grilled scallop ceviche

I don't tend to make fancy food much and because scallops are pricey, they count as fancy in my book. However, after a trip to the Maritimes last summer where I tried scallops for the very first time, I just couldn't get them out of my head. When it came to making a nice celebratory dinner, I figured scallops were worth the splurge.

I didn't want a recipe that was too heavy with butter or cream, so I decided to make a twist on ceviche. Ceviches usually rely on lemon or lime juice to cook the raw fish, but a recipe found in Gourmet for a grilled scallop ceviche sounded ideal. And it was. It's full of bright, citrus flavours and the cucumber here is very refreshing against the jalapeño heat. It's the kind of meal you'd want to eat lots of in the summer, you know, in between your yacht sailings and Prada shopping sprees. And while this meal feels fancy, it's actually not such a big spend. The recipe only uses 8 large sea scallops and when you think about the cost of eating out, a nice meal in with a bottle of wine is pretty affordable (but go on and strap on some heels for the occasion).

Are you starting from frozen scallops? Use the cold water method to defrost rather than slowly defrosting in the fridge. Put your scallops into a ziplock bag, place bag into a bowl and slowly run cold water from your tap over the scallops until they thaw. Depending on the size of your seafood, this could take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. This way results in very fresh tasting scallops and this way your seafood doesn't get swamped with water. This quick thaw method works well for shrimp as well.

grilled scallop ceviche
(recipe adapted from Gourmet)
6-8 large sea scallops
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 t kosher salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 small orange
2 T fresh lime juice
3/4 English cucumber, seeded and diced
1/4 of a red onion, finely diced
1-2 jalapeños, seeds removed, minced

1. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper and brush lightly with a bit of olive oil before adding them to a hot grill pan. Grill until marks appear (about 1-2 minutes) and flip repeating the process. Scallops don't need to be fully cooked as they will fully cook in the lime juice later. Remove from pan immediately and set aside to cool.

2. Cut away the peel from the orange using a sharp paring knife. Cut segments free from their membranes and then dice. Add oranges, cucumber, red onion, jalapeños and any remaining orange juice into a medium sized bowl.

3. If your scallops are large & you want to be thrifty like me, slice the scallops in half on their sides so that 1 scallop is now 2 coin-shaped scallops (rather than cutting them in half width wise). Add the scallops to the bowl and squeeze lime juice over everything. Sprinkle salt and pepper over top and gently toss. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

the best tzatziki ever

Slowly but surely, I'm taking the cucumber plunge. You see, I've never been a big fan of them to begin with. A couple of years ago, I decided that I liked them in sandwiches...but only in sandwiches. Then this past summer, I tried them dipped into hummus. Uh, hello, it was yummy! Emboldened by this new found cuke-love, I decided that I would try my hand at tzatziki. You know, that Greek dip filled with cucumbers. See, when I get into something, I really dive in.

Initially, I was worried about texture. Slimy wasn't what I was looking for. I was also determined to make it to my own tastes which meant a lot of garlic and lemon and spice to enhance the experience. I said enhance not mask in case you are taking note. So I got started and strained my own plain low fat yogurt using a coffee pot and paper coffee filters. I've done it before and it works really well. Or you can just go ahead and use Greek yogurt which is thick and rich and pretty much perfect. Then you grate and drain the cucumbers of their excess moisture. After that, all the hard part is done. A bit of lemon here, a bit of dill and garlic there. Add in some kosher salt and spice to balance everything out and there you go. A dip of champions. Please note, that the photos were taken on New Years eve and I had a few Amaretto Sours alongside, so things aren't quite so photogenic - but don't let that turn you off. This tzatziki is amazing and I'm not just saying that because me and the cucumber are bffs 4 ever.

the best tzatziki ever
500 g tub of Greek yogurt, or strain a 900 g tub of plain yogurt (discard the liquid)
1/2 large english cucumber, seeds removed

2 T olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of a red onion, finely minced
1 t kosher salt
lots of freshly ground pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t paprika
1 T dried dill
juice & zest of 1 small lemon

1. If you are using regular yogurt, you'll need to strain it through a coffee filter for about 2 hours to remove all the excess liquid as you want the yogurt to be nice and thick. If you are using Greek yogurt, no worries, you are good to go.

2. Grate the cucumber and place it in a mesh strainer and position the strainer above a bowl. Use a large spoon to press out all the water from the cucumber. Sprinkle a bit of salt over top the cucumber to let the water out quicker or just wait it out.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, dill and spices together. Add in the thick yogurt and stir well. Next, stir in the cucumber and lemon zest. Add in the juice of half of the lemon, stir and taste. Want more tang? Add in more juice. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Now go and dip to your hearts content.

sour dill pickles

Since my visit to Montreal, I've been left with a deep, deep hankering for pickles. Not just the commercial dills that you can buy at any supermarket, but the salty, pucker-inducing bite of a Jewish deli sour. While my husband preferred the half-sour to go with his smoked meat sandwich, I'm all about the full sour. Bring it on! So as I savored the last bite of the Schwartz's Deli pickle that had made it's way into my carry-on, I had an idea to try making my own.

