Moroccan-Style Tuna With Eggplant And Spicy Yoghurt

We like to eat fish in this household.  We have salmon once or twice a fortnight, (tinned) tuna for lunch once or twice a week, and I also enjoy some tinned sardines now and then.  Meat on the other hand - mm, probably a bit of beef mince once a month!  Hubby and I were both vegetarians in our youth (quite separate to each other).

To be honest, I think this was the first time I had ever cooked with fresh tuna.  I do enjoy a bit of sashimi, but sadly am a bit wary these days due to getting food poisoning from some salmon.  But I am very happy to have fish lightly grilled or baked, like this dish.   

we had the tuna with rice vermicelli noodles

Speaking of all things fish, reminds me of a trip to China years ago, where we were given a dish of ... jellyfish (?) in a clear, sweet liquid.  Of course, there were also chicken feet, and things of which we knew not.  Will never forget the sight of a businessman in his suit, briefcase in one hand, and live, squawking hen in the other.  I'd imagine his wife was awaiting the chook so she could start dinner ...

(Belinda gives this recipe for 6 diners; I reduced it to 4, so pretty much halved the other ingredients)

Serves 4:

ingredients:

Tuna marinade:

1-2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cummin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika

a big pinch of cayenne pepper, or chilli flakes

1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

30 mL/1 hefty ounce of lemon juice

120 mL/4 oz EV olive oil

sea salt flakes and black pepper, to taste

Spicy yoghurt:

200g./7 oz plain Greek yoghurt

1 very tiny clove of garlic, finely chopped

40 mL/1.4 oz EV olive oil

1 tsp ground cummin

sea salt flakes

The Tuna and Eggplant:

4 tuna steaks around 100g./3.5 oz each (or bigger, if you fancy)  see Notes

600-700g./21-25 oz eggplant

80 mL/2.8 oz EV olive oil

mint or coriander leaves, for garnish

lemon wedges, to serve

ye olde eggplant

not a hint of soap here :=)

Method:

Start early! - make the marinade a couple of hours before you want to cook the fish

So, grab a large bowl, chuck in the marinade ingredients, give it a good whisking and then: leave the tuna in a flat (non-reactive) dish, pour over about a third or so of the marinade (you want the fish all covered), cover the dish with clingfilm or a lid, and let it rest easy for a couple of hours in the fridge (and Belinda suggests giving the steaks a turn every so often)

The rest of the marinade goes into a jug, and into the fridge

Now the eggplant: 

Oven on to 220C/430F to heat up; and line a large baking tray with baking paper

Slice up your eggplant lengthwise into quarters, then wedges

Chuck 'em into a bowl, and toss with the olive oil, then on to the tray in a single layer

Bake for around 30 minutes or so, till golden-brown (and turn 'em over halfway thru' the cooking time)

While this is happening, mix up the spicy yoghurt and put into the fridge while you get on with cooking the fish

Either whack the steaks onto your BBQ, or grab a grill pan, and cook till as tender as you care for - Belinda suggests 1 to 2 minutes per side!  You may want more cooking time

Now put a steak on each plate, pour over a bit of the marinade from the jug, and serve with eggplant and lemon wedges 

who, me?  Yep you Mr Tuna!

Notes:

Belinda suggests making this recipe for 6, using "6 tuna steaks", without giving a weight, but Googling shows the average weight of a tuna steak is around 180g./6.5 oz.  I just happened to only be able to buy small ones!  But grab some bigger pieces, or a couple more steaks to feed another two people (and increase the amounts for the marinade and yoghurt accordingly, if so)

ingredients gathered

prepare your marinade

pour the marinade over the fish

looking golden and delicious

spicy yoghurt at the ready

Mr P. grills the tuna (in his bare feet)

strew (is that a verb?) the coriander leaves over the eggplant

feeling hungry ...

nearly ready to dig in!

dig in!

and/or throw on some mint

In My Kitchen - March 2026

You know I have to say it!  March?!  What the? ...  I've barely recovered from Christmas - hehehe.  It's interesting lately checking out the early morning and late afternoon sunlight these days though.  You can see that the sun has moved to the north, and the light is starting to change depth and colour.  Autumn!  Oh yes please.

