Lekker: I'M BACK BITCHES! (Also: Classic Shrimp Ceviche)

Wheeeeeee! Hello everyone! It's been so long since I logged into this site that I forgot my password, but DAMN it feels good to be back!

My last post was an announcement of a break I needed to take from the site due to my struggles with severe anxiety and depression. I am *so* pleased to announce that with the new year I seem to have turned a corner in my recovery, and I'm feeling great. Not quite 100% yet, but I'm feeling MUCH more like my usual buoyant, ridiculous, and energetic self with a whole lotta space for adventure this next year.

AT ANY RATE, part of feeling like myself again is being excited about delicious food and I have a good one for y'all today. My Dad turned 60 on Friday and to celebrate, my brother and his girlfriend and I threw him a Latin American themed dinner kicking off with a Classic Shrimp Ceviche appetizer.

If you're not familiar with ceviche get ready to try something new because it's absolutely idiot proof (no cooking required!) and quick to throw together. Ceviche is made via the process of using an acid (traditionally lime juice, though I've seen some other recipes use vinegar or other citrus juices as well) to "cook" seafood along with a few additional simple ingredients, served with tortilla chips or warm tortillas.

"But it's not cooked! It's raw seafood, isn't that going to make me sick?!"

Shut up, do you eat sushi? Right, newsflash, that's raw fish, and this isn't even raw fish. The seafood is "cooked" by the acids slowly denaturing the proteins, leaving the seafood with a firm and opaque appearance exactly as if it were cooked by heat.

Tilapia, halibut, and shrimp are common choices for ceviche but personally I find tilapia disgusting since the vast majority is farmed in Asia where the use of chicken feces as a food supply is common practice. Shrimp on the other hand is one of my favourite foods and I find it accessible and easy to work with in a quick ceviche.

So anyway, enough blathering! It's taken me longer to write that intro than it'll take you to actually make this.

Classic Shrimp Ceviche
makes 15-20 servings--though I don't even know how to classify this kind of "serving"--whatever, look this'll very easily serve 6 people as an appetizer, okay?

WHAT YOU NEED
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed (If you're going to go fresh, make sure they're REALLY fresh--they shouldn't be squishy or smell fishy. It's perfectly okay to go frozen, too, just thaw them completely under cold water before beginning)
1-1.5 cups of freshly squeezed lime juice (DO NOT USE BOTTLED. I will disown you. Make an effort for once you lazy lout.)
1 avocado, diced small
5 or 6 ripe plum tomatoes, diced small
~1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves (no stems)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt & pepper, to taste
Optional: 1 green onion, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
Optional: 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped, or to taste

WHAT YOU DO
1. Dice the raw shrimp into smallish pieces--don't go nuts, just like, cut one shrimp into three pieces and that's well good enough. Toss them into some non-metal bowl and cover them with the lime juice. The juice should just cover them. Stick them in the fridge and let them marinate for about 3 hours, tossing occasionally.

2. At the 3 hour mark you should notice that the shrimp is opaque and firm. Add in all the other ingredients and toss until very well coated. If you want to add more lime juice, go ahead. Throw it back in the fridge and let it chill out for another hour or so, then serve! I dig serving it with tortilla chips, but you can use whatever you want because this is a free country.

Unless you're reading this from Russia.

Cerveza optional but highly advisable.

--Tig

Lekker: Charred Romaine & Shrimp Salad

Ey yo! Welcome back. First things first:

So now that I've properly explained why I've been a bit MIA, I have a recipe for you!

I made this Charred Romaine & Shrimp Salad yesterday for my Sunday evening dinner because up here in New York for the summer, Sunday ALWAYS mean grilling--and lucky for me the person I'm currently tongue kissing is also a BOMB grillmaster, so I'm making good use of his talents.

I guess you could do this all on the stove in a hot cast iron skillet if you don't have a grill, but by all means give it a shot outside if you can. Nothing says summer like throwing EVERYTHING YOU OWN onto the grill, basically.

If you haven't already been charring your Romaine lettuce now's the time to give it a try (I am sorry, I know I sound like a pretentious food snob when I say that but OMFG you must must try it), but what really adds depth to this summery salad is cutting that richness with a few leaves of the fresh raw stuff to give it some crunch.

Feel free to omit the tomatoes if you want; I just think it's sacrilege to not include them in a summer salad for all their juiciness and gorgeous colour when they're in season. Oh, and the extra brilliant part of this salad is that you don't even need up whip up a separate dressing: the olive oil and lemon juice takes care of that in beautiful simplicity. 

Here we go punks!

P.S. That drink's one of my clean summer faves: muddled fresh mint leaves and peeled cucumber chunks topped with ice, vodka, and Poland Spring lemon-lime seltzer. Refreshing, low-cal, and the perfectly clean accompaniment for a rich salad!

