Tuna, Tarragon & Burnt Butter Dressing

We asked Adelaide Oval’s Executive Chef, Daniel Simpson, to pick his favourite South Australian ingredient and create a recipe especially for EatDrink Local SA and SALife magazine.

Daniel, who creates the menus for the Oval’s famed Five Regions Restaurant and Bespoke Wine Bar and Kitchen, chose perfect fillets of KIN Premium Seafood‘s otoro tuna for a dish that kisses the tuna with heat on the grill and adds flavour punch with a crispy celeriac remoulade and garlic and thyme infused crunchy pangritata.

Daniel chose this recipe because he says the KIN tuna is always spot on for quality and taste. He takes his burnt butter for the dressing right to the very edge for deep flavour – have faith and do the same!

Having cheffed in Sydney, Daniel says he now loves the passion South Australian diners have for all things local, so this recipe also features a happy find from the Adelaide Farmers’ Market – pickled white garlic – and a quick kitchen hack from Beerenberg Farm for all of us at home looking to save time.

To find out more about Daniel’s recipe inspiration and why he loves Adelaide diners, click here.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 150g fillets KIN Premium Seafood otoro tuna
1 lime
grilled lemon cheeks to serve

For the Tarragon Saffron Dressing

0.5g saffron
10g hot water
50g cold butter, diced
50ml South Australian extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon leaves
10g Dijon mustard
1/4 lemon, juice and zest
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Celeriac Remoulade

1 bulb celeriac
1 bulb fennel
100g buttermilk
1 teaspoon chives, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dill, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 lime, juice and zest
Salt and pepper to taste

For the pangritata

100g day old good quality sourdough bread (or substitute panko crumbs)
20ml extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves pickled Haaseford Farms white garlic
1 teaspoon lemon thyme
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
2 leaves lemon myrtle
10g salt flakes
15g black pepper

Method

To make the tarragon saffron dressing, first soak the saffron in hot water for at least 20 minutes.
Preheat your saucepan, and when it is hot, add the butter – it should sizzle immediately. Cook until brown, then add your oil to reduce the temperature and stop the butter from going too far. Take the pot off the heat, strain off any sediment and set aside to cool.
Add the wine to a clean saucepan and reduce over heat until you have about 40ml. Cool, then combine with your vinegar, saffron and water.
Add butter and remaining ingredients, except the tarragon, to the mixture and stir well to emulsify. Season to taste. Chop your tarragon and add this to the vinaigrette, then set aside.
To make the celeriac remoulade, mix all the ingredients except the celeriac and fennel to make your dressing. (Or use Daniel’s home cooking trick and substitute Beerenberg Farm’s Ranch Dressing!)
Peel and julienne the celeriac, and shave the fennel. Pick a few fronds of the fennel and set them aside to use as a garnish (if you need to keep them fresh, pop them into iced water but remember to drain and dry them well before you use them).
Mix the celeriac and fennel with the dressing just before serving.
To make the pangritata, process the sourdough bread in a food processor until you have coarse crumbs.
Pick the thyme leaves and set aside.
Thinly slice the pickled garlic and fry in the olive oil until golden. Add the picked thyme leaves and fry gently, just until you can smell the aroma, then quickly remove the thyme and garlic from your oil and chop them finely. Keep the oil in your frypan.
Add your breadcrumbs to the flavoured oil and fry until crisp. Season to taste, then add the chopped garlic and thyme, and the lemon myrtle. Drain well on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
To cook the tuna, very lightly oil a hot grill and the tuna fillets. Place the fillets on the grill and cook, turning once so you get lovely grill lines. Remove when cooked to your liking and set aside to rest briefly.
To serve, place a tuna fillet on each plate, with a small amount of the remoulade. Drizzle over the tarragon and saffron dressing. Sprinkle the plate with the pangritata and top with a fennel frond or two, and serve with fresh or grilled lemon cheeks.