Well, what a week.  Mr P. has had another injection, and I've had my six-monthly dental checkup.  Oh the fun!  We often joke that getting older means having a favourite chemist, and discussing all your ills with your friends.  Ah well, I had bookclub too; I made a Nigella Lawson Quadruple chocolate loaf cake to take with.  I love the chocolate syrup poured over it, and sometimes use the syrup recipe for other cakes.  So good!

    

bonus photo of the sea at Sawtell on our recent roadtrip

In My Kitchen:

you can never have too many (Greek) chilli flakes! 

oh not another (food-related) book?  But yes!  It's Alton after all!

and another tumbler?  Also yes!  But the turtle ... :=)

of course I made more mango chutney!

lots of it!

This was made with gifted mangoes from our new neighbour's dad's garden (I think).  Otherwise, I don't know where he got them from :=) 

a few goodies from Tasmanian Gourmet Online

and I made spicy tomato relish

I bought some condiments (olive jam is great on pizza)

I made savoury mince for a cookbook club post

see those crisps?  Spicy crayfish.  So delicious!

We headed to the local Asian grocery shop, so I could stock up on some of my fave treats.  Pocky is always a winner, though they didn't have my favourite dark and nutty ones. 

and the curveball! - a gorgeous old inkwell with copper feather

This lovely little artwork is by Terina Smith Recycling Artist.  I have a couple of old inkwells so was very happy to add this one to my collection.  Terina created the copper feather (copper? I think so), which sits inside it.  I just love it!

c. Sherry M.

    

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

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Peanut Chutney - and What to do With It

Chutney?  Interesting word for it.  Nah, I think this is more of a marinade-type thingy.  I made this for Cookbook Club, waaaaay back in August last year.  The recipe is from Everything is Indian by Justin Narayan.  I decided to use it as a marinade for some chicken tenderloins.  I gave half the chutney to a friend (who used it as a marinade for chicken, too), and made this for dinner.  Great minds ...

deliciously nutty

Makes approx. 200g./7 oz:

ingredients:

130g./4.5 oz unsalted peanuts OR 130g. of peanut butter

30g./1 oz white sesame seeds

1/2 brown onion, roughly chopped   see Notes

2 tsp tamarind paste  (or 2-3 tsp lemon juice)

1 Tbs lemon juice

3 small red chillies (or your fave chilli), roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves - yep, roughly chopped :=)

100-125 mL  (3.4-4.3 oz water)

sea salt flakes (1/8-1/4 tsp) and freshly ground black pepper

luckily for me, I don't taste soap when I eat fresh coriander :)

Serves 4:

For the chicken dish:

500-600g./18-21 oz chicken tenderloins (or chop up some breasts)

Peanut chutney - maybe half the jar; just have the chicken well-coated     see Notes

Lemon juice - maybe 3 Tbs

Fresh coriander leaves, torn or chopped - a big handful, or to your taste

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Rice or rice noodles, to serve

Cucumber and tomato, chopped, to serve

small red chillies

peanuts!

Method:

Grab a wee saucepan/frying pan and toast your nuts and seeds till golden brown (obvs. no need to toast the peanut butter, if  using)

Tip them into a blender or small food processor, with the other ingredients, except the salt and pepper

And blend away till it looks like the consistency of peanut butter

Add more water if you fancy it a bit thinner

Season with the salt and pepper

For the chicken dish:

Marinate the chicken pieces in the chutney for at least 30 minutes

Fry in 2 Tbs of vegetable or olive oil, which you have heated up

Add lemon juice, coriander leaves, salt and pepper

Throw on some white and/or black sesame seeds, if you like

Serve with rice or rice noodles

And chop up some cucumber, tomato and fresh coriander leaves, to go with ...

