Kate’s Cooking: Summer Cooking - Tuna and Chorizo

Greetings folks. Well here comes the very hot weather in the desert south west and here comes the season of what I like to call ‘fast cooking’. Fun salads, filling for tacos and hot meals that are easy are some examples. It is a good idea to cook at night, a little ahead if you can. This cuts down on the heat in the kitchen. Ingredients today are varied and the dishes revolve around tuna and chorizo sausage. I so like working with both of these. You can buy tuna fairly cheaply in supermarkets and chorizo also but if you are near a super Mercado or a Mexican supermarket then I would recommend that you buy your chorizo there. The first recipe is a family favorite again. It is a tuna shepherd’s pie. The second recipe is simple tacos based on chorizo as a change from ground beef and taco seasonings.


TUNA SHEPHERD’S PIE

Firstly, let me say that I generally cook this in the microwave but there is no reason that it can be put together on the stove top.

1 can tuna (small is fine)
Mashed potatoes (flaked – a 6 serving measure or 3 large potatoes – cooked and mashed)
1 large onion – chopped medium

1 fresh corn cob - stripped
Flour, milk and margarine
Fajita seasoning
3 pieces of bread – fresh crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons cheese (optional) Side Dressing: ketchup, mayonnaise & finely sliced tops green onions or chives

Put onion in a microwave bowl along with 3 tablespoons margarine and cook for about 4 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons fajita seasoning and stir. Add 3 tablespoons flour and stir until mixed and add approx. 2 cups milk and cook until thick. You need a thick sauce base. Add tuna that has been drained. Place the mix in a microwave casserole. Cover with the mashed potatoes then the breadcrumbs and dot with pieces of the cheese (if used). Reheat until the center is hot and serve with the side dressing. You don’t, of course, have to use the dressing – it is one of our family’s weird tastes! This recipe is nice all mixed up together in a giant mush and used on sandwiches and in tacos or tortillas.

CHORIZO filling for tacos or tortillas.

This is as simple as you can get. Take your chorizo sausage and split the skin and squeeze it out into a smaller frypan (skillet). It is not necessary to add any oil. Just don’t have the pan on a high heat. Add 1 x red onion that has been chopped. As an alternative to using sliced lettuce in the tortilla or taco, try using spinach with a little vinegar (of choice) sprinkled on it. Use your own choice of shredded cheese, dressing (chipotle is great) and chopped tomatoes as fillers. These are so delicious, take next to no time to make and you don’t end up with a hot kitchen.

SOMETHING TO NOTE:

If you live in a very hot climate (as is our summer here) then don’t forget to drink tea. Iced tea is a wonderful pleasure to imbibe in the hot weather. In the middle east they drink a lot of mint tea and this is great. Mint is easy to grow – use a large margarine pot for the base with a few stones in the bottom and some good potting mix. Keep it moist but not overly so and there is your ‘tea’ leaves. Rosemary tea is also very nice and good for your stomach. This herb can be grown in a pot to and outside as a tree. It is a wonderful herb to use with meat dishes. We drink a lot of green tea. I make it in a juice bottle (plastic) and use 4 tea bags to the 64oz. size and I put it in the window sill and it takes no time at all to mix. We like to mix our green tea with a little orange juice when we have it. It is so important in the summer time to keep hydrated and when my husband has finished using his soda bottles I clean them and fill them with water and put them in the fridge. He doesn’t drink a lot of soda just occasionally. Soda may taste nice but it is really not good for you in bulk.

Well that’s it for this week. Take care out there wherever you are and if you have any ethnic recipes you might like to send me, I would be so very happy to receive them.

This is my other ‘kitchen supervisor’ – her name is Miss Daisy and she is stretching out for anything I will give her. Namely tuna water – her favorite. God bless you and keep well. Cheers, Kate.