If you're unfamiliar with ceviche... it's basically a Latin American dish of raw seafood of one sort or another cured (which basically cooks it without any heat application) in citrus juice, usually like a salsa with seafood. It's different from region to region, you'll never get the same one twice! Crab, white fish, lobster, shrimp, octopus, squid, whatever!
This is a Chicago kind of post! We were watching chef Rick Bayless' show on PBS - he has several restaurants in Chicago and while I never had the opportunity to try one while I lived there, he's a name I've known well for a long time. Bayless did a green ceviche with shrimp that looked amazing and it's been a while since Justin and I made a ceviche, so one day I texted Justin at work with a list of ingredients, and a deal - if he stopped at the store on the way home, I'd make him ceviche. We ended up doing it together anyway (because he's a nice guy like that). I pretty much followed Rick Bayless' recipe, but I made a few alterations to the sauce and I quite liked it the way it came out, so I wanted to share. Definitely can't take credit for this recipe... it's really all Rick Bayless, but here's the way I made it. I'm not actually sure how we have never used a Rise Against song on our blog, because they're also from Chicago and I love them! I was actually just listening to some the other day thinking surely I used at least one, if not several, of my favourite songs on the blog. But nothin'! Disgraceful. So here is Rise Against with "Black Masks and Gasoline". -jen
CEVICHE VERDE CON CAMARONES (altered version of Rick Bayless recipe) Time: 35 minutes Difficulty: Too easy Serves: 4-6
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
6 ounces fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed and roughly
chopped, 4-5 medium
1 cup (loosely packed) fresh cilantro plus some 1/4 cup chopped
1 medium-sized jalapeño (seeded for mild heat, include seeds for medium heat)
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled
3 medium-sized green onions, rough chopped plus 2 medium green onions diced
1.5 tsp salt
a few cranks of fresh ground black pepper
1 pound very fresh uncooked, medium shrimp,
peeled and deveined, chopped into bite size
2 medium avocados, cut into 1/2" cubes
tortilla chips
In a food processor or blender, combine lime juice, chopped tomatillos, 1 cup cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, 3 green onions, salt and pepper. Blend until slushy consistency. Combine shrimp and sauce into bowl, making sure shrimp is fully covered and refrigerate for 30 minutes. After refrigeration, stir in 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 2 green onions diced and avocado. Give it a taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve with tortilla chips.
I was at the laundromat with Justin when I came up with this idea. I'm not sure where it came from... I knew we had a pound of chorizo in the freezer and I think I was just trying to come up with some sort of "different" salad idea.
It came out really tasty! I'd describe it as a Mexican-style mushu... or a warm slaw? One of Justin's coworkers had gifted us with a huge zucchini, so I just scooped that out (I actually sauteed the scooped zucchini filling with my onion and poblano), rubbed some olive oil on the inside and outside, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked in a preheated 425 oven for about 17 minutes, until tender. Then stuffed it with the chorizo and cabbage salad. Very good! But the next day, I just ate it in a bowl by itself like a salad.
I don't think we've used any Good Riddance with our recipes yet - "There's No 'I' In Team". -jen
WARM CHORIZO AND CABBAGE SALAD Time: about 30 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 8 cups
1/2 pound chorizo sausage (the meaty kind, not the melty kind)
In a large skillet, brown chorizo until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon, place in a large bowl and set aside. Using 2 tablespoons of the sausage grease, saute onion, poblano and oregano until softened and onion is translucent. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside in same bowl as sausage.
Delicious brown bits!
While pan is still hot, add white wine and salsa, scraping up the browned bits from the pan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5-7 minutes, until reduced to half. Add cabbage, carrots, corn and beans, stirring to coat with sauce. Cook for just a few minutes so that cabbage is still crunchy and not cooked all the way through. Toss with cilantro and green onion. Add a little salt and pepper if necessary.
Can be served as just a salad. Can be put into zucchini boats (I halved my large zucchini, scooped it out, salt, pepper and olive oil on inside and baked for 15-20 minutes at 425 on a greased cookie sheet until tender), then stuffed with cabbage salad. Could be rolled into a burrito, served as a taco, rolled in an egg roll wrapper and fried. Served with rice or pasta. Whatever!
