Albacore, Black Rice, Pomegranate Salsa January 31, 2008

I was checking out AOC’s menu to what new delicious dishes climbed onto its seasonally driven menu. I spotted albacore, black rice and pomegranate salsa. Sounded like a great combo. I had already bought some pomegranate seeds (I was feeling lazy) to make the salsa for another dish and knowing there’d be some leftovers. The albacore dish seemed like a perfect way to promote some pomegranate salsa double duty. Since I’ve made the black rice and also the pomegranate salsa before from the Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook putting together a mock version at home was pretty easy.

Since I haven’t had this dish before at the restaurant I wasn’t quite sure how they cooked the albacore. I just seared mine in a pan after seasoning it with chopped parsley, chile de arbol, salt and pepper. I topped the delicious black rice with sliced albacore and generously spooned over the tart and sweet pomegranate salsa. In trying to follow up on my efforts to drink more wine I paired this dish with a glass of Basa Rueda Blanco 2005. It’s made from a blend of Verdejo, Sauvignon Blanc and Viura grapes and is soo good. It’s a really enjoyable wine a great bargain at $10! The tartness of the wine worked really well with not only the pomegranate salsa but the brininess of the black rice. The wine just tastes so clean and has a good mouthfeel to it. I found myself happily drinking two glasses of this during dinner.