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Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

This is definitely not your shrimp cocktail of the 70’s with sweet, dark red sauce. We experienced the best Mexican shrimp cocktail at a restaurant in Wicker Park in Chicago many years ago. After watching the owner take one too many shots with the live band on a Friday night, we sweet talked him into giving us the recipe! Unfortunately, that recipe died when an old phone took a swim. Ugh, what was it that he had said was his secret ingredient? Hmm. We were determined to recreate it and we did.

This fresh, limey, spicy cocktail is the perfect early dinner on a warm, summer evening. We tried a number of different hot sauces and it’s enjoyable with many. We encourage you to try this recipe but make this your own.

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail

1 pound fresh shrimp
1 cup V8
Juice of 2-3 limes *more to taste
2 T Frank’s hot sauce *or hot sauce of your choice
Splash of Vietnamese garlic chili sauce (we also tried Valentina)
1 T minced garlic
Splash of orange juice
2 T ketchup
Avocado
Diced cucumber
Cilantro
Diced onion
Ice / water – for ice bath

De-vein and remove tails from the shrimp. Heat water to gently poach shrimp by flavoring the poaching water with some orange juice, cilantro stems, garlic and salt. Bring the water to a boil then turn off the heat, drop in shrimp and cover to cook for 2-3 minutes, they cook quickly. Remove & drain shrimp and immediately drop them into an ice bath to stop their cooking.

In a large bowl, combine V8, lime juice, hot sauce, garlic, orange juice, and ketchup. Stir and taste, you may want to adjust with more hot sauce and lime. Chill the cocktail. Dice avocado, cucumber, cilantro, onion and combine to your sauce. Add your cooked shrimp. Serve in tall glass with saltine crackers. We hope you enjoy this incredible Mexican shrimp cocktail, you might also like our salsa recipe. I’d love to hear what hot sauce is your favorite!

Recipe Sandwiches

Open-faced Egg Salad

Saturday afternoon and 1pm rolls around. What to do for lunch? I have such fond memories of my Mom making egg salad on weekends. I loved watching her hard boil eggs and turn them into a great balance of creamy and crunchy textures and bright, fresh flavors to make us the tastiest sandwiches. I thought I’d re-create on a sunny Saturday. There’s so many directions you could go to customize…with curry, traditional or adding extra crunch with radishes or your favorite veggies. See? Even Bon Appetit loves egg salad. I decided on mayo, dijon, white balsamic vinegar, salt/pepper, fresh cilantro, red onion. Also, after reading its health benefits, a little turmeric. Who knew this little power plant would work so well in egg salad. I served it open faced on a slice of Dave’s Killer Bread. If you haven’t tried Dave’s, I highly recommend. Organic, non GMO, full of seeds and excellent toasted. Hope you enjoy!

4 hard boiled eggs, chilled, peeled, chopped
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 T. dijon (or more to taste)
1 dash of white balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 tsp turmeric
Course salt and freshly ground black pepper
One slice of your favorite bread

Brunch Recipe

Bacon, Egg, Asparagus and Breakfast Sandwich

We’ve become obsessed. I’m a lucky girl because J makes us breakfast every morning. We recently we bought some stellar Rosemary bread from Essential Baking in Seattle. We toasted up a few slices, spread some garlic mayo on the toast and topped it with grilled asparagus, bacon, a fried egg and some Sriracha. Heaven! Let the obsession continue…

Asparagus (extra points if they’re from your garden, like asparagus candy)
Egg – poached or fried
Crispy bacon
Rosemary bread
Mayo (regular or add a touch of garlic)
Sriracha

Trim the asparagus, drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, salt and lemon zest and roast on a grill pan to desired doneness. Toast up your bread while you fry your egg and bacon. Once everything is cooked, spread a layer of mayo on the toast and add your asparagus, bacon, egg and top with Sriracha. Serve open faced.

Cuban Recipe Sandwiches Seattle

El Cubano

We used to travel to Miami every year to go to the Winter Music Conference. Meeting with fellow music industry friends, seeing your favorite DJ’s by a pool or stacked back to back in art deco boutique hotels, paying $12 for a Corona… oh that’s right, we don’t go anymore. The highlight of WMC was secretly always about one thing, yes the music was great… but it was the late night Cuban sandwiches with matchstick potato chips at David’s in South Beach with a sweet and slap-your-face Cuban coffee. Every time we see this on a menu, we’re pulled to order it because quite simply- it’s a great combo of flavors (and probably for the sentimental value too.) Ham, pork, yellow mustard, Swiss cheese and dill pickles on a crunchy French style bread, grilled on a plancha or grill press to be melty and crunchy.

