Crab Stuffed Avocado

As I have said before, avocados are very good for you.  They are full of vitamin A and rich in B complex vitamins.  They are very high in protein and though they are high in fat it is the fat that is good for you.  The avocado was first discovered in Mexico over 7,000 years ago and wasn't commercially grown in California until the late 1800’s and in Florida until the turn of the century.  The avocado is technically a fruit but often treated as a vegetable.  Because it is a fruit it should never be place in the fridge. 

The crab in the salad can be replaced with boiled shrimp, lobster or baked/smoked fish.  Chicken could also be used.  If you want to make this more of a meal try placing the avocado on a bed of lettuce and adding some tomato and egg wedges.  The salad could also be used on crackers or on a sandwich with some fresh sliced tomatoes and lettuce.  On the piers in San Francisco you can get yummy little sandwiches with a crab or lobster salad on a sour dough roll, always with real mayonnaise. That is always a stop I have to make while there. 

1 ea............... Avocado

3 oz............... Crab Meat

2 Tbs............. Real Mayonnaise

1 Tbs............. Finely Diced Celery

1 Tbs............. Finely Diced Onion

¼ tsp............. Garlic Powder

¼ tsp............. Onion Powder

pinch............. White Pepper

1.    Combine all ingredients except avocado and mix well.

2.    Split avocado and remove seed and skin.

3.    Divide crab salad between avocado halves and serve.

  

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!

Salad Niḉoise

This is a great summer salad.  Salad Niḉoise (knee-SWAHZ) is a traditional dish from Nice, France.  It is usually served with each ingredient arranged around the tuna on a bed of lettuce but is sometimes cut into smaller pieces and mixed together.  Grilled fresh fish or smoked fish can be used in place of the canned tuna.  Grilled chicken would also work.  If you are in the mood for some greens add some spinach or some baby greens. 

Dressing

½ c................. Olive Oil

¼ c................. Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tbs............. Dijon Mustard

1 ea............... Lemon (juiced)

2 Tbs............. Chopped Fresh Basil

1 ea............... Chopped Garlic Clove

¼ c................. Capers

to taste.......... Salt & Pepper

1.    Mix together well and refrigerate until needed.

Salad

1 12 oz can... Chunk Light Tuna

3 ea............... Baby Red Potatoes

3 ea............... Roma Tomatoes

½ lb................ Green Beans (trimmed)

½ ea.............. Red Onion

3 ea............... Hard Boiled Eggs

½ c................. Kalamata Olives

1.    Boil or steam the potatoes and green beans.

2.    Cool completely.

3.    Drain tuna and place in the middle of a platter.

4.    Cut each potato and tomato into 8 wedges and place around tuna on the platter.

5.    Julienne red onions and place on platter.

6.    Cut each egg into 4 wedges and place on platter.

7.    Place green beans and olives on platter.

8.    Pour dressing over whole salad.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Jambalaya

When In New Orleans most People think of Cajun as lots of spicy rich foods.  But, the history of the food is an interesting one.  Jambalaya comes from Paella, which comes from Spain.  Of course there weren’t the exact ingredients to make everything the same so much improvisation came into play.  Because Louisiana is on the Golf coast and at the end of the Mississippi river, seafood is bountiful with large amounts of shrimp, crawfish and other crustaceans along with fresh and salt-water fish.  Chef Folse (one of my favorite chefs of the area) calls the waters/land around New Orleans “the swamp floor pantry”, which I think explains it all.

And like paella, the meats are interchangeable.  What I mean by that is you could replace any of them with seafood or other types of sausage, pork, etc…  One of the common meats used in Jambalaya is tasso, which is a smoked pork or beef of poor quality that is heavily seasoned and spicy.  When it is smoked, it becomes very hard almost like a jerky.  I had a hard time finding it so I substituted a good quality ham.   

1 ea........... Onion (diced)

½ c............ Diced Pepper

4 ea........... Green Onions (diced)

¼ c............ Diced Celery

2 ea........... Garlic Cloves (chopped)

1 ea........... Bay Leaf

½ c............ Olive Oil

2 c............. Tomato Sauce

1 ea........... Chicken Breast

½ c............ Diced Ham

1 ea........... Andouille Sausage

½ lb........... Rice

1.   Make rice according to directions on the package.

2.   Sauté the first 6 ingredients in the oil until caramelized.

3.   Add in the chicken and sausage and sauté until done.

4.   Add in the tomato sauce and ham and simmer for about 15 minutes.

5.   Mix with cooked rice and place in a preheated oven (350°f).

6.   Bake for about 5 minutes.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Tuna Melt

Tuna melts are one of my favorite ways to eat tuna salad. I add tarragon to  give the tuna a slightly different but enjoyable flavor of licorice.  As always you can leave it out or replace it with other fresh herbs.  The amounts can also be increased or decreased.  Adding avocado, sprouts and/or lettuce can be used with or replace the tomato.  And of course, there are so many types of cheese that will work with this sandwich if Swiss is not your cup of tea. 

