Fresh Scallop Ceviche

Made with Jersey hand-dived scallops, onion, cilantro and chili peppers, this spicy fresh scallop ceviche is a delicious start to any special meal. Or a light lunch!

Among the best benefits of living on an island is the gorgeous seafood that is available. It may cost more than buying from the freezer section of your supermarket but as a treat, it is so worth it!

As a bonus, hand-dived scallops are more sustainable and eco-friendly. Often supermarket scallops have been harvested by dredging which causes severe ecological harm by dragging heavy metal rakes across the seabed. This method damages fragile habitats (like coral reefs and biogenic reefs), scoops up large amounts of unwanted bycatch (non-target species like crabs and fish.) It also fatally chips or crushes a significant percentage of both harvested and discarded scallops. 

I learned about our scallop divers on a local Facebook group where a family member of the divers posts when she’ll have scallops available for pick up from her home. They are shucked and packed up in one-pound bags, £11 each. When I see her posts, I can’t resist asking her to put my name on at least one bag!

The scallops are so fresh that often I just clean them up and we eat them sliced as sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi paste. Divine! This is the first time I made ceviche with them but it won’t be the last. 

Fresh Scallop Ceviche

For the chili peppers, I used a mix of red and yellow – the ají amarillo is a traditional Peruvian pepper but hard to come by in the rest of the world. I was fortunate to have a friend who was growing them and shared a small plant with me! Use all red if that’s what you’ve got. 

Ingredients

12 fresh scallops (weight with roe 15 oz or 425g)

Juice 3 seedless limes

½ small purple onion (about 60g)

2-4 fresh chili peppers

1 bunch cilantro (about 25g)

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Method

Finely slice the half onion and mince the chili peppers. 

Put them in a non-reactive bowl with the salt and then squeeze the lime juice over them. Leave to macerate while you clean the scallops.

Remove the roe and the tough “foot” from the scallops. I find the best way is just to use your clean fingers to gently separate them. Using a sharp knife, I end up inevitably cutting the scallop by accident.

Discard the “foot” but what you do with the roe is up to you. A lot of people like to pan-fry it with butter and garlic but personally, I’m not a fan of the texture. I have salted and dried it to make bottarga.

Slice the scallops into three circles each. 

Pull the leaves off of the cilantro stems and chop them finely.

Add the scallop rounds to the lime juice bowl and stir gently to combine. 

Try to tuck the scallops down into the juice and mostly under the onions and peppers. 

Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate. Set a timer for 30 minutes.

When the timer rings, gently stir the ceviche making sure that any scallops that were near the top, are now right under.

Add in the chopped cilantro but do not stir yet. 

Just use a spoon to press it down into the lime juice as best you can.

Set a timer for another 30 minutes.

When the time rings, gently stir the cilantro into the mixture. The scallop ceviche is ready to serve!

As you can see, I plated some of mine up in little lettuce leaves, three or four scallop rounds per leaf, making sure to add some of the lovely onions, cilantro and peppers. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing ceviche recipes ahead of National Ceviche Day on 28 June. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Cam. Check out the links below.

• Ceviche de Camaron - Shrimp Ceviche from Sneha's Recipe
• Fresh Scallop Ceviche from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Spicy Barbecue Sauce

A perfect blend of sweet and savory, this flavorful spicy barbecue sauce is great slathered on chicken and pork ribs or even grilled vegetables. Serve extra on the side for those of us (me!) who also like to dip. 

Living overseas in tiny oilfield towns early in my married life, I discovered that some items most Americans would consider normal essentials, like barbecue sauce and Jif peanut butter, simply were not available. I learned to adapt by either doing without, making my own or trying to bring some back in our suitcases after a trip stateside.

When we wanted barbecue sauce, this recipe is the one I made most often, sometimes adding some smoked bacon, which adds an additional smoky touch, for when I didn’t have liquid smoke, or sometimes even when I did! Because bacon makes everything better.

Brush this sauce on the meat or vegetables on the grill when they are just about cooked so that it doesn't scorch. If you brush it on too early, you risk it burning because of the sugar in the sauce both from the brown sugar and what is already in the prepared ketchup. 

Spicy Barbecue Sauce

If you need this spicy barbecue sauce to be vegetarian, do use the Henderson’s Relish instead of Worcestershire sauce, which has anchovies in it. Failing that, you can add soy sauce instead. For the ketchup, use your favorite brand or even a store brand. It won’t much matter once the other things are added. This recipe makes almost 2 ½ cups or 570ml.

Ingredients

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

14 oz or 397ml ketchup 

3/4 cup or 180ml cider vinegar

1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar

2/3 cup or 132g dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or Henderson’s Relish

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Method

Mince the onion finely or use a small food processor to get little bits. You don't want it pureed, just not chunky. 

In a pot large enough to hold all of your ingredients, sauté the onion with the olive oil over a medium heat until it has softened completely and no longer smells strongly of onion. You are looking for a little color, some caramelization, all the better for creating flavor.

Add all the other ingredients to the onion pot.

Bring it to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes.

