Tyler's Tap Room

It's been party time at work. Besides going to An, we went out to Tyler's Tap Room a couple of nights ago for beer and a casual dinner.

I like the old warehouses that have been converted into something useful, but Tyler's is a bit of a barn and the lights are very bright.

Tyler's does have a good selection of beers on tap, and they were featuring some local brews that everyone seemed to like, especially after two or three. The dinner menu is loaded with greasy treats like garlic fries and fried pickles.

Fried pickles are wonderfully strange. I cannot decide if I like them or not. They are certainly worth trying for novelty if nothing else.

I had a girlie beer, Unibroue Ephemere, and fish tacos. I ordered the fish tacos thinking they might be kind of healthy only to discover the fish was fried. It included tomato and shredded cabbage wrapped in flour tortilla. It was good, not exceptional. The hamburgers looked good so I may try one at some point. Ephemere is a tasty summer beer. It is pale, refreshing and it reminds me of apples without actually being as sweet as a cider.

Ceviche

I made this recipe last week when it was too hot to think much less cook. Serve it with some tortilla chips and a salad with avocado or guacamole. I used scallops but you can put it any fish or seafood.

Ceviche

1 pound bay scallops (the small ones)

3 limes, juiced

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 small white onion, chopped

1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped

1/2 large tomato, coarsely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

1 handful of chopped cilantro

2 teaspoon olive oil

salt and black pepper to taste

In a large glass or ceramic bowl, gently toss scallops with the lime juice and lemon juice. Mix in onion, cucumber, tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cover bowl, and chill ceviche in refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight. The citrus juices will "cook" the scallops. You can do this with shrimp and fish too.

Blu Seafood and Bar for lunch

Today I had lunch with my girlfriends at the new Blu Seafood and Bar located on Hillsoborough St. just off of 9th St. where Grasshopper used to be.

We shared a plate of calamari for the starter. The calamari were not rubbery which is a major accomplishment around here. The batter wasn't very crisp. I think they need to cook the calamari in hotter oil so the batter cooks immediately and the squid itself only cooks a couple of minutes. It is so hard to get squid right. It turns to rubber quickly. In fact, squid is the one thing I'm actually afraid to cook. The lemon mayonnaise served on the side was nothing spectacular. It needed some fresh garlic to make it more exciting.

My sandwich was yummy! It was a shrimp salad in a hogie roll. The shrimp was chopped and mixed with diced red pepper, green onion, and celery and bound with a bit of mayonnaise. The shrimp was done perfect and the sandwich was very refreshing with a glass of dry gruner vetliner on a hot day like today.

I look forward to trying their dinner menu sometime. I really like fish and seafood but I eat it with trepidation. Seafood Watch puts out a guide for those of you who are interested in eating seafood responsibly.

After lunch, we went to LocoPops. I had Mexican (no surprise) chocolate popcicle and my friends had pomegranite tangerine and plum black current ones. All were mucho delicioso!

Salmon cakes

I love these salmon cakes. They are super easy and quick to make and go perfectly with a green veggie on the side and a dollop of mayonnaise with some dill or chives snipped in it. Many salmon cake recipes call for potatoes. The potatoes work as a filler to stretch the recipe. If you want a straight up salmon cake without alot of filler, just a bit of bread crumb and flour, then this is the best recipe. I found it on Allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (14.75 ounce) can salmon, undrained and flaked
• 1 slice bread, shredded
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together salmon, bread, onion, all-purpose flour, egg, salt and pepper. Shape into four patties.
2. In a large skillet heat oil over high heat. Cook the patties until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Drain briefly on paper towels before serving.