Recently we discovered Tacombi, a taco concept that began five years ago on the beaches of Mexico. There, the chef turned a converted Volkswagen microbus into a taco truck. Last year Tacombi moved shop to the Nolita neighborhood of New York City, serving tacos and Mexican beers from the different culinary regions of Mexico. Check out Tacombi.com.

We asked chef Luis Aguilar about new directions to take a basic chicken taco. His concepts are below. But the overall tip is: Whatever “flavor” of taco you’re working on, look through the ingredients at hand and get inspired to make something you’ve never made before.

CHICKEN TACO RECIPE IDEAS

How many ways can you garnish a basic
chicken taco? Photo courtesy McCormick.com.

 
HAVE OTHER IDEAS? LET US KNOW!
  

[1] Don’t have a proper shrimp cocktail glass? Use what you do have, from a julep glass to a Martini glass or anything other stemware. Note also that instead of cocktail sauce, the shrimp are paired with pesto (photo © Butter Restaurant | NYC).

[2] Or, how about serving the shrimp with salsa? Here, pico de gallo hits the spot (photo © Simply Organic | Facebook).

[3] This deconstructed shrimp cocktail is served with two sauces and a grilled lemon (photo © Payard Restaurant | New York City).

[4] How about serving the shrimp cocktail on lettuce leaves? Or, you can cut the shrimp into pieces that fit into a leaf of endive (photo © Goulash Riot | Bluebird London).

[5] Consider grilling the shrimp, plain or with tandoori spices (photo © Prawn & Basil | Thousand Oaks, California).

[6] At the end of the day, a plain plate and a ramekin of sauce will do (photo © Citarella | NYC).

National Shrimp Day is on May 10th, celebrating America’s favorite seafood, shrimp. For many people, the classiest first course for a steakhouse dinner is a shrimp cocktail. It’s also one of the easiest to make at home, typically a simple preparation of shredded lettuce and boiled shrimp, garnished with cocktail sauce and a lemon wedge. The “classy” part is that a shrimp cocktail is popularly served in a stemmed dish.

Shrimp cocktail is not only easy to prepare, but it’s also healthful fare, low in calories.

But there’s no need to stick to Grandma’s shrimp cocktail preparation. Switch it up with these ideas.
 
 
1. DISHWARE

You don’t need stemmed glass “shrimp cocktail dishes.” A pretty arrangement on a plate will work, as will a coupe (sherbet Champagne) glass, a Martini glass, Margarita glass, or a rocks glass.

Not to mention the julep glass in photo #1.

Standard plates and bowls with ramekins (or shot glasses) of sauce will work, too. See photo #6.
 
 
2. GREENS

Switch up the greens. Instead of the conventional iceberg or romaine lettuce underneath the shrimp, use butter lettuce, a mesclun mix, arugula or watercress, or shredded radicchio and endive.

Or take that romaine or butter lettuce leaf and fill it with the shrimp cocktail: shrimp drizzled with sauce (photo #4).

You can also cut the shrimp into sizes that fit into an endive leaf boat.

You can use the shrimp to garnish an iceberg wedge (we used toothpicks to skewer them into the top of the wedge).

You can go in a completely different direction: Serve the shrimp on top of cucumber salad, pink and white grapefruit salad with red onion, red cabbage salad, wilted spinach, watercress salad.

Set the shrimp atop marinated green beans, bean salad, corn salad, or purple potato salad.

Or, serve an individual bowl of shrimp on a plate with different dipping sauces, as they do at Payard restaurant in New York City (photo #3).

You don’t need a special plate: just a bowl for the shrimp and ramekins or shot glasses for the sauces (photo #6).

Check out this Asian-inspired salad recipe.
 
 
3. MULTIPLE DRESSINGS, DIFFERENT DRESSINGS

Cocktail sauce (see the recipe below) is traditional, but you don’t need to stick with tradition. Add curry powder or some mild fresh chile to spice up a conventional cocktail sauce, or use salsa, like the pico de gallo salsa in photo #2.

Thousand island dressing, rémoulade, green goddess or other favorite works just as well.

Spicy mayonnaise is also an option, as is the surf-and-turf suggestion of Baconnaise, a delicious bacon-flavored mayonnaise.
 
 
4. CREATIVE GARNISHES

A lemon or lime wedge adds color to the plate and a hit of citrus juice is welcome in just about anything.

How about a garnish of chopped hard-boiled egg or even crumbled bacon (another surf-and-turf).

You can serve a garnish like a hard-boiled egg or sliced avocado or mango on a plate, arranged with the shrimp and the sauce.

