Greek Veggie Burgers

Hi Friends. Sorry I’ve been MIA. As previously mentioned, I’m starting to post again. So, drumroll… Here we go.

This morning, my friend Jodie gave me part of her bumper crop of tarragon (along with rosemary and some chives)… Thanks Jodie, Have fun in CA!

I was particularly excited to receive such a wonderful surprise, since I had already decided to make veggie burgers for lunch, and needed some fresh herbs. The restaurant where I am a server has a fantastic house-made veggie burger. I’m a dedicated carnivore, and sometimes I still crave it. The basis of the burger is quinoa, which I’ve talked about on this blog before. I’m always looking for new ways to do old things, so when I had some left over quinoa yesterday, I knew what I’d be making today. Also, I’ve recently become obsessed with all things that fall into the category of Greek/Middle Eastern Food. Now, I know that’s a HUGE category, and I’m not strictly following recipes, but the things I’ve been making lately are definitely influenced by a Grecian sensibility- olive oil, feta, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers; what’s not to like? As the weather gets warmer, refreshing food becomes a top priority and the Greeks seem to have figured it out pretty well.

Ingredients
1 & 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (I used red, but brown will work too)
1 can garbanzo beans
3/4 cup cracked buckwheat (you can use Bulgar wheat too, I’m just trying to stay gluten free)
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh oregano to taste ( I used 1/4 cup)
Fresh tarragon to taste ( I used 1/4 cup)

Supplies
Food processor (an immersion or regular blender would work too)
Sheet tray
Parchment Paper (BEST STUFF EVER!!!)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut parchment paper to size and place on top of sheet tray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until mixture is combined. It should be thick but pliable and definitely not dripping wet.

3. Once the mixture is to your desired texture, stop pulsing it and remove it from the bowl.
4. Form into patties place on parchmented (? is that a word) sheet tray and cook for 25 minutes, opening oven to flip the burgers half-way through the cooking time.

5. Remove patties from the oven and serve on a bun if you like. I served mine on a bed of spinach with chopped cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and a lemon-olive oil vinaigrette. Iced green tea with lemon and ginger as well as Greek yogurt w/ honey helped to round out the meal.

*This will make much more than one serving. It freezes very well, just make sure you form it into individual patties before you freeze it.

**Also, it’s good to be back.

***Also, ginger, lemon, green tea is good.

Mexican Potato Chowder

Huh. It appears that the only thing I have been eating for the past month is soup. That statement is mostly true. Soups are easy to invent, delicious, and time friendly. Today, we’re taking a departure from the Indian food, and taking advantage of the Mexican grocery stores that are abundant in Chicago. It should be noted that this recipe is not vegetarian, kosher, or particularly healthy, but it is delicious and perfect for evening when your plans include watching Gossip Girl and complaining about your period. This recipe is also nearly impossible without an immersion blender, but use your brain and improvise something! It doesn’t need to be blended, I just like building my base that way. I’m serving it with some tortillas.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup ground Chorizo (preferably fresh)
3 carrots, grated (about 1.5 cups)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 large onion chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large can of peeled whole tomatoes and their juices. (28oz size)
28 oz. water (use the can from the tomatoes)
1.5 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
4 pickled serrano peppers, chopped (EXNAY!!! After further thought and taste, this makes the recipe nearly too spicy to enjoy, without the aid of A TON of sour cream. If the dish isn’t spicy enough, each taster can add her own hot sauce. )
2 peppers, chopped (I used red and orange, don’t use green)
5 large potatoes, chopped
1.5 cup cream cup cream
1 lime
Sour cream
Tortilla Strips
Large pot for cooking

Recipe:
*Please read all the ingredients first. Chop them up accordingly. It’s very important to do this because it will make your life much easier.

1. Simmer olive oil in pot until it is shimmering.
2. Add chorizo and cook until it is no longer raw.
3. Add carrots, onion, celery and garlic to the cooked chorizo. Its ok that it is still red- chorizo is prespiced with red spices.
4. Cook this for about 5 minutes, or until the onions get soft. Adjust the heat as needed so that nothing burns.
5. Add your tomatoes and water.
6. Take your immersion blender and blend everything in the pot until it is smooth.
7. Add your cumin and oregano, stir.
8. Add your jalapenos and serranos
9. Add your potatoes, cook until tender.
10. Add cream, cook until it it’s to the temperature you desire.

