The Adventures of a Calamari Queen

We had a simple curry dish for dinner tonight.  I bought the shrimp this weekend and I had planned to just roast them but Hubby prepared the tuna tartare last Sunday and we had a lot of extra ingredients like the coconut cream, lemon grass(they’re not cheap), and the red curry paste, so I just decided to make a Red Curry dish and use the shrimp instead of chicken (my choice of meat whenever I have curry).  I didn’t follow an exact recipe here but I did check Pioneer Woman’s curry recipe and the food network site to get some inspiration.  I sauteed the shrimps first for a couple of seconds because I wanted them cooked together with the spices.  Shrimp cook very fast and gets tough if you overcook them, so you gotta watch out!

After the shrimps, I sauteed onions, garlic, ginger,red peppers, lemons grass (smells so good in the kitchen). Then I added 3 tablespoons of red curry paste, coconut cream, fish sauce. Let it  boil, then I added young sweet corn because I like it but you can add other veggies if you want (like carrots, peas). That’s it!

This is the Tuna Tartare that Hubby made during my In law’s Birthday dinner we had last weekend. We almost always order tuna tartare whenever we eat out, it’s just so good! I get that not everybody will get this dish right away, especially since it is still “raw” fish after all.  Lucky for me, Hubby was able to turn me on to tuna tartare goodness:-)

Here’s the recipe: Tuna Tartare (Chef Stefan Richter)

Ingredients

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sweet chile sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 tablespoons siracha

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons coconut milk

1 tablespoon chopped lemongrass

1 tablespoon minced and peeled ginger

1 tablespoon Thai curry paste

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1/2 tablespoon fish sauce

For the tartare:

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 avocado

1/2 lb. raw sushi-grade tuna

Chopped cilantro and sesame seeds, to taste

Directions

1. To make the sauce: combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Stir well. Heat over high heat until sauce comes to a boil.
2. Transfer the sauce to a food processor or blender and carefully blend.
3. Pour into a bowl that is set over an ice water bath. Let cool.
4. Once the sauce is cool, mix 2 tablespoons of the sauce with the 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.
5. Cut the avocado and the tuna into uniform 1/2-inch squares.
6. Carefully fold the tuna, avocado, and sauce together. Mix in the chopped cilantro and sesame seeds. Stir and serve.

Serves 2-4.

We are finally back home from our vacation in Florida! It was such a fun and relaxing time with my Hubby.  Last Saturday (our last day in FL.) while waiting for Hubby to get ready, I was watching the Food Network and the Pioneer Woman was on, she was making this pizza and it looked so good!  Since then,I’ve been thinking about this Fig- Prosciutto pizza, I LOVEEEEEEE anything that has prosciutto,well actually I LOVE LOVE LOVE prosciutto( I hope you get the idea). So I made this for dinner tonight, and after eating half of it, the cravings gone!  I will definitely make this pizza again, so good and so easy ( I bought the pizza crust from the store)! Just delicious and I’m in prosciutto heaven.

Recipe (thepioneerwoman.com)

This is a Rachael Ray recipe that I made couple of weeks ago, the soup was decent but I prefer Ina Gartens tomato soup recipe.  What I really like about this dish is that it’s so easy and I have all the ingredients needed in my pantry so if we want “fresh” tomato soup I will most likely do this recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 large red bell peppers
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
• 2 small celery stalks, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (28-ounce) can or 2 (15-ounce) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1-pound ball freshly smoked mozzarella, cut into 16 thin slices
• 1 large ripe tomato, cut into 8 thin slices
• 8 slices Tuscan bread
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Directions