Ceviche

Its summer and I’ve been out of touch. But I ran across this ceviche from Rick Bayless. I was channel surfing and caught him on the public channel. I thought this ceviche looked interesting. It is that..and its damn good too. I used serrano peppers instead of jalapenos. But it’s the addition of the green olives that make this dish. A really nice flavor add to ceviche. I was looking for a nice piece of halibut down on the docks…but the amberjack looked better. Not as tender as halibut, but I like the meatier texture of amberjack.

He served it as a dip with tortilla chips. I ate it with a spoon (got to get all the juice) and pushed it around with a couple of chips..but eventually switched to saltines. Just think crackers go better with ceviche.



Richard



Ingredients

1. 1 pound fresh, skinless snapper, bass, halibut, or other ocean fish fillets, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2. 1 1/2 cups fresh lime juice
3. 1 medium white onion, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
4. 2 medium-large tomatoes (about 1 pound), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
5. Fresh hot green chiles (2 to 3 serranos or 1 to 2 jalapenos), stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
6. 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, plus a few leaves for garnish
7. 1/3 cup chopped pitted green olives (manzanillos for a typical Mexican flavor)
8. 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
9. Salt
10. 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice or 1/2 teaspoon sugar
11. 1 large or 2 small ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
12. Tostadas, tortilla chips or saltine crackers, for serving

Directions
1. In a 1 1/2-quart glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the fish, lime juice and onion. Use enough juice to cover the fish and allow it to float freely; too little juice means unevenly ""cooked"" fish. Cover and refrigerate for about 4 hours, until a cube of fish no longer looks raw when broken open. Drain in a colander.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the tomatoes, green chiles, cilantro, olives and optional olive oil. Stir in the fish and season with salt, usually about 1/2 teaspoon. Add the orange juice or sugar. Cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately. Just before serving, gently stir in the diced avocado.

Roll on summertime! I'll save this recipe and try it out when the hot weather comes.

[Jenise]

I love, just LOVE ceviche (one of the best uses ever invented for frozen raw scallops, btw). And the use of the olives sounds magnificent, especially in combination with the rich but mild avocado. YUM. But wow--I'm surprised at the four hour marination time. I find that halibut, which because that's what's frequently available here is what I use most frequently, 'cooks' in just under an hour. If it's left too long, it can turn grainy and get nubby, like the way the wool of an old sweater pills up. Didn't happen with you?

Jenise,

Bayless used Halibut on the show. I copied the recipe from PBS online. So maybe that 4 hrs is a misprint or meant to imply up to 4hrs? I don't know. I couldn’t find a decent piece of Halibut and substituted Amberjack. The meaty texture of the amberjack worked really well in 4 hrs.

Richard

A lovely recipe. Also super good with grouper. I do, however, like my cubes a bit smaller, say about 1/4". And one hint I have learned over the years - if the fish is difficult to cube, simply place it in the freezer for about 40 minutes to firm up the flesh.

[Jenise]

Jenise,

Bayless used Halibut on the show. I copied the recipe from PBS online. So maybe that 4 hrs is a misprint or meant to imply up to 4hrs? I don't know. I couldn’t find a decent piece of Halibut and substituted Amberjack. The meaty texture of the amberjack worked really well in 4 hrs.

Richard

Richard, I don't know! I just googled Bayless and ceviche, and found this recipe in several places with the same four hour recco. But I also found other ceviche recipes on his show's website which identically recommend just 45 minutes. One was for scallops, and another uses halibut (below). Anyway, hope you understand that I didn't mean to put you on the defensive, but it's weird that his recipes aren't more consistent, isn't it.


Salt and Pepper Ceviche
Ceviche Salpimentado

Makes 1 