I had a craving for bruschetta, so we grabbed the ingredients to make it today. Really... basil, garlic and tomatoes are one of my most favourite flavour combos! They're so perfect together. I didn't realize we didn't have a recipe for bruschetta posted! You don't really need a recipe for bruschetta, you can make it any way you please. But if you need a base recipe, this is a great one. It's how I make it!
Fast and easy and a great way to use up tomatoes if you're one of those lucky people with a garden! Or if you've been gifted with a bagful from a friend that's lucky enough to have a garden.
I don't think we've had any Ten Foot Pole with our recipes. You might have known them in their previous incarnation of Scared Straight. We're getting our rock on with their "Final Hours". -jen
BRUSCHETTA Time: 15 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 12
1.5 pounds of tomatoes (about 4)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion (about 1/4 onion)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 large cloves)
1/4 cup julienned basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
10 cranks of fresh ground blacked pepper
dash of balsamic vinegar
fresh mozzarella sliced thinly
1 baguette loaf
Julienned basil
Cut tomatoes into quarters and using your thumb, scoop out the seeds and juice. (You can save this for a different recipe later or discard.) Small dice remaining tomato meat. In a mixing bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. Toss and set aside.
Turn your oven onto broil. Slice baguette on the bias to make large ovals. Brush both sides with olive oil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Toast one side under the broiler until golden brown, watching closely (it only takes 1-2 minutes to brown). Flip and toast the second side until browned and remove. Top toast with a slice of mozzarella and the tomato salad and serve.
I've been making this salsa over and over and over again the last few weeks. We've just been plowing through it.
Ridiculously fast to make if you need something for guests or a party or late night munchies, which is generally our case. I'm having a hard time deciding if I like this salsa more? Or pico de gallo more? I think I must like them equally for different reasons.
I'm not sure why I didn't take better pictures of any of the batches I made. All I did was take a quick pick in a plastic storage container. We fancy. Next batch (which won't be long) I'll try for some better pics.
Here's a band from my home state, Illinois - Blue Meanies with "The Infidelity Song". -jen
RESTAURANT STYLE SALSA Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: Easy Makes: 4 cups Need: Food processor or blender
2 cans (14oz each) diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 onion, rough chopped
1 jalapeño, rough chopped*
5 medium-sized garlic cloves
1/2 cup packed cilantro
juice of 1 lime (about 1-1.5 tbsp)
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
*For a medium spicy salsa, leave seeds in. For a mild salsa, remove seeds. For a hot salsa, add a second jalapeño.
No Cook Version: Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until desired consistency.
Cooked Version: I prefer to actually cook the canned tomatoes in a sauce pan over a medium-high heat for about 15-20 minutes, then let them cool about 10 minutes before placing in a food processor or blender with all the other ingredients and pulsing until desired consistency. Cooking them takes away some of the "tinny" taste from the can. I've made it both ways and they're both good! This is just my preference.
Mmm... even as I type this, it's been a few hours since we ate and I still have the awesome, awesome flavour of the chile sauce in my mouth. I was tired of chicken and ground beef in my tacos and enchiladas, we'd been eating a lot of pork lately and I didn't want that, so I thought I'd do something with a little more pop. Came out so good!
I woke up today with Nerf Herder's "Pantera Fans In Love" stuck in my head... no idea why! So it's what I'm using for the recipe tunes. -jen
12 oz beer of choice (I used PBR because that's what we had)
1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce (see recipe below)
Trim excess fat from chuck roast. In a small dish, mix together salt, pepper, oregano and cumin. Sprinkle evenly over entire roast (bottom too!) Place roast in slow cooker and cover the top with the minced garlic. Add chiles and onion, making sure to cover the top of the roast with them. Pour lime juice over veggie-covered roast and then add the beer, pouring it on the side of the roast (not over it!)
Cook on high for 6-8 hours, until you can shred the roast easily using two forks. While roast is cooking, make your chile sauce and pico de gallo (see recipe below).
When roast is done and shredded, drain over a bowl and set broth aside. Put the beef back into the crock pot and add 1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce, as well as 1/2 cup of the reserved broth. (You can refrigerate or freeze the broth to use later in a delicious soup, like Spicy Mexican Pepper Soup!) Turn slow cooker to low and cook another half hour.
Serve in tacos, tamales, burritos, enchiladas, over rice, on nachos, whatever!
1/4 pound dried guajillo chiles (if you like it hot, use 1/8# dried guajillo & 1/8# dried chipotle)
1 medium onion, chopped
9-10 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup packed cilantro
1 jalapeño (optional, for spiciness!)
juice of 1-2 limes
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Caldo de Pollo (or 1 chicken bouillon cube)
2 cups hot water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. If you want a hotter chile, tear off stems but leave seeds in dried chiles. If you want a mild one, tear off stems and empty out seeds. (I recommend at least keeping half the seeds.) Place seed pods on baking sheet and roast for 3-4 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Let chiles cool to touch before packing them into a large blender. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, oregano, Caldo and carefully pour the hot water over everything. Blend until completely pureed.
PICO DE GALLO Time: 5 minutes Difficulty: Easy Makes: about 2 cups
1 large tomato
1/2 medium onion
1 jalapeño
1/4 cup packed cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon salt
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until desired consistency (I like mine like a relish). If you don't have a food processor, just dice everything small.
So Jen and I like doing meatballs for dinner every so often and last time we had done a nice marinara we happened to be discussing ways to vary them and thought that a Mexican style meatball would be awesome and easy to pull off. Here is my attempt at this meal and I believe it worked excellently, if I do say so myself.
This can be varied with any type of salsa that you want or if you were feeling extra adventurous you could cover it in a delicious mole. I went with a fairly straightforward salsa that would work warm or cold and be good with anything. Feel free to try a salsa verde or maybe a chipotle salsa if you dig the heat!
To accompany this dish I'm going with some Pulley, specifically "Crawl" because that tune has been stuck in my head and maybe this act will appease whatever gods are responsible for that sort of situation. - justin
1 tsp Caldo de Pollo (Mexican chicken bouillon with some herbs and spices)
Preheat oven to 425. Arrange your halved tomatoes (cut side up) on a, oiled baking sheet along with the halved and cleaned peppers (cut side down). Lightly brush peppers and tomatoes with 2 of the tbsp of olive oil. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 40-50 minutes. Cover with foil when they are done and let them sit for 10 minutes to cool. This will steam the skins and make them easier to remove. When the veggies have rested the skins should simply pull off of the peppers and tomatoes. Roughly chop them and set aside.
In a saucepan, add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and set burner to medium heat. When hot, add the diced yellow onion and salt and let the onions sweat until translucent, roughly 7 minutes or so. Add the chopped, roasted peppers and tomatoes, the lime zest and juice, the cilantro, the epazote, the Mexican oregano and the cumin. Stir together thoroughly, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Disolve the caldo de pollo in the cup of water and add to the saucepan. Stir to incorporate. The salsa should be very chunky and a little watery at this point. Simmer the water off to thicken it to your desired consistency. If you would like a very silky, smooth salsa, use a blender to puree the mixture. I prefer mine to be a little chunkier so I just gave it a couple quick pulses and called it good after simmering it for an hour or so while I made the rest of the meal.
Meatballs:
2 lbs ground beef (80/20 lean to fat ratio is best for these)
1 tbsp minced garlic (about 1 large clove)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 whole green onions, chopped
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp dried epazote
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
Preheat oven to 425. I find that while the veggies for the salsa are roasting, it's a perfect time to make the meatball mixture and then the oven is already hot and ready to bake meatballs when the veggies come out and you are finishing the salsa.
Mix the breadcrumbs and the milk and let sit for five minutes to absorb. Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to mix together. Roll into golfball sized balls and place equidistantly from each other on a lightly oiled sheet pan. It should make roughly 30-35 balls. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. Meatball diameter will determine your total time but check one of the bigger ones after 20 minutes and use that as a judge for how much longer you'll need. You want medium, not well done.
Tostones:
Frying set up, either a deep fryer or a skillet and a enough frying oil to be a couple inches deep
2 large plantains, peeled and sliced into 2 inch rounds
Heat oil to 350 degrees. Fry enough of your plantains so as to not crowd your oil. Do a couple of batches if you need to or your oil will cool and they will turn out greasier than you want. Fry them for 2 minutes per side (or 2 minutes total if you have them completely immersed in oil). Remove from oil and allow to cool for a couple minutes. Set them upright and smash them with your hand or a spoon so that they squish into a sort of disk. Fry again for 2 more minutes per side and remove to drain excess oil. Salt immediately and set aside.
Completion:
At this point I placed the salsa on the bottom of a plate, set the
tostones in the salsa like little boats and served the meatballs resting
on top of the tostones, like so:
However, you could do the salsa over the meatballs or tostones on the side or whatever you like.
