Our Valentine's Dinner

I love putting together simple yet delicious meals for holidays. Sometimes I like giving them names too, I'm weird like that. This one is called "No such thing as too much shrimp."

Shrimp Appetizer

I posted this recipe last year. But I make it every year for Valentine's Day, so I'm posting it again this year. I love this stuff, it's so delicious!

8 oz. cream cheese
Cocktail sauce
1 can tiny shrimp, drained
Buttery snack crackers (Ritz, Town House, etc)

Place cream cheese on serving platter. Pour about 2/3 cup cocktail sauce on top, and top with shrimp. Serve with crackers.

Garlic Ginger Shrimp

I got this recipe from Angie, The American Homemaker. I attended her cooking class at the Pleasant Grove Macey's last week, and really enjoyed this recipe. I figured it would be perfect for Valentine's Day. It's a little pricier than my usual meals, but not by much. Besides, it was a special occasion.

1 1/2 tsp. ginger
4 cloves garlic (2 tsp. bottled)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt (this wasn't in the original recipe, but it needed it)
3 tsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water
1 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 package angel hair pasta (I used spaghetti)

Start water boiling for pasta.

In a large skillet, saute ginger and garlic in butter and oil for about one minute. Stir in broth, 1 1/2 tsp. parsley, and basil.

Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Add to skillet. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; add rinsed shrimp. Simmer for two to three minutes or until the shrimp turn pink.

Meanwhile, cook pasta. Add sauce to cooked and drained pasta. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

Salad

Of course, we also had a simple salad, to round out the meal. Five-lettuce mix with chopped oranges and a honey mustard dressing. Colorful and yummy.

Chocolate Almond Pudding Cake

This was a fantastic ending to a delicious meal. It's a slightly healthified version, with less sugar and oil. It was rich and indulgent, but not overly so. Perfect with vanilla ice cream.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 3/4 cups water
Vanilla ice cream, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In medium bowl, mix flour, granulated sugar, almonds, 1/4 cup cocoa, the baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, oil, vanilla and almond extract until blended. Spread batter in pan.

In 1-quart saucepan, mix brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa with wire whisk. Stir in water; heat just to boiling, stirring occasionally. Pour over batter.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes before serving (Haha, yeah right. We at it right away).

To serve, spoon warm cake into individual dessert bowls; spoon pudding from baking dish over cake. Serve with ice cream.

Salmon Chowder and Irish Soda Bread

In addition to all the delicious apple and pumpkin goodies that are floating around this time of year, fall is also a wonderful time to make comforting soups and hearty breads. Together these make a delicious and filling meal that warms you right up.

The salmon chowder is adapted from a tuna chowder recipe in an old cookbook I have. The soda bread is from my sister's blog, Fabulous Food! Both turned out delicious, perfect comfort food for a crisp autumn evening. As an added bonus, both were also fairly quick and easy.


Salmon Chowder
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
3 tbsp. butter or margarine
3 cups diced raw potatoes
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 tbsp. flour
2 cups milk
1 (14.75 oz) can salmon, drained, bones and skin removed, broken into chunks

Saute onion, celery, and carrot in butter until tender, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, water, salt, and pepper. Heat to boiling and cook over medium heat about 15 minutes.

Combine flour and milk. Stir into potato mixture. Cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add salmon. Heat through and serve.

Irish Soda Bread
3 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
2 cups buttermilk or milk soured with lemon juice

Sift the white flour and baking soda together. Add the wheat flour, salt, and brown sugar and mix well. Make a well in the center and add about 2/3 of the buttermilk. Quickly and gently mix the flour in with the milk, use your hands rather than a wooden spoon. If too dry, add some more of the milk. Shouldn't be too firm, keep it a little sticky. Kneading is not necessary, just dust your hands with enough flour so you can shape it without it sticking to your fingers.

