What are you looking at…

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Sewfrench

Peter has decided to reclaim what Mother nature thinks belongs to her.  He says no.  We are the ones who pay the taxes, it’s ours.
Our property extends to the fence all the way out.  The way back.  We’ve never claimed it. Well, we walk it, but so does everyone else with a mile.  We get cockle burrs off it, we watch the deer jump the fence….  We also get our legs terribly scratched up this time of year.  We have a brush pile out behind the bushes to the left where we haul all the trimmings, so we are in among this mess year round. And we’ve never claimed it as our own.  In reality, it is a private landing strip, a grass runway, if you will.  It’s considered an emergency landing strip for Kent County International Airport, too.  But we own our little piece of it. We can’t build out there or add trees or anything like that.  But we can mow it!  A couple of nights ago, we walked *the runway* and realized that the new house, down the way, had not only cleared theirs out to the fence, but put in irrigation *and* sod!  It looks amazing.  So now, it seems we have to keep up appearances.  Or at least not appear to be the Joads….

He finished mowing it off today, sweating, wiping down the blowing dirt and fighting off the wild animals, but it is now finished.  And though we won’t be watering or sodding, I think as soon as we get a couple of decent rains and another mow or two it’s going to look awesome!

So while he was sweating it out, I decided to do what he’s been wanting me to do for weeks.  Make him a blueberry pie.  Though he’s not usually a huge fruit eater, he can’t seem to get enough of a good blueberry pie!  And he deserves it!

This is how I do it.

Blueberries, some of the biggest, fattest, sweetest blueberries ever, this year.  Toss them in some sugar, flour and add butter.  What’s not to love??

Make up a couple of pie crusts.

My dough started getting a little soft by now, not as pretty as it might have been, but I’m sure it’ll et!

Note Grandma Ellis’ Roll~Rite glass rolling-pin with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.  I don’t use it all the time, but sometimes.  Making, all butter, pie crusts is a perfect time to bring it out of the dark.  It doesn’t come out often, partly because I don’t make a lot of pie crusts.  It really does work well, for this.  But it especially makes me think of Grandma, every time I use it.  It brings back warm fuzzies, so many memories. Not necessarily of her using it, but, just, of her.  Her putzing around the kitchen…  She wasn’t only an amazing seamstress, she was an amazingly good, old-fashioned, southern cook.  An all around wonderful Grandma.  Check out the brown ceramic sugar canister on the shelf, in the open cabinet, to the right.  I got me one of those, at the Lake Odessa Antique Mall, years ago!  Just like Grandma’s.

As I was preparing to head to a long overdue family reunion it really made me think of Grandma and all her siblings and what it was like when we all used to gather together. Boy there were a lot of us.  And it seems we got together a lot!  This generation has struggled to get everyone together for anything more than a funeral and that’s no fun…

Anyway…..  I’m thankful that my siblings have entrusted *me* with Grandma’s rolling-pin.  Know that I do use it and treasure it.  And no, it did not turn up in this years white elephant auction….

Oh, did you want some too??

Get your own…….

I really should be better at sharing…..

FOR THE BLUEBERRY FILLING:

4 cups Blueberries, Washed

1 cup Sugar

5 TBS All-purpose Flour

½ tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Lemon Juice

4 TBS Butter

Milk, To Brush On Crust

Sugar, for sprinkling

Wash your berries and drain well. Toss your fruit with the sugar. If berries are naturally sweet, use a little less sugar. Add the flour and cinnamon to the berries. Fold gently, sprinkle with lemon juice.

Using a double crust recipe of your choosing, line your pan with one crust, fill with your berries, dot with the butter then either make a lattice crust, like I prefer, but am sometimes too lazy to do or just add a top crust and cut vent holes.  Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 375° for 40-50 minutes, until crust is golden and the blueberry goos.  Or until you can’t stand it any longer.

And I really do think sharing is over rated.

But sometimes you just gotta do what’s right…..

Cheers!