Serve this with a dollop of sour cream, a squeeze of fresh lime, and tortilla strips on top. It pairs well with quesadillas, but then you’ll have to work out tomorrow.

curry enchiladas and mashed cauliflower

Indian and Mexican cuisine are a great example of (nearly) opposites attracting. I apoligize, I am still camera-less, but still excited about Mr. Obama being my (nearly) president, so I’ll forgive my camera being dead. Earlier in the week, I had my friend Lisa over for dinner and Gossip Girl (a must watch for Monday nights). Lisa is a vegetarian and I am not. Most people in my life try to be vegetarians most of the time (see my roommate) so, it is not hard for me to cook vegetarian food. It’s an enjoyable challenge, met with vigor and enthusiasm on my part.

I served some vegetable soup (a variation on a previously posted recipe, unfrozen), mashed cauliflower, and curry enchiladas. I’ll detail the recipes below.

Since I am trying extra hard not to eat wheat these days, sometimes things feel pretty grim. I wanted Indian food. My friend is in India right now, and it’s been on my mind as well as in the news. Is it tacky that a crisis gives me a craving? Probably, but what’s a better way to express concern than through sharing a meal with someone you love? All the good energy we shared during our meal was directed towards India, so I’ll try not to feel too guilty about it.

Mashed Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup half and half
2 different teaspoons of salt
As much pepper as you like
1 8×8 pan
An oven preheated to 350 degrees
Hand blender (makes it easier, a regular blender or potato masher will do well if you don’t have this amazing appliance)
1 large/medium sized bowl

Recipe
1. Clean your cauliflower.
2. Chop off the green parts
3. Dice the remaining parts of cauliflower into smaller pieces (all this should fit in the previously mentioned 8×8 pan)
4. Place the chopped cauliflower in the pan, drizzle with olive oil
5. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt
6. Place in oven
7. Roast for 30-45 minutes (everybody’s oven is different)
8. After it’s roasted, the cauliflower should be soft. Move the roasted cauliflower into the bowl (if you’re using a blender, place it in the blender… if you’re using a masher, place it in the bowl)
9. To the bowl (or blender) add the half and half and butter. The cauliflower should still be quite warm, so the butter will melt without a problem.
10. With your hand blender, (or masher, or regular blender) mix up all the ingredients until they are blended and smooth. Add the remaining salt and pepper when you feel like it.

This dish is great. Cauliflower is very nutritious and this is a fantastic way to incorporate it into you diet along with butter and half and half. Just kidding. It’s better than mashed potatoes, but still not super healthy. I must note, this dish is not for people who do not like cauliflower. I happen to love it, so it worked out well, but not so much for Lisa.

And now to the big shebang: Curry Enchiladas
As I mentioned before, not eating wheat totally blows. There’s no other way to get around it. So, instead of mourning the loss of naan with my Indian food, I decided to just let it be and make Indian style enchiladas. This recipe has a few parts: Filling, Sauce, and Corn Tortillas. Read the whole recipe before you begin because it has several parts that need to be happening at the same time.

Filling for Indian Enchiladas:
Ingredients
1 large potato
2 tablespoons Tandoori Masala Spice
1 tablespoon Curry Spice
1 teaspoon crushed Coriander
1 small onion
1 clover garlic
1/2 cup olive oil (separated into 4 1/8 cups)
As much salt as you like- I used Kosher Salt
1 large pot
1 large pan
1 small pan

1. In the large pot, boil your peeled potato until it is tender.
2. While the potato is boiling, saute the onions in 1/8 cup olive.
3. Combine the curry, tandoori, and coriander with the remaining olive oil into a paste. Once the onions are sizzling and fragrant, add this paste into the onion and olive oil already on the pan. Let that marinate for a minute or ten.
4. By this time (about a half hour) the potato should be soft. Strain the potato and chop it into small square pieces. After that, combine it with the curried onions.
5. Cook the potatoes in the pan with the onions until they get caramelized on the edges. Since you’ll be cooking the sauce at the same time, you can let the potatoes brown. I let the brown for about 45 minutes.