We had a date on Sunday after watching The Grand Budapest Hotel at Big Picture, then ducked into The Inn Keeper across the street for a late lunch. The Cuban was spotted, ordered and was delicious. Instead of pickles, they substituted picked jalapeños, and had a moist pulled pork and spiced mayonnaise. I missed the French style bread but it was amazing all the same.

Here’s a recipe for a Cuban, I think a little slice of mango in there would add a nice sweetness, but I digress.

8″ Cuban bread
2 T yellow mustard
5 oz. smoked or roasted pork
3 oz. sweet cured ham (Black Forest would work)
Few slices of dill pickles
Few slices Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese
Butter for the outside of bread and grill

Press down on sandwich, and cook sandwich one each side for 5-6 minutes, allowing the flavors from the cheese, pork and ham to infuse and for the sandwich to flatten down. Enjoy!

Bali Fish Indonesia Mexican Recipe Tiny Kitchen Travel

Ceviche in Bali

Ceviche, Woobar W Bali

Nothing refreshes you in tropical climates like a cold ceviche. We were lucky enough to visit the W Resort in Bali last month where the famous sunset sessions are paired with electronic beats, overstuffed couches, exceptional service, and ice-cold drinks. Inspired by the ocean, their bar is designed to symbolize a giant wave in action on the beach, an artistic architecture of curvaceous raw concrete that adds to the spectacular vistas on the shore. Being that close to the equator, you’re constantly warm (ok sweating), the breezes are welcome and the cool drinks go down easily. J was there to DJ so they invited us to have some drinks and bites after we arrived.

Watching the sunset, we sampled our ceviche which was a bright and creamy combo of tuna, red peppers, chiles, and lime served with crispy chips. It was delicious and the backdrop of this Bali ceviche was worth all those miles we flew and perfectly paired with a ok a few chile mojitos.

However, we have to admit we have our favorite version. It’s typically a tomato base, lime, chock full of shrimp, cilantro, hot sauce and best eaten with Saltines crushed on top and devoured with a spoon. We once learned the recipe of J’s all time favorite spicy and sweet ceviche from a small Cuban restaurant (now closed) in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. We asked their manager for the recipe after we saw he’d been knocking a few too many back. He winked at us and started rattling off the recipe as I furiously typed it into the notes section of an old phone. Alas, the phone later took a swim, the recipe to forever remain a mystery.

Here’s a recipe for an awesome shrimp ceviche by Rick Bayless.

1 quart salted water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 generous pound unpeeled small shrimp (about 41 to 50 count to a pound)
1/2 medium white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus several sprigs for garnish
1/2 cup ketchup
1 to 2 tablespoons vinegary Mexican bottled hot sauce (such as Tamazula, Valentina or Bufalo)
About 2 tablespoons olive oil, preferably extra-virgin (optional, but smooths out sharpness)
1 cup peeled, diced cucumber or jicama (or 1/2 cup each)
1 small ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
Salt
Several lime slices, for garnish
Saltine crackers, for serving

Cooking and marinating the shrimp:

Bring 1 quart salted water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of the lime juice. Add shrimp, cover and return to a boil. Immediately remove from heat, set pot lid askew and pour off all liquid. Replace lid and set aside, letting shrimp steam in closed pot for 10 minutes. Spread out shrimp in large glass or stainless steel bowl to cool completely. Peel shrimp (and devein, if desired). Toss shrimp with remaining 1/2 cup lime juice, cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

The flavorings: In a small strainer, rinse chopped onion under cold water, then shake off excess liquid. Add to shrimp bowl along with chopped cilantro, ketchup, hot sauce, optional olive oil, cucumber and/or jicama and avocado. Mix gently, taste and season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. Cover and refrigerate up to a few hours, or serve immediately. Serving the ceviche: Spoon the ceviche into sundae glasses, martini glasses or small bowls. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro and slices of lime. Serve with saltines or tortilla chips.

Recipe Street Food Thailand Tiny Kitchen

Let’s get hot

We’d been talking about getting back to Thailand since we first were there, and were grateful to land four days in the steamy city three weeks ago. We vowed to eat more street food, albeit scary when raw pork hangs in the sun. Or the plates stacked with fried fish for sale that defy laws of food safety. But hey, live a little, right? We wandered the streets, checking out stalls, and ate many mini lunches.

Food stall, Bangkok

One thing was everywhere we ate, chile sauce. Not the neon pink sweetened kind you see in a bottle, but these chopped tiny Thai chiles floating in liquid that could melt your face. It’s served with breakfast on eggs or that wonderful jasmine rice offered with spicy and fragrant dishes. We kept tempting fate by adding more and more to each plate. By the time we left Thailand we had to find a recipe. We found the Thai chiles at a Uwajimaya here in Seattle and the rest is in the recipe below, called Nam Pla Prik in Thai. Enjoy your level of heat addiction! More pics of our Bangkok trip here.