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Family, Landscape, Recipes | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

WIP Wednesday #8

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Sewfrench

Been traveling since last Thursday and just got in a couple of hours ago. SO what did I get accomplished since last week???  Not blogging, obviously…

I know, I know….  I’ve been talking about this for weeks, but remember, I’m a hand quilter.  With 1700 miles, as a passenger, under my belt, you would think it would be completed, but no.  Closer but not finished.

I now have 223 blocks out of 378, finished.  I also finished this book, which I really enjoyed!

I hung out with these people, that I really like!

And these nieces that I never get to spend enough time with.  They are always out to have a good time!  Oaky, I have lots of nieces that I don’t get to spend enough time with and yes, they are all out for a good time, but these three?  It was especially fun hanging with them!

Our incredible navigator and captain!  Good peeps!

And a whole boat load of people both at the official family reunion (93) and then at the family gathering on the boat (25+)!

We also hit up an awesome quilt show in Mount Vernon, IL, on our way, to the Ozarks.  If you get a chance to go.  Do. It.  Lots of great ideas over multiple buildings!

A silk quilt made from ties.  Awesome!

And a cathedral windows quilt, 8 years in the making, that makes me want to rethink giving one a go….  It was just beautiful!

We even got in a bit of hiking.
Beautiful country.

The Ozark Mountains are like no other part of Arkansas….

I, also, finished off my final Pay It Forward commitment and hand delivered it.  Our traditional home-made salsa, our new zippier, smoother version and a jar of pickles made from Grandma Ellis’ recipe!  I hope they enjoy it!  But mostly just glad *that* pressure is finally off!

Hope you had a productive week and if not, then maybe next week will be better.  Click on over to our hostess and see what all everyone else is doing, maybe something there will inspire you!

Cheers!

Posted in Crafting, fabric, Family, Gardening, Pay it Forward, Quilting, Reading, Travel | 8 Comments

What are *you* reading???

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Sewfrench

This is what I’m reading.  Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

On my Kindle, of course.  Not sure where this book recommendation came from, a blogger friend, I’m sure or a friend of a blogger friend.  Everything just gets away from me, sometimes, but I somehow end up with a list of must reads who are always totally new to me.  It’s been a fun year!

I’ve been on a jaunt with WWII books, lately.  This is a novel, jumping back and forth between young children in 1942, Paris and young adults in current time, Paris.  Not sure how they are going to connect, but I am thoroughly engrossed.  I’ll let you know what I think when I get to the end!

What are you reading today?

Posted in Books, Reading | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

WIP Wednesday #7

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Sewfrench

Wow, I feel like I’ve been such a slacker.  But, I haven’t really.  I’ve been really busy!
So to make myself feel better and get some small projects off the cutting board and stopped the presses to get things done.

So first up, using what I have, not bringing anything else into my studio, this is what I did.

Years ago, when we were on vacation, we bought each of our girls a zipper purse.  You know the zipper makes the purse?  They were unique, everyone loved them, used them for a bit and not sure how much longer…

Anyway, when I spotted this little tetrahedron change purse I thought I can do that!  Thank goodness one of the girls’ purses was still here, languishing in the top of a closet.  I needed it.

You remember what a tetrahedron is, right??

A solid having four plane triangular faces; a triangular pyramid.  HS geometry all over again.  Now take a piece of ribbon and turn a spiral into a pyramid.  Not quite as easy as it seems.  But, I got it.  Conquered and on to the next  project.

When granddaughter was visiting over the summer, she made one of these cute little bags with fabrics she choose.

I decided to make one with the scraps that were littering my space from my most recent project.  The floor needed cleaned up, anyway…

Decorated it with some of my grandmothers buttons.  I’ve hoarded them, for years, time to start using them, I say…

I love how you can stitch two buttons, back to back, over the zipper pull and create a pull that just fits your fingers! Wish I had thought of that years ago!

And the last project of the week….  Another inventory reduction project.  I recently pinned this quilt on Pinterest, thinking I can do that!

