Poisson Cru- Tahitian Ceviche with Coconut Milk

A couple years ago, we took a trip to Tahiti as the flights from Seattle to Papeete were direct (9 hours) and very inexpensive on a Air Tahiti Nui's new 787's.  We actually spent less going to Tahiti than we did for a week in Hawaii.  Tahiti is part of French Polynesia, and there is so much French heritage, food and wine there.  You don't think of eating stinky French cheeses, a freshly baked baguette and wonderful French wine in the tropics, do you?  Yes, but you certainly can.  This recipe is Tahiti's version of poke, or seviche.  Similar dishes available in other countries, but we really, really loved this!  We ate it over jasmine rice, with loads of local fruits at a picnic shelter on a beach on the island of Moorea.  Moorea is about an hour ferry boat ride from Papeete, so its an easy way to see a very lush and naturally beautiful island.  We did a small group tour of the island, just 8 of us in the back of a bus/jeep.  We did a grand tour of the island, a waterfall hike, some fruit markets and bakeries to shop for our lunch and then lunch at the beach.  They also sell a wonderful rum punch, already mixed, and sold like orange juice which was pretty fantastic too.

Serves about 6-8

Ingredients

 2lbs white fish, chopped into cubes

1 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup carrots, cut into thin matchsticks or shreds

1/2 cup cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks or shreds

1/2 cup thin sliced red cabbage

1/2 cup onion (red or white), cut into thin matchsticks or shreds

1/4 cup green onions, sliced thinly on the diagonal

Salt and Pepper to taste

I'm going to keep the instructions simple, cut fish into small bite size portions, add everything else and mix.  Let chill for about 10-15 minutes and serve at once, on rice, or just on the side.

Here's a picture of our guide making the poisson cru at the beach. Okay, he is super darling and fit, right?

He was our tour guide for a great tour of the island, plus he had everything planned for our lunch for 8 people.   His friend had caught the tuna the day before and he had brined it is sea water. We stopped for fresh fruit, local candy and some great rum fruit juice cocktails that they sell pre-mixed in Tahiti.

It was a fun and different lunch that tasted delicious!

His attention to detail was amazing, displaying the fruit on fronds from a palm tree. Fruit platter is below and also the strange local candy, called po'e, that is made with fruit, starch and coconut milk.  Pineapple, grapefruit, mini bananas and papaya all came from local fruit trees.

Here's another meal in Tahiti; this one was at the hotel pool... where we rented a cabana to wait for our late evening flight to SEA.  What a wonderful way to go!  I am having poisson cru again below...  My husband is having his favorite French dish, Steak Frites!

Tahiti was so beautiful!

Pico de Gallo

 

This has been my favorite side dish at our local Mexican place.  After years of loving it and carefully assessing what was in it, I finally had a go at making it myself. This is served with the fresh tortilla chips and salsa at the restaurant and it's my favorite part.  It's really like a salad... and a dip, and something to sprinkle on your rice and beans!  I can be whatever you want it to be. 

Be sure to chop things a bit smaller than you think they should be... you want to have a bit of everything in each scoop of your tortilla chip.

Ingredients

Makes about 4-5 cups

1 cup of red cabbage, diced small

1 cup of green cabbage, diced small

1 cup of tomatoes, diced small

3 jalapenos, diced small (remove the seeds)

1 cup of white onion, diced small

1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped

2-3 limes, juiced

1/2 cup of pickled jalapenos, diced small

2 tablespoons of the picked jalapeno juice, optional

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together and let sit for an hour or two before serving.  Lasts a day or two in the fridge, but it's best the day you make it.

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Puglia tomato friselle rusk bread - Traditional breakfast

I've always loved sliced tomatoes on toast, it was my pandemic breakfast of choice. Simply toast, a smear of mayo, sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper.... absolutely my favorite. Sort of a design of my own making, but maybe I saw it somewhere???

