4 four ounce ahi tuna steaks
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons chicken broth
2 scallions, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
5 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 teaspoons olive oil
pepper

1. Combine vinegar, broth, scallions, ginger and garlic in a dish.
2. Place the tuna in the marinade, cover and refrigerate for about half an hour. Do not marinade much longer or fish will become soggy.
3. Remove tuna from marinade and season with pepper.
4. Spread sesame seeds on a plate and press tuna into it to create a crust around it.
5. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the tuna.
6. Fry just until golden brown, about 2 minutes, then flip and fry the other side.
7. Remove from heat and serve immediately with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Makes 4 servings

1 pound potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 cloves roasted garlic
1 teaspoon wasabi
water
salt and pepper

1. Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot and add the potatoes, cooking until tender, about 30 minutes.
2. Drain potatoes and set aside.
3. Melt butter with cream in the potato pot and whisk in the garlic and wasabi.
4. Add the potatoes and mash with the mixture and season with salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings

2 small English cucumbers, sliced or peeled into strands
2 teaspoons tamari
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
salt

1. Combine tamari, rice vinegar, sugar and garlic in a small bowl.
2. Toss cucumbers with dressing and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Refrigerate before serving.

Makes 4 servings

When this is published I can guarantee that there will be some sort of editorial mention of my battles with Asian flavors. I was trying to find a recipe for ahi tuna and the Asian ones just looked most appealing. Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna looks awfully pretty and tastes pretty awful. Of course, this is quite likely my fault. It's pictured all beautifully seared and red inside, sure, but I couldn't eat it that way. It's not that I have an apprehension about eating raw fish, but I definitely have an apprehension about eating raw fish from my supermarket. I don't know how long it took to get here, if it was fresh on delivery and cut up in the back room, whether it was already pre-packaged or even previously frozen. Needless to say, I doubt it was sushi grade and I completely cooked it after the picture. It tasted and smelled fishy, the marinade seemed to make it sour and I threw it away.

The Wasabi Mashed Potatoes weren't any better. Okay, they might have been better by comparison, but they definitely weren't good. I should probably mention that I don't like wasabi or horseradish (which is what it tastes like, if you've never tried) and that has a large bearing on why I disliked them. They were fluffy and creamy enough, but the wasabi dominated the flavor and made them inedible. Also, I added green food coloring to try and differentiate the fact that they're wasabi mashed potatoes and not your ordinary mashed potato. The hue doesn't seem as apparent in the photograph, so I guess it will just go as a warning to the hungry that pick through my trash.

I was pondering over whether I'd made a rice vinegar cucumber salad before and swore that I may have, but could not find evidence of such before preparing it. The Soy Cucumber Salad is remarkably similar to the Szechwan Cucumber Radish Salad. Enough so that I'm almost concerned I've broken my own rules for a dish I don't even particularly like that much. I feel a tad guilty and a little concerned about the inadequacy of my memory seeing that it was only 10 days ago that I made it. I must be more careful in the future and should probably avoid this kind of food entirely. It's just as well, we ended up eating leftover Brazilian Pork Roast and that's fine by me.