Shape into a round loaf and place on a baking tray. Cut two deep slashes across the top, either side by side like a loaf of french bread, or criss cross. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce to 400 and bake another 15. Take out, turn over and tap the bottom. If it sounds hollow, it is done. If it doesn't, pop it back in for another 5 - 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

Tartar Sauce

I was just thinking today that it was about time to post another recipe. Then tonight as we were eating our delicious dinner of salmon patties and tartar sauce, it hit me that I had a great recipe to post! So here it is.

A few years ago, my sister Michelle gave me a binder full of some of her favorite recipes. I use several on a regular basis, and this is one of them. Before she gave me this recipe, I didn't realize how easy and inexpensive it can be to make your own tartar sauce. It turns out deliciously creamy, and perfectly compliments a variety of seafood dishes. We served it with the salmon patties that I have posted about previously.


Tartar Sauce
3/4 cup mayonnaise or miracle whip
1/4 cup drained dill or sweet relish (if you don't have any relish, just finely chop a bunch of pickles like I did tonight)
2 tbsp. finely chopped onion
1 tbsp. parsley
2 tsp. capers, drained (I've never added these)

In a small bowl stir all ingredients together. Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving. Cover and chill leftovers for up to one week.

See how simple that is? A few basic ingredients and some chilling time and you've got yourself some incredibly delicious tartar sauce. Yum!

A Forgotten Quiche

I was cruising through some of my old recipes, when I was reminded of a post that I was going to do but never got around to. We made this quite a while ago and I took pictures and everything, but it just never made it to the blog. So yippee, I have a recipe to post without having to do any work for it!

This is another universal recipe from the Tightwad Gazette - Universal Quiche. You can put just about anything in a quiche and have it taste good, as is evidenced by my offering here tonight - we made it with canned salmon and green beans and it was really good. So here you go - the recipe for Universal Quiche, quoted from Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette. My additional comments are in italics and parentheses.


Universal Quiche

Crust. Use a standard pastry crust. Some recipes suggest prebaking this before filling to prevent sogginess. I don't. Instead, I prepare the crust, then prepare the various components of quiche, and then assemble the quiche all at once just before putting it on a lower shelf in my preheated oven. You can also make a rice crust using 2 cups of cooked rice, 1 1/2 ounces of grated cheese, and one egg. Combine the ingredients, pat into a Pam-sprayed pie tin, and prebake at 425 for 15 minutes or until just firm.

Eggs. Use 3 or 4.

Cheese. Most recipes call for 1 to 2 cups (4 to 8 ounces) of a grated hard cheese. I use about 1 cup. You can use Swiss, cheddar, feta*, Monterey Jack, or Gruyere*. Or use from 2 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of Parmesan or Romano. Or use a combination of these. Some softer cheeses, such as mozzarella and American, will not set up well (I have used mozzarella in combination with another cheese, like cheddar, with satisfactory results).

Milk or cream. Use 1 to 2 cups of milk, half and half, cream, evaporated milk, or powdered milk made with half the usual water. You may also use part sour cream, cottage cheese, or yogurt.

Filling. Use 1 to 2 cups of a combination of meats and/or vegetables. Meat possibilities include crisply fried and crumbled bacon, or pieces of crab*, lobster*, shrimp*, tuna, chicken or ham (and I can add salmon, having tried it and liked it). Use virtually any cooked or steamed vegetables, but squeeze out excess liquid. Don't be afraid to take risks. Once I made a sauerkraut quiche that was very tasty.

*Ha ha. Only if you have a free or cheap source of these items.

Seasoning. For a basic quiche, use up to 1 teaspoon of salt (bearing in mind the saltiness of the other ingredients), 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and a dash of nutmeg (I usually skip the nutmeg). If you're a bit more adventurous, experiment with other seasonings such as chives, Tabasco, tarragon, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, parsley, paprika, dill, garlic, onion powder, lemon juice, basil, and/or oregano.

