Summer Deliciousness and My Culinary Muscles

Pretty much everyone who knows me knows cooking is not necessarily on my radar. Thank goodness Marco loves to cook, or else I would probablly not eat at all! Well, I had a few days off and decided to try out some fun summer recipes. Here are two of my favorites. Flexing my culinary muscles actually felt pretty good! Enjoy!

Shrimp Ceviche



• 1 pound medium-small shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used ½ lb)
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 3/4 cup lime juice (juice from 4-6 limes)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice (juice from 2-3 lemons)
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 serrano chile, ribs and seeds removed, minced (I used a Poblano b/c Serrano is too hot for me )
• 1 cup chopped cilantro (I used much less b/c I don’t like cilantro)
• 1 cucumber, peeled diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 avocado, peeled, seed removed, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Method
1 In a large pot, bring to a boil 4 quarts of water, salted with 2 Tbsp salt. Add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute to 2 minutes max, depending on size of shrimp. (Over-cooking the shrimp will turn it rubbery.) Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
2 Drain the shrimp. Cut each piece of shrimp in half, or into inch-long pieces. Place shrimp in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix in the lime and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour.
3 Mix in the chopped red onion and serrano (or poblano) chile. Refrigerate an additional half hour.
4 Right before serving, add the cilantro, cucumber, and avocado.

Homemade Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream



Ingredients
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
...• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 drops green food coloring (optional)
• 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and peppermint extract until the sugar has dissolved. Color to your liking with the green food coloring. (I used 4 drops)

2. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. After about 20 minutes into the freezing, add the chocolate chips. After the ice cream has thickened, about 30 minutes later, spoon into a container, and freeze for 2 hours. (put in the back of the freezer)