Baked Potatoes - Patata fil Forn

On Sundays, families in Malta would take their Roast and Baked Potatoes to be cooked at the local bakery. Bakeries would operate entirely on wood fuel - often old doors and Windows that would have been painted....and no lead free paint at that time! Nevertheless, the food never tasted as good as it did cooked that way.

Ingredients

6 large baking potatoes(skin on or off as preferred)

Olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Sprig of fresh rosemary

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

Method
Preheat your oven to 475 degrees F
Chop potatoes into quarters.
Cut onions and garlic and put into a large ovenproof dish
Add the potatoes and spices
Add about 2 cups of water or until the water reaches half way up the potatoes.
Drizzle the oil over the potatoes - about 2-3 tablespoons will do
Sprinkle your spice mixture generously over the potatoes, making sure each side is generously covered in the mix.
Place on bottom rack of oven and bake for one hour or until done (turning over or stirring half way through
The potatoes will be a mixture of crispy and soft - delicious!

Baked Tuna - Maltese Style

Fish and seafood play a key role in the regular meals of the island of Malta. Until recently, fish was eaten on Fridays in observance of the catholic tradition of "no meat on a Friday".

This recipe, although called Baked Tuna is actually more of a briased dish as the liquid let out by the tomatoes lets the fish remain very moist.

This is a very different way of cooking tuna compared to the quick, high heat, "seared on the outside, rare on the inside" style. It is also almost impossible to botch it up as I have tried frozen tuna (not even bothering to defrost the steaks) and as long as you check that the water has not been completely absorbed you will be fine!

I would serve this with a salad and lots of crispy bread..ah yes..and a glass of vino!

Ingredients
About 2 lbs of tuna as steaks about half an inch thick ( 4 steaks aprox)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 chopped onions
1 lb potatoes coarsely sliced
1 lb tomatoes, halved
4 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Sea salt to taste (the coarse type) and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Brush the sides and bottom of a baking dish with some of the olive oil
Spread the onions on the bottom of the baking dish.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover onions with the sliced potatoes
Put the tuna steaks on top, then cover with the tomato halves, cut side down.
Add the garlic cloves, then pour in the water.
Pour the remaining olive oil and wine over the tomatoes, then sprinkle the mint and parsley over the entire top.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover the baking dish with foil
Bake until the potatoes are fork tender (usually around 45-60 minutes). Let rest for 10 minutes, serve hot.