Getting to Puglia and waking up to the hotel breakfast on Day 1 was terrific.... cheese, meats, fruits (including one I've never seen, nespole- more on that later) and these yummy tomato toasts. 

Our host,  Elena, was telling us our choices for breakfasts.  She offered frisselle and described as tomato toast,  then said "5, maybe 6 would be right.... I think 6". I was a bit worried, then delighted, when I saw the plate and that they were small. In the photo,  you can see that there are 5... that's because I already put one on my plate and was tucking into a yummy bite. 

Here's my attempt at making it myself for the breakfast when we got to our VRBO a couple days later.

Our host had left us so many things as a welcome gift; fresh orecchiette pasta, jarred pomodoro tomato sauce, the frise (bread rusks), tomatoes, local olive oil, a fresh basil plant, fresh cheese and an assortment of fresh fruit.... oh, and local wine!

The top picture has small frise rusks and the second picture is the larger size. Both are great, but maybe the big ones take a bit more time to soften a bit.

Here's all we did:

12-16 large cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters or eighths

A bit of good olive oil, 2-3 tsp

A big bit of salt

Fresh basil, cut into slivers

A bit of pepper, if you like (and I do)

A couple teaspoons of water

*Some Frise Maltagliate... (dry, light "bagels, AKA "rusks" or bruschetta)

In a medium bowl, cut the tomatoes, drizzle with oil olive and salt. Add slivered basil and pepper.  Give a nice stir and get the 'rusks' ready to go on a plate. 

So our host, through interpretation through his 14 year old niece, told us to make the breakfast,  adding a sprinkle of water. My hubby heard that I should sprinkle the dry bread with water, but I interpreted it to mean that I would add a bit of water to my tomato mixture. I actually think my hubby was right, but honestly, drizzling the rusks with a bit of watery tomato oil also works deliciously too.

Let the rusk sit and absorb the mixture while you get the rest of the breakfast ready to go.  We drank quite a lot of espresso in tiny cups while we prepared our breakfast.

The rusks are in the package behind the bottle of olive oil.  There were more gifts from our host in the fridge: cheese and orecchiette. What a nice gift to leave, everything you need to make yourself a dinner, a snack and a breakfast.

*to make these at home it would be easy to use bruschetta toasts, or leftover French bread toasted/ dried in the oven.  It's supposed to be hard and dry,  hence the sprinkle of water. 

On day one,  here's a photo of our view as we ate breakfast. Not a bad place to start your day. 

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Egg Bites- like Starbucks

 I love these little egg bites. I first had them at Starbucks, like so many of you.  The secret to making these is blending cottage cheese with the eggs!  Who knew?! Also, the cottage cheese somehow makes the egg bites more tender than normal baked eggs.

The cottage cheese has a lot of flavor (and salt), so you don't even need to season these, isn't that crazy?

You can make many variations, depending on what you like and what you have on hand.  For these, I used those mini pepperoni, minced jalapenos and mixed Mexican blend cheese.

Here's some other ideas you could create:

• Feta, green onion and bacon
• Mozzarella, tomatoes and basil
• Taco meat, cheese and onion
• Cheddar and chives
• Ham, bacon and jack cheese
• Cream cheese and smoked salmon

Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup of cottage cheese
• add-ins of your choice... (see above)

Add one cup of cottage cheese to your blender, add in 8 large eggs and blend until not chunks of cottage cheese are noticeable.

Back at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

Note- I recommend a silicon muffin tin for this... it makes it much easier to get out. I use some spray Pam before adding the 'add ins" and then pour in the egg mixture. I fill about 7/8 full and bake.

Let cool and remove from the pan.

These egg bites last in the fridge about 4-5 days, I take two in my lunch almost every day. 

Easy to eat, taste good and lots of protein.

Here's some pictures of the steps:

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Ground Pork Lettuce Wraps

What's a simple easy dinner to make with ingredients that you just may have on hand? I like to use this recipe for either ground pork or ground turkey or chicken.  I usually have the veggies on hand (lettuce, green onions, cilantro, onions and garlic). If you don't have Hoisin sauce and sesame oil, I highly recommend that invest in those! 