CHARRED ROMAINE & SHRIMP SALAD
serves 2

WHAT YOU NEED
3 whole small-to-medium sized Romaine hearts
24 small-to-medium sized cleaned raw shrimp, tails left on, threaded onto wooden skewers (I was able to find these at my supermarket already assembled for only $2 a skewer)
2 ears of corn, shucked and wiped of silk
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 large tomato, diced (optional, I GUESS)
6 slices bacon, more if you are a needlessly indulgent sod
2 fresh lemons
Olive oil for brushing
Salt & pepper to taste

WHAT YOU DO
1. Preheat your grill to medium heat. Lightly oil the ears of corn and season with salt and pepper. Toss those two on the grill over the area of highest/most direct heat to get a good char on them. Now's the time to add your bacon strips directly onto the grill as well, to cook to your desired level of crispiness.

2. While that shit gets going gently brush your shrimp with olive oil on each side so they don't stick to the grill, and then squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over them and season with S & P. Grill for about 2 minutes a side or until light pink and cooked throughout.

3. While your shrimp are grilling, slice 2 of the 3 Romaine hearts in half lengthwise straight down the middle, making sure to keep the end bulb intact. Trim off any browned edges and gently dust off any visible dirt or grit. Brush the cut sides with olive oil and season with S & P. These we'll grill. If the tiny inner leaves are having trouble staying put use a toothpick to stab it all together, because when all else fails be violent in the kitchen. Wash and chop about 6 leaves of the third head--this will be your raw component.

4. Once your shrimp are removed from the grill, crank it up to high heat and add the Romaine lettuce heads cut side down. Grill over high heat for about 2-3 minutes or until you've got a nice char and the leaves have slightly wilted. Remove from heat.

4. Roughly chop the charred Romaine and toss with the raw chopped leaves, avocado, tomatoes, whole shrimp, diced bacon, and roasted corn kernels you've sheared from the cob. Squeeze the juice of the other lemon over the whole thing and call it a day--the olive oil you've used to grill half the ingredients will mingle with the lemon juice to create a simple dressing that lets the other seasonal ingredients shine. Buon appetito!

Follow us on Instagram at @tigrita_thelittletiger for more food pics and general frivolity, and on Twitter at @LekkerLiquor.

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Lekker: Shrimp & Avocado Salad

I try to be pretty picky about the kinds of recipes I put up on the blog--I cook a LOT, and they aren't all winners. That's why everything I put up here is something I would make again and share with others, but this...this I could eat every day for a month and never complain.

As with most things in life, sometimes the best things are the SIMPLEST things! This Shrimp & Avocado salad is totally brainless, but so refreshing, so light, so delicious, and so applicable. I've eaten shamelessly devoured it by itself, on toasted baguette as an appetizer, on top of crunchy romaine lettuce as an even fuller salad, and even sprinkled with Parmesan in a grilled sandwich. ALL GOOD THINGS. And since I've decided that I am 17 shades of DONE with winter and forcibly moving ahead to summer (if my "bikini body" could get the memo that'd be great), it's extra perfect.

Maybe not the most pristine, photogenic salad in the world, but who cares.

Shrimp & Avocado Salad
usually serves 2 if tossed on top of some chopped romaine lettuce

What You Need
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail-off and cooked (These particular ones I found at Trader Joe's and all I had to do was run them under some cold water to thaw for 5 minutes and they were DELICIOUS.)
1 avocado, diced
1 large tomato-on-the-vine, or 2 Roma tomatoes, or a large handful of cherry tomatoes, or whatever, diced
1/2 cup peeled and diced cucumber (this wound up being about 1/3 of a large English cucumber)
1 green spring onion, chopped

~2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves (no stems)
~1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice (or bottled I guess, but use sparingly since it's often stronger)
2-3 dashes chili powder
S & P, to taste

What You Do
1. Um...toss everything together? Stir really well to combine (the avocado will break down a bit and create a lovely creamy dressing with the EVOO and the lemon juice, but add more if you want to) and let it hang out in the fridge for about 10 minutes so the flavours marry, and...enjoy!

Lekker: Summer Shrimp & Corn Salad

Dear. God. Blogger was giving me such shit last night. I meant to write this yesterday evening whilst I was leisurely enjoying a glass of good-for-me red wine (to celebrate some good news I received about my health, lulz) but no, Google was not having it. Damn you Google and your salad sabotaging ways!

Anyhoodles, the salad I'm blogging about today is hands down my very very favourite salad for summer time. I think I've eaten it about a dozen times since June and each time I make it there's like 4 servings in it, so...yeah. It has never photographed prettily so this is the best I could do, but there is so much yumminess in this bad boy there's no one who will say no. AND I CAN ALREADY SEE YOU BOYS GOING TO X OUT OF THIS BLOG BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT A SALAD. You can just calm right down because I have fed this to meat-eating cavemen multiple times and they all loved it (hello, it includes bacon) despite the lack of bloody steak.

I'm going to write this recipe the easy way, the way I do it on weeknights. There is a blurb at the bottom about how to complicate your life, if you're into that kind of thing.

All dah pretty colors. Plus there's a ton of green all underneath that.

Summer Shrimp & Corn Salad

makes 3-4 good sized servings; I am a pig and keep this whole thing to myself and get four bowls worth' out of it. It'll keep for one night and one night only in the fridge if you DO NOT dress it.