To make the quiche: Prepare the crust in a 9-inch pie plate. Grate cheese and prepare the filling ingredients (saute, cook, chop, crumble, etc.) Beat eggs, milk, and seasonings together until just combined. Spread filling ingredients in crust, top this with grated cheese, and cover with egg/milk mixture. (If you've made too little egg/milk mixture, mix up slightly more. If you've made too much, toss the surplus in tomorrow morning's universal muffin recipe.) Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 425 degrees. Then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until it's done. The quiche is done when it's golden brown and slightly puffed, and when a knife inserted comes out clean.


In a later article, Amy shares this recipe for a low-fat potato crust, which I used in my salmon and green bean quiche: In a 9-inch pie pan, stir together 3 tablespoons vegetable oil with 3 cups of coarsely shredded raw potato. Or you can spray Pam in the bottom of a pie pan and omit the additional oil. Press the grated potato into a pie-crust shape. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until just beginning to brown.

Sigh. It feels good to post a real recipe again. :-)

And now I'm craving salmon quiche.

Valentine's Dinner - Lasagna and More!

This is the big meal that Jeff and I have been planning all week. Rather than going out to eat on Valentine's Day, Jeff and I prefer to stay home and have a delicious, home cooked meal that's just a bit more fancy than we do for everyday meals. Tonight our menu included shrimp appetizer, garlic bread, salad, lasagna, and flourless cake for dessert.

Shrimp Appetizer
This is a dish I have made for Valentine's Day ever since Jeff and I were dating. Our first Valentine's Day, I wanted to impress him with my wonderful cooking skills so I made a big spaghetti dinner with fancy salad, and included this special little appetizer. I received the recipe at a Laurel's activity as a teenager and had never yet found an opportunity to try it. Jeff and I both enjoyed it so much that we've had it every year since. And it's simple and quick. It's a little more expensive than I usually do, but I made some changes this year to make it more budget-friendly.


1 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 bottle cocktail sauce (this year I made my own; recipe to follow)
1 can tiny shrimp, drained (we found a package of small frozen shrimp for half the price and used that instead)
Buttery snack crackers (like Ritz, or the store brand)

Place cream cheese on serving platter. Pour cocktail sauce on top, and dump the shrimp on top of the sauce. Serve with crackers. Easy peasy!

Homemade Cocktail Sauce (from this recipe)
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon red wine or other vinegar (I used cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 to 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (substituted mustard for the tang, and hot sauce for the kick)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (omitted)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine ketchup, vinegar, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until butter melts. Add horseradish, to taste. Add lemon zest and juice; chill.

I didn't look at the recipe before we did our weekly shopping on Monday, and so didn't know that it required horseradish. Apparently, horseradish is an important part of cocktail sauce - I didn't see a single recipe that didn't call for it. My version with mustard and hot sauce definitely tastes different, but Jeff and I agree that it tastes good nonetheless! And with the cream cheese, shrimp, and crackers, the taste difference became almost negligible.

Garlic Bread


I sliced the loaf of bread I made yesterday into nice thick slices. Then I buttered each and sprinkled with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan. I reassembled the pieces back into a loaf, and wrapped it with foil, then toasted it in the oven for the final 15 minutes of baking time with the lasagna. I should have heated it a bit longer, because it wasn't fully warm (the butter didn't even melt all the way), but we were really hungry so we dug in anyway, and it tasted fine.

Salad


This was just a simple lettuce and lentil salad with vinaigrette. Nothing special by itself, but in the context of the meal, it just rounded it out a bit.

Lasagna
I used this recipe from allrecipes.com, making a few changes here and there to make it cheaper and easier. I rarely make lasagna with noodles, usually choosing to use rice instead because it's more inexpensive. For this special occasion, however, we chose to fork out for Wal-Mart brand lasagna noodles (I know, gasp, that's so expensive!) and I'm glad we did. This was a really yummy lasagna.


8 ounces lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef (used 1/4 pound beef and 1 cup cooked cracked wheat)
1/4 cup minced onions
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce (made my own with canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasonings)
1 (16 ounce) package large curd cottage cheese (used small curd, and added an egg to make it hold its shape better)
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (got away with slightly less)

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain (Several reviewers said you can just soak the noodles in hot tap water for 20 minutes instead of cooking them, saving energy and therefore money. They finish cooking in the oven).

