European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Pierre Franey new York times the firm Rich flesh of fresh tuna is Well suite to barbecuing and broiling and the Quick recipe Here makes a delicious main course that can be prepared slightly ahead of Tim and held if you Are entertaining. First a few words about barbecuing fish the Grill must be quite clean. I use a wire Brush to remove accumulated Carbon and then wipe vegetable Oil Over the grate to prevent sticking. The fire must be very hot. I grease the grate a second time before putting the fish on it. Once the fish is on resist the temptation to move it around. For some reason Barbecue Cooks love to fiddle with the food. Let it become Well seared. To get Nice Cross hatching let the fish sit about two minutes for an Inch thick Steak and lift it gently turn it 90 degrees and Cook it two minutes More on the same Side. Then flip it and repeat the process. I Combine cubed tuna steaks with a Light and flavorful couscous salad brightened with onion garlic and cumin All tossed in a mildly spicy Oil and vinegar dressing. I have one confession about this dish if there is no time to run to the fish Market i sometimes use canned tuna packed in Oil. It is delicious. A pleasantly tart Arugula salad with a garlic Vinaigrette makes a Fine Side dish with this summer meal Arugula is a kind of cabbage whose leaves do not form a compact head. The curious broiled tuna couscous salad the tuna 111/4-Pound skinless and Boneless tuna Steak about 1 Inch thick Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 Teaspoon dried the couscous 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 4 Tablespoons finely chopped onion 1 Teaspoon finely chopped garlic 1 Teaspoon ground cumin 1 cup water Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste 1 cup couscous the salad dressing 4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar 6 Tablespoons Olive Oil 2 Tablespoons Light soy sauce1 /2 Teaspoon finely chopped Jalapeno Pepper or to taste a Teaspoon Tabasco sauce 1 cup finely diced celery 1vz cups diced peeled and seeded tomatoes 2 Teaspoons finely minced chopped garlic1 /2 cup coarsely chopped fresh Basil coriander Chervil or Parsley Tablespoons fresh Lemon juice 2 Teaspoons grated Orange Rind Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste. Preheat broiler to High or preheat outdoor Grill. To prepare tuna put it on a plate and Sprinkle both sides with Salt and Pepper and Brush with a mixture of the Oil and thyme. Cover closely with plastic wrap and let stand until ready to Broil or Grill. If broiling arrange Steak on a rack and place under broiler about 6 inches from heat source. Broil 4 minutes with door partly open. Turn Steak and continue broiling leaving door open about 4 minutes More. If grilling put Steak on hot Grill and cover. Cook 4 minutes. Turn fish cover Grill and Cook about 4 minutes More. Remove fish let Cool. To prepare couscous heat Oil in a Small Saucepan. Add onion garlic and cumin and Cook stirring until vegetables Are wilted. Add water Salt and Pepper. Bring to a boil and add couscous stirring. Cover closely. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Put in a bowl to Cool. Meanwhile Combine All ingredients for salad dressing in a Large bowl. Blend Well with a wire whisk. Check for seasoning. Cut tuna into bite size pieces and add to the couscous in the bowl. Pour dressing Over All and toss Well. Serve immediately. Yield 4 Servings. Arugula salad 1/2 Pound Arugula leaves 1 Teaspoon finely chopped garlic 1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste 4 Tablespoons Olive Oil. Pick Over Arugula leaves and remove and discard Tough  and Drain leaves Well. Pat dry. There should be about 6 cups loosely packed. Combine leaves with garlic and onions in a bowl. Put vinegar in a Small bowl and add Salt and Pepper. Start beating while gradually adding Oil. Pour dressing Over salad and toss. Yield 4 Servings. Shopper by Sonja Heinze i bought some tapioca flour some time ago but Don t know How it can be used in cooking. Is it for pudding Rita Maloof Fruitland Park Fla. Tapioca flour is particularly Good to use when thickening sauces or fruit fillings that Are to be Frozen because the sauces Don t break Down and become watery the Way flour thickened sauces do. In Joy of cooking Irma Rombauer advises to use in freezing substitute 1 Tablespoon tapioca flour for 21/2 Tablespoons All purpose flour to 1 cup liquid. In non Frozen sauces substitute 11/2 Teaspoons tapioca flour for 1 Tablespoon All purpose flour. Tapioca flour is popular for making very Clear glazes. Heat the tapioca and fruit juice or water Only to the boiling Point. Beware of overcooking As the tapioca will become stringy. Never boil. When the first bubbles begin to break through the surface remove the pan from the heat at once. The mixture will look thin and