Well, you know me, I’m not going to do it anything like the way *they* say….  So this is another one of those reasons, I didn’t get much accomplished.  The original was sized to 70″ square.  I wanted to make it as a baby quilt with only a single grouping, of squares, as opposed to four.  Then as I just about had it together, daughter came in and says, hey, you should interlink the squares.  Yeah, that’ll be cool!  So, several hours later, finishing off several of my Kona cotton colors, barely squeaking by with the Robert Kaufman Primrose Dots, leftover from this project.  I upped the width of the colored strips then, just did the math to figure out what size I needed to match up and keep the most inner squares, the white centers, at 17″.  All said and done, it seems to be going to finish out at about 45″ square.  Meaning……  I had to order up some more of the dots to add to the plain white back, I had planned….  Because we all know quilting fabric has only about 42″ usable fabric per width…. Besides, it will make it!  You’ll see.  Besides, I bought nothing else for this little cutie.  She deserves to have a special backside, too!  Don’t you think??


I tell you, participating in WIP Wednesdays has really kept me on my toes!  Being a hand quilter means things hang around quite a while and it appears that nothing is getting done, when really it is….  I know I need to be finishing something every week, this just pushes me to get it done.  No matter how small it is!

Plus, I really love to see what everyone else is working on!   Go check them out for yourself.  Good stuff!

Posted in Crafting, fabric, Quilting, Sewing, studio, Uncategorized, WIP | 6 Comments

What do you think sunshine tastes like?

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Sewfrench

It’s that time of year when the Farmer’s Markets are overflowing with everything under the sun.  Most of the time we go just for something to do, interesting farmers to talk to, bustling shoppers with their cool shopping baskets and agendas…  and buy whatever strikes our fancy and looks good, no really shopping list, here.  We’ll figure out what is for dinner when we get home!

I so wish these  markets were available everywhere we went, year round.  Here, in Northern Michigan, with our choice of markets.  I *think* Monday is the only day when there is not one within 20 miles.  Most are in under 10 minutes.  When *they* say this is God’s country, *they* got it right.  They are so very right.

It wasn’t voted The Most Beautiful Place in the America, for nothing.  We are ripe with sunshine and bountiful harvests, now.  With views and crisp clean air all the time. It’s overwhelming, to say the least.

Each year, I have a better understanding what living the Locavore lifestyle, really means. You gorge yourself on whatever is local and plentiful that week and next week, it’s on to something else.  It’s very affordable eating at it’s best. It’s what our bodies need and crave.  It’s local and full of our local sunshine.  It’s what *I* need.

So this week, I tried my hand at Gazpacho.

You know there is no *real* recipe for Gazpacho and more than 1000 recipes all at the same time, right?  Weird.  I know….

Everybody does it their own way based on available ingredients and their own tastes.

All I know is that it is a cold, tomato based, Spanish heritage, yummy for my tummy, soup that I adore.  One that I can eat twice, in any one day, without issue.

So gather your ingredients.  Let’s make Gazpacho soup, so we can reminisce of the taste of summer, over the long, cold winter.

Year after year, I am blown away by how colorful, and pretty, truly fresh veggies really are.

I used a variety of heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market, because that’s what is available, to me, now.  A cucumber, a celery stalk, some chopped sweet onion, and just a piece of a sweet red pepper.  Not a huge fan of green bell peppers, so I don’t use them. Chef’s choice.

In the meantime, freeze your margarita glasses.

And be ready for a heavenly taste of icy cold sunshine.

Here we go.  This is how I do it.

Gazpacho 

2 1/2# tomatoes, peeled if possible, cut up

1 c peeled cubed cucumber, 1/4″ dice

1 c cubed zucchini, 1/4″ dice, I didn’t have one today, work with what you have…

1/2 c  cubed sweet onion, 1/4″ dice

1 celery stalk, small dice

1/4 red bell pepper, 1/4″ dice

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced small

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 TBS fresh parsley or cilantro, minced

2 TBS balsamic vinegar

1/4 c olive oil

heavy-handed dashes of Tabasco, maybe 10 shakes

a sprinkling of salt

a grinding of black pepper

basil, chiffonade

avocado, cubed

1 lime

grilled bread slices, directions below

grilled shrimp, directions below

To a food processor or blender add half of the tomatoes, the cukes, zukes, onions, celery, red bell pepper and jalapeño along with a cup or two of tomato (hopefully you canned more than I did last year) or V-8 juice, all the garlic, parsley (cilantro), vinegar, olive oil, Tabasco, salt and pepper.  Did I miss anything???