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute ground beef, onions, salt and garlic salt until meat is brown. Drain excess fat, add spaghetti sauce (and cracked wheat) to beef mixture, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Line bottom of pan with three lasagna noodles. Spread 1/3 of sauce mixture over noodles. Layer 1/3 of the cottage cheese over the sauce. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella over the cottage cheese. Repeat this layering process until all ingredients are used up.

Bake in the preheated oven for one hour (Cover with foil for the first 45 minutes, then remove foil for the final 15 minutes). Let stand for 10 minutes before serving (to let it solidify so it slices easily. We chose to eat our appetizer, bread, and salad while the lasagna set, so we weren't just sitting around waiting).

Flourless Chocolate Cake
I've been planning this cake almost all month. I found it on allrecipes.com and thought it looked so decadent and rich that I had to try it! Perhaps, considering how much food we ate for dinner, it might have been better to have a light dessert, but I was insistent. It was this cake or nothing at all!

My favorite picture of the meal - this is the only picture I got in natural light, and it shows!

4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped (used chocolate chips)
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch round cake pan (I used my springform pan, it's the only 8-inch round pan I have), and dust with cocoa powder.

In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, melt chocolate and butter (or use the microwave). Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely (I think mine was a bit undercooked, it wouldn't come off the bottom of the pan. It turned out very fudgy and delicious, so undercooked isn't necessarily a bad thing). Slices can also be reheated for 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.


Just a note - this cake is supposed to fall. It rises a bit in the oven, gets kind of puffy, but then it falls and gets dense. Don't worry, that's supposed to happen. It's dense and fudgy and light and melts in your mouth and has got to be the most decadent dessert I've ever made!

And there you have it - our entire day of Valentine's foods! (In case you missed them, here's the links to our breakfast and lunch). I love holidays!

Hot Tuna Salad

I think we need to go shopping for some fridge-and-pantry basics. I just have an aversion to spending money sometimes, so when we run out of something I decide that we'll just do without it for as long as possible. So we don't have much in the way of meats lately - we "ran out" of ground beef and ground turkey long ago; right now we have some chicken leg quarters in the freezer, and a small variety of canned meats in the cabinet. Kinda limits our meal choices, I think. But it does make a fun challenge when deciding what to make for dinner!

This recipe is adapted from the Southern Plate cookbook. The original recipe was for Hot Chicken Salad, but I didn't want to go through the trouble of cooking up several thighs and drumsticks just to make a chicken salad. So I substituted tuna for the chicken, and made a couple other substitutions and omissions, and here's what we came up with for dinner last night. I have to say, I think this turned out absolutely fabulous! This was the best tuna salad I've ever made.


Hot Tuna Salad
4 cans chunk light tuna, drained
1/3 to 1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 large stalks celery, chopped
2 T minced onion
2-3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-3 cups crushed chips (potato, or we used tortilla)

Combine all except cheese and chips in a 3-quart casserole (I used my Pyrex pie dish). Top with cheese and chips. Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and celery is tender.

Since this was tuna salad, we had to have a bread to go with it. I pulled out my recipe for quick and easy pizza dough and made a simple flat bread.

Flat Bread
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

Combine all ingredients. Let rise 15-30 minutes (I started this just after putting the salad in the oven, so it was rising while the salad was baking). Spread onto greased and cornmealed 9x13 pan. Brush lightly with oil, and sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Bake at 425 (I turned up the oven after taking out the tuna salad) for 12-20 minutes, until lightly browned.


The combination of the Hot Tuna Salad with the Flat Bread ended up tasting very similar to a simple tuna melt, but just a bit fancier. We all thoroughly enjoyed this delicious meal. I would love to try the hot salad with chicken, like in the original recipe. Oh, I bet that would be so good!