Notes:

I used peanut butter made from just peanuts and salt

The average brown onion weighs around 150-200g.; I used c. 90g.

I gave half the chutney away to a friend, so I probably used about 100g/3.5 oz for the chicken dish

Throw some mustard seeds or cummin seeds into the chutney (after blitzing to a smooth sauce) - if you fancy!

        brown onion

        cucumber

ingredients gathered

get ready to blitz!

and ... blitzed!  See how smooth :=)

ready for dinner!

Mangoes update: all 200 kilos! (maybe 150 kg.) of fruit has been laboriously picked up (even dug out) from the backyard.  The fruit bats, possums and birds are very sad!  The crows have been indignantly squawking for days about it.  I do love me a crow - so smart, so kind, dropping off gifts now and then.  And did you know? - they absolutely adore fruit.

Mr P. is very slowly getting over his cough, which has lasted for well over 3 weeks!  I can't believe I haven't caught it from him, though he has been politely sleeping downstairs so I don't get it!  Autumn is nearly here, and we have had copious amounts of rain over the last week.  And some flooding out west; it never ends here with the weird weather!!  Hope you are all doing well, my friends.

Guess who?  Yes, moi!  (c. G McKinnon)

Chewy Almond Cookies aka Biscuits

We all like a bit of Donna Hay, don't we? - she is an icon of Aussie cooking.  I've made a couple of her biscuit recipes lately, but these were actually made way back in August last year for Cookbook Club.  This recipe is from Too easy, another of her popular cookbooks.  And there are so many more recipes I want to try ... 

Start these in plenty of time, as the dough has to rest in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up, before baking, and then sits for another 10 minutes after you take it out of the freezer, before going into the oven.  Huh?  Seems a wee bit odd to me, but anyways ...  Like many a cookbook, the recipes are not really built for a Queensland kitchen!

golden, nutty, delicious

Makes 20-22 biscuits:

ingredients:

250g./9 oz butter, melted

240g./8.5 oz brown sugar

220g./8 oz caster sugar

120g./4.5 oz almond meal (aka ground almonds)

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

300g./10.5 oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

135g./5 oz flaked almonds   see Notes

icing sugar, for dusting

Method:

Into a large bowl go the butter, brown sugar, caster sugar, almond meal, egg and vanilla - and give 'em a good stir to combine

The flour and baking powder get sifted over the top of this mix, and you give all that a good stir

Your flaked almonds are now sitting on a large plate, and you will then roll 2 Tbs of the dough into balls, then roll onto the plate to get covered in almond flakes

Put 'em onto a couple of large, baking paper-lined baking trays (leaving a bit of room around each ball), and whack into the freezer for 30 minutes (or more - till firm)

Turn on your oven to 180C/350F to heat up

After 10 minutes out of the freezer, the trays are placed in the oven, and the biscuits baked for about 15 minutes or till golden   see Notes

Let 'em cool right down on the trays, then dust with the icing sugar

oh yes, vanilla paste

and pecans

Notes:

From my photos, it seems I didn't have enough flaked almonds to coat the dough balls in, so I used some chopped-up pecans to make up the difference!

Dunno why, but they took 20 minutes in my oven to get golden

ingredients gathered

stir together the sugars, melted butter, almond meal, egg, vanilla

and stir in the flour and baking powder till you have a soft dough

onto trays and into the freezer for half an hour to firm up

golden and nutty after 20 minutes baking

onto the wire rack to get really cool

pile 'em up!

don't forget the icing sugar!

Just FYI for anyone following my saga of the rotting, festering mangoes in our backyard: we have now picked up about 200 kilos!  There are still some lurking in the grass, looking like hairy dead rats!  Somewhat ironically, I made some mango/nectarine chutney last weekend - but with mangoes from our new neighbour's dad's garden - I think!  Though perhaps he just conjured them up from somewhere :=) 

biscuits/cookies!