Atun Mojo y Poblanos que Estella con el Camaron y el Arroz

I was staring at the seafood counter at my local Whole Foods and I saw something I had not seen before ... fresh albacore tuna.  And that got me to thinking about how I could prepare this fish.  Personally, I like to use marinades or rubs, and a mojo was on my mind.  Mojo is a Cuban marinade usually made with sour orange juice, garlic, black peppercorns, and salt.  Some recipes add other ingredients.  If you don't have sour orange juice, most recipes suggest 2 parts orange juice, 1 part lemon juice and 1 part lime juice.  Lacking sour orange juice, I used the combo of orange, lemon and lime juice, buying fresh fruit and juicing them myself.

As I was walking through the produce section, I came across a pepper that I like but usually don't cook with ... poblanos.  Chile rellenos immediately came to mind, but you typically deep fry chile rellenos and I did not want to do that.  Instead, I decided that I would roast the peppers and saute the stuffing,  I would then create the effect of a burst chile relleno by having the stuffing of rice and shrimp coming out of the poblano. 

In the end, I have a dish that draws its inspiration from Cuban cuisine with the mojo and Mexican cuisine with the poblano rellenos.  And, although the tuna ended up being a little overcooked (I turned away while making the poblanos), the poblanos were excellent. 

ATUN MOJO (Tuna with a Mojo Marinade)
A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2

Ingredients:
3/4 pound of tuna
2 tablespoons of canola oil
2 parts orange juice
1 part lemon juice
1 part lime juice
6-8 black peppercorns
1 cup of diced onion
3 cloves of garlic, diced
Salt, to taste

Directions:

 1.  Combine all of the ingredients in a zip lock bag or bowl.  Add the tuna and let marinate for one or two hours.  Make sure to check the tuna every once in a while to ensure that all sides are covered by the mojo.

2. Heat the oil on medium-high heat.  Add the tuna and saute for 3-4 minutes or until the tuna turns opaque.  Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and plate.

POBLANOS QUE ESTELLA CON EL CAMARON Y EL ARROZ
(Poblanos Bursting with Shrimp and Rice)
A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 poblano peppers
1/2 pound of shrimp, shelled and de-veined
2 chipotle peppers, diced with adobo sauce
2 cups of diced onion
2 cloves of garlic, diced
6 cherry or plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 handful of cilantro, diced
3 cups of jasmine rice
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons of canola oil

Directions:

1.  Roast the peppers over a flame until the skin blackens on all sides.  Remove and let cool.  Under running water, remove the black skin from the peppers.  Cut the bottom part off of the pepper and remove the seeds.

2.  Make the jasmine rice according to the instructions.  When I made it, I added cilantro to the boiling water before adding the rice.  I also finished the rice by mixing in a tablespoon or two of butter.

3.  Cut the shrimp into even sized pieces.  

4. Heat the canola oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and let saute for five minutes.  Add the tomato, chipotle peppers with adobo, garlic and cilantro.  Saute for five to eight minutes more.  Add the shrimp and continue to saute until the shrimp is opaque, which should only take a couple of minutes.

5.  Plate by stuffing the poblano peppers about half way with rice and let the rice flow onto the plate.  Stuff the peppers with the shrimp mixture with more over the rice on the plate.

ENJOY!