So this weekend I made pickles. While you might picture me slaving over a hot canning bath, I didn't. With these pickles, fermentation rules instead of heat and vinegar. The best part? They only took me about 15 or 20 minutes to make. Talk about a quickle! I haven't tried them yet (I feel they haven't reached full sour capability), but the recipe I used is from David Lebovitz so I'm sure I won't be steered wrong. Though, I'm afraid I did lean a bit too heavy on the pickling spices - let's hope that won't ruin them!

UPDATE: So I finally tasted the pickles and while they taste good, the cut pickles were too soft. The pickles that I left whole were very crunchy and perfect. Perhaps the cut pickles should be eaten sooner and maybe only pickled for only 2-3 days instead of 5? If you've got any ideas, let me know!

And if pickles aren't to your liking, I'm a new contributor over at the popular design blog, Poppytalk and I've got a pretty tasty granola recipe up. Go take a peek and say hello!

sour dill pickles
(recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)
8 c water
3 T coarse kosher salt
8-10 Kirby pickling cukes, rinsed
4 cloves garlic, peeled & lightly crushed
1 T pickling spice
3 bay leaves
1 large bunch of dill (seed heads preferred)

1. In a large pot, heat the water with the salt until it dissolves.

2. Fill up your mason jars with boiling water and then dump the water into the sink. Alternatively, run them through the dishwasher if that's what you got.

3. Tightly pack the pickles into jars. I left some pickles whole and others I quartered. Do what you like, just make sure that they are tight as you don't want any pickles floating up above the brine line. Divide up the spices, garlic, bay leaves and dill amongst the jars.

4. Fill up the jars with the brine, making sure that all pickles are submerged. Cover with cheesecloth secured with rubber bands and leave them in a cool, dark place for 3 days. Taste (they'd be more like half-sours here, I would imagine) or let them go for a full 5 or 6 days for a full sour. Once they are to your liking, store them in the fridge. They should last for a month or so.

2 kinds of summer salads? Yes please!

Summer long weekends are the definition of perfection. With all the barbeques, picnics and friendly get-togethers, it's a perfect time for sharing food. We had our own little Canada Day celebration over the weekend and food (and beer) definitely played a large part of the fun. I whipped up this super quick and tasty potato salad for our bbq and it was pretty much gone by the end of the night.

creamy red, white and green potato salad
8 baby new potatoes
1 bunch radishes, sliced
1/2 english cucumber, quartered into chunks
1 bunch parsley, snipped
1 bunch dill, snipped
zest of 1 lemon
2 large dollops* mayo
1 large dollop* sour cream
salt & pepper

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender. Cool and cut in half or quarters.

2. In a large bowl, gently mix together the potatoes, radishes, cucumbers, parsley, dill and lemon zest. In a seperate bowl, whip together the mayo and sour cream and pour over vegetables. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and serve.

- - -


This afternoon I felt like eating salad for lunch and then I spied this tasty looking gem of a recipe over at Simply Recipes. I made a few additions/substitutions and came up with my own version of a tasty asian slaw. I usually don't like going with a mayo dressing, but I did like combining the creaminess the mayo with the rest of the dressing ingredients. It was super delicious and Cornelius and I ate it all up until there was nothing left in the bowl. It was seriously that good.

creamy asian slaw
1/2 head of purple cabbage, shredded
4 green onions, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 bunch radishes, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 T toasted sunflower seeds
2 T toasted almond slices
2 T dried cranberries
Dressing:
2 dollops* mayo
2 T cider vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1 t sugar
1 t freshly grated ginger
a few shakes of toasted sesame oil
a few shakes of sirracha or the hot sauce of your choice

Toss together the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside. Whisk together the dressing and pour over salad. Add almonds, cranberries and sunflower seeds and toss to combine. Serve.

Looking for more summer salads? Look no further than some of my favorite archived recipes:
Colourful Chopped Vegetable Salad
Incredible Lemony Potato Salad
Light n' Creamy Potato Salad
Mexican Black Bean & Tortilla Salad
Peanutty Coleslaw
Potato & Sausage Salad
Roasted Tomato Pasta Salad
Red, White & Green Barley Salad

* hmmmm, dollop...a heaping teaspoon or tablespoon. you can be the judge...more dressing or less. it's up to you!