May 5, 2016

Ceviche Shrimp and Mango

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Ceviche de Camarones y Mango

Ceviche Shrimp y Mango

May 5: Cinco de Mayo

San Antonio, Texas, is famous for its fiestas. When we lived there for six super happy years, we celebrated by eating many Mexican dishes with our familia and friends, including ceviche, a dish that contains raw seafood “cooked” in citrus, usually limes or lemons, and tossed with tomatoes, onions, jalapeño peppers and cilantro. Since Islander is not too fond of fish, she found a ceviche recipe that contains shrimp cocktail. Mango is added to the mix for a vibrant color and a slightly sweet surprise. Ceviche de camarones y mango reminds us of the confetti inside the cascarones (eggs that we liked to smash especially on unsuspecting people’s heads!). This appetizer can be eaten alone or served with tortilla chips. On Cinco de Mayo, serve ceviche with shrimp and mango for a fun and flavorful fiesta.

Recipe

(Adapted from Whole Foods)

Ingredients

  • 25-30 medium-sized shrimp, raw, thawed, deveined and shelled (we used cooked cocktail shrimp; see Notes)
  • 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
  • 1-1 ½ cups tomato, diced
  • 1 semi-ripe firm mango, peeled, pitted and finely chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped
  • 3-4 limes, juiced
  • ½ cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry with paper towels and discard the tails. Cut into ½ inch pieces, reserving a few shrimp to garnish (optional). Chop the onion. Dice the tomatoes. Chop the mango (one cup) and jalapeño pepper.

Ceviche Shrimp y Mango

Place the chopped ingredients in a big bowl. Pour the lime juice over the mixture and combine well. Sprinkle with cilantro and salt and mix again. Cover and refrigerate for an hour to allow the flavors to develop and the citrus from the lime juice acid to “cook” the shrimp. Serve chilled in a margarita glass, garnished with shrimp. Or place in a small dish/bowl surrounded with tortilla chips.

Ceviche Shrimp y Mango

Notes

  • If raw seafood is a concern, replace with ready-to-eat cocktail shrimp.
  • Further the fiesta fun and serve ceviche de camarones y mango on National Shrimp Day on May 10.
  • Search our blog for other Mexican recipes. ¡Viva Fiesta!
 

April 11, 2016

Our 6th Blog-o-versary

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HI Cookery is 6!

We are now in our sixth year of blogging and are taking our time to “cook our way through the calendar”. At first, we wanted to finish fast and fill in all the food holidays on the list. But then we would not have enjoyed the experience as much if we were rushing. Eventually, we will complete our goal while, in the meantime, following the philosophy of Greg Anderson, founder of the Cancer Recovery Foundation International charity organization, who is quoted as saying:

Focus on the journey, not the destination.

Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.

AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE

We did not start this blog to get rich and famous through ads and publicity. Over the years, we have been approached by different groups inviting us to participate in monetizing our blog through affiliate marketing programs or publications asking us to be interviewed about a holiday recipe. We are flattered with the attention that HI Cookery has been getting. And maybe we will miss out on a lot of potential opportunities. But we have always wanted to keep things simple—cook a familiar or new dish to celebrate every day of the year, photograph the process and share the recipe with our memories with family, friends and followers. Life is busy and complicated enough. To us, the cooking-and-sharing ritual is what has made our food blogging an enriching experience. And that’s simply the reward in itself.

BIGGER WATERMARK

Within the past year, a few keen-eyed readers brought to our attention that some of our food photos have been used without our permission to promote someone else’s home baking business (which is a misrepresentation as well as a violation of copyrights). Other readers offered their support and ideas (such as making our watermark bigger on the newer photos) when we were plagiarized. We realize that others still use our images on Pinterest or other blogs, with or without links back to our blog. The bigger watermark still will not prevent people from using our photos anyway but it will identify better HI Cookery as the original source. We truly appreciate our readers and subscribers, many of whom we have not met personally, for looking out for us in cases like these.

CAKE LOVE

Islander won a cake competition this past Valentine’s Day—her first! Fellow members of the local cake club were asked to bring in a 6-inch cake (real or dummy) to the February meeting to match the month’s “love” theme. For her presentation, Islander patiently hand cut silhouettes of couples during different stages of their love lives—from engagement and marriage to pregnancy/family and the golden years. Her cake told “A Little Love Story” which won her $25 to a cake supply shop. She is happy and encouraged to learn more about cake decorating and will share her techniques in a future blog post.

We hope you continue on our food blogging journey with us as HI Cookery heads into Year 6 with more recipes to come…and, as always…

Tapadh leat! Mahalo! Thanks!

Highlander and Islander

 

April 7, 2016

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake (with Streusel Topping)

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Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

(with Streusel Topping)

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

April 7: National Coffee Cake Day

When Islander attended a ladies’ luncheon with a spring theme, she brought over a luscious lemon almond coffee cake with a streusel topping to share with her new acquaintances. Her offering was well received at the potluck and many ladies asked for the recipe. Islander shyly said she would put the recipe and photo tutorial on her food blog, and they were more impressed that she was a blogger (what a subtle way to get more traffic to HI Cookery!). So ladies (and gentlemen)—new friends, as promised, here is the recipe with the photo tutorial for lemon almond coffee cake with streusel topping. The recipe is appropriate to take to springtime potlucks and luncheons as well as to make in observance of National Coffee Cake Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour)

For the streusel topping

  • ¾ cup flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold, cut into ½-inch pieces)
  • 2 lemons, grated zest
  • ¾ cup almonds, sliced (we used blanched slivered almonds)
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Directions

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and brown sugar. Cut in the butter and mix until it resembles small peas and coarse crumbs. Add the lemon zest, almonds and extract. Chill in the refrigerator while making the almond coffee cake.

For the lemon almond coffee cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar, granulated white
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup lemon curd
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 2-3 lemons, grated zest
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In a larger bowl, cream the butter with sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the lemon curd.

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

Mix in the sour cream, zest and almond extract. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until well blended (do not over mix).

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

Pour the thick batter into a buttered 9-inch springform pan and spread out evenly. Top with the streusel. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes, testing the cake for doneness. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

For the lemon glaze

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • ½ cup powdered sugar

Directions

In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Let set. Slice and serve with coffee (or tea).

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

Notes

  • Love lemons? Search our blog for more recipes containing lemons as an ingredient.
  • A new season (spring) is a great time to make new friends! Thanks to all our new blog visitors and subscribers for following HI Cookery (our blog-o-versary is just a few days away on April 11).
 

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