What You Need

1 bag of chopped romaine lettuce

1/2 a large cucumber (I like the English ones, not because I'm a racist against the other cukes but these are just...better...) peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces

1 large tomato (I prefer on-the-vine but you could even use cherry tomatoes chopped in half or Roma or whatever, just get a nice big ol' handful of tomato in there)

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled (less if you like less, or leave it out if you don't like cheese, whatever)

6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped (if you really want to make your life simple, buy the precooked bacon and just zap it in the micro for 30 seconds to bring it to room temp)

1/2 a pound of shrimp (Note: I always buy the frozen, peeled, deveined & de-tailed shrimp because I am lazy. I'm writing the recipe as if you're doing that too. But if you are even lazier than me, buy the already-cooked shrimp or whatever the deli/fish section of your grocery store has prepared to save yourself a step)

1 cup of frozen corn kernels, thawed

What You Do

1. In a large bowl, throw in your lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado and feta cheese which you have all already lovingly washed and diced up into salad sized pieces. Cook your bacon in the microwave (if you didn't buy the precooked stuff) until it's to your desired crispiness, blot off the grease really really well with a paper towel, chop that up and throw it in.

2. If you didn't buy the pre-cooked shrimp, now's the time to sauté off your thawed shrimp in a pan on the stove. I use a cast iron skillet and a teensy bit of butter over medium-high heat until the shrimp are pink throughout. Season with pepper to taste. When they're done, you can cut each shrimp in half if you want (I usually do that to get them more interspersed throughout the salad but forgot in the photo above) and add those to your salad.

3. In the same pan that's still hot with a bit of grease left in it from the shrimp, toss in the corn and crank up the heat to high, stirring often to toast it. You don't haaaaaaaave to do this step but I find it brings out a little bit more of the ....corn?...flavour. Throw that in the salad bowl and you're done!

Oh, right, dressing. So, don't dress this salad if you're not going to finish it that night because it gets all soggy and gross in the fridge. But, the dressing I always make is a very simple vinaigrette with about 1/3 cup of olive oil and 2 T lemon juice with salt and pepper added to taste. Whisk it up with a fork, taste it, and adjust as necessary. 

A CAVEAT TO ALL OF THE ABOVE: I rarely use measurements when I cook. In fact, I just about made up every single measurement you see above from memory and from what I usually use. This is a salad, I don't give a flying fart in space if you want to use 8 slices of bacon instead of 6 or if you want to use the whole cucumber; just do what you like! It's your life! It's just dinner! I just put what *I* usually do because these are the proportions that *I* like.

So, that's how I usually make that salad. There *IS* a way to elevate this to supreme baller status, and it is excellent, but more work. Namely, you can grill the shrimp (instead of just pan frying them) which adds the most gorgeous colour, flavour and "summeryness". You can also grill fresh corn on the cob, OR, dry roast some fresh raw kernels in a cast iron skillet on the stove over high heat, stirring often, until they blacken and brown in spots. That's amazing too. I just can't be bothered to go tracking down fresh corn on the cob on a Tuesday night to do all that, and I can't grill for shit so that's out too. 

I suggest you enjoy this with one of the aforementioned boneheaded meat lovers so you can crow gleefully once they admit how yummy this salad actually is. A nice white wine (I like Monkey Bay's Sauvignon Blanc) pairs well for crowing, I find.

Cheers!

Lekker: Tomato Bacon Summer Sandwich

This isn't a real post. It's just a sandwich. But the Roma tomatoes in my garden are going nuts and I'm putting them on EVERYTHING. This is my very favourite summer sandwich, so chock full of bursting freshness I could eat it every day.

Tomato Bacon Summer Sandwich
makes 2 sammies

What You Need
4 pieces of your sandwich bread of choice; I love the fresh Tuscan something-or-other from Trader Joe's but you can use any fresh bread with a nice crust and soft insides
1 avocado, mashed and seasoned with S&P to your liking
a few Roma or heirloom tomatoes, sliced into thin lengths
6-8 slices of bacon, cooked to desired crispness
handful of pea shoots (I suppose you could use any sort of sprout here, but the pea shoots have this delicious, sweet-pea taste to them with the most amazing deep green color and fresh crunch; I can only find them at Trader Joe's)
South African Smoke seasoning from TJ's (I swear they should be paying me for how often I cite them; if you can't find this or don't have a Trader Joes near you, you can try experimenting with other smoke seasonings but to me this is the key ingredient--I've made it without, and it's just not the same)

What You Do
Toast the bread slightly, just to give it a bit of crunch. Smear the avocado on each slice; please do not insult this sandwich by putting mayonnaise or butter on it. Avocado is nature's butter, bitches! Use it. It's full of healthy fats and antioxidants, and it's in season. No excuses. Next, layer the tomatoes on top of the avo and add the smoke seasoning and more S&P if you want it. On the other slice, pile on the bacon and the pea shoots on top of it. Snap a photo and Instagram it like a true food hipster and make everyone around you roll their eyes (I don't care; tag me @southafricanbokkie in it) and then dig in.

WOMAN, MAKE ME A SANDWICH!

 Because really, I want one too.