Ahoy mateys! Thanks to you all for reading this book which I have long wanted to read. I am so happy that you all seemed to appreciate this account of a sperm whale sinking the whaleship Essex and the amazing survival of some of its crew members. I was very pleased you all enjoyed the read as much as I did and thanks for indulging my choice of book!
I've included this picture of Galapagos Tortises. I can't even image carrying these massive creatures on my back across Galapagos terrain!
I'm going to include some recipes here from meetings past which I have been meaning to get onto the blog for quite some time now! Extra bonus recipe of Siri's AMAZING cornbread with chipotle and chedder! Thanks Siri for sending me these recipes long ago. Sorry to you all for me taking so long to include them. Following those recipes will be the recipes from my meeting which a couple of you had requested.
From Siri:
Shrimp Soft Tacos with Chipotle-Cliantro Crema
2/3 cup Mexican(Sour)Crema
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp minced chipotle chilies in adobo
16 oz raw shrimp, cleaned and cut in half lengthwise down the back
2 T taco seasoning
2 T vegetable oil
8-16 corn tortillas, warm and soft
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
lime wedges
1. In a small bowl stir together Crema, red onion, cilantro and chipotle chilies. Set aside or refrigerate for later use. Toss shrimp with taco seasoning and refrigerate until ready to cook.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp and saute until barely cooked through, about 3 min. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in the Crema mixture. Cook just until heated through, stirring frequently, about 2 min.
Mexican Chocolate Torte with Brown Sugar Glaze and Cinnamon Ice Cream
Batter:
4oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups golden brown sugar
1 T ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3 lg eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 cup milk chocolate chips (6oz)
Ice Cream:
1 quart vanilla ice cream
2 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1 cup golden brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 T unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sliced almonda, toasted
1. For torte, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper. Stir unsweetened chocolate and butter in a heave large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool 5 min. Whisk sugar, cinnamon and salt. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Continue to whisk until batter is smooth. Add flour and whisk just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan, smoothing surface. Bake until tester inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 min. Cool completely in pan on rack.
2. Soften ice cream enough to be able to stir in cinnamon. Refreeze until serving time.
3. To make topping: whisk sugar, cream and butter in small heavy saucepan over low heat until smooth and mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat; mix in vanilla. Cool 10 min. Whisk until thick enough to spread. Turn torte out of pan and place right side up on platter. Sprean topping over torte and sprinkle with almonds. Let stand until topping sets, about on hour. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream.
Cornmeal Biscuits with Cheddar and Chipotle
1 T unsalted butter
3/4 cup (packed) chopped green onion
4oz bacon
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 T sugar
2 1/2 baking powder
3/4 tsp coarse kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups (packed) coarsely grated yellow extra-sharp cheddar cheese
1 lg egg
3/4 cup (about) buttermilk
1 T finely minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo
Position rack in center of oven, preheat to 425. Melt 1 T butter in nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add green onions and saute 2 min. to soften slightly. Remove from heat. Wipe out same skillet and brown bacon. Remove from heat.
Blend flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda in food processor. Add 1/2 cup chilled butter; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cheese, cut in using on/off turns. Transfer flour mixture to lg bowl. Whisk 1 egg in glass measuring cup. add enough buttermilk to egg to equal one cup; stir in green-onion mixture, chipotle, and bacon. Make well in center of dry ingredients. Pour buttermilk mixture into well; mix just until evenly moistened.
Turn dough out onto generously floured sufrace. Knead gently until dough holds together. Pat out on generously floured surface to 3/4 inch-thick round. Using 3-ince round cutter, cut out biscuits. Transfer to ungreased baking sheet. Bake biscuits until golden, tester inserted into center comes out clean, and biscuits feel firm, about 18min. Cool on rack and serve warm.
From In the Heart of the Sea meeting:
Seafood Cocktail
Four cups water with 2 cubes fish or shrimp bouillon cubes
Total of 4 cups prepared seafood (choose four of the following items to combine; more than four gets confusing)
8 oz small squid, cleaned and cut into rings
8 oz best-quality small shrimp (peel after cooking)
1 cup cooked octopus cut into slices
3 large scallops, cut into quarters
8 oz snow, stone, or dungeness crab leggs, shelled
8 oz fish, free of skin and bone, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz periwinkle, cleaned and cut into small pieces
8 raw or cooked oysters
8 raw or cooked cherrystone clams
2 cups Pico de Gallo salsa (recipe below)
1 cup peeled, diced cucumber
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 6 large limes)
about 2 cups Clamato, tomato, or V8 juice
1/2 cup ketchup
To serve:
2 avocados, pitted, peeled, diced
lime wedges
bottled hot sauce (like Tapatio)
Saltine crackers or tostadas
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Pico de Gallo Salsa
5 large ripe Roma tomatoes
6 cilantro sprigs, stemmed
1 small white onion
2 fresh serrano chiles
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Juice of 1 lime
On a large cutting board, core the tomatoes and slice thinly. Push to one side. Roughly chop the cilantro and push it beside the tomatoes. Cut the onion into the smallest dice you can manage and push aside. Chop the chiles.
Use the side of the knife to push the onion and chiles back into the middle of the board. Chop until the onions are a little more finely diced, occasionally sweeping the pile back into the center with the edge of the knife.
Scoop up the tomatoes and cilantro, put them on top of the onions and keep chopping back and forth- sweeping into a pile- until all the ingredients are finely chopped and blended together.
When the salsa is a rosy, juicy heap, scoop everything, including the juices, into a serving bowl. Season with the salt and lime juice. Let the flavors mellow for at least 30 minutes.
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Bring the water to a fast simmer with the bouillon cubes in a large pot. Add the seafood and cook at a bare simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until just barely opaque. Remove from the heat and cool the seafood in the cooking liquid. Chill.
Drain the seafood, reserving the cooking liquid, and mix with the pico de gallo and cucumber. Add the salt, lime juice, tomato juice, ketchup and some of the reserved cooking liquid.
To serve add lots of the cocktail liquid along with the seafood. Top with avocado and serve along with lime wedges, bottled salsa, crackers and/or tostados.
In addition to the above I added a bit of worchester sauce and tapatio to the cocktail liquid and fresh squeezed lemon juice in addition to the lime juice. Add these things to your taste. I used V8 juice. Add as much of the reserved cooking liquid as you would like in order to get the taste and viscosity of the cocktail liquid you like. I pretty much taste often as I go to make sure the proportions are right. It doesn't ever hurt to have too much cocktail liquid! I can drink that crack straight! The seafood I used was frozen from ranch 99 in Clairemont. I used shrimp, cuttlefish tentacles and cuttlefish bodies cut into rings. I find this dish tastes best when made the night before. SOOOOO delicious!
Lemon Rice Pudding with Coconut
1 cup white rice
2 cups water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
toppings:
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
fresh raspberries, blueberries or other fruit
Place the rice and water into a 2 quart saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes
Add the cream, milk, vanilla, lemon zest and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat, stirring gently and continuously until the rice is thoroughly cooked and very soft- about 20 minutes. The rice should be loose and very "saucy." It will thicken as it cools. Add the lemon juice.
Make the toppings while the rice is cooking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut in a shallow pan and toast to golden brown. Keep a close eye on the coconut, stirring frequently, it will take 7 to 10 minutes.
To serve, spoon the rice pudding into dish and garnish with toasted coconut and berries.
