Café Medina’s Chef and Bar Manager Share Food and Cocktail Recipes

Turn your kitchen into Café Medina with recipes for tuna and bean salad, mushroom frittata and a sherry cocktail

Ras-el Hanout Rubbed Tuna with White Bean Salad and Quinoa by Chef Deniz Tarakcioglu, Café Medina

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 albacore tuna loin, approximately 20 oz
  • 3 tbsp ras el hanout (North African spice mix)*
  • 3 cups white navy beans soaked in cold water overnight
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup tahini
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 100 ml lemon juice
  • 50 ml water
  • 100 ml olive oil
  • cilantro sprigs and lemon wedges for garnish
  • sea salt

RAS EL HANOUT INGREDIENTS*

  • 1 cup cumin seeds
  • 1 cup coriander seeds
  • 1/2 cup fennel seeds
  • 3 tbsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
  • Pinch of saffron (optional)

METHOD

  1. In a preheated oven, toast cumin, coriander and fennel seeds.
  2. Grind in a spice grinder to the coarseness level of liking.
  3. Mix in turmeric, cinnamon and saffron while toasted seeds are warm.
  4. Cook the beans in liberally salted water until soft to the bite. Drain and keep warm.
  5. Cook the quinoa as per the package directions. Keep warm.
  6. In a food processor, combine tahini, garlic, lemon juice and water.
  7. Slowly add the olive oil while the machine is running. (Note: this sauce will split if olive oil is added too quickly.)
  8. Portion your tuna to 4 oz pieces and liberally sprinkle with spice mix and sea salt.
  9. In a hot pan, sear for 1 minute on each side, or until the center of the tuna reaches 120°F.
  10. Slice with a sharp knife.
  11. To serve, make a bed of beans on a plate, then sprinkle quinoa on top. Place tuna slices and garnish with cilantro and lemon.

Serves 4

Roasted Oyster Mushroom Frittata with Marinated Tomatoes and Baby Greens by Chef Deniz Tarakcioglu, Café Medina

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 lbs oyster mushrooms, stems trimmed (or substitute with your favourite mushroom)
  • 100 g shallots, thinly sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 bunch parsley, chopped coarsely
  • 100 g soft goat cheese
  • 1 stalk fresh rosemary
  • 50 ml aged sherry vinegar
  • 30 ml butter
  • 15 free-range eggs
  • 500 ml heavy cream
  • 300 g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
  • salad greens
  • fresh bread, toasted

METHOD

The day before (If you have time. If not, the same day will work):

  1. Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add shallots, garlic and rosemary and cook until fragrant and shallots are opaque.
  2. Add sherry vinegar and reduce by half.
  3. Add mushrooms and let them wilt. Season aggressively with sea salt and pepper. Once mushrooms start to get crispy edges, remove from heat and once cool, chill over night in a covered bowl.
  4. In a separate bowl, whip eggs and cream with a pinch of salt and chopped parsley. Chill overnight.

Day of:

  1. Grease a 20-inch cast iron skillet or equivalent sized ovenproof pan.
  2. Lay your mushrooms and dabs of goat cheese in the pan (you can also toss in some leftover potatoes from your holiday dinner!)
  3. Place the pan in a cold oven and turn the heat on to 350F. Once the oven is up to temperature, carefully pull the pan out, pour in the egg mixture, and place back in the oven until it is loosely set in the middle, approx. 25 minutes, depending on your oven.
  4. When cooked, pull the frittata out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. (This is a good to time to crisp up your bread in the hot oven!)
  5. While the frittata cooks, toss the tomatoes with a pinch of salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Let them marinate for 20 minutes or so.
  6. Scoop the tomatoes out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and scatter over the frittata.
  7. Toss salad greens in the reserved tomato marinade and top the frittata, then serve.

Serves 6

Chef Deniz: “I like to serve this dish in the skillet with a spoon on the side, so everyone can help themselves as much as they want!”

Ted & Sherry by Bar Manager Trixie Blümel, Café Medina

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.5 oz Flor de Caña 5 Years Old rum
  • 0.5 oz Alvear Fino Montilla sherry
  • 0.5 oz pure maple syrup
  • 1 oz buttermilk
  • 1 fresh whole egg
  • 2 dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged bitters          
  • 2 dashes Bittered Sling Malagasy Chocolate bitters

METHOD

  1. Rinse a chilled old-fashioned glass with 2 dashes of Malagasy Chocolate bitters.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Whisk vigorously together with a bar spoon, and shake hard with ice.
  3. Double strain into your chilled old-fashioned glass, and dash with Fee Brothers bitters.