Seared Albacore And Peaches With Quinoa Haricots Verts And Pistou Recipes

ROASTED HARICOTS VERTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Trim the stem ends only from the haricots verts and place them on two sheet pans. Drizzle the beans with 2 tablespoons of the oil (total) and spread them out in one layer. Sprinkle them with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 10 minutes, until crisp-tender. Serve hot.

PERFECT HARICOTS VERTS

Steps:

• Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over medium heat. Set up a bowl of ice water and season it generously with salt.
• Add the beans to the boiling water and cook them until they are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Bite a bean to be sure they are properly cooked. Put them immediately in the bowl of salted ice water to stop the cooking or to "shock" them. When they are cold, remove them from the water and let them dry a little.
• Coat a large saute pan with both clarified butter and olive oil. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat, add the shallots and brown. Add the haricot vert, season with salt and saute until all the beans are coated with oil and hot. Serve immediately or later at room temperature.

SAUTEED HARICOTS VERTS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Set up a bowl of well-salted ice water for shocking.
• Add the beans to the boiling water and cook until tender but still have some bite, 5 to 7 minutes. Strain and immediately transfer the beans to the salted ice water. Once cool, strain and set aside until ready to use.
• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper, and set over medium-high heat. When the garlic becomes golden and very aromatic, remove it and discard. It has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the beans to the pan and saute until hot and coated with oil. Transfer the beans to a serving bowl, season with salt and serve right away.

SEARED ALBACORE AND PEACHES WITH QUINOA, HARICOTS VERTS AND PISTOU

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until all the water is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add olive oil, and toss to mix. Cover and keep warm.
• Place a large pot of lightly salted water over high heat to bring to a boil. Set aside a large bowl filled with water and ice.
• Add haricots verts to boiling water and blanch just until bright green, about 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out beans (reserving boiling water) and transfer to ice water to chill. Using the slotted spoon, transfer beans to a colander (reserving ice water) and drain.
• Add basil, parsley and tarragon to boiling water. Blanch 2 minutes, then drain and transfer to ice water to chill. Drain again. Place herbs in a kitchen towel and roll gently to remove excess water. Chop coarsely and place in a blender. Add garlic and 1/2 cup grapeseed oil. Blend until very smooth. Place haricot verts in a bowl, and toss with 2 tablespoons of the herb purée (known as pistou) and lemon juice to taste, reserving remaining pistou and juice.
• Place a large sauté pan over medium heat, and add 1/4 cup grapeseed oil. Sear peaches, cut sides down, until caramelized and golden brown, about 3 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside. Clean pan and return to high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil. Season tuna with salt and pepper to taste. Add to pan and sear sides and edges so the center remains raw, 30 seconds to 1 minute each side, pressing tuna against side of pan to sear edges. Remove from heat, slice thinly, and season with lemon juice and salt to taste.
• To serve, spread quinoa across 4 serving plates. Top with haricot verts mixture. Arrange peach halves on top. Fan the sliced tuna on the plates, and garnish with pistou as desired.