Cucumber-Watermelon Salad and Pan-seared Tuna Steak

Some dinners are not for the kids, really. Tonight was all about satisfying the two grown-ups in our house with something both healthy and unusual. With more and more glimmers of springtime in the air lately, I wanted to put together a dinner that was refreshing, somehow. While shopping this past weekend, I imagined what I might do with watermelon and cucumber, and how I would center a meal on two things I simply find refreshing.

I coarsely chopped the cucumber (just one) and watermelon (about a quarter of a small melon), and tossed them in a bowl with about a tablespoon of honey and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar. That's it. Simple and fast. 

As I considered what to serve with this salad concept, I decided a nice piece of fish would be great. I confess; I don't eat nearly enough fish, and I feel rather proud of myself when I think to make it for dinner. I have a nice bundle of sea salts in the kitchen, and once I had my wife figure out which was which (the print was way too small for my eyes), I decided to use a black olive sea salt. Again, simple and fast. I had a tiny splash of olive oil in the pan, and just added the salt. Nothing more. I served a plain bit of rice with this. 

The verdict

I liked this meal, especially the salad, and I'd make it all again. My wife was especially happy with the tuna. I am thinking that the salad would work nicely with a lemon chicken dish, or something similarly acidic.

Tuna steak with cucumber-watermelon salad

The slight hint of olive flavor from the salt was a nice touch on the fish, and I would like to use it similarly again in the future. 

The bonus tonight was watching our 1-year-old practically inhale the fish. The older daughter - there was no convincing her to try any of this dinner, but the little one is in that wonderful adventurous stage, and I loved watching her gobble up every bite we gave her.

We enjoyed a bit of pinot grigio with this dinner. And it was a nice grownup-centric dinner, for a change.

Rack of Wild Boar

After my wild boar taco night, I had an inclination to cook more wild boar, and I tapped into Artizone, and this Gepperth's Meat Market again for a delivery. I sampled my Facebook friends first to see if  they felt I should make the boar, or instead try some alligator. Boar won.

I had spent the day, a Saturday, working, and was pretty beat after cleaning up the wiring in a switch rack, but I was quickly reinvigorated by the prospect of eating this meal. Thankfully, my wife was willing to help out a bit. She got my roasted potatoes put together and in the oven as I unwound for a few minutes after getting home. I'd saved some of the bacon fat from our breakfast, and had her combine a couple of tablespoons of those drippings with an equal part of olive oil, some Kosciusko beer mustard, dill, and Worcestershire sauce. Once she had those in the oven, I took back over the kitchen.

For the boar, I wanted to try some deep, rich flavors, so I opted for a rub of coarsely ground coffee (Mierisch coffee, for the record), fennel seed, salt, and pepper. I briefly pan-seared the 2 racks in a cast iron skillet, then moved them to finish off in the oven. I also wanted to complement the boar with a good sauce, so I turned to one that I've counted on many times before, with a slight alteration. It is a creamy mustard sauce that emulates one I'll write about more in the future. This time around, I opted for a basic roux, some milk, prepared mustard, ground mustard, roasted mustard seeds, and dill. This is a bit of a variance from my norm, but in addition, and most importantly, I added a bit of white balsamic this time around. It added a bit of sweetness that mellowed the flavor quite nicely. 

The Verdict

On the whole, the meal was good. The two racks were of unequal size, so the one we ate last night was, if anything, a bit more well done than I cared for. The other rack was deliberately underdone, and I served it up tonight as leftovers after a quick sear in the skillet. These were, for me, a bit more tender, but both were satisfying. The fennel was great, and coffee surprisingly mild. They worked well together, but when paired with the mustard sauce, the flavors were far more interesting. I would probably opt for one or the other next time, and not both, if I were to keep the sauce. Or I would keep both and serve with a balsamic or cider reduction next time. That said, I'm sure there will be a next time. I am finding boar a delicious delicacy, and will have to keep it on our menu from time to time.

The potatoes were a real treat, and we found ourselves dipping them in the sauce just as much as we did the meat. Our first night, we had some corn with our meal, and the second night some green beans. There really was no good reason to go crazy with the veggies, so I didn't. We had both meals with some Chilean Carmenere, and it was fine, but I think I'll spend a bit more time picking a better wine the next time I serve boar. 

I know I usually write more about life, but this time through, it is all I can do to just write about the meal. That said, I'm proud to report that BOTH our daughters tried, and seemed to enjoy the meat!

I'll have to plan for the gator down the road a bit. Stay tuned.