Our Anniversary recipes, and a blog award!

Happy Fourth Anniversary to Jeff and I!

When Jeff asked what I wanted as an anniversary gift, I quickly replied "A new purse." However, Jeff was less quick when I asked what he wanted. No matter how many times I asked what he would like, he simply couldn't think of anything. So yesterday as we did some quick shopping (had to pick up a prescription for my little broken-legged Thomas), he finally decided that I could get him some eggnog, ice cream, and imitation crab meat - three of his absolute favorite foods - and use them to make him some yummy foods for our anniversary.


With the crab meat, I chose to make a delicious crab salad. This recipe was originally one for coleslaw. But a couple years ago I thought it would be fun to try crab instead of cabbage, and this delicious crab salad was born!


Crab Salad
4 cups shredded imitation crab meat (oh, alright, if you can find real crab for really cheap, you can go ahead and use that instead!)
1/2 cup sliced olives
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 or 2 carrots, shredded (I almost always add carrot, but today we were out, so I didn't add them)
3 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash pepper
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Prep crab meat and vegetables, and set aside.

Combine sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayonnaise, vinegar, and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth.

Add crab and vegetables and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate at least two hours before serving. This allows all the flavors to blend properly, and really makes this salad delicious!



As the main dish of our anniversary dinner, we made these delicious Sweet and Sour Pineapple Meatballs, using ground turkey instead of ground beef. In the interest of not making this long post too incredibly long, I'm not posting the recipe here, just linking to it. But here's a picture of tonight's sweet and sour goodness!



Next, what to do with the eggnog and ice cream? I thought it would be fun to make a frozen pie that incorporated cream cheese, eggnog, and softened ice cream. Doesn't that sound good? It sure did to me! As I was making this pie, I hoped that it would be good, despite the fact that it was so simple. I needn't have worried - it was incredible!


Incredible Anniversary Freezer Pie
(or Cream Cheese, Eggnog, and Ice Cream Pie;
or The Best Frozen Pie I Have Ever Ever Tasted!)

Filling:
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup eggnog
1/2 cup butter pecan ice cream, softened
1 9-inch graham cracker crust

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggnog and ice cream. Pour into crust and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 10 to 15 minutes before slicing to soften the pie. Return any uneaten portion to the freezer.


Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used those homemade crackers I made earlier today)
3 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. melted margarine

Combine all ingredients and press into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate.




In other business, Melissa of Mrs. Sac's Purple Kitchen has given me an award! Yippee!

** Please find at least 10 more blogs, of any kind that you love to read. Write a post about the blogs you picked, linking back to me and to them. Once you’ve posted, return here to let me know your post is done and be sure to let them know too!!! (If you don't come up with 10, that's fine too!)

Okay, here goes! I'm passing this award on to:

Southern Plate - Christy's blog is one of my favorites, and has been ever since I first discovered it. We've already made several recipes from Southern Plate, and so far every single one of them has turned out deliciously!

Megan's Munchies - Megan has been in a pumpkin phase for a while; she's enjoying Autumn as much as I am! Not only is she posting some seriously delicious-looking fall recipes, but she also is rounding up a variety of pumpkin recipes she wants to try, and boy, do they look tasty!

Real Mom Kitchen - Laura specializes in tasty recipes that are good enough to serve a regular family. Her recipes are simple and hearty, and are the kinds of food that can be enjoyed by kids and parents alike.

Mommy's Kitchen - This blog is full of delicious southern recipes that just look fabulous. Also, the little kitchen helpers, or "chefs in training," are just so adorable!

What's Cooking? - Ben's family owned a restaurant in Mexico, and he shares his love and talent for Mexican foods on his drool-inducing blog.

What's for Dinner - Marisa seems to share my love for sweets and simple meals. Her baked goods especially look fantastic.

My Kitchen Cafe - This blog could seriously win this award based solely on her Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars. I have this recipe bookmarked and plan to make it very soon!

My Kitchen My World - Ecuador

This was a very fun one! This week's country for My Kitchen My World was chosen by Shelby of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch. She chose to take us to Ecuador. My husband Jeff served a mission for our church in New York, working with the Spanish-speaking people there for two years. In that time, he met several Ecuadorean families. He says that the Ecuadoreans are known for two foods in particular - ceviche (fish "cooked" in lime juice) and cuy (roast guinea pig). Guess which one I chose to make. And it's not the guinea pig. When I looked up Ecuadorean cuisine online, I also came across something called tronquito. Look it up to see why I decided against this particular dish as well.


So Jeff and I decided to make ceviche. I've heard about it, but never really thought I would make it. Here's a brief description from Wikipedia: "Ceviche is marinated in a citrus-based mixture, with lemons and limes being the most commonly used. In addition to adding flavor, the citric acid causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured, which pickles or 'cooks' the fish without heat. Traditional style ceviche was marinated up to 3 hours. Modern style ceviche usually has a very short marinating period. With the appropriate fish, it can marinate for as long as it takes to mix the ingredients, serve and carry to the table." The recipe we decided on calls for 4 hours of marinating - I felt more comfortable with a nice long marinating time, to make absolutely sure the fish was done denaturing!

Together Jeff and I decided on a recipe to use, then we headed to Wal-Mart to find the cheapest fish we could (yet still good quality - that's important in ceviche). I don't know if our recipe is truly an authentic Ecuadorean ceviche - each Central and South American region seems to have their own take on this dish. But Jeff gave it his authoritative seal of approval, so we forged onward.


Here is the recipe with our frugal substitutions in red:

Ceviche
1/4 teaspoon white sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons*(see note) sea salt (regular)
1/2 teaspoon chili paste or sauce (purchased on major clearance a couple months ago)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (no substitute here - bottled isn't acidic enough to properly denature the proteins)
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (ours wasn't freshly ground)
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Canola)
1 clove garlic, minced (bottled)
1/4 cup minced red onion (yellow onion)
1 ripe tomato, finely diced
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (1 tbsp. dried parsley)
1 pound very fresh salmon fillets (sushi-grade preferred), thinly sliced (tilapia - it was the cheapest - but whatever fish you choose, be sure that it is very fresh)
1 avocado, sliced

In a large glass or plastic bowl, dissolve the sugar, salt, and chili paste in the lime juice. Season with pepper and cumin. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, onion, tomato, and cilantro. Gently mix in the salmon, then cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours.

To serve, drain the excess liquid from the salmon, then gently stir in the avocado slices, and allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.

*Note: This amount of salt really seems like too much. Jeff says that ceviche needs to be really salty to keep from allowing bacteria growth. But even he agreed that this tasted too salty. Maybe try just 1 1/2 tbsp. of salt instead of 2 1/2.

Food safety note: Since we're working with uncooked fish, finish eating it all on the first day - try not to leave any leftovers. It could go bad very quickly. In Ecuador (and New York, and anywhere else where they eat ceviche) this is a big deal. They will invite friends, family, and neighbors over for dinner when they prepare ceviche, specifically so that it all gets eaten right away. So don't leave leftovers!


Okay, now that all that recipe and food safety stuff is out of the way - how did it taste? It was great! Like I pointed out, it was quite salty, but despite the saltiness the flavor was amazing. I've never had ceviche, so I have nothing to compare it with, but Jeff said it tasted pretty authentic to him. The texture of the fish was tender, a bit different from fish that has been actually cooked, but definitely nice. My favorite part was the avocado - I love avocado in just about anything!

We chose to serve this with some very simple accompaniments. The Ecuadorean people serve their foods with thick tortillas and, like most Hispanic cultures, rice and beans. So we used our trusty Maseca (masa harina) to make nice thick tortillas:


And we cooked up some simple beans and rice. Seriously simple. We didn't even season them.










All in all, this was a delicious meal! Check out what the other My Kitchen My World-ers made this week!




I'm also submitting this to Frugal Fridays (1 meal for four, under $10) - though I know I'm cutting it close because it's Saturday morning. Here's the price breakdown:

Tilapia - $4.10
Limes - $0.50
Avocado - $0.58
Tomato - $0.50
Beans - $0.40
Rice - $0.60
Maseca - $0.40
Everything else - too cheap to list

Total Price: $7.08 :-)

Surprise Tuna Salad on Gannat (French Cheese Bread)

I started making this bread this afternoon, just for the sake of baking something. I had been looking through old posts on our family blog, and came across one where I said how excited I was to have purchased a bread machine recipe book at a yard sale. I was like, "Huh? I don't remember that!" I had to go check my cookbooks, and sure enough, there it was. So I flipped through and found this yummy looking recipe for Gannat, or French Cheese Bread. We had all the ingredients, so I started it up.

Later this evening, Jeff took the kids to the library so I could have some "me time." As he was leaving, I said I'd try to figure something out for dinner, and he suggested "something with tuna." We have a huge pile of tuna in the pantry, and try to prepare meals with it frequently. I immediately thought of making a tuna salad to go on the fresh loaf of bread.


I came across this great recipe at allrecipes.com. I changed it around a bit, as I am prone to do, based on the ingredients I had and what I was in the mood for. And here's what I came up with.

Surprise Tuna Salad
1 (6 oz) can tuna, drained and flaked
1/2 medium apple, peeled and chopped (I used red delicious)
1/4 cup raisins (the recipe calls for golden, but I used regular)
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tbsp. Italian dressing
1 1/2 tsp. sweet relish
3 slices bread
6 slices mozzarella cheese

Combine first six ingredients. Chill until serving. Spread 1/3 of mixture on each slice of bread; top each with 2 slices cheese.


Gannat (French Cheese Bread)
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, cut up, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar (I realized later that I forgot the sugar. It still worked fine)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar or Swiss cheese
2 tsp. active dry yeast

Measuring carefully, place all ingredients in bread machine pan in order specified by owner's manual.

Here you have two options:
1. Program basic or white cycle and desired crust setting; press start. When bread is baked, remove from pan; cool on wire rack.
OR
2. Program dough setting; press start. When dough is completed remove from pan and let rest covered for five minutes (if your machine does not have a dough setting, remove after first rise). Shape into round loaf and place in greased 8-inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack.

NOT Your Mom's Tuna Salad

We decided we needed something quick, simple, and light for lunch. And it had to involve tuna. We have lots of tuna, because I get 4 cans per month from WIC and we don't eat that much. So I got online and searched for tuna recipes. And I found this. (Yes, it's from allrecipes.com. What can I say? They've got some great recipes!)

Cinnamon-Curry Tuna Salad
2 (6 ounce) cans water packed tuna, drained and flaked
2 teaspoons mayonnaise (I used 3 tsp)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground black pepper (I reduced this to 1/2 tsp)
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.
This is not a typical tuna salad. It has a very strong flavor. The reviews for this recipe were mixed - some loved it, some were very less than enthusiastic. When I first tasted it, I was of the less-than-enthusiastic variety. But the more I ate, the more I loved it! I served this over saltine crackers and cheese, and sprinkled it with coconut and raisins. The coconut and raisins really made it ultra special.Serves 4
126 calories per serving

Salmon Patties

I am so thrilled to have married a man that loves to cook. Tonight I had another one of my migraines and didn't feel like doing anything for dinner. So Jeff stepped up and, as usual, created something delicious and healthy!

I'll put the half recipe that he did tonight. To make the original 6-serving amount, just double everything.

Salmon Patties
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed saltines (about 33 crackers)
1 tbsp. finely chopped onion
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 can (14.75 oz) salmon, drained, bones and skin removed

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, lemon juice, saltines, onion, salt, and pepper. Add salmon and mix well. Shape into 6 3-inch patties. Place in a greased baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. 1 serving=2 patties.

We served these with a variety of salad dressings - Greek Vinaigrette with Oregano and Feta, my homemade Creamy French Italian dressing, and Asian Sesame with Ginger. They would also, of course, be fantastic with tartar sauce, but we didn't have any of that on hand this time.

Tuna Pot Pie

We have a very large amount of tuna. I get four cans every month from WIC, but we don't use tuna quite that often. I've been trying to use tuna more often, because we have, like, 15 cans of the stuff. Tonight's dinner was inspired by my quest to use the tuna. I looked up "tuna" in my Betty Crocker cookbook and was led to a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie, with a tuna variation. Score! I love pot pie! I was additionally motivated to make this because I was running low on my calories for the day, and could definitely fit in something as calorie-rich as a pot pie. This ended up being about 380 calories per 1/8 slice. I had two.

I adjusted all the ingredient amounts because the original recipe called for a 9-inch square pan and I wanted to use my 9-inch round pie dish, which of course has a different volume.


Tuna Pot Pie
5 oz. frozen peas
1/2 can sliced carrots, drained (the recipe originally called for a bag of frozen peas and carrots, but I believe in the philosophy that you should just use what you've got)
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp. salt
Dash pepper
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 can (6 oz.) tuna, drained
Pastry for 9-inch double-crust pie

Rinse frozen peas in cold water to separate; drain.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt, and pepper. cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in tuna, peas, and carrots; remove from heat (During the steps in this paragraph I really appreciated the wisdom of pre-measuring your ingredients. There's so many things to add all at the same time, and it really helps to have it all ready to go beforehand).

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Make pastry. Roll half of the pastry into a 12-inch circle; ease into ungreased 9-inch pie dish. Pour tuna mixture into pastry-lined pan.

Roll out remaining pastry. Cut designs or slits into crust (I chose to do a fish, because I like the design to match what's inside the crust. Isn't it cute?). Place crust over tuna mixture; trim, seal, and flute edges.


Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown. I had to cover the edges with foil after about 25 minutes because they were browning too quickly. You could cover them before baking, and uncover them about halfway through the baking time. It works either way.

To make this into a chicken pie, substitute 2 cups cut-up cooked chicken for the canned tuna.

My pie didn't really hold together well. The crust was great, but the filling was just very wet. Next time, we'll let the pie set for about 20-30 minutes to allow the sauce to solidify a bit. Or I'll just reduce the milk and chicken broth. Anyway, despite being all fall-apart-y, this pie tasted fabulous!

Tuna Turnovers

This was so delicious you'd never guess that it's cheap, easy, and fast! I think it took me less than 45 minutes start to finish, and it was made of simple, everyday ingredients. The ideal meal for busy nights!


Tuna Turnovers
2 cans (6 oz each) tuna, drained
1 cup (4 oz) cheese, shredded (I used cheddar, others would work too)
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 tsp. dried minced onions
Mayonnaise and/or Ranch dressing to moisten (I used a little of both. It took about 2 tbsp. total stuff to moisten this to my tastes. Others may prefer a moister or dryer filling)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all ingredients. Prepare 1 batch biscuit dough (this link is to a previous post, ham a la king, which also includes the recipe I used for the biscuit dough). Roll or pat out the dough 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Cut into 4-inch circles or squares. I ended up with 8 squares of dough, which made really large turnovers.

In each square of dough, spoon about 2 1/2 tbsp. filling, then fold over the dough and seal. I didn't end up using all the filling. The leftover filling can be used to make sandwiches later. Place the filled turnovers on an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

As we ate these tonight we discussed several variations that could be done here. Wrapping biscuit dough around a delicious filling can really go anywhere - the imagination is the limit! Use chicken instead of tuna, try crabmeat and cream cheese, go for pizza filling, or taco meat! We talked about doing dessert turnovers - using fruit fillings similar to pie filling, and brush the top with milk and sugar. I definitely hope to do a variety of turnovers in the future.