Place in paper bag to cool.  Peel skin, seed and chop.  Toss with scallions and cilantro. 
4. Decrease oven temp to 375.  In a 1 to 1 1/2 qt baking dish, spread half of bean mixture in bottom.  Top with half of cheese, crumbled, and half of pepper mixture.  Repeat layers.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Serve.