Tuna Tarts with Olive Oil Infused Panko Crust

Keeping with  yesterdays theme I decided to make more tarts but instead of sweet I went for savory. I had tuna on hand so I decide to use that as my filling. So I cooked up my tuna filling with my aromatics and set it aside. Then while thinking about my presentation I decided that something would need to go on  top to 1. add some pizazz and 2. stop the tuna from browning too much. I was drawing a blank for a couple minutes and  then thought of my panko crumbs sitting in the cabinet and knew that would make a nice crust.  While looking at food magazines or coking blogs I seen chefs use panko to top items and it would get a nice golden color so I decided that I could do the same thing for my tarts. I rolled out my pastry and filled it with fish and then topped it with my panko crumbs mixed with olive oil.  After I pulled the first batch of  tarts out of the oven they looked delish but I still thought they could use something more. For the second batch I mixed chopped fresh parsley into the bred crumb mixture to  add color.

When this second batch came out the oven  they looked perfect! I really couldn't wait to eat one. After I couple minutes to cool and let the flavors settle I finally bit in and guess what...they tasted FABULOUS! This is a dish that I am really proud of not only for the taste but for the presentation. Decorating and finishing has never been my strong point to when something I make looks as great as it taste it makes me exceptionally proud. To make this follow the same steps from the Almond Tartlets  and use the flaky pastry recipe for you shell, this recipe makes 25. Here are the recipes for the tuna filling and panko crust:

Tuna Filling

25 ounces of tuna (5 cans)

1 hot pepper

1/2 small onion

5 garlic cloves

3 tbsp olive oil

juice of one lemon

salt to taste

- Open and drain cans of tuna, set aside

- mince hot pepper, onion, and garlic, set aside

- Heat saucepan with oil

- saute onion, pepper, garlic, tuna all together 

- add in lemon juice and salt

 - Cook for 3-5 minutes

- Set aside

**Typically warm filling shouldn't go into a pie crust but it works fine for this recipe.

Panko Crust

1 cup panko crumbs

2 tsp olive oil

a couple fresh sprigs of parsley

- Mix all ingredients together and set aside to top tarts

- 1 tsp per tart should do.

Scallion Pancakes with Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

Anyone that knows me knows about my dangerous love affair with Asian food. My mom tells me that she has been been eating fish and lo mein since I was in the womb and I made her eat it almost everyday. This particular Saturday night I was feeling for an Asian fix but didn't want to go all out on an entire meal...a snack would be fine. I settled on scallion pancakes since its something I love to eat when I go out for Asian and decided I might as well experiment since I had all the necessary ingredients on hand. The recipe I used for the scallion pancakes came from Use Real Butter and the dipping sauce came from Brown Eyed Baker.
The recipe was very easy to make and uses simple ingredients. I also think that next time I may add a teaspoon of salt to the dough to avoid shaking it onto the pancakes because some were a lil' to salty for my taste. As for the Dipping sauce I think I will use rice wine instead of vinegar next time and I also added in a tablespoon of sesame oil because I love how it taste. I really love the accomplished feeling of being able to make something you had to spend so much money on beforehand, truly the sweet (or in this case savory) taste of success!