A Can Called TUNA

Canned tuna was on double deep discount this week so BabyDaddy and I stocked up. As I adore the Sabra brand Tuna Salad (and hummus – oh joy! the hummus), I decided to try to fool around with my basic Tuna Salad recipe. I don’t like it very much, but it will suffice when time and funds demand.

Old Skool Tuna Salad

2 cans tuna in water, dranied

1 big spoon mayo

1 big spoon sweet relish

salt

Mix. Die of boredom.

Now, my recent jaunt to the Mediterranean has caused me to try a radical thought – lemon juice and tahini in tuna. I also added some salt, some mayo, and a sprinkling of my secret shame, my secret love – smoked paprika.

Not quite there yet. It still needs something. Mostly something sweet to balance out the rest of the flavors. I’m not sure if this will involve sweet pickle relish or not, but I’ll keep trying until I realize canned tuna is a horror that cannot be saved. I PROMISE.

Summer in 10 – #5

Ichiban Eggplant Ambrosia

Last year I grew the Ichiban Eggplant and discovered a velvety, creamy, vanilla flavor when I roasted the fruit. This year, I put in another and we’re reaping the benefits tonight. So this:

Became this:

Which I cooked at 400 degrees F until nicely roasted. Then BabyDaddy scraped out the flesh (while I heated the pita. I’m a poet and I didn’t know it!)

Then I mixed the flesh in the blender with:

lemon juice

1 garlic clove

salt

olive oil

cumin

smoked paprika (optional but AWESOME)

tahini

And you have Baba Ganoush.

Summer in 10 #4

I do love these little feet. I love them best in sandals with dirty kid toes…

Wall*E – A Collective Recipe Family OMG!

So Very Good.

(Let me know how much you love the short before the movie. All of the Recipes were in stitches.)

This is a beautiful, wonderful, very good movie. See it thrice.

Summer in 10 – #3

RockStar took this picture of her empty ice cream bowl as her first representation of Summer. Yum.

Smoked Paprika – Help me now (2 for 1)

I’m so in love with this. It’s expensive and goes bad quickly and it’s yummy and makes hummus into a sexy food again. I made hummus from scratch (because MamaSketchy is on an enforced vacation and feels the need to cook away her blues) today and I tried it with just cumin and just smoked paprika. The paprika kicked the cumin’s bootay. Here’s the hookup:

Hummus Among Us (The Hard Way)

1 bag of dried chickpeas

water

1/2 tsp baking soda

the time alloted to the unemployed

juice of 2 lemons

tahini

garlic clove

olive oil

ground cumin or smoked paprika

salt

Soak the chickpeas overnight. Drain, cover chickpeas with water by one inch, and cook with baking soda over medium heat for 1-2 hours, or until soft (adding water if necessary). Drain and let cool. Haul out your blender or food processor. Put half the lemon juice and one whole garlic clove in machine with a tsp of salt. Puree. Add a reasonable amount of chickpeas, oil, tahini, and cumin or smoked paprika. Add water if you’re blending. Puree until smooth. Correct seasonings. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days, if you’re lucky!

You’ve made a half batch. Repeat process from lemon juice or make channa masala with the leftover chickpeas.

EZ Chana Masala

1 tbs oil or ghee

1 tbs garam masala or curry powder

1 can diced tomatoes

leftover cooked chickpeas

salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium in a large skillet. Add garam masala or curry powder and cook in hot oil for 30 seconds. Add chickpeas and toss to coat. Add tomatoes and lower to a simmer. Simmer for ten minutes. Serve over rice with yogurt and Major Grey’s mango chutney.

Summer in 10 #2

Skin tone. BabyDaddy (melanin boy) & Sketchy (fishbelly white), but I do know that it’s summer by his savage tan!

Tragic and Bizarre Events in My Microwave

*A Cautionary Tale*

First the bizarre! I bought 62 food items from my grocer, including produce, dairy, & meat, and the total was $134.00. TRUST ME, that has never, ever, ever happened in the Recipe house. That is about one hippie/canvas/reusable bag for us. We can economize!

Now the tragic. The SR method of potato bakery involves a spud, a cotton towel, and a microwave. Then you wrap the hot tater in foil and let it percolate for about 15 minutes.

Had I known that this towel had a martyr complex,

or wanted to make a statement about the environmental effects of casual microwave use,

I would have listened and kept it in general dish drying rotation. But NOOOOOOO. It had to catch on fire, causing me to throw it out the back door, panic, and douse it with a carafe of water.

What The Hell? – I don’t mind telling you that I have had to have an extra glass of box wine to get through this. And I’m not the only one who is traumatized.

Summer in Ten #1

Everyone who reads here knows that my photos, um, suck, but in an attempt at self-improvement the Recipes will attempt to capture our essence of Summer in 10 pictures. The idea was inspired from this post at Sewing for Cherubs.

Here’s Mama Sketchy’s first photo:

Brand, spanking new gardens.