If you can get a hold of some fresh tuna, grilled will work in place of the canned.  Fresh grilled salmon is always a tasty alternative and you can replace the mayonnaise with olive oil for a healthier version.  Although I have heard that eating mayonnaise will reduce the chances of getting cancer.   Of course I don’t remember whom or where I had heard it from so don’t quote me on that one.  I love mayonnaise so I am always looking for an excuse to eat it on something. 

1 can......... Tuna

2 Tbs........ Mayonnaise

1 Tbs........ Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Tbs........ Chopped Red Onion

1 Tbs........ Chopped Celery

1 Tbs........ Chopped Fresh Tarragon

1 pinch...... White Pepper

2 slices..... Sourdough Bread

3 slices..... Swiss Cheese

4 slices..... Tomato

Butter

1.   Drain tuna and add the first seven ingredients, mixing will.

2.   Build sandwich from the bottom piece of bread up with tuna, tomato and then Swiss cheese.

3.   Butter each side and grill until golden and cheese is melted. 

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!

Old Fashioned Deviled Eggs

Summer time is here and it is time for cookouts and picnics.  Deviled eggs are always a popular item on the list of accompaniments.  I am a big fan of the flavor of the mustard with a good garlicky dill pickle so the flavor is strong.  Feel free to cut back on mustard or pickle.  I always use real mayonnaise but using a salad dressing that is sweet will cut the tartness.  Using a spicy mustard will add some zing to the eggs.   I like to garnish them with a sprig of fresh dill but the top of the celery works well to with a little chopped dill. 

If you add a little more mayo and chop egg whites you can use the mixture for an egg salad sandwich.  Place on some good whole wheat bread and add some sprouts and sliced tomatoes.  Yum, one of my favorites!

Eggs are one of those perfect foods.  They are full of protein and other great nutrients.  …But be careful because the yolks also have fat and cholesterol, which are not so healthy.   For hard-boiled eggs place in a saucepan with enough water to cover eggs and boil for about 40 minutes.

8 ea............... Hard Boiled Eggs

¼ c................. Mayonnaise

¼ c................. Yellow Prepared Mustard

¼ c................. Fine Diced Dill Pickle

1/8 c............... Fine Diced Celery

1.    Peel eggs and cut in half.

2.    Remove the yolks from each half and place in a bowl with remaining ingredients.

3.    Mix until smooth and fill each egg white half with the mixture.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!

Coconut Chapatis

While on safari in Tanzania, dinner at many of the lodges, bush homes and camps that we visited there was a somewhat traditional meal option. Very often we were served pumpkin soup to start with.   However, while we were camping in the Serengeti NP we had the opportunity to eat a traditional East African meal of curried plantains, curried chicken (which were probably really guinea-fowl), and some pork (probably wart hogs) in a sauce. Most of the dinner meals had rice or Ugali, which is a corn mush, for the starch. I wish I had taken more notes on all of the food but I was more into the animals. For breakfast each morning we were served a typical English breakfast buffet of bacon/sausage, grilled tomato, scrambled eggs and not so typical on an English breakfast buffet but typical in Africa, fruit galore. Because we spent most of the day in the bush we had box lunches with chicken, a hard-boiled egg, chips, and something for dissert like a candy bar/chocolate.

The one thing that was consistent with all of our meals no matter where we were was the Chapatis (Indian flat bread), which I could never get enough of. I’ve attempted other recipes but adding the coconut milk gave them a tenderness and a little bit of sweetness without giving them a strong coconut flavor. Chapatis are used to sop up sauces and to pick up bits of food in place of a fork.


