Tuna Burgers

This is another of those imprecise recipes. I learned by watching so amounts are guesstimates...

Two cans of water-packed tuna, well drained.
One cup of slow-cooking oats.
A quarter cup or so of horseradish mayo.
Garlic salt and garlic powder to taste (I like garlic. This proves I am not a Vampire, regardless of popular opinion…)

Mix the whole mess together, form into four patties and place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 325 until they start to brown and crisp up a bit. Serve with a bit of tartar sauce for a simple dinner or make a real ‘burger’ out of it, however you prefer.

This recipe doubles easily if you have more hungry mouths to feed. Cheap and easy and reasonably good for you!

White Bean Dip

Two to three cups of cooked navy or Great Northern beans (or a can of beans, rinsed).
Two tbls olive oil
One small onion, finely minced.
Two or three cloves garlic, pressed or one tbls mince garlic (add more if you like garlic. I used about 2 tbls).
Spices to taste. I used a little sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, ground chipotle chile, Mexican oregano and ground thyme. A little cumin would be good, too.

Heat up the oil in a skillet, add onions and cook till they start to get soft. Add the garlic and cook another minute or two until soft and fragrant. Add spices and stir well.

At this point you can add the beans to the skillet (like I did) or you can add the beans to a food processor and pour the onion mixture on top and blend until semi smooth. I just put the beans in on top of the onions and used a potato masher to smash the beans up a bit.

Taste, adjust seasonings as needed. I left the beans to simmer a bit of the liquid out so the dip would thicken up a bit. At the end I added some shredded farmers cheese just to make it a little yummier, but it was quite good without the cheese.

Get some chips and dig in!

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi

One pound fresh uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
(The rest of these ingredients are estimates on the amounts. We just throw it in till it looks about right)
1/4 cup shallots, minced
4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
Half stick of butter (do NOT USE MARGARINE!)
2 to 3 Tbls olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
Red pepper to taste
Salt to taste (you likely won’t need much if any, especially if you use salted butter)

Add all ingredients except the shrimp to a skillet and simmer about 30 minutes or until the shallots are very tender and the garlic has mellowed. Add the shrimp and cook another 7 to 10 minutes until the shrimp is pink and cooked through.

Eat!

Thai Coconut Green Curry

found on the back of the Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste jar.

1/2 to 1 Tbls green curry paste
I can coconut milk (I have tried the low-fat coconut milk and it’s just nasty. If you are going to make this recipe, just do yourself a favor and use the good Thai Kitchen brand full fat coconut milk).
1/4 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup bamboo shoots
3 Tbls fish sauce
2 Tbls brown sugar
1/3 cup chicken stock
8 ounces of your favorite veggies and cubed chicken (I like fresh sliced mushrooms and a can of baby corn)

Simmer curry and coconut milk about 5 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Serve over hot steamed rice.

Wicked Potatoes

This is one of those imprecise recipes, I usually just throw it all in the pot till it looks about right.

6 to 8 or so medium Russet potatoes or about 10-12 small red potatoes (I like red potatoes best)
one 8 oz package cream cheese, cut up
4-5 oz cubed cheddar cheese
2-3 cloves chopped garlic (For the truly brave, try stirring in a whole heads worth of whole cloves. they are wonderful baked in the potatoes this way)
1/2 cup or so sour cream
2-3 tablespoons chipotle pepper puree (For the uninitiated, 'chipotles' are smoked jalapenos that
are canned in adobo sauce - very good but quite spicy. If you are not brave cut way down on the amount
you put in the potatoes.
salt to taste

Start with the potatoes. do not peel. Just cut them up into cubes and place them in a pot with plenty of water to boil. I like to use a pot that will also go into the oven (something like a 'Visions' pot works really well) so I can do all the cooking in one pot. Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes, just till they are starting to get soft but not mushy. drain well in a colander.
Once the potatoes have drained, return them to the pot. Top with the remaining ingredients and stir in. cover the pot and place the whole mess in the oven at 325 degrees for about an hour, till hot and bubbly all the way thru. Its best to remove the pot from the oven at about the half hour mark and give it a good stir. I usually leave the lid off at this point also.