Whirl it up until smooth, but still has speckles of color left.  Add more juice to get to the consistency *you* envision.  Pour into a bowl or pitcher and stir in the rest of the veggies. Taste for salt, pepper and zippiness.  Adjust seasoning and chill for at least 2 hours, preferably longer.  Taste again, after chilled, and adjust seasoning, again, if needed.

Scoop up all that colorful goodness into your glasses.

Top with your cubed avocado, a squeeze of lime and your basil chiffonade.


Finish off with your grilled bread and skewered, and seasoned, grilled shrimp.

Sit back and slowly enjoy all the wonderful flavors of summer, while imprinting, on your brain, just what sunshine tastes like.

In 6 months, you may need to recall it.
Let’s hope not….  but just in case…
Serve yourself up another cold one.

Cheers!

Grilled bread slices

Brush bread slices with olive oil, grill on a grill pan, a gas grill or over an open flame (broiling works, too) until toasted, rub with a garlic clove.

Grilled shrimp

Skewer shrimp, brush with olive oil, season with salt, pepper or your favorite seasonings. Grill as with the bread, but just until pink.  The bread won’t turn pink but the shrimp will.  Alternatively, you can pan sauté them until pink.  No need to rub them with garlic. Too messy….

Posted in Cooking, Cottage, Eating, Gardening, Recipes, Wellness | 3 Comments

How to eat like an Italian

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Sewfrench

Start your day, early, at the Farmer’s Market

choose a beautiful variety of heirloom tomatoes.  Include some of your own, if you have them.  The Green Zebra, on the right, is from our deck.

After cubing your tomatoes heavily douse them in the best Balsamic you can get your hands on.  This is our current favorite.  Mellowed with 12 years of aging, and just enough bite left in it, it has won our hearts.

Now, add a turn of a smooth, buttery olive oil,

some freshly plucked basil and plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour you up a glass of vino

and admire your artful presentation, while you can

because it won’t last long.

Delicious.

It’s all about the attitude.

Eat It and Enjoy It….  Just like the Italians.

Posted in Cooking, Cottage, Eating, Gardening, Health, Recipes, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Trying not to OD…….

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Sewfrench

…..but the blueberries are SO good this year!  Huge and supersweet.

Prices aren’t so sweet because of the heavy rain that came at picking time….  Some of the berries weren’t able to get to the market.  I also hear tales that bears have moved in to our local pick your own berry farm.  Okay, maybe, not bears,  but a bear, anyway.  They stopped allowing people in to pick for a period of time.  That’s what I heard anyway…

I’ve always wanted to but have never spotted a bear, in the wild.  I hope to soon.  When I was overheard saying this, at the farmer’s market those old goomers started telling tall bear tales.  One booth after another had a story to tell.  I guess there are lots and lots of bears around these parts.  I need to get out more.

So after eating a pint of blueberries, by the handful, I decided I needed to step away from the berries and make something, that I could share with the fam.

I spotted this American Test Kitchen recipe that I wanted to try.  You know the people.   They are the television series behind the Cook’s Illustrated magazine.  I’ve never seen the show, but I love Cook’s magazine!  They teach you the hows and whys behind some recipes rocking it and why others fail.  This recipe is a winner!  Though I did tweek it a bit.

Makes 12 muffins

Lemon-Sugar Topping

1/4 c sugar

1 1/2teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

2 c fresh blueberries (about 10 ounces), picked over

1 1/8 c sugar (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon

2 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 lg eggs

4 TBS unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup soured almond milk or buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened.

4. Use a large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

After devouring one of these huge puppies I feel just a little bit smarter.
We should just call them Brainberries.
They are the ultimate super food.
And a most delicious way to OD.
Just saying….

Helpful hint..

Blue teeth from eating blueberries?

