we've had a couple dinners over the last few visits that were a bit larger than what a modern chef would consider a reasonable sized plate. with that in mind, we decided to do tapas. i usually like to make an amuse bouche, but this time it worked out to include the amuse as a tapa and then just make 2 more. i had a piece of ahi in the fridge that marcela and i bought earlier in the week and so we decided to do a fish, a red meat, and a poultry item.
unfortunately, the majority of my memory from the weekend my family visited centers around getting my dad a major discount on a new set of irons he's always wanted. it may not seem like that big of a deal until you understand my dad gave me the game of golf...everything about it i can attribute to him. so, for me, this was a small token towards paying him back for this game that i really, really, really love. the other part of my memory from that weekend was getting to have a barbecue with marcela's side of the family at mami's house on sunday after going to church. i'm so lucky to have married into a family that shares the same feeling of love towards our creator. it seems more and more these days i don't have that in common with many of my friends.
anyway, on to the meal! so, for the tuna, i cut the ahi in cubes and marinated it in soy sauce. while that marinated, my dad pounded out the chicken breast to about a 1/4 inch thickness throughout. i then took that breast and par cooked it on the grill before handing it back to my dad for him to stuff with spinach and gorgonzola. he then rolled it up and used some butchers twine to tie it up for placing in the oven. i then took the filet mignon and seasoned it with salt and pepper and then turned the grill up to it's highest heat capacity for a perfect medium rare steak. meanwhile, my dad was working on roasting some sliced beets and diced potatoes for garnish. the filet's got about 2 minutes on each side, as did the tuna in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. then, to plate this dish, as you see in the picture, the tuna went bare on the plate with a wasabi soy drizzle, the steak was placed on top of a slice of beet and then diced potatoes were laid around it, and finally, the chicken was cut roulade style and left alone.
all of these tapas i've had as an entree, but i have to say there was something special and divine about having smaller versions plated together. it was interesting to see how all four of us (mom, dad, marcela, and i) went at the dish...
i really like the idea of tapas. i think we all like to eat, but are often left with over eating one dish because it tastes so good. i think when you have the different flavors you tend to satisfy your hunger much faster without ever getting super full. maybe i was wrong, who knows. even if i was, big dave whipped up his homemade individual chocolate cakes to satisfy any leftover urges!! unfortunately for you, the reader, we were too eager to eat them to take a photo!!!
