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Italian Seasoned Grilled Yellowfin Tuna Ingredients: Directions: 1. Start by cutting the bones and bloodline out of your fillets. Always cut these out as it will make your dining experience much better. 2. 1 to 24 hours prior to cooking, In a large ZipLock bag, place your grilling sized pieces of fish. Then pour in enough Zesty Italian salad dressing to cover all sides of all pieces of fish. 3. Add additional seasoning to taste. Maybe a bit of Cayenne pepper for a kick, or extra Garlic (minced or powder), a Touch of salt if you are so inclined, but only a touch, Black Pepper, Oregano, or whatever you like that will enhance (not destroy) the already applied seasoning that is in the Italian dressing. 4. An hour before cooking, take out of the fridge and try to get to room temperature before cooking. This will allow you to cook the fish evenly without drying it out. If it is very cold when it goes onto the grill, in order for the center to get hot, you will end up over cooking the fish and it will be dry. 5. Pre-heat your grill to a medium high temperature so that the fish will meet with a hot surface when you place it directly on the grill. The searing of the outside of the fish eliminates the need for aluminum foil or fine grates commonly used. 6. Place your fish on the grill spacing them enough to allow the heat to get between the pieces and sear the edges as well as the bottom. Plan to turn three times during cooking so that you seperate the fillet from the grill after around one minute of cooking so that it does not stick to the grill. 7. Plan on cooking (based on my extensive experience) the following times per side (total) with pieces cut approximately 4" x 4": 8. You will know your fish is done when you lay your spatula's edge against the fillet and it will slide between the grain of the fillet at least halfway without resistance. 9. If you prefer rare or medium rare fish, take 20% or so off of the cooking time and your spatula should not penetrate the fillet more than 20% for rare and 35% for medium rare. I used this recipe (without any additional spices) on some freshly caught Yellowfin Tuna back in 1986 at my wife's (girlfriend at the time) apartment and served it to her roommates. (She had four as she was a flight attendant based out of Newark). All of them (mostly from the Midwest) said they HATED fish. That didn't stop me and I prepared around four pounds of Tuna. It ALL got eaten. I think we had some left over, but it was all gone before 1:00 PM the next day. I left around 12 pounds of Tuna in the freezer and went home to Florida for a week or two. When I returned all of the Tuna had been eaten. Funny, as they all previously said they "Hated Fish". Best sides inlcude: 1. Black (or red) Beans & Rice |
