Summertime Eats: Tuna Ceviche

Pin It Well, maybe I can eat this all year round.  But this is just a perfectly light yet flavorful appetizer for the summer.  It's also another dish you can make with frozen tuna.  Now frozen is obviously of a much lower quality than sushi-grade tuna, that's why it's so much cheaper.  But because you are basically cooking the fish with acid instead of heat, any fishiness from the frozen tuna will be cleaned away by the fresh lemons and limes that you'll be using.

about a pound of frozen tuna, sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium white onion, chopped
juices of 1 lemon and 1 lime
fresh cilantro (about 1/2 cup chopped)
salt and pepper
red pepper flakes

Mix tuna, onion, lemon and lime juices, and cilantro together.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add red pepper flakes (or even chopped jalapeno pepper) according to heat preference. Mix and let sit in the fridge overnight for maximum flavor infusion.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Pinteresting a Welcome Barbecue

Pin It It's been quite a while since I last blogged.  I don't know what happened to the past three weeks! Anyway, last week was definitely a hectic one as one of my best friends from the Philippines came over for a visit.  Naturally, because it is her first time in the US, she had to be taken on a whirlwind tour of NYC.  I'll save the tips on how we did it way under her budget for another post.

Ever since I got hooked on Pinterest, I had sworn that I would try to do as much of the pins as I can.  I found the perfect opportunity to do so when we had an intimate barbecue to welcome my friend to NY.  While I decided to keep it simple by having a salad, burgers and hotdogs for the main "entree", I (with a lot of help from our guest!) put a little more effort on the appetizers and dessert.

For starters, we had tuna ceviche (recipe in the next post), chips with mango salsa (recipe here), and my Pinterest-inspired mini tacos.  I topped off the mini tacos with mango salsa and they were incredibly easy to assemble and looked impressive on the table.  We made the taco-seasoned ground turkey and mango salsa a day before so we only needed to assemble it before the party.

Finally for dessert, we made what would be my third attempt at banana pudding pie, coconut cupcakes a la Ina Garten frosted via Pinterest instructions, and another Pinterest-inspired dessert of red velvet brownies.

The photo sucks... and so does my frosting skills.  But I imagine with practice and a little bit more generosity with the frosting, my cupcakes will be much prettier in time.

 I followed the red velvet brownie recipe to the letter, except I took them out of the oven about 5 minutes earlier because of the much warmer weather.  They were just fine.  Also, the recipe calls for a white chocolate frosting, which I'm not a big fan of because I find it way too sweet.  So I decided to use Ina Garten's cream cheese frosting, along with some changes as I wrote here.  I also used 1/3 less fat Philadelphia neufchatel cream cheese with no noticeable change in flavor.

All desserts, except for the banana pudding pie, were done ahead of the party so there really wasn't much to do on the day itself.  And most importantly, everybody seemed to enjoy our little gathering and we had an awesome time reminiscing about high school.

Pinterest-Inspired Fabric Basket

Pin It I am in a sewing frenzy! And it's good...

Having scraps of canvass from the doggie hammock seat cover that I'm making (also Pinterest-inspired) and fabric from my damask window panels, I thought these would be perfect for a fabric basket.  This would be a cute storage for our doggie poop bags that we buy by the case.  And it would be coordinated with my window panels! We got them months ago and were still sitting in the original box they came in.  Not very attractive.  For the body, I mostly followed the instructions from Pink Penguin, with a few modifications.  I wanted the damask to also accent the top of the basket but didn't have enough fabric to actually make a lining out of it.  So I basically made a bias out of the damask fabric to close the top of the basket and used an old men's shirt as lining.  And because I wanted it to be a hanging basket, I changed the handle as shown below.  

I didn't have batting, so I used Pellon woven fusible interfacing, which was all I had.  But because the canvass I used was thick, the basket is able to hold its shape pretty well as you can see in the photo below.  As a value-added to the Pink Penguin tutorial, you know how Land's End canvass bags can stand sturdily on their own? I believe the trick is not to cut the corners of the box ends.  What I did was I folded them up and sewed the corners to the side seams. I did this both for the lining and the main basket.  As you can see, my basket stands up without a problem! So with a few changes, you can definitely use these techniques to make your own sturdy tote!  If I had a serger, I wouldn't even need the interfacing and the lining to make a tote.

Now once I hung the basket on the wall and actually put stuff in it, it was drooping.  But that was easily resolved with a cardboard at the bottom of the basket.

It feels awesome to actually create something from all these scrap materials! Why don't you try it?

Sharing Another Men's Shirt Refashion

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After

 I scored a couple of good fabrics from my hubby's recent purge.  A great one was this linen shirt that would be perfect for a summer top.  Using a combination of techniques that I've practiced with my previous projects, I came up with this simple top that was relatively easy to make.  I wish I had spent more time with the measurements, though, as I screwed it up somehow and now I need a solution to the front giving a little peek-a-boo.

Before (It's inside out as I was too lazy to turn it back when I realized I forgot to take a photo.)

Quick Fix to a Weird Top Length

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This is the After.

I got a top/dress at Target years ago and I've used it once.  The dress almost looks like a mumu because of its awkward length.  It was probably made for taller people as a tunic top, so it just doesn't work for my height.  The halter neckline has some interesting embroidery that just made me hesitant to get rid of it.  I've finally figured out a simple solution: elastic!

Measure length from your armpit to your waistline.  Now measure from the armpit of the top to 2 inches longer than the first measurement. Mark and cut across.  So for instance, if the length from your armpit to the waistline is 13 inches, then cut 15 inches below the armpit of the garment. 

Fold hem about 1/2 inch and sew.

Cut a slit inside the hem to insert elastic.

I used a 1/4-inch elastic and measured 2 inches less than my waistline. So if your waistline is 24 inches (good for you!), then the length of your elastic should be 22 inches.  You don't want it too short unless you want to feel like a sausage.  Attach a safety pin to one end while holding onto the other end of the elastic.  Try to keep the elastic flat as you snake it through the hem. Sew the ends of the elastic together.

Distribute the fabric along the elastic, making sure that the elastic is flat throughout.  Sew the elastic in place on either side of the hem.

Enjoy your new summer top!  This project seriously took much less time than writing this tutorial--10 minutes tops.  The quickest I've done so far!

The Most Delicious Chicken Dish in the World...

Pin It ... As some have described, according to Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything.  Arguably, the ubiquitous adobo may very well be the national dish of the Philippines.  The dish is undoubtedly a hand me down from the 300 something years of Spanish colonization, but we have taken it as our own.  For years, I have been trying to perfect this and I've finally come up with my own version that I LOVE!  As my husband so eloquently put it, "This is good... stuff (let's just say the actual word is acceptable only on cable TV)".  Hey, this is New York.

For the unfamiliar, there are only two basic ingredients to make this dish:  garlic and vinegar.  The list of proteins or vegetables that will be cooked in it is pretty much endless.  Based on my observation, pork and chicken are the most popular.  In fact, the combination of the two has been aptly nicknamed CPA (chicken-pork adobo).  One of my favorites is our nanny's pork and my grandmother's squid adobo made with its ink.  Each region in the country will have its own version of the dish.  I grew up with meat adobo that is also braised in soy sauce.  I use Filipino soy sauce (Marca Pina or Silver Swan) because it just isn't the same without it.  Filipino soy sauce is probably somewhere between the darker Chinese sauce like La Choy and the lighter Japanese Kikkoman.  I would probably prefer Kikkoman if I couldn't get the Filipino soy sauce.

Given that there are so few ingredients, it is important to get those few steps right.  For instance, while you would often hear that the garlic should NOT be browned in Western cooking, the flavor of the adobo will not be the same if the garlic is not browned.  We Filipinos love our toasted garlic. Also, traditionally, a meat adobo is braised in the liquid, fried to give it some crunch, then placed back into the sauce. How can you not love this dish???  However, again, in an effort to achieve the same flavors but make it a little bit healthier, I have changed the steps around using some of the techniques I've seen on all those Food Network shows.


So, here's my version of the best chicken dish I've ever made:

4 chicken thighs (Got them on sale for 99 cents a pound!)
5 cloves of garlic, minced (It is a lot, but that's how we roll.)
soy sauce
white vinegar
water
fresh black pepper
one bay leaf (optional--I do opt out of this, but some people like it.)

So instead of frying as the last step, I rendered out the fat from the chicken skin first before braising. In an oven-safe sautee pan, heat a little bit of canola oil over medium high, just enough so the chicken will not stick to the pan (You don't need a lot as the thigh has a lot of its own fat).  When the oil is hot enough, put the chicken, skin side down, into the oil.  Turn the chicken over once the skin is golden brown.  Remove the chicken from the pan once the other side is slightly browned and set aside.  (Although the next step is heart-breaking for me, it is necessary to make the dish slightly healthier).  Spoon out and discard the rendered fat from the pan, leaving just enough to sautee the garlic in.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  In the same pan, brown the garlic (make sure it's brown, not burnt).  Add one part vinegar to two parts soy sauce once garlic is browned (I just use a cooking spoon to measure these. The liquid should not cover the chicken skin that you just crisped up.).  Let the mixture boil without stirring (very important as the vinegar won't cook--I don't know the scientific explanation but it seems to be true!).  Reduce to a simmer and taste.  If it's too salty, which it will likely be, add some water (about 2 parts for me). Add the chicken back, skin side up.  Season with a lot of black pepper.  Simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add more water if the liquid starts to dry out.  Put the pan in the oven for about 20 minutes to finish cooking.  The chicken is done if juices run clear when poked with a knife.  Serve over rice and enjoy!

Note:  This version actually also has slightly reduced sodium.  The original recipe from our nanny required 3 parts soy sauce to 1 part vinegar.  But because of the simmering and finishing in the oven in this case, the soy sauce becomes so concentrated that you don't need as much.  So don't worry if you initially add too much water and you seem to have diluted the flavor.  Also, this dish keeps so well and is also better as a leftover.  We Filipinos love to have it for breakfast over garlic fried rice and egg.