Tomato salad for steak dinners

I make this salad more as a topping than a salad but I often place on the side of the plate as well. Goes incredibly well with steaks but other red meats also.


Ingredients:

1 bunch of cherry tomatoes
1/2 bunch of parsley leafs
2 small shallots
1/2 lemon
salt & pepper
olive oil

cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and place in bowl with chopped parsley and thinly sliced shallots. Squeeze in juice of lemon and add one table spoon of olive oil. Add salt & pepper and mix well. Set aside for approximately 10 minutes with occasional stirring.

Shrimp Ceviche

This is not a true ceviche as I do not "cook" the shrimp solely in lime juice for the obvious health reasons. In addition, I add a few non-traditional ingredients but all in all, it's fairly close.


Ingredients:

1 pound of small barely cooked shrimp (I'm not sure of this amount as I usually eyeball stuff... I think this is close, you may want a little less)
2/3 pieces of garlic (diced)
5 green onions (whites and a bit of the green stem chopped)
12 key limes (8 regular if you must)
1 avocado (cut into small pieces)
.5 bunch of cilantro (chopped)
.5 cucumber (peeled, seeded and cut into small pieces)
2 bunches of cherry tomatoes cut into quarters (you can use regular tomatoes if you have to but it just won't be the same)

In a glass or ceramic bowl, mix together all ingredients except avocado and limes. Squeeze juice from limes and mix again. If you do not have a citrus squeezer then I would add four or so more limes to this receipt as it is difficult to get all of the juice out of those suckers otherwise. Cover and place in refrigerator for an hour, stirring twice during this time. After mixture has been in the refrigerator for an hour, add avocado pieces and serve immedietely.

I generally serve this in a glass as it seems to be the best way to go however, you could serve in large bowl and chips if you like.

Bolognese sauce

I have no idea if this is any where near the traditional sauce but it tastes damn good. This recipe makes one gallon of sauce. We generally eat one quarter of the sauce when I make it and store the remaining sauce in quart size containers in the freezer. When thawing, place in sauce pan and reheat on low heat.

Ingredients:

1.25 pounds ground lamb meat
1.25 ground beef
12-15 mushrooms (diced)
3-5 piece of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic)
1 white onion chopped
3 28oz cans of whole peeled tomatos
1 can tomato paste
4 bay leaves
.5 bottle of red wine

In a very large pot fry the onion, garlic & bay leaves for a few minutes and then add meat. Fry meat until brown. Add diced mushrooms and continue to cook. squeeze, by hand, each of the tomatoes from the can. Make sure to crush each tomato as much as possible. CAUTION: the tomatoes will squirt juice everywhere if you're not careful. Drop each tomato into the meat mixture until all tomatoes are mixed in. Pour juice from cans into the mixture. Cook for .20 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the red wine, stir and lower heat to low. Cook sauce for 1.5 - 2 hours on low heat. Sauce should be meaty and thick but it not, add just a bit of corn starch to thicken.