Consider additional garnish options, from snipped chives, scallions, or a few different olives to crumbled bacon (surf and turf again!) to a sweet counterpoint, such as a small pineapple wedge or cube, or lychee.

We also like a scattering of freeze-dried vegetable snacks like Crunchies.
 
 
5. THE SHRIMP ITSELF

Instead of boiled shrimp, you can grill the shrimp over coals or fire for that special grilled flavor.

Consider tandoor or other global spices for even more panache.
 
 
RECIPE: MOM’S COCKTAIL SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BLEND the ingredients.

2. CHILL for two hours or longer to allow flavors to meld.
 
 
What’s your approach to shrimp cocktail? Let us know!

[1] Mmm, gumdrops (photo © Farley’s & Sathers).

[2] Gumdrops with spice flavors are called spice drops. You can get these from the Vermont Country Store (photo © Vermont Country Store).

February 15th National Gumdrop Day.

Gumdrops are a chewy, brightly-colored, fruit-flavored confection, usually shaped like a truncated cone, and coated in granulated sugar.

When they’re flavored with spices (allspice, cinnamon, clove, licorice, peppermint, and wintergreen, for example) they’re called spice drops.

Outside the U.S., according to Wikipedia, the candy is known as American hard gums or hard gum candy.
 
 
GUMDROPS HISTORY

Gumdrops are believed to be an American invention, but the date and the inventor are lost to history (along with the origin of the phrase, “goody goody gumdrops”*).

The earliest known printed reference is an advertisement from The Illinois State Chronicle in 1859, from confectioner George Julier who offered “Fresh GumDrops, assorted flavor wholesale or retail.”

Invention can predate reference by decades or much longer. The earlier in history, the less printed material survives. The actual date could be hundreds of years earlier.

The Candy Land board game, invented in 1945, features both a Gumdrop Pass and a Gumdrop Mountain as enticing topography.

Gumdrops are progenitors of the pectin- or gelatin-based group of candies that includes Dots, jelly beans, Jujubes, and gummy candies.

Although gumdrops and their siblings, spearmint leaves and orange slices, have fallen out of fashion in favor of gummy candies, they are still popular with bakers (for garnishing cakes and cupcakes) and crafters.

Check out these flower cupcakes with gumdrops.

And where would gingerbread houses be without that gumdrop decor?

We think it’s time to get gummy with it, gumdrop-style. So track down some gumdrops and celebrate National Gumdrop Day. You may just find yourself asking, “Why don’t I enjoy these more often?”

If you want to make your own, there are quite a few recipes online. Here’s one, for starters.

_________________

*The phrase appears to be an expression of delight, at receiving gumdrops. The first known example in print is in a cartoon published in the Oakland Tribune in 1936 [source].
 
 

As much as we love that can of Bumble Bee, our favorite tuna salad is New School, made with seared tuna.

You can use your favorite salad ingredients, but we prefer something a bit different. Adding a bit of the seaweed salad available at many markets is an inspired choice! Shredding the ingredients into a slaw style adds even more interest.

This recipe serves four. You can substitute salmon for the tuna. Either fish can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled.

SEARED TUNA SALAD

FOR THE SALAD Ingredients

Seared tuna loin with a big, healthy salad. Photo courtesy Arch Rock Fish Restaurant | Santa Barbara.

 
FOR THE DRESSING

Preparation

1. COMBINE salad ingredients.

2. WHISK together the dressing ingredients.
 
FOR THE TUNA

Ingredients

Preparation

1. MIX together the two types of sesame seeds. Take a few minutes to toast them—the flavor is worth it. Use a large dry frying pan over medium heat. Add the sesame seeds in a single layer. Toast, shaking the pan occasionally; remove the seeds when they grow darker and fragrant.

2. SEASON tuna with salt and pepper. Dredge in the sesame seeds, coating the tuna evenly.

3. WARM the oil until smoking, using a nonstick pan. Add tuna steaks and cook about a minute, until the white sesame seeds begin to turn golden. Turn the tuna and cook for another minute.

4. REMOVE tuna to a cutting board and cut as you prefer into salad-size slices.

5. TOSS salad ingredients with dressing right before serving. Plate with tuna, garnish as desired and serve.
 
We make this dish at least once a week, for lunch or dinner. It’s so good, and good for you!

But it tastes just as good as a Valentine treat (or a Christmas treat or a “because it’s Thursday” treat).

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIE COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Cocktail

1. RIM a Martini glass with chocolate syrup and crushed candy canes.

2. COMBINE ingredients in a shaker with ice; shake and strain into glass.

4. SERVE with a kiss!