My Tiki Bar Kitchen -- 4
Today let's do a couple of different but out-of-the-ordinary recipes, both easy and delicious! That was one of my requirements for Lorena, simple. She came through on most occasions since I managed to communicate that I'm no cook. So put on your apron, pop a cork (always cook with wine!), and jump right in!
ATUN! (ah-toon) OR A NEW TAKE ON TUNA SALAD
Atun is the Spanish word for tuna. I’m not a big canned tuna fan, so I wasn’t excited about it -- until I tasted it. The way the Mexicans do it is to my liking! I’ll list the full recipe, but you can do it without some things and jimmy it around and it’s still really good.
Start with two regular cans of tuna, drained
2 Roma tomatoes diced “chiquita” (small)
1 small onion diced small
1 can of “tuna salad” that already has some peas, carrots, mayo in it
1 cup of “crema” -- it’s like full whipping cream only a bit thicker
(it comes from the cheese tianguis in a plastic cup with a wax paper cover)
2 big spoons of your favorite mayo
1/2-1 small can of whole yellow corn, drained (1-serving size)
Mix it all up together and serve it on “saladitas,” which are saltines, or on tostadas or with chips. It makes a great light lunch or an accompaniment to a big green salad or with soup.
The first time she made this, she didn’t have the can of tuna salad or the crema, and it was still delicious.
And now for something kinda scary for gringos.
Camarones are shrimp — good, fresh shrimp -- yum!
For some reason when she said she was going to do ceviche, I was thinking of cold veggie soup, like Italian gazpacho! Don’t ask me why. Definitely not what I was expecting, but this is SO good. Don’t be afraid -- just go with it!
CEVICHE DE CAMARONES
2 lbs of fresh shrimp, cleaned, shelled and tails off, cut in 3-4 bite-sized pieces
several large limes, maybe 6-8
salt
¼ cup each of finely chopped tomato, peeled cucumber, red onion
½ -- 1 serrano pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped
several cilantro stalks & leaves finely chopped
1 ripe avocado -- or two
tostadas -- flat, round, hard tortilla shells that come like that from the store
Clean and cut up the shrimp to bite-size pieces, sprinkle it with salt, put it in a bowl that’s deeper than wide so you can cover the shrimp with fresh-squeezed lime juice. Cover it and let it sit for 1 ½ hours. You will notice that it looks cooked -- and it sort of is cooked. Yes, it’s safe if the shrimp were fresh! Hey, I had it in Mexico and I’m still here and didn’t have the slightest bit of negative intestinal reaction.
When you get ready to eat, chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, cilantro, and
hot pepper (to taste). Put all that in a bowl and add the drained shrimp pieces and mix well.
Serve piled on tostadas and top with thinly sliced avocado. So gooood!
Buen provecho and salud!