Cool and store in a sterilized jar in the refrigerator until ready to use. Because of the vinegar content, I find that this is good for quite a while once refrigerated. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for your cookout get-togethers! Snacks, side dishes, sauces, dressings, salads or desserts - all good. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below. 

• Caribbean Pineapple & Honey Mustard Pork Chops from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Eggless & Gluten Free Orange Pots from Sneha's Recipe
• Green Goddess Dressing from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Barbecue Sauce from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet and Savory Party Mix from A Messy Kitchen
• Viral Japanese Cheesecake from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Watermelon Radish and Cucumber Salad from Karen's Kitchen Stories

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing

This Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing is made with the carrots in escabeche that come in canned pickled jalapeños. Bright and tasty, it’s great on salads. Also good as a dip for crudités, especially little carrots. Just saying.

I don’t know about you, but we always have a Tupperware full of whole jalapeños stashed in the refrigerator. Can't eat a lot of dishes without them. (Looking at you, fried chicken and grilled chicken tacos.) It’s one of those tall guys with a strainer inside so you can lift the jalapeños out of the juice easily. The Tupperware people call it a Pick-A-Deli® Container and it’s great for pickles, olives and, of course, jalapeños. 

When we run out of jalapeños and I have to open a new can, I need to tip a bit of the juice out of the Tupperware to make room for the new stuff. And sometimes, if it’s been a while, I have to take out some of the left-behind carrots and onions too or the whole new can won’t fit. I know some people simply eat these spicy pickled carrots as a snack but we really don’t, so there are always carrots leftover at the end of the jalapeños.

The other day I removed about 4 ounces or 112g of carrots and was looking for something to use them in. You know, not to have a container of pickled carrots just sitting in the fridge. And, no, I could not throw them out! Bite your tongue. My grandfather came of age in the Great Depression so my mother was raised by him and I think frugality came down to me by a genetic disposition. Look it up. It's a thing.  

In my search, I came across lots of recipes for a carrot ginger dressing that is apparently a popular Japanese restaurant thing. Who knew? This dressing is not that but, boy, is it good! I could eat it with a spoon. Plus, now I have a jar of dressing I WILL USE instead of pickled carrots that I will not. 

Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing

The carrots in escabeche are an essential part of the recipe for canned pickled jalapeños, for flavor, adding a some carrot-y sweetness and helping to balance the spiciness of the peppers. They are not just cheaper filler for the can as I thought before researching this! This dressing recipe is adapted from one by Andrew Zimmern. His is made with cooked carrots, not escabeche ones. Missed a trick, Andrew.

Ingredients

4 oz or 112g carrots in escabeche 

1/3 cup or 80ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml rice vinegar

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 shallot, chopped

1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste, I added just one)

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. 

We like a thicker dressing but you can add a little water to thin it, if you prefer. Serve over your favorite salad! Or use the thicker dressing for dipping faux baby carrots.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing some of our favorite carrot recipes. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below.

• Carrot Cake Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Carrot Pudding from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Carrot Fries from Mildly Indian
• Carrot Roulade from Sneha's Recipe
• Grilled Carrots from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Nomato Soup - a Faux Tomato Soup with Carrots from A Messy Kitchen
• Roasted Carrots with Burrata from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Watermelon Strawberry Feta Salad

Sweet and savory, fruity and refreshing, this watermelon strawberry feta salad is tossed with honey and balsamic vinegar and fresh mint leaves. Don't forget the black pepper as well! 

Growing up in my home of origin, we always sprinkled salt on watermelon. Is it a Louisiana thing or maybe a southern thing? I don’t know! But I can tell you that the addition of a little salt brings out the innate sweetness of ripe watermelon and even helps the less than perfectly ripe ones taste sweeter somehow. 

Next let’s talk about the strawberries. Not something I grew up with, but there is a contingent of the general population that swears by adding freshly ground black pepper to enhance their strawberriness. Apparently, according to Google, “the piperine in black pepper neutralizes the fruit's natural acidity while elevating its inherent sweetness.” Many claim the same effect from adding a touch of balsamic vinegar.

Take all that together and that’s why I knew that salty feta cheese and aromatic black pepper would be a great addition to a fruit salad made with watermelon and strawberries and dressed with honey and balsamic. 

Watermelon Strawberry Feta Salad

This served two hungry, greedy people but if you have other dishes, it would absolutely stretch to four. That said, it’s also easily doubled AND the weight of ingredients you use is flexible. I give my amounts below as a guideline. This fruity salad is the perfect breakfast, brunch or lunch dish. 

Ingredients

8 oz or 225g strawberries, weight after hulling

10 2/3 oz or 300g watermelon, cut in chunks

Big sprig fresh mint

1 oz or 28g goat or sheep milk feta

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar

Method

After hulling, slice the strawberries in pieces. 

Give them a quick rinse and gentle spin to dry them.

Cut the watermelon into small cubes.

Pick the leaves off of the mint stem and give them a wash and spin. 

Add the watermelon and strawberries to a large bowl. 

Crumble in the feta and add the mint leaves, along with a few generous grinds of black pepper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and balsamic vinegar. 

