Hawaiian Salmon Sliders with Bren's Tamarind Chutney

I won't go so far as to call myself a loser, but to be honest, it's not often that I'm a winner in games of chance. Take for example, a girls outing in Vegas several months ago. About 17 of my girlfriends and I embarked on a much needed girls' weekend in our nation's Sin City. Somehow, each and every one of these 17 gals seemed to have the magic touch at the casinos. And by magic touch, I mean that they managed to win anything from $5-$5,000. Me? Well, not so much. I even went so far as to park myself next to one of these lucky ladies and mimic their every move/bet/wager to no avail.

Thankfully, my luck in the blogging world is a vast improvement on luck in the "real" world. Bren from Bren's Flanboyant Eats is a food & travel writer extraordinaire. She's so talented that she often gets whisked away to exotic places like Trinidad & Tobago just to eat, travel & enjoy herself. She's also so generous that she holds giveaways so average folks like myself can have a taste of the tropics. I was a lucky recipient of Matouk's tamarind chutney straight from the islands. Thanks, Bren!

I wasn't quite sure what I'd make with this chutney, but one day I was inspired to make salmon sliders when I was hungry and all I could find was some canned salmon in the pantry. Speaking of hungry, hubby has decided to call the oh-so-scary moments when my blood sugar drops and I get cranky, my HANGRY episodes (hungry-angry). Do any of you ever get HANGRY?


Bren, thanks for making me feel like a winner! The chutney was absolutely fabulous with these sliders.

Salmon Sliders
made by me in a fit of hunger
2 cans salmon, drained
1 teaspoon dried dill
2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 c low fat mayo
1 egg & 1 egg white, beaten
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
1/8 cup Heinz Chili Sauce
handful of chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped roasted red pepper

olive oil
Mini Hawaiian Rolls
cucumber slices

In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. With wet hands, roll salmon mixture into small balls large enough to fit on the mini rolls. If mixture is too wet, add more panko crumbs to give the patties structure. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Pan fry salmon sliders until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes on each side. Serve on Hawaiian rolls and top with cucumbers and chutney of your choice.

Jamie Oliver's Tuna Meatballs

Why would I remember anything I could look up?
- Albert Einstein

It's quite often that my friends and I decide to "geek it up" and challenge each other to trivia like "name that state's capital" or "name a college's mascot" or even "name that celebrity's spouse."

...doesn't sound thrilling, I know. However, we somehow manage to argue, debate, and make bets on some of the most mundane of life's facts. Without fail, we nearly always need to settle at least one dispute via Blackberry internet or Google. Ahh, our reliance on technology....

Remember the days when you actually knew your friends' and family's phone numbers by heart? I even used to recall birthdays (all on my own!), and often my dear ones' addresses in the event I needed to send them a card or (gasp) a handwritten letter!

Microsoft Outlook products do all that remembering and organization for me now.

Similarly, I've come to rely on the internet for 98% of my recipes. Don't get me wrong, I have a whole bookshelf of cookbooks, but I somehow always revert to all of your delicious blogs, food websites like Cooking Light and bulletin boards for our next meal ideas.

Realizing I should probably utilize some of my (many) cookbooks, I chose this recipe from Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Jamie's Italy: Le Migliori polpette di tonno or the best tuna meatballs.

As opposed to your typical mom 'n pop veal, beef or lamb meatballs, Jamie's meatballs are a tasty mixture of tuna, pine nuts, Sicilian spices and breadcrumbs. Initially, we weren't sure what to think of this recipe, but being a lover of both tuna and cinnamon, I couldn't pass this up. You heard me right, tuna and cinnamon. Sounds strange, but any combination of my two favorite things in this world couldn't possibly be wrong. And Jamie's accent is just so cute. He couldn't be wrong either. I digress.


Though my tuna meatballs aren't quite as pretty as Jamie's, they're absolutely delicious and amazingly fragrant. I had a little bit of an issue with having the meatballs stick while I was rolling them, so I added a touch of olive oil to the mixture. Other than that, this is a fairly simple, yet delicious meal you all should enjoy! Serve with spaghetti, some toasty bread & a nice bottle of white wine, and enjoy the evening.

Le Migliori Polpette di Tonno, Jamie's best tuna meatballs
adapted from Jamie's Italy

for the tomato sauce
olive oil
1 small sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes (I found these at Trader Joe's)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
about 1 teaspoon of honey
small bunch of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

for the meatballs
14 oz. fresh tuna (not canned)
olive oil
1/4 cup pinenuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
handful of freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
1 3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest and juice from 1/2 lemon.

1/2 box of spaghetti, cooked according to package directions

1. Chop tuna into about a 1 inch dice. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and pour a few rounds of olive oil. Add tuna, pinenuts and cinnamon. Season lightly with salt & pepper to taste. Saute until tuna is browned on all sides, but not cooked all the way through to prevent overcooking. Remove from heat and place into large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

2. Add oregano, parsley, breadcrumbs, Parm, eggs, lemon zest and juice to the bowl. Use your hands and scrunch the mixture together. If the mixture doesn't stick add a few teaspoons of olive oil. Combine well. Roll the mixture into golf-sized balls and place onto an oiled cookie sheet. Allow to sit for one hour.

3. While meatballs are resting, heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
Add onion and garlic and heat slowly until soft, about 8 minutes. Add oregano, tomatoes, salt & pepper and bring to a boil. Add honey and reduce heat to a simmer for 15 minutes. Pour sauce into a blender (or use an immersion blender). Blend/Puree until smooth. Take a taste and add more salt or seasoning if needed.

4. Using the pan you fried the tuna on, add a little more olive oil and place back onto the heat. Add meatballs to the pan and allow to brown on all sides. If the pan isn't big enough, saute in two batches. Add to the sauce when done and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with spaghetti.

TJ's Ginger Senbei Snacks, reviewed

To say the least, today's snack market is overly saturated. Walk down your favorite grocer's junk-food snack aisle and there is surely a treat for every discerning taste: super salty, no salt, a little salt, a little lime, zesty lime, sweet 'n salty, just plain.

With all these options, picking out a snack gets a little exhausting. However, I seem to have found a snack, a holy grail if you will, that makes all all other packaged snacks seem like the spam of the junk food world. Pirate's Booty, Funyuns, and Andy Capp's Hot Fries, move over.

Trader Joe's Ginger Senbei snacks are like little fortune cookies broken up and lightly covered in a sweet ginger coating. Admittedly unauthentic, TJ's packaging explains that "senbei are traditional Japanese crackers" though these ginger senbei benefit from "a little innovation," resulting in "flavors never considered by the Japanese." At least they're honest.


"Think of them as ginger-infused-ice-cream-cones without the ice cream." Need I say anymore?


Though not low in sugar, these snacks are fat free and have only 110 calories per 20 crackers. Not too shabby! I believe I purchased the senbei for about $3/bag. Though I'm grounded from visiting the grocery store this week, I cannot wait to head back out to Trader Joe's for another round of these sweet snacks. I'd love to try them with vanilla frozen yogurt or even as a coating for a dessert treat!What snacks are your holy grail?