culinary adventures on the jay oh bee…
fresh lime| mayonnaise| plain yogurt| onions| tuna fish| bell peppers| pickled jalapeños| cilantro
I’m going to be really honest. I don’t like most people’s food. Potlucks scare me. I still try, though. And I get super excited and can’t shut up when something rocks my world.
I tend to ask a lot of questions when folks are offering up food. Lorena and I played like 40 questions when she was passing around cookies once. I think it scarred her. I’m usually the last person she offers anything to now. Hey, I get a minute to gauge from everybody’s questions and reactions whether I should just take a pass. I’m okay with that.
A few weeks before I was set to leave the CubeFarm, she hesitantly asked if I wanted to try some of her mother’s tuna salad.
I was in a Why Not? mood. Verdict: OH, MY WORD! We all kept grabbing more crackers and digging in. It’s kind of funny how surprised she was.
You know what was next, right? I needed to know why I’d never tasted tuna salad like this before. I love my momma’s, but, um, it ain’t this. So… the questions and answers.
THAT Tuna Salad!
adapted from Lorena P’s adaptation of her mom’s recipe
2 tins of tuna fish
mayonnaise
plain yogurt
2 whole limes, juiced
1 pickled jalapeño, chopped w/seeds*
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium bell pepper
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of pickle jalapeño liquid
handful of cilantro, chopped (20? stems)
It’s so simple. And it’s all about your making it to your taste. Add the tuna, onions, bell peppers, cilantro, and chopped jalapeño to a mixing bowl. Juice the limes. I like a bit of pulp, so I use a reamer right over the bowl. Add pickle liquid.
Here’s the thing: how much mayo you add is really up to you. Do you like your tuna loose/wet or kind of not? I don’t really measure my mayo because it depends on how big that medium onion is or if I’m in the mood to add the whole green pepper. So add what you like. Start out with adding a tablespoon at a time if you’re not sure how much to add. Whatever amount of mayonnaise I’m adding, I do 2/3 mayo and 1/3 yogurt. It adds another dimension to the flavor and texture.
Um, there’s a bit of heat, but not like if it were fresh. I keep the seeds, you can do as you please. Lorena’s mom actually just uses the pickle juice and puts fresh jalapeños in her tuna.
Don’t forget to salt & pepper to taste. There’s something about that last hit of salt that just makes this just… ahhhh.
The Story I Heard: After all my questions, LP started offering up info. I like that. She explained that her mother didn’t like the smell of the tuna, so she started adding lime juice. She laughed when she said her mom puts cilantro in everything. It gave me a chance to see a different part of Lorena.
The stories, also, helped in the store. Lots of pickled peppers. You go see what I mean. Hello, Variety. LP and her mom use La Costeña* with the carrot and onion on the label.
The NikkiBits: I like. Lots. It’s funny that my mom still isn’t far. She was all about stretching a can of tuna. I was raised that tuna wasn’t tuna without onions, celery and green pepper. I forgot I was out of celery, otherwise it would have been in there.
It’s killing me right now trying to forget about the bowl in the fridge. I want to be able to tell you what it’s like with a little time to sit and set up. It hurts bad. I want it. You don’t understand what I’m doing for you. I’ve got the shakes.
What’sNext: If I could I actually make mayo and not another disaster, then I would def use that for my tuna. I have to try to figure out what the flavors in the pickling liquid before I try pickling my own. For now, it’s going just be a lot of tuna salad until I run it into the ground which could be months from now.
Try it. I think you might like it.
N♥