Recipe - Fresh Tuna Hero

6 lg Cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon White wine
2 tablespoon Plus 1 teaspoon pure olive
oil
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper, to taste
One half pound Tuna steak, 1 One half inches
thick
4 French bread rolls, about 5
inches long, or 1 long
baguette (see note)
2 tablespoon Extravirgin olive oil
4 Thin slices red onion
2 ounce Thin string beans (stem
ends trimmed), blanched
4 lg Slices ripe tomato
1 Roasted red bell pepper,
quartered lengthwise (see
recipe)
1 tablespoon Chopped flatleaf parsley

Fresh tuna is readily available at all fish markets and in most
supermarkets today. The freshest, best tuna has deep red flesh. If the tuna
is turning dark around the edges, don't buy itQit's not fresh.

1. Preheat oven to 350!F.

2 Cut off about One fourth inch from the top of each clove of garlic; discard.
Place garlic cloves in a small ramekin. Drizzle with white wine and I
teaspoon pure olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover with foil and
bake for 1 hour, or until garlic is soft. Remove and cool to room
temperature.

3. Sprinkle both sides of tuna with black pepper. Heat remaining 2
tablespoons pure olive oil in a non stick skillet. Sear tuna over
mediumhigh heat and cook for 3 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove
from pan, cool and cut crosswise into 8 thin slices. Reserve.

4 Slice the top third off each roll, lengthwise; reserve tops. Hollow out
the center of each roll. Brush insides with the extravirgin olive oil.
Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from their skins and spread over the
inside of each roll.

5. To assemble sandwiches, lay 2 slices of tuna along bottom of each roll;
cover with slice of onion. Next, lay string beans lengthwise. Top each with
a slice of tomato and roasted pepper, pressing down on ingredients.
Sprinkle evenly with black pepper and parsley. Cover rolls with reserved
tops; press down again. To ensure that the sandwich is perfectly moist,
wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before serving.
From the files of Al Rice, North Pole Alaska. Feb 1994

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini