Pico de gallo

Niecy made tacos tonight, so I decided some fresh pico was in order!  I looked up a couple recipes online and then decided to wing it.

Ingredients:

• 3 tomatoes
• 1/3 onion
• couple stems of cilantro
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 clove of garlic
• dash of salt

I gutted the tomatoes (removed the seeds) then diced them and the onion; minced the garlic as fine as I could; chopped up the jalapeno; and chopped the cilantro.  I threw all the stuff into the blender and pulsed away.  Finally I tossed in a dash of salt, and poured it into a bowl.  

Time:  Roughly 15 minutes of prep to chop everything.

This worked well on the tacos, and alright as a salsa for chips.  I'd go a bit easier on the cilantro next time, and for my personal taste, toss in another pepper (or maybe two!).  Niecy doesn't like it too spicy, though.

Oh, we also made frozen margaritas.  Limeade, decent tequila, triple sec, and ice.  After cleaning the blender, of course :)

P.S. Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez's Please Heat This Eventually is pretty much the best song ever to go with preparing this food. 

Edam cheese

In addition to cooking, I also want to track my opinions on other things, such as various cheeses.  Last night, we had Edam.  It was similar to Gouda, had a smooth texture and flavor.  There was a hint of smokiness, and overall medium intensity flavor.

Having leftover sesame-rice crackers from the tuna, I attempted to pair those.  The flavors did not go well together.  I would probably try a wheat cracker with this in the future, but not the rice.  I also tried a Menage a Trois California white table wine (based on Chardonnay, Moscato, Chenin Blanc) and would recommend a red with this cheese, though I'm not sure which.

Overall, I liked the cheese by itself, but did a poor job pairing it with anything.

Seared ahi on sesame-rice crackers

Yesterday we picked up a nice piece of ahi from AJs.  We got it from the sushi department, and, since this was really our first experiment, only got a small piece.  At AJs, you can get sushi-grade ahi in two cuts, either as a steak, or in the quarter-cut blocks used for sashimi.  We got half a sushi block, which weighed in at just under half a pound, and got to work.  I mixed several spices together to create a rub for the tuna, threw it in the pan for a few seconds on each side, and then sliced it and served it on sesame-rice crackers.

Ingredients: 

• ahi tuna
  
• 1 tsp chili powder
  
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch salt
• pinch ground pepper
• pinch cayenne pepper
• olive oil
• sesame-rice crackers
• wasabi horseradish

I mixed all the spices together and rubbed them on the tuna.  I poured a little olive oil into the hot pan, let it heat up a second, then tossed on the tuna.  For the half pound piece we had, I let it sear for about 20 seconds on each of the wider sides, then about 7-8 seconds on the smaller sides.  Then I pulled it off, sliced it, and put it on the crackers.  I then put a tiny drop of wasabi horseradish on each.  

What worked:  The tuna was delicious.  Cooked to perfection.  The sub-minute cooking time is important, as it leaves the middle of the tuna very cool.

What didn't work:  The spices were a bit overpowering.  Next time we either need a larger piece of tuna (to get the rub more spread out, leaving more of the raw inside unseasoned) or simply rub less on the fish.  The wasabi horseradish didn't match the spices.  We either got the wrong kind, or there is supposed to be a different flavor sauce there.

Time:  Total cook time was under 1 minute, total prep time was about 10 minutes.

Cost:  The tuna was $10, and the crackers were $3-4.  

Portions:  The small fish here resulted in 10 pieces.  Each piece was a little larger than bitesize.

Let the eating begin!

Having a month off from work has been great.  Niecy and I have started to cook, and decided we should document our culinary adventures!  We've been wanting to experiment with different food (something other than the old college staples) and tried a couple things recently.  This should just be a list of recipes and ratings and the like.  It may change over time, but that's the initial idea.