CONCURRENTLY: Curry Sauce
Ingredients
1 15oz can Coconut Milk
1/4 cup curry powder
1 tablespoon tandoori spice
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, chopped
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
1 medium sized sauce pan

Recipe
1. Open the coconut milk and pour it into the sauce pan. Make sure you get all the solids from the can into the saucepan. I put the water needed for the recipe in the can, caught all the remnants and then poured that into the sauce pan.
2. Add all the spices and ginger.
3. Bring mixture to a boil, turn down and let reduce. You can taste test it now and decide how much salt you want.
4. When it is reduced to a thickness similar to mole, you are finished!

Once your filling and sauce is done, you are ready to roll the mix into tortillas.

Curry Enchiladas:
Ingredients
Potato/ Onion Filling
8 Corn Tortillas
8 slices Chihuahua Cheese
Curry Sauce
4 x 9 Pan
Oven preheated to 350 (f)

Recipe
1. Prepare your tortillas by laying them flat and placing half a slice of cheese in the middle of each.
2. On top of the cheese, place the potato/onion filling.
3. Roll the tortillas so that the filling will not come out.
4. Place the stuffed tortillas in the pan, again so the filling is not coming out (I did this one at a time and had some help from toothpicks to keep things closed)
5. Once your pan is filled, cover the stuffed tortillas with the remaining slices of cheese, halved so that everything is symmetrical.
6. Once the cheese is in place, pour all of the curry sauce on the stuffed tortillas
7. Place in the oven and let cook for 30-45 minutes (everybody’s oven is different)

These are really tasty. Too bad I don’t have a camera at the moment. bah humbug.
It’s worth noting that without the cheese, this recipe is vegan, so that’s a plus if you are one or know some.
Also, these keep really well in the fridge and are easily reheated in your oven.

PS: Not everybody has such immense access to cheap specialty ingredients in the town where one resides. A quick Google search informed me that there is an immense variety of authentic Indian food available on the internet for much less than typical grocery store prices. I’m sure that shipping makes it more expensive, but Garam Masala from McCormick’s isn’t nearly as tasty (and is 5x more expensive) as the real deal.

PPS: We paired this with a variation on a gin gimlet.
St. Germain Gimlet

Ingredients
1.5 oz Hendricks Gin (Plymouth would probably be better)
.75 oz St. Germain
1 oz fresh Lime Juice
.25 oz simple syrup
Ice
Shaker

Recipe
1. Place Gin, Germaine, lime juice, and simple syrup in shaker over ice.
2. Shake.
3. Serve in a martini glass.

clear broth soup

I know it’s a weird title. Most soup seems to be broth based, and I believe you’re correct in thinking so. However, I take a less scientific approach. Cream based soups don’t seem very broth-y. I feel, a broth is a clear substance. Once you add cream or a starch, it becomes something different- a chowder or a bisque. Tonight, I had a successful experiment. It’s too bad my camera is broken, or I would be posting some lovely pictures of an easy weeknight soup. (FYI, you can make it on the weekend… the weeknight description implies its low levels of effort)

Ingredients:
2 cups Mushroom stock (you can find this at Trader Joes or Whole foods, I’m sure you can also make your own, but I was feeling lazy, so I used Better than Bullion)
1 cup tomato juice
1 large carrot, grated
1 12 oz. package of chopped baby portabello mushrooms
1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
1 chopped shallot
2 tbs. unsalted butter (I am totally loving Plugra right now)
1 package of frozen sweet corn
1 tbs poultry mix spices (I live in an Ukrainian neighborhood, and have been enjoying the spice mixes that the local stores carry. If you don’t happen to live in a neighborhood of people still bitter about the USSR, I believe a mix of rosemary, thyme, tarragon, dill, and a pinch of mint will work well)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 half teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 large pot
1 small pot
1 small pan

RECIPE
1. Boil your mushroom stock however you need to.
2. In a separate, (larger) pot, melt 1 tbs. of butter. Add the shallots and garlic.
3. In a different pan, on lower heat, melt the left over butter. When it is melted, add your herb blend. Turn it to a very low heat. You don’t want to burn the herbs.
5. Once the shallots and garlic release their glorious perfumes, add the grated carrot to the very large pot.
6. When the carrot starts to steam, add the cup of tomato juice to the large pot.
7. After your mushroom stock is ready, pour it into the larger pot.
8. Let it blend for a few moments, until it boils
9. Add the buttered herbs, from the pan into the larger pot.
10. Add the corn, tomatoes, and mushrooms to the larger pot.
11. Turn the heat on the large pot onto low, and let it simmer for about an hour. Take a shower, do your taxes, surf the net. Write another draft of that email to your friend who you miss but don’t know how to talk to. Whatever, I’m sure you’ll find a way to occupy your time.
12. Serve your soup! (I found it worked well with a grated apple, Mahon cheese, arugula, and raspberry salad) Also, try this ginger liquor as a pre-dinner treat!!!

It was good and pretty. I wish my camera wasn’t dead.

pea souffle

Yesterday, my friend Sarah took me for a birthday lunch to Blackbird. If you can pardon my french, it was a much needed kick in the ass. I’ve been feeling “blah” about food lately. Yeah, you eat it. Yeah, sometimes it tastes good. Our lunch was seriously amazing, and was a wonderful reminder that food, when done correctly is sublime and memorable. Art that becomes a part of you, no matter how cheesy that sounds, it’s the truth.

So tonight, excited about the culinary once again (I imagine a career with food is much like a marriage- loving the basics, but being constantly surprised by the endless possibility in what you love) I tried something new. I love recipes, but cooking without them is more than slightly liberating. Why follow a recipe when I can make my own? This evening, faced with a limited pantry, I do believe I came up with something worth repeating. Repeat it yourself and enjoy.

Pea Souffle
.5 lb frozen peas
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup pickled garlic relish (any oily garlic will do, so if you don’t have access to garlic relish, just roast a head of garlic for 45 minutes with olive oil and blend with curry when they are roast)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons Madras Curry
*A hand blender is super handy in this recipe
** You will need a muffin tin, or if you are fancier and more prepared than I, souffle dishes. Butter them before you have too many Mai Tais.

Preheat you oven to 350 degrees, Farenheit

Thaw your peas. I boiled and strained them

Next, I blended them with the handblender. If you don’t have a handblender, you can use a regular one but it will be more time intensive.

Then put your garlic and curry in the mix, and blend that.

After the garlic, add the yogurt and the 4 eggs, mix with a spoon til smooth. Then, pour into muffin tins, or if you are fancy, souffle dishes. Make sure that you butter the baking instruments before you plop the mixture in.

FYI. I know it looks a little like baby poop. Just trust me, ok? Bake it at 350 for about a half hour. Eyeball it, pork it with a knife if need be. You know how your oven works better than I do. (I hope)

The mix should be puffy and a little golden around the edges by the time you take it out. Give some to your roommate and pair it with Siracha and a little coriander chutney, she’ll be happy… look!

Not bad for a Tuesday night.

If you’re feeling dull about food, just look in your pantry.

housewarming

Last night, Danielle and I hosted our housewarming party/ bbq. Since I work Saturdays and Fridays, and we both wanted something pretty low key, we thought a Sunday afternoon gathering would be nice and relaxing. We decided to provide some snacks and drinks, and asked people to supplement with their own. Danielle left the menu planning up to me, and I was stumped at first… and then I wasn’t. We decided to make samosas and gin and tonics.

I suppose you could try and find the ingredients for Indian cooking at Dominick’s, or pay too much for them at Whole Foods, but me being me, I decided to ride my bike up to Devon Street to get some authentic Indian ingredients for a reasonable price. On Saturday morning, I went on quite the bike ride, including the other errands in my neighborhood, calculations show that I rode at least 17 miles on my bike in the span of about 3 hours. I woke up early on Saturday, and I ended up going to Patel Brothers, because it was open. Patel Brothers has a lot of great stuff, but it can feel a little corporate, ala Trader Joe’s. Most things appear to be store brand, which allows for great quality control, but feels like… Trader Joe’s, not an awesome Indian grocery. Online, I’ve found that they have quite the network of groceries all over the country. The house brand name is “Swad…. The Best Taste In Town” which is a quaint tag line. I wonder if it sounds quaint on purpose, because if they’re being serious, maybe they should say the “Swad…. The Best Taste in North America.” Anyway, I digress. I picked up tons if Indian treats, for a quarter of what they would cost at Whole Paycheck. After trudging home on my bike, I went to pick up some gin and tonic for the party.

The problem with cheap gin is that it tastes like cheap gin. Most people have an aversion to this kind of gin, and I am cheap. What to do? We were making samosas, so I was intent on having gin and tonics, because they were invented in India by the British East India Company. I decided to buy cheap gin, and infuse it with cucumber. I only did this overnight, and it made a significant difference in the taste. I’m curious to see what happens if I let it sit for a week. To make infused gin:

Ingredients:
1 handle Seagrams or other inexpensive gin
2 large English cucumbers, peeled and chopped
3 drops rosewater
A small handful of fresh mint leavea (if you are infusing this over a longer period of time than a day, I would omit the mint.

Directions:
1.Chop up the peeled cucumbers
2. Put in a pitcher
3. Drip in the rosewater
4. Throw in the mint
5. Muddle it up
6. Cover with gin
7. Let sit covered in a dark place for at least 24 hours

While the gin was infusing, Danielle and I made a lot of samosas. Samosas, despite what you might have been told, are not hard to make, however they are extremely labor intensive. I was struck with how Samosa Kohl (dough) is very similar to Pâte Brisée but MUCH easier to make. Some other day, when I decide to eat wheat again, I will try to make a quiche using Samosa Kohl. I used this recipe, and found it to work extremely well.

We made 3 different fillings: potato carrot, potato pea paneer, and chickpea spinach paneer.

They fried up quite nicely and were a hit at the party.

We had quite the spread of chutneys and tasty snacks. I guarentee that Indian food has the best options in the world for snacking. Here’s a picture before the guests arrive

Some people also brought cool food to share.

Laryssa brought a pineapple boat

Ena brought a salad from her garden

Mary brought deviled eggs

This delicious syrup used with the infused gin, but I am still working on perfecting my recipe for a drink I’d like to call the Rose Garden…. Stay tuned.

Here’s me and D, in socks, so our dirty feet don’t mess up the floor that our main men cleaned for us.

homemade granola

A few years ago, while Division Street was flipping, a small restaurant opened named Milk and Honey. A harbinger of the changes to come, a lot of people have mixed feelings about the place. No matter your feelings, the food they make is low-key and tasty. Milk and Honey is probably best known for its granola, which it sells at tons of retail outlets in the city and beyond. There’s something special about M&H’s granola, and the price reflects it…. so I got to thinking. Oats, nuts, honey, raisins, and an oven… how hard can it be to make my own?

Now, before you get your panties in a bunch, oats are considered ok for most people with a gluten intolerance to ingest/digest.

To make my granola I used:

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins

1. Preheat your oven to 350.

2. I roasted the almonds on the stove top, and combined them with the oats.

3. I melted the butter and added the vanilla bean (split with the seeds removed), honey, brown sugar, maple syrup.

4. I poured the mixture over the oats and almonds, making sure that everything was evenly coated.

5. Then, I baked it in the oven for about a half hour, stirring it every 5-10 minutes.

6. I let the mixture cool, added the dried fruit, and am storing it in an airtight container.

Good on yogurt, by itself, or with a little milk.

PS. Thanks to the book Breakfast, Lunch and Tea for the inspiration.
PPS. I don’t usually have vanilla beans just laying around, this was special. Next time, I think I will add a little salt to the mix and use regular vanilla extract to cut down on cost!

pink rice

For someone who has extremely mixed feelings about the Loop (beautiful on a weekend night, sans other people) I sure have spent a lot of time there in the past 24 hours. Yesterday, lunch with Lisa to Oasis… a wonderfully bizarre Middle Eastern cafe in the back of a jewelery warehouse on Wabash… and today lunch in the park with my mom.

There are several nice things about the Loop; you realize you’re in a large city, you get to see a wider variety of people that usual, you get to go to Farmers’ Markets by just stepping outside of your office, there’s a Walgreens on every corner… Yesterday I bought some items at the Daley Center farmers’ market.

Flowers were a bunch for a dollar.

I also bought some green beans and yellow tomatoes, which I put to good use when I made Greek Rice Salad, inspired by Gemma. Rice salad is an easy, inexpensive, delicious, and filling dish. I used brown rice, green beans, yellow tomatoes, spinach, kalamata olives, beets, garbanzo beans, feta cheese, oregano, dill, garlic, and some salt. It also works perfectly if you can’t eat pizza, even if you want to… The beets made the rice pink, which was pretty great!

First you prepare your rice, however you like. Next you make your veggies. Then you put the two together, and presto… a tasty lunch.

Here are the green beans cooking with some onions and garlic

Here are some lovely yellow cherry tomatoes

Here are all the ingredients combined… kind of like Captain Planet.

Here is my mom enjoying her pink rice:

And for dessert, some strawberries in REALLY good balsamic vinegar that Mr. Barreto gave me as a present.

cold brewed coffee

Want to know how your favorite cafe makes such delicious iced coffee?

Most likely, they probably cold brew it. Last summer, the NY Times had an article containing recipes for cold brewed coffee as well as reasons why it tastes better.

Cold brewed coffee is a refreshing summer treat. The absence of hot water keeps the acidity out of the coffee. You’ll be surprised to notice caramel and chocolate. The best part? It is cheap and easy to make cold brewed coffee at home.

Supplies:
Freshly ground coffee; 1 ounce of grounds for every 8 ounces of water
Water
Large Jar
12-24 hours brewing time.

1. Put the coffee in the large jar. Cover with cold water. Let sit for either 12 or 24 hours, depending on which you like better. Honestly, sometimes I like the 12 hour method, and sometimes I like the 24 hour method… It depends on my mood.

(a rather ominous looking jar, eh? full of caffeinated goodness for your/ my pleasure)

2. After whatever amount of time you’ve decided works best for you, strain the coffee into a pitcher. Pour into a cup.

3. Serve over ice and enjoy. I like to add a little soy creamer.

You can keep it in your fridge for a few days, but I’d recommend keeping it covered, because it really absorbs EVERY scent in its general vicinity if left to its own devices.

hits and misses

Generally, I try to post items that reflect my untrained and moderate culinary successes, or things other people make that I find tasty and pretty.

This is not one of those entries. Last night;s menu was meant to snub the current weather. It was summery! and light! and (supposed) to be delicious! It even looks pretty…

But you know what? Until you taste it, you don’t know if it is good or not. I was in the mood for ceviche. I have made it before using this recipe. I have had great success with that recipe. It is tart and sweet and spicy and everything that a ceviche should be. Yesterday, when I was writing up my grocery list, I was in the mood for ceviche. I then made a fatal mistake. I remembered a recipe that I saw in the NYTimes a few weeks ago. It was about using vodka to cook fish. I thought it sounded interesting, and decided to try it myself.

The recipe calls for a lot of citrus vodka and scallops, avocado, cumin, and cilantro. I followed the directions, and the results were dismal. It looked so pretty and tasted like…. fishy vodka… fish flavored vodka… vodka flavored fish. Now, I’m not one to knock a gimlet or a bloody mary, but vodka isn’t something I really want to chew. Maybe my palette isn’t developed enough, or maybe I just don’t enjoy raw-fish orange-vodka stew. I’m sticking with my main man Mark Bittman, over at the Times. Whenever I stray, I seem to end up with something really gross.

In other news, the watermelon salad (1/2 watermelon diced, 1/2 jalepeno chopped, 1 teaspoon salt, chill for an hour) was delicious and is proving to be a perpetual summer favorite. The combination of hot, sweet, and cold, is refreshing without being boring ( a big problem I have with cucumbers, although I do like them)

Gerard also made some Salsa Verde!
We roasted 2 Serrano peppers:

Used a pound of tomatillos and a clove of chopped garlic, cooked it down with some olive oil, salt and adobo.

Blended it with 1/2 cup of cilantro and one more clove of garlic

We let it cool, and then we enjoyed it. With chips, not ceviche. Then we had passionfruit sorbet. I have never like passionfruit until recently. I hate the scent in chemical products, but in real life, it is great to eat!

*As a side note, we are trying to salvage the rest of the ceviche by straining out the vodka and covering it with lime juice again. I will have to see how it looks after work.