Milky. Let it stand two or three minutes. Stir. Wait two or three minutes and stir again. If the recipe Calls for butter stir it in at this time. After 10 minutes More of undisturbed Cooling the Glaze should be thick enough Erma Bombeck to apply to the food you Are  Pearl tapioca not the flour is used to make tapioca pudding. What is meant by the words flavor controlled on milk Cartons Jeanette Pierpont Santa Maria Calif. James Chambers an Extension food scientist at Purdue University informs us that the flavor of milk is greatly influenced by a number of factors such As the environment at the farm the temperature maintained during the storage and transportation of the milk and the handling practices at the store. Light and temperature for example if the milk is stored above 45 degrees f can be detrimental to the flavor and keeping Quality. Flavor controlled apparently implies that the processor s Quality control program emphasizes the control of these factors monitoring the flavor Quality As a measure of performance. Update cooking leftover meat in a recent column a Reader asked should leftover meat be cooled at room temperature before placing it into the refrigerator or is it better to put it directly into the refrigerator this column answered that leftover meats should be cooled within one or two hours and then refrigerated. But Carolyn Lackey an Extension foods specialist with North Carolina state University advises foods susceptible to the growth of food poisoning bacteria should never be left at room temperature to Cool prior to refrigeration. You want to Cool them As rapidly As possible which Means immediate refrigeration after the meal or cooking period. The two to three hour Rule Means that susceptible foods should be left in the danger zone temperatures Between 40 degrees and 140 degrees for no More than two to three hours. By Cooling meats for two hours at room temperature you have intentionally placed the food at a temperature that you want to avoid. The Rule is helpful to remind people that food at picnics or group dinners should not be allowed to remain on the table longer than the two to three hour  Reader feedback Rachel Levitt Haddonfield . As a Long time user of Apple cider vinegar and Honey for digestive problems Here is my remedy regarding the explosive aftereffects of Beans of All kinds a few Tablespoons of Apple cider vinegar per serving added during cooking or when eating. I have used this for  have a consumer related question please write to Sonja Heinze care of stars and stripes Apo 09211, . Forces. I defy anyone to walk into a pet store and come out with what he went in for. Everything is calculated to attack your purchasing immune system beginning with the Little Bells on the door. These Little suckers Don t jangle to let the storekeeper know someone is entering the store they re a warning system to Alert the animals that a credit card is approaching. At the sound of these Bells Birds come out of their hypnotic state and begin singing and speaking in entire sentences. Puppies stand on their Hind legs and wag their tails. Hamsters head for the exercise wheel which is always oiled and Kittens look like orphans that miss Hannigan abuses in Annie. If i can possibly resist buying a pet i still have to run through the obstacle course of pet products. When my kids were Small one of my sons won a Page 16 the stars and stripes goldfish at a carnival one saturday night by throwing a pingpong Ball into a Glass. The Chance Cost 25 cents. We brought the fish Home in a Dixie cup. The next Day we went to the pet store to buy a fishbowl. The Salesman said you re going to raise an Only goldfish ? hell need  he picked out three other goldfish and then said you can t have four goldfish stuffed into a bowl. You need an aquarium. Here s one called Condo by the sea " before i could say where Are we going to put it he produced a Black wrought Iron stand. You la need to aerate it with an electric pump. And if the temperature varies in your House you must have a Heater and a Light lights Are wonderful the counter began to fill up with snails to clean the Side of the aquarium Little tablets to fight algae wednesday july 27,1988 coloured gravel a net a Castle and a Mermaid on a Rock. We prepared to leave when he said of course you have a Supply of food treats vitamins and  we Shook our Heads numbly. A healthy fish is a Happy fish he smiled. Three months later the fish were dead and the aquarium caught fire from pollution. At present i am into Birds. I cannot go into a pet store without emerging with designer treat Sticks Little Bells to relieve their boredom and elaborate Jungle gyms with ladders and ring swings. I popped in last week to buy a few bags of food and Carne out with another pair of Birds. Sometimes i wonder if they even know they sleep each night under a Laura Ashley Cage cover. C 1988 Erma Bombeck