The Changing Seasons: sweetcorn time

A dish for February: seared tuna with teriyaki glaze, char-grilled sweetcorn and pickled red onion and cabbage salad. Image: Su Leslie, 2016

Food-wise, February in Auckland is the month for Golden Queen peaches, watermelon and sweetcorn.

The Big T has been away a lot this month, the boy-child is making the most of the long summer nights to hang out with friends, and for me that’s meant quite a few meals-for-one.

I know lots of people don’t like cooking just for themselves, but I see it as a chance to celebrate solitude — and to plan meals that only have to please my palate.

This dish turned out so well, I cooked it again for the Big T.

I cut about 150 grams of yellow fin tuna into strips about 3cm square, seared them on each side and brushed them with a teriyaki cum ponzu glaze I made by heating soy sauce, Mirin and lemon juice together until the mixture reduced to a syrup.

The sweetcorn was slow-poached them grilled over the gas hob until it started to char. I stripped the kernals off the cob (not particularly elegantly I admit) and heaped some on a plate. Some toasted sesame seeds and a salad/slaw of red onion and Savoy cabbage added a bit of extra crunch.

The Changing Seasons is a montly challenge hosted by Cardinal Guzman. I’m opting for Version 2 (at least this month). Here are the rules:

Version 2 (The Changing Seasons V2):

• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
• Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
• Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!

Thanks to the Cardinal, and to Tish Farrell, at Writer on the Edge, whose post on Windmill Hill in Much Wenlock got me thinking it was time to get off my butt and take part in this challenge.