When my friend Lisa Heaps texted on Sunday night that her daughter’s boyfriend had dropped off a “shit ton of Tuna – blue fin . . . do you want to stop over after golf and get some?”, I naturally said “YES”! When I arrived at the house after our weekly Monday golf game I was thinking, yum, tuna for dinner. Imagine my shock as I walked into the kitchen and laid eyes on giant bags of humongous chunks of what had to have been half of a several hundred pound tuna that had been swimming in Nantucket Sound less than 48 hours earlier. It turns out a “shit ton” was not an understatement. I departed with two giant pieces and began to ponder about what to do with all of it.

When I told Dennis to open the fridge to check out the treat Lisa had given us, he was initially underwhelmed, as at first glance he thought the bright red object he was looking at was watermelon and he wondered what was so special about that. Then he did a double take when I told him it was blue fin tuna that Chris had caught on Saturday. “That’s awesome” was his response. I set about carving it up, separating the tenderloin from the fattier outer part, portioning it into steaks for pan-searing, chunks for satay and some slices of sashimi, which Dennis promptly dipped into a little soy sauce and declared amazing!

I had been planning to make Thai Peanut Noodles and now that we had all of this beautiful tuna, it was perfect timing. I decided Sesame Crusted Pan Seared Tuna would be delicious with the peanut noodles, and indeed it was spectacular. I used black and white sesame seeds, brushing the fish with a little sesame oil first to help the sesame seeds adhere than pan seared it in a non-stick skillet. I had Thai Basil in my herb garden and added them to the noodles, which made an already great dish even better, so have tweaked my recipe yet again. A Walker Hill Chardonnay and Azaya Ranch Pinot Noir, both from Dutton Goldfield, were spot on. This will become a new staple for sure, and I have “heaps” of tuna in my freezer for many meals to come. Thank you, Lisa (and Chris, who caught it)!