Classic Nicoise Salad

By Andrew Zimmern

In this thrilling episode of Wild Game Kitchen, I break down a whole tuna and serve it three ways. Center-cut tuna steaks are grilled and topped with a sweet and salty mustard miso sauce. Not wasting anything, I create a beautiful tuna tartare from the odds and ends of the tuna trim. And finally, I poach the tuna belly for this classic niçoise tuna salad with citrus dressing.

Nicoise Tuna Salad with Citrus Dressing

Ingredients

2 pounds tuna belly
1 1/2 cups olive oil
2-3 heads of Little Gem or Butter lettuce
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 hard-boiled eggs
12-16 anchovies (get some good ones, I get mine from www.gustiamo.com)
1/3 cup olives (I like Arbequina, Nicoise or Kalamata olives)
A large handful of fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced chives
2 tablespoons minced parsley
Crusty bread, for serving

Citrus Dressing

2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons Djion mustard
1 tablespoon honey
Zest of one orange
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup ‘tuna oil’ from the poaching process
Juice of one orange

Instructions

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Trim the tuna and cut it into 4 to 6 pieces. Place in a 2-quart pot and cover with the oil. Tuna should be submerged.

Place on stove top over low heat. Using a thermometer, cook slowly for about 20 minutes until the temperature reaches 225 and once the temperature reaches 225 degrees place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove and let tuna cool in oil for 1 hour. Strain oil off into a bowl, and reserve for salad dressing.

Meanwhile, make the salad dressing. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the shallots, mustard, honey and orange zest. Add the lemon juice, tuna oil and orange juice, whisking constantly. Adjust for sweetness and tartness, season and serve or refrigerate.

On a large serving platter, arrange cleaned lettuce, eggs, tomatoes, anchovies, olives, green beans, sliced shallots, poached tuna, and finally the herbs.

Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve, passing the citrus dressing at the table. And plenty of warm crusty bread.