My friend, Joan, over at Health and Wisdom tells me we should brush our teeth using Magnesium Snow and 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, to whiten, after indulging.  I love that idea! I love the no harsh chemicals and another way to get magnesium into our system. And another use for the snow that makes a staple face mask around here.  I always have it on hand as it is a critical part of the Ultimate Bath.  Good stuff!  Thanks, Joan, for providing a quality product, at a more than fair price and customer service that is priceless. ❤

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Health, Recipes | 1 Comment

WIP Wednesday #6

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Sewfrench

Well, I perfected my seam ripping, this week.  That’s for sure.
Taken apart  ✔
Rearranged ✔
Put back together ✔
Rebasted ✔

It will be worth it when it’s finished, I know it will be.  And I am SO glad I’ve taken the time to arrange the pieces correctly.  Even if, I couldn’t see it right off the bat.

Besides, I also got to correct all the points that didn’t match up to my perfectionism, LOL!

Much improved over last week…

I also took this 1 yard piece of Robert Kaufman Kona cotton in Curry,

and turned it into this

12 yards of continuous, double, bias binding.  It’s it luscious?  Just saying Kona cotton Curry makes me hungry!  I bought this from my favorite Kona Solids merchant, Simply Solid Fabric, over at Etsy.  Check out the 15% off deal she’s got going on, right now.  Not sure how much longer it will last, but there still appears to be a pretty nice selection!

Hopefully next week I’ll have something new and fun to share…

Be sure and click the WIP button and see what all the really cool people are working on this week.  Maybe you’ll see something that inspires you and we all need a little more inspiration in our lives.  Right?

Posted in Crafting, Quilting, Sewing, WIP | 10 Comments

Have you had your Omega 3’s today??

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Sewfrench

It’s that time of year, again.   In our neck of the woods it’s time for fresh salmon.  We all know, by now, we should be eating fresh fish several times a week and especially the fatty acid fish like salmon.  Now, toss in some fresh avocado and we are talking some serious Omega 3s!

Several years ago, good friends and neighbors invited us over to share in their bounty. They had been on a salmon fishing trip, out on Lake Michigan, and brought in their limit of the big ones.  How could we say no?! Anyway….. Ever since then we’ve been talking about creating a similar salmon dish.  Today we did.

This one is roughly based on a Marcus Samuelsson recipe.  And Rosalie’s, of course.

Open face fresh Salmon Salad Sandwiches

3/4 -1 pound fresh salmon, skin removed, cut into two pieces

Sweet Mustard Sauce, recipe follows

fresh dill, fronds, if you buy the little packs in the produce department, 2 packages will do

2 boiled eggs, chopped

mayo

capers

avocado

lettuce

pumpernickel bread

Brush one side of the salmon with some of the sweet mustard sauce, lay half a bunch of dill on top of each piece.  Heat a skillet to hot and add several twirls of olive oil and heat to near smoking.  Do not use a nonstick pan, the cooking police with show up and your salmon won’t cook properly.  Toss in your salmon pieces, dill side down.  Cook about 4 minutes, until about 1/2 done, you can see it cooking.  Using a metal spatula scrape/flip your salmon over.

It should be brown and crusty because of the honey mustard, don’t fret, it’s not over cooked.  Cook another 4-5 minutes, until done, but not dry.  It really depends on the thickness of your salmon.  Set aside to cool while you continue on.

In a good-sized bowl add:

1/2 c. mayo

1 TBS capers

A couple of TBS of the Sweet Mustard sauce, I used all that was left

your 2 boiled, chopped eggs

1 bunch of dill fronds, chopped, remove the bigger stems

The cooked dill, chopped

Yes, it seems like a lot of dill, but it is just plain awesome!

Mash in half of an avocado

The juice of one lime

A nice sprinkling of sea salt

Plenty of fresh ground black pepper

Now shred the salmon in with your hands.

Toss gently.  Taste and re~season, if necessary.

You can serve it warm, right away or serve chilled which we prefer.

Serve open faced atop grilled pumpernickel on a bed of lettuce and avocado slices.

Serves a lot!

Sweet Mustard Sauce

2 TBS Dijon

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS honey

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

pepper

This is so, SO good!  We’ll be doing a repeat on this one!  Let me know if you try it!

Cheers!

Posted in Eating, Health, Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Recreating foodie memories…

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Sewfrench

Do you do this?  Do you recreate the bestest foodie moments of your life?  Or at least try to???

We are obsessed with eating out, trying new recipes, trying to recreate favorite dishes and especially the best of times………

This is our version of  a dish we had way back in March at Ceviche Tapas Bar in Tampa. We knew we were up for a great time when we considered who all would be sharing our table!

Ceviche Tapas BarPeter and I, along with my sister, Kim, met up with internationally renowned, fitness guru, Teresa Tapp and her side kick, IT manager, Lisa Moretti for an early dinner.  Teresa and I went back and forth, back and forth, trying to find a day and a time that worked for everyone.  We eventually settled on an early dinner time slot.  Then when Teresa suggested Ceviche as one of the options, because of where we were all coming from, it seemed like a logical choice and I jumped on it.  Enough with the options, not to mention names, but I’ve heard a well respected foodie Tapper brag on this place, I needed to see what this was all about.  Seriously.

The wine list was amazing.

The menu was small plates and a tad bit overwhelming, to say the least.

JAMON SERRANO ~ The prized air-dried ham from the mountains of Spain, served with figs, grapes and pear slices.

It is the authentic of dishes of Northern Spain and Catalan. It very much reminded us of one of our favorite Grand Rapids restaurants, San Chez Tapas Bistro, lots of the same dishes and flavors.

ATUN ESTILO TARTARO Sushi-grade tuna hand chopped with capers, onions, fresh parsley and sesame oil. Served with the cutest little blue corn cones to scoop it up with!

So when Teresa walks in and orders Ceviche de Salmon and flat out tells us she will *not* be sharing, order your own if you want a taste, the foodie in us knew we were on to something.  Something delicious.  And it did not fail us.  The freshest of salmon marinated in lemon, lime, cilantro, sweet onion and topped with caviar.  Delicious!


So here we are, 4 months later, ready to recreate this recipe, in northern Michigan, salmon country, no doubt, and can’t get our hands on ceviche quality salmon, anywhere…. So what do we do?  We turn to Burritt’s in Traverse City.  They suggest tuna and we jump on it because we know it’s fresh and have been enjoying Tuna Poke salad at a number of restaurants including Firefly in Traverse City and Mikado’s in Grand Rapids.  And besides tuna poke, salmon ceviche, same diff, right???  Okay, not really, but similar.  So this is neither and both.   Minus the caviar.  Never been a huge fan, myself.  It’s a texture thing that goes back to a Japan trip…. ‘Nother story, different day.

Any~way……..

This is what we came up with.

Garlic Aioli Sauce

Ceviche de Tuna

1 1/4 pounds very fresh tuna steak

3/8 cup olive oil

2 limes, zested

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1 tsp wasabi powder

2 1/2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp hot red pepper sauce

2 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 TBS freshly ground black pepper

4 minced scallions, white and green parts both

1  fresh jalapeno pepper, minced, seeds removed

1 ripe avocado

1 TBS toasted sesame seeds, black and white

Cut the tuna into 1/4-inch dice and place it in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, wasabi, soy sauce, hot red pepper sauce, salt, and pepper. Pour over the tuna, add the scallions and jalapeno, and mix well. Cut the peeled seeded avocado into 1/4-inch dice. Carefully mix the avocado into the tuna mixture. Add the toasted sesame seeds, and season to taste. Allow the mixture to meld, in the refrigerator, for at least 1 hour.

Serve over a bed of your freshest greens and top with a garlic aioli sauce.

Garlic Aioli Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

and pipe on the top of each serving

We served it up with fresh fried wonton chips but I suppose pita chips or water crackers would work in a pinch…

Other than maybe zipping it up a bit more, next time, you know we like it spicy around here, the only other thing we would add would be more friends.  Just bring on the friends. We need more of those in our lives.

Everyday.

Good food with great friends…

Can never be recreated often enough…..

Go for it.

You know you want to.

You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers!

Posted in Cooking, Eating, Family, Fitness, Recipes, Recreating foodie memories, t-tapp, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments