Tuna patties with cucumber slices.

Today I had some leftover rice and decided to make an old fashioned favorite, tuna patties. I love them because they are easy to improvise. Like meatloaf, they become whatever is in the fridge, and are deliciously different every time.

I used three cans of albacore drained of their liquid, about a cup of cooked rice and three small potatoes boiled and soft with the skins. Mashed together with two eggs,green onions and orange bell pepper diced finely, I added poultry seasoning and some fresh ground pepper. After chilling for about a half hour I rolled them into patties and coated them in some bread crumbs I made from a half a baguette covered in sesame seeds. They fried up beautifully in some olive oil and butter, but these can be baked also. I just love the crunch you get when you pan fry them.

I still had some pesto left over from last night so I used it to top one patty. The other mysterious sauce is yes, ketchup. Tuna patties can seem so unsophisticated with their ketchup topping, but paired with the pesto and topped with asiago cheese it tasted very gourmet. On the side I sliced some cucumber and drizzled with a honey mustard sauce.

Pesto chicken and sesame glazed carrots and homemade donuts.

Last night Paul made pesto from our huge basil plants. It didn't even look like he picked any! Sauteed chicken in olive oil and butter. I made sesame glazed carrots with brown sugar and hot chili sesame oil.



For dessert I made donuts from Pillsbury biscuit dough! They turned out really light. Next time I will fill them with pudding or maybe jam. They kind of look like little jelly donuts. I coated them with sugar, and we ate them with chocolate pudding. Yum.

Next Day Curry

So yesterday it was potroast, which was of course way too big for just two people. Today I simmered the leftover fatty hunks of meat for 2 hours and trimmed off all the remaining fat, cutting the beef into small pieces which largely shredded up. Most of the liquid reduced and I added peas, onion and bamboo pieces. To this I added about a 1 1/2 cups coconut milk and simmered it for another hour til it reduced. Some nice madras curry paste made this a lovely aromatic pot.

Potroast

I love a good rustic potroast. The ambient sounds and hypnotic simmering are posted for your enjoyment. Unfortunately smellevision is not available, as it was divine.