Drizzle the mixture over the salad. Toss lightly to combine. 

Serve immediately at room temperature for best flavor but chill if you aren’t ready to serve right away. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with strawberries in celebration of Pick Strawberries Day which is 20 May. Many thanks to Camilla of Culinary Cam for the theme and to Sneha from Sneha's Recipe for hosting in her stead. Check out the links below. 

• Grilled Chicken Breasts with Strawberry Butter from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Iced Strawberry Basil Hand Pies from A Messy Kitchen
• Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Strawberry Neapolitan Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Strawberry Butter from Making Miracles
• Vanilla Cheesecake with Strawberry Curd Topping from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
• Vegan Strawberry Dream Cake - No Bake from Sneha’s Recipe
• Watermelon Strawberry Feta Salad from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Thai Chicken Summer Rolls

These Thai chicken summer rolls are filled with peanut saucy noodles, Thai basil, carrot, cucumber, cilantro and, of course, chicken. With more peanut sauce on the side. 

Our host for today’s Sunday FunDay event asked us to make summer rolls so that’s what I’ve named these guys but, honestly, at our house, we usually call these spring rolls. But I guess that gets confusing with fried spring rolls aka eggrolls also being called the same thing. 

One of the very first recipes I ever shared back in my first year of blogging was a version of this made with shrimp and a Thai sweet and sour chili sauce. So good! They hit the spot when I was feeling very homesick for Kuala Lumpur after a move to Cairo.

If you cannot be bothered to make rolls, my shrimp spring roll bowls are the ticket. So easy. 

Thai Chicken Summer Rolls

For the peanut sauce, I like to use a mix of crunchy and smooth because it looks more like the satay sauce you find in Southeast Asia. If you only have one or the other, use what you have! Still gonna taste delicious. If you cannot find Thai basil, you can substitute regular basil but it won’t have the same almost licoricey/aniseed flavor. Or you can just add more cilantro or use mint leaves which are another herb typical in Thai cooking.

Ingredients

For summer rolls:

2 ½ oz or 71g bean thread noodles (2 nests or bundles)

5 1/3 oz or 150g cooked chicken


1 large carrot

1/2 seedless cucumber 

1 tablespoon fish sauce


1 tablespoon dark brown sugar


2 tablespoons rice vinegar


8 large rice paper wrappers aka spring roll skins

Small bunch cilantro


Small bunch Thai basil

Optional: 1 large jalapeño pepper

For the peanut sauce:

1 cup or 240ml peanut butter

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce


2 tablespoons rice vinegar


3 cloves garlic, grated


2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

Optional: minced red chili pepper

½ cup or 240ml boiling water

Method

First, make the peanut sauce so the ingredients have time to meld together. Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, if using, and boiling water until smooth. 

Set aside.

Place the bean thread noodles in medium heatproof bowl, cover with almost boiling water; let stand about 5 minutes or until just tender, drain and rinse with cool water. Set aside to drain. 

Using kitchen scissors, cut the noodles into random lengths.

Julienne the carrot and cucumber. My cucumber said it was seedless but I still had to scrape the seeds out! I find a grapefruit spoon is the best tool for this.

Pinch off the tough stems from the cilantro and discard.

Pinch the leaves off of the Thai basil. Discard the stems. 

If using, cut the jalapeño in half and scrape the inside clean of seeds and membrane. Slice into thin slices. 




Slice the chicken into pieces. 

In a medium bowl, mix together the fish sauce, sugar and vinegar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the noodles and toss to coat. 

Add about ¼ of the peanut sauce.

Toss again. 

To assemble the rolls, place one rice paper wrapper in plate of warm water until just softened. 

Lift the wrapper carefully, letting the excess water drip off. I used my clean quartz countertop as the filling/rolling surface but you can use a clean flat plate, if you’d like. 

Place some of the filling horizontally in the center of the sheet closer to you starting with some Thai basil leaves and tender sprigs of cilantro. Top with some cucumber and carrot slices and a slice or two of jalapeño, if using. 

Top with 1/8 of the chicken. 

Finally, 1/8 of the noodles

Fold edge closest to you up and over the filling. Fold in the sides. 

Roll the sheet to enclose filling. The end will stick nicely as it rolls, securing your roll. 

Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Place the filled rolls on a large plate where they won’t touch UNLESS you are serving them immediately, otherwise, they like to stick to each other. Again, if not serving immediately, cover with cling film or a damp cloth and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with warmed peanut sauce on the side. 

Enjoy!

 

It's Sunday FunDay and today, as mentioned above, we sharing recipes for summer rolls made with rice paper wrappers. Many thanks to our host, Renu of Cook with Renu. 

• Easy Fruit Summer Rolls with Feta and Mango Chili Sauce from Cook with Renu
• Low Carb Cheesy Rice Paper Chicken Wraps from Sneha's Recipe
• Thai Chicken Summer Rolls from Food Lust People Love
• Shrimp Rice Paper Rolls from Making Miracles
• Shrimp and Veggie Summer Rolls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Vegan Summer Rolls from Mayuri's Jikoni

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin these Thai Chicken Summer Rolls! 

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