# My February throw down Entry "Apple wood smoked, reverse seared tarragon ahi, grilled butternut and



## dirtsailor2003 (Mar 19, 2013)

First off congrats to the winners, your entries looked wonderful. I had fun coming up with an out of the box idea and enjoyed the process. We like to  eat light (who would know with all the Q I post!). During the summer months it's a lot of veggies and small portions of meat 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






. Salads are a big portion of our meals. I try and sneak meat into the mix usually as a topping.

For the Throw down I decided that I wanted to play on the salad rolls that we like to get at the Thai and Vietnamese restaurants we like. I had also been wanting to try a cold smoke and reverse sear Ahi. This would be the base for the project.













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Here's the bulk of the ingredients. I cut the point off the Ahi fillet as I wanted the profile to be rectangular. From left to right we have Water cress, Romaine, bell pepper, Cucumber, Carrots, Mango Radish (wanted Daikon, but hard to get here) ginger root, Jicima, and and avocado (didn't use). On the plate with the Ahi Fillet is fresh tarragon (great seasoning to go with fish, also pairs well with the peppery flavor of water cress). In the bowl are mixed micro greens.

I did this on the same day that I decided to smoke a turkey and some hot wings for dinner so I had my day filled out with smoking! I got up early so that I could do the cold smoke early in the day.













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Balmy 17.2* F, perfect temp for a cold smoke! 













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Fired up the 18" AMNTS, loaded with apple wood pellets. Central Oregon Tube prop helps keep the pellets in the tube 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I cold smoked the Ahi for 2 hours. The temp of the smoker never got above 32*F. At two hours I felt it had enough smoke so I pulled it and let it rest in the fridge. Then I cooked some breakfast, Homemade CB and farm fresh eggs!













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I prepped everything for the guts of the salad rolls after breakfast. Sliced all the goodies up . Evoo, salt and peppered the romaine and butternut lettuce in prep for hitting the grill.













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Seared the Ahi on the grill, light evoo, sea salt, cracked black pepper. Then into a pan with ginger and tarragon super quick for a bit more flavor. Then allowed to cool back into the fridge prior to slicing.













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Assembly. Water Cress, fresh tarragon, cucumber, radish, bell pepper, carrots, jicima, micro greens.













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Piled into the butternut waiting the Ahi.













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Turkey is coming along nicely!













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There it is Apple wood smoked, reverse seared tarragon ahi, grilled butternut and romaine salad rolls, served with a habanero, mango, mustard dressing!

Overall the flavors were perfect. The cold smoked reverse seared Ahi is awesome. The pairing with the tarragon is spot on. The habanero mango mustard sauce is awesome and I have another plan for it! I did have a bit of the problem getting the romaine to roll nicely. It was fun and I can't wait to try another throw down!


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## bmudd14474 (Mar 19, 2013)

Looks great.


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## kathrynn (Mar 19, 2013)

Looks sooo good!  I am glad they did the Salad one....we can smoke foods and make them healthy!  Gotta get those veggies in!

Kat


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## redwood carlos (Mar 20, 2013)

That looks great! Thanks.


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## dirtsailor2003 (Mar 20, 2013)

The salad rolls were really tasty. I served them as appetizers prior to our turkey dinner they were gone fast! As a stand alone, the Tuna cold smoked then seared was some of the best Ahi I have ever had. The subtle apple wood smoke melded with the Tarragon was fantastic! I will definitely do the Ahi this way again.


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