4 c............. Flour
1 tsp.......... Salt
1 can......... Coconut Milk
as needed Ghee


1. Place flour and salt in a bowl and stir in coconut milk.
2. Divide dough into 9 equal balls and thinly roll out each one on a floured board.
3. Brush each with ghee and fry.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Cheese Fondue

Fondue is a Swiss dish and was very popular in the 60’s and 70’s and has resurfaced in the last several years.  So if you run across your mom’s old fondue pot, drag it out and use it.  You could also pick one up at Good Will or another second hand store for pretty cheep.  Of course they will probably be a nice bright orange or avocado green.  You can also find one at a kitchen store for a pretty reasonable price.  If you don’t have one and you don’t want to go hunting for one you can always use a heavy bowl made of pottery raised with a candle under it or a small crock-pot. 

The traditional way to eat fondue is with boiled potatoes and bread. I like to add some steamed veggies. Feel free to use chunks of cooked chicken too. You can use other cheeses but the Gouda and Râclette are more traditional. Another combination could be cheddar cheese and Monterey jack cheese and add some green chilies while omitting the wine. You would need to cut back on the roux if you left out the wine.

Cheese Sauce

2 c.................. Milk

1 c.................. Dry White Wine

½ lb................ Gouda Cheese

½ lb................ Râclette Cheese

½ tsp.............. Garlic Powder

½ tsp.............. Onion Powder

to taste........... Salt

as needed...... Roux 

Roux

1 c.................. Flour

1 c.................. Clarified Butter (also called Ghee)

1.    Shred cheese.

2.    Place the milk and wine in a saucepan and heat while stirring.

3.    When hot whisk in enough roux to thicken, about 3 heaping tbs.

4.    Whisk in the remaining ingredients and continue cooking until all of the cheese is melted while whisking.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Masala Chai (Spiced Tea)

Here in the US when we hear chai we think it is a spiced tea but in India chai is just sweetened tea with milk.  Masala Chai is the spiced tea we are somewhat familiar with.  I enjoy a cup almost every morning instead of coffee.  It is a good way to get the body started because of the warming spices used.  

It is hard to find a set recipe for Masala chai because it is all based on personal taste.  However, there are 4 constants in every cup of Masala Chai.  They are: Tea, Sweetener, Milk and Spices.  The tea is usually a dark, strong black tea but can be a gunpowder tea or a rooibos, or a yerba mate.  As for sweetener any will do but honey is most often used and always in heavy amounts.  Milk is usually whole milk for it’s richness but I will use low fat because I don’t need all of the fat.  Soy or rice milk will do as well.  As for the spices, the ones that I use in this recipe are most popular but you will find nutmeg, vanilla, licorice, cocoa and almond in some versions.  Oregon Chai has a strong vanilla flavor with the listed spices weaker in flavor.  Just remember, when making your Masala Chai it is really a personal taste so if you don’t like one or more of the spices either go lighter or leave it out.  And if you do like one of the spices go heavy on it. 

½ c................. Milk

½ c................. Water

1 tsp............... Black Tea

1 ea............... Crushed Cardamom Pod

2 ea............... Black Pepper Corns

½ inch............ Chopped Fresh Ginger

1 inch............. Broken Cinnamon Stick

¼ tsp.............. Star Anise

2 ea............... Cloves

to taste.......... Honey

1.    Place all spices and tea in a tea strainer.

2.    Heat the water and milk then let the spices steep for about 10 or 15 minutes depending on how strong you like it.

3.    Remove spices and add honey.

4.    Pour into a cup and enjoy.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Hawaiian Fruit Salad

My Brother-in-law, Rich, Kite Surfing on Kauai

It’s mango season right now so they are juicy, ripe and cheep.   Papaya will also work on this salad as a replacement of one of the other fruits or as an addition.  If you want to add a little meat try some grilled chicken.  I used a fresh coconut and toasted it myself because there is no sugar added but it was hard to get into. 

4 oz.............. Chopped Lettuce

½ c............... Diced Mango

½ c............... Diced Pineapple

½ c............... Sliced Banana

½ c............... Quartered Strawberries

2 ea.............. Lime Wedges

1 Tbs.............Chopped & Toasted Macadamia Nuts

1 Tbs........... Toasted Coconut

2 ozs............ Dressing

Dressing

1 c.................. Oil

½ c................. White Vinegar

2 Tbs............. Sugar

¼ tsp.............. Salt

1.    Mix dressing and refrigerate until needed.

2.    Place lettuce in a bowl.

3.    Arrange fruit over lettuce.

4.    Sprinkle with coconut and macadamia nuts.

5.    Ladle dressing over the top and serve with lime wedges.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!