Serves 4-6 as a generous appetizer, or about 3 for a dinner

Ingredients

1/2 onion, minced

3 garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, small dice

3-4 green onions, sliced

1 lb. ground pork

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup hoisin sauce (or oyster sauce)- could also substitute 1/4 cup soy sauce with 1-2 Tbsp white sugar

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

1-2 tsp Sriracha (optional) plus more for serving

Toasted sesame seeds

Chopped peanuts (optional)

Small Romaine lettuce, but butter lettuce or even cabbage leaves would work

Brown pork over medium high heat, when mostly cooked, drain off the fat.  Add the sesame oil, onions, garlic and ginger and cook until the onions start to wilt.  Add in chopped celery (you want this to be more crunchy when its done). Add in the hoisin or oyster sauce and taste. If you want it spicy, you may need to add in the Sriracha and/or the red pepper flakes. Add in cilantro (optional) and spoon into a serving bowl. Allow the mixture to cool a bit before serving into the lettuce.

Prep the mini romaine leaves into 'cups' or use cabbage leaf, or butter lettuce.  

Put soy sauce, sesame seeds, Sriracha and chopped peanuts on the table for each diner to customize their wrap.

I just brought the pork mixture to the table in a bowl and served the lettuce on a plate so that everyone could just make their own at the table.  Served with a little sriracha and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds.  My hubby liked it with a drizzle of soy sauce.

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Whipped Ricotta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

 

It's been ages since I blogged, but I'm back at it!

I always seem to have leftover ricotta! You buy a container for lasagna, or something, then the rest seems to go to waste. I hate that!  Now with this recipe, I just might be buying ricotta to make this all the time!  I made this when we had friends over for the weekend at our place in the mountains.  We sipped wine and noshed on this while enjoying the warm air and the view of the trees. A very good weekend.

A note about the cherry tomatoes, I used the small heirloom variety which is why you can see lots of colors in the tomatoes. Any kind of small tomatoes would work out well.

Ingredients

1 cup ricotta

1/2 cup feta cheese

2 cups cherry tomatoes

3-4 garlic cloves, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced in strips

Fresh Thyme

2 Tbsp Olive oil, with more for drizzling for serving

Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a large baking sheets with sides, add the tomatoes, fresh thyme, garlic, sliced onions and olive oil. Stir to combine. Place in hot oven and roast until the tomatoes start to burst and the onions are limp, about 20 minutes.  You might want to give them a stir halfway through. Let cool to room temperature.

In a good processor, add the ricotta and the feta and process until it is smooth and fluffy.  Taste for salt, as feta can be kind of salty on its own, you may not need much.

Add the ricotta mixture to a small serving dish, spreading it about 1 inch thick, top with the tomato mixtures and more fresh thyme.  Serve with crackers, bread, sliced Persian cucumbers or whatever else you like.

Green Salsa with Tomatillos & Avocado

Working from home this year, I have missed many things. One of them is definitely connecting with people at work over food, like potlucks!  My coworker brings the best green salsa and we are all wild about it.  Luckily she shared her recipe, so I was able to make my own.

Note- In a true "Got It Cook It" fashion, I substituted canned pickled jalapenos as I was out of fresh chilies. While this tasted really good, I think that a fresh serrano chili (or two) is best!

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

7-8 tomatillos (depending on size)

2 tbsp. of olive oil

1-2 serrano chiles (depending on how spicy you want it)

½ of a small onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic (depending on size)

1 handful of cilantro

2 avocados

Juice of ½ lime

1 tsp of chicken bouillon seasoning

1 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

Water to cover

Fill a pot with enough water to boil the peeled tomatillos. Boil tomatillos for about 5 min or until soft but don’t let them burst. Drain water and add tomatillos to blender.

Add 1 (of the 2) tbsp. of olive oil to a pan and sauté serrano chiles, onion and garlic on med/med high heat until slightly browned. Add to blender.

Add remaining ingredients to blender. Blend to combine, but don't process too long, you will want to have a very slight texture for best appearance.

Add water to change consistency if too thick, I added about 1/3 cup while blending it Adjust salt to taste. 

Stuffed Cabbage Bowl

We both agree, how can this be comfort food if you never even had it as a kid?

I can't actually say I really even like Stuffed Cabbage, but I do love this!I  know lots of people remember their mom's stuff cabbage rolls for dinner.... I assure you, my mom made many, many amazing dishes in my childhood, but I never specifically remember her making these. My husband's mom was definitely more challenged in the kitchen, so she never made something exotic as stuffed cabbage rolls! I seem to remember making them once, decades ago, and I thought they were fussy and not that great. So, in other words, a recipe NOT to be repeated.

We're trying to reduce how many carbs we eat, so when I saw this recipe it really intrigued me. We were both instantly in love with this.  A couple months went by, but I remembered we liked this, so I bought the ingredients again to see if it was a fluke, or did we really like this?  Guess what? We so LOVE this! 

Easy, fast, comforting and cheap.  Something to enjoy in this uncertain times of a pandemic. Let's call this one a dinner hug.

Serves 4-6 (makes great leftovers)
Ingredients

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 to 1 cup diced red bell pepper (optional)
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef, low fat
4-6 cups shredded cabbage
1 can diced tomatoes plus juices
1 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt & Pepper

Chop the onions and pepper into a dice, saute over medium high heat in a large saute pot or dutch oven, for about five minutes. Add the pork and the beef and cook breaking into medium size chunks while it cooks. Add the Italian seasoning and the garlic, plus some generous salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (as desired).  Add the canned tomatoes and the shredded cabbage.  Cook until the cabbage starts to wilt, about 3-5 minutes.
Serve in a low bowl as the meat/veggie mixture, or over steamed rice.

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Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs

It's been a while since I updated my blog, but lately I have been feeling inspired again! These eggs are spicy and delicious, I highly recommend.

Last Friday I did a Cabi party at a friend's house and she did these marvelous Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs.  Now, I am not always a fan of Deviled Eggs, but these were fantastic.  I knew I had to make them for a family function today!  Here's the link I used, but I did take some poetic license and change up a couple things.

One note, without getting into the Mayo vs. Miracle Whip debate... if  you like your eggs sweeter you can use Miracle Whip, but if you want tangy/no sweetness, then use mayo.

These eggs went really, really fast at the function today. Someone people weren't paying attention and did not get one. LOL!

I forgot to picture the Old Bay Seasoning below...

Make 24 pieces
Ingredients:

12 eggs, hard-boiled

1/3-1/2 cup mayo

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp. horseradish

Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or 1 1/2 Tbsp pickle juice

2 tsp. hot sauce

1/2 tsp. celery salt

Salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp. old bay seasoning

Garnish Ideas:

Pickled Coins, sliced olives and/or capers, for garnish 

Celery leaves

Place eggs in a large pot and cover with about an inch of water. Place pot on stove and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and cover with lid. Let sit for 11 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove eggs from pan and place in a bowl of ice water. OR, use my link on Perfect Hardboiled Eggs

When cool enough to handle, peel eggs. If possible at this point after the eggs are peeled, refrigerate the eggs for a couple hours or overnight.  Sometimes if the eggs are a little warm, the egg whites can break or split. When chilled, cut eggs in half. Scoop yolks out and place in a medium bowl.

In the bowl with yolks, add mayonnaise, tomato paste, horseradish, lemon or pickle juice, hot sauce, and celery salt and mix until well combined (I had to use my stick blender to get them smooth, but people probably won't care if they are lumpy). Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a piping bag.

Place old bay seasoning on a small plate and press cut side of eggs into seasoning. Place eggs on a plate and pipe filling onto each egg. Top with a pickle or olive slice and celery leaves as garnish.

Don’t have any Old Bay seasoning?  Here’s a recipe that is pretty close!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons celery salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 pinch dry mustard

1 pinch ground nutmeg

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Lazy Girl Chile Verde Pork Stew

This is variation of one of my all time favorite ways to cook pork, Chile Verde.  However, the recipe I have always used calls for tomatoes, which are RED, and not VERDE (green) at all, so it has always bugged me a bit that the end result was a reddish dish.  In this recipe, I have substituted the tomatoes with canned tomatillos instead.

As I was making this, my hubby walked in and said "aren't you going to brown that pork?". To which I answered,"No, I am not" feeling a bit grumpy at being challenged about being a accomplished lazy girl. Now, honestly people, I do realize that browning adds carmalization and therefore, more flavor.  BUT, in this case, there is SO much more flavor ingredients in this dish, you honestly should save yourself some time (and a greasy stove top) by skipping the browning and throwing it altogether in your crock pot.  Set it, forget it, do something awesome with your day and come back to a great dinner.

Serves 5-6 
Ingredients

3lb pork, large, cut into large chunks
1 large can (14 oz) whole tomatillos, with juice
1/2 onion, diced small
1 small yellow bell pepper, diced small
2 jalapenos, diced small
1 small can (4 oz) diced ortega green chilies
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped small (about 1/2 bunch)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp oregano

Topping:

• green onions
• cojita cheese or feta cheese (optional)

Add all the ingredients to the crock pot, and cook for 8 hours on low.  Serve with green onions and cheese, as desired.

Below is a picture of the crock before I cooked it. I didn't brown the pork, as I guess, I am a lazy girl. LOL.  You can definitely brown it before starting your crockpot, and it just might be even better.  Me?  I can't decide if this stew is actually better for having browned the pork first.

Baccalà Mantecato- Venetian Appetizer Spread

I'm still dreaming of a trip we took a couple of years ago to Venice.  I was prepared for a stinky, crowded tourist trap city, but was wonderfully surprised and delight with what we saw and experienced there.  I wrote about our food walking tour of Venice here, and this was one of the surprises that we tried at one stop. 

This is a Venetian specialty of whipped salted cod served on slices of bread or polenta.
I'm embarassed to say that I've had this recipe in "draft" mode for over a year, but decided to finally finish it up and post it.  I know that most people won't go to the trouble to find the dried cod (you can order it on Amazon though!) and make this, but it was so delicious and not fishy!

We had a couple's party after the trip and we all brought small plates of tapas to share.  This is what I made. We had a great time and shared our memories of a great trip.

Serves 6 - 8

Prep Time: 3 days

Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

1/2 Pound of Dried Cod
2 Cloves Garlic

1 Bay Leaf

Salt & Pepper

Good Olive Oil

To Serve:

Cracked Black Pepper

Cut the cod into pieces and place them into a pan full of water.

Leave it in water for 2 to 3 days, changing the water twice daily.

After soaking, change the water again and place the cod and water, along with a bay leaf and cook for 30 minutes on low heat, removing any foam that comes to the surface.

After 30 minutes, remove the cod from the pan and place in a container with high sides.

Remove the skin and the bones from the cod and add 2 gloves of garlic.

I used my food processor to mix this, slowly adding the olive oil to get the desired consistency.  It should be soft and fluffy when it's ready. The quantity of the oil will depend on the cod itself.Continue mixing until the cod turns light and has a whipped, mousse-like texture. Taste and add salt if required.

Serve on fresh cut bread slices or grilled slices of polenta.

Sprinkle top with some cracked black pepper.

Below is a picture of a plaque in the fish market, that shows the standard sizes that the fish must be.  I believe our guide told us that the sign was hundreds of years old. 

Just outside the fish market, you can catch a gondola ride across the grand canal. Sigh, what a great trip.

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