1/4 cup sliced Thai Chilies
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 Tbs fresh lime juice
2 tsp brown sugar
Garlic
Sliced shallots (optional)

Mexican Recipe

Mango jalapeño salsa

It may be raining in Santa Fe New Mexico as we celebrate my Dad’s 70th birthday, but it’s hot inside this bowl. Listening to bossa nova watching the thunderstorm outside, we’re chopping mango, tomato, jalapeño and wondering how many times I’ve made a variation of this salsa. We’ve tasted so many salsas in restaurants, grocery stores, at many a BBQ… but I love this recipe for it’s chunky, crunchy, freshness. It’s also fun when people request “your salsa.” By all means, make this one your own.

Tomatoes – 4-5 romas
1 yellow pepper, 1 orange pepper, 1 green pepper
1 red onion
Jalapeño or serranos, adjust the heat to your preference
Apple – I like the contrast of a green or fuji apple, but use what you prefer.
Cilantro, adjust to taste, I usually chop a good healthy handful.
Garlic, to taste
4-5 limes depending on the size of the batch
Mango
Salt & pepper

I chop all the above in the same size pieces, squeeze in the limes, add some garlic, salt and pepper. I like to chill this after it’s done. It’ll marinate together and come out better after a few hours in the fridge but holds its crunch nicely. Now that the thunderstorm is over… time to party! Happy Birthday Dad.

Recipe Street Food Travel Turkey

It all began in Istanbul

J and I were sitting at a very early breakfast buffet at our hotel. We had set our alarms to be (embarrassingly) first in line for a street food in Istanbul, Turkey called Simit.

Simit is light and flaky, baked to a golden brown color, and topped with sesame seeds. It is sometimes formed into rings, and are often braided. Chewy like a bagel but the buttery flavor of a croissant, these tasty little devils are very addictive.

We’ve been lucky enough to travel internationally together and food has been more than an interest for both of us. We would tuck into small restaurants together and sheepishly take photos of everything from fiery shrimp fried rice served in a pineapple in Bangkok to strange dried shrimp and sake in Tokyo. Returning home, we’d try to recreate our favorites. Through all of these food-related adventures, we’ve started to learn new recipes together, laughed in the kitchen and formed a much stronger bond.

Back in Istanbul, J was realizing he couldn’t fill his luggage with Simit and was frowning. We had to try and make them back home. And so we did. Here’s the chewy, salty recipe. No travel to Turkey needed, but it’s highly recommended.

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon milk plus 1 teaspoon
1 egg, beaten
sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour and salt. Make a depression in the dry ingredients with your fist, making a “hole” in the middle. Add olive oil, melted butter, water, milk, and egg. Fold dry ingredients into liquids to form a dough. This may take 10 minutes by hand. Once you have a dough, tear off pieces of dough, make long, cigar shapes. Bring ends of “cigars” together to make a circle. Place circle on greased cookie sheet. Brush with milk. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 30 minutes, or until Simit become a golden brown color and crispy on top.

French Recipe Tiny Kitchen

Blue cheese soufflé cures the blues

It’s the bad news everywhere, it’s the incessant rain, my partner being in Chicago for a month, it’s [insert anything here.] Many things can make a girl have the Sunday blues these days. In an effort to keep “ing” (do-ing, cook-ing, runn-ing… you get the picture) I decided to attempt an infamous recipe, the soufflé.

I’ve heard the hype, seen the movie Audrey Hepburn movie Sabrina, but thought, why not? If I screw this up, at least there’s a new day tomorrow.

I found my Barefoot Contessa in Paris cookbook and turned a sticky page 50. As a self taught cook herself, when she claims it is really truly easy, I can believe her. (Or I’m a big sucker.)

I started off by prepping everything in advance and reading all the way through the recipe, so there’s *hopefully* no surprises.

Then, wow! Nothing compares to pulling a beautifully puffed soufflé out of the oven. I mean it. Gasp, success! I hate to admit that I actually enjoyed it more than finishing a week long work project. It really is the little things in life.

Here’s the recipe, maybe you can enjoy a little of the blues-curing Blue cheese… it really is easy. Be sure to enjoy while listening to a little French music, I suggest the Amelie soundtrack.

Blue Cheese Soufflé – Ina Garten/Barefoot in Paris. Buy here, it’s a great cookbook.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for sprinkling
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
4 extra large egg yolks, at room temperature
3 ounces good Roquefort cheese, chopped
5 extra large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter the inside of an 8-cup soufflé dish (7 1/2 inches in diameter x 3 1/4 inches deep and sprinkle evely with Parmesan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 mintues. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne, and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.

Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Roquefort and the 1/4 cup of Parmesan and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisky attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.

Whisk one quarter of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into soufflé dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the soufflé rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 30-35 minutes (don’t peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

Recipe

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