Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Ceviche

Ceviche is one of my favorite things to eat.  I got hooked on it when I worked at Cafe Marimba, a Oaxacan restaurant in San Francisco.  Sadly, the restaurant is no longer around but I remember very clearly the ceviche and the little bump of an ingredient that was used to make it unique to the restaurant--it was the addition of "el topil"-- the chipotle salsa that was new to the culinary scene back then (yes, this was that long ago.)  Now is a fantastic time to make a ceviche of your own, you can get all the ingredients locally and they are at their peak of ripeness.  I got my fish from Mission Fresh Fish at the Thursday Farmer's Market in San Rafael.  I used a combination of snapper, halibut, and bay shrimp all retrieved from local waters, even the shrimp.  Do not bother to make this unless the fish is really fresh, do not use previously frozen or thawed ingredients (with the exception of shrimp) it just will not be all it's meant to be.  It seems that almost all the farm stands have tomatoes right now--mine were from Tomatero, peppers and cilantro from Triple T Ranch and Farms, onion from Full Belly Farm, avocado from Williamson Farm and limes from De Santis Farm.


Ceviche
 
1 lb halibut fillets or 1 lb sea bass fillets or 1 lb red snapper fillet (or use a mixture of fish and shrimp)
5 -6 limes (enough juice to cover fish)
1 cup diced fresh tomato
1 green pepper, sweet, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped parsley or 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro (I used cilantro)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped (or more to suit your taste)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 -2 TBSP. chipotle peppers in adobo sauce chopped. 
lettuce leaf (to line serving bowls)
avocado


Dice the fish (approximately 1/2-inch dice if using shrimp use cleaned shrimp).
Marinate fish in the lime juice in the fridge overnight (this step cooks the fish).

Stir often.

Pour off most of the lime juice (just leave it moist).

Add remaining ingredients except lettuce and avocado. Do this preferably a few hours before serving & refrigerate.

Add some extra lime juice, toss well, taste for salt or more lime, and arrange in individual serving bowls that are lined with the lettuce leaves.  Garnish with avocado.

This will serve 4 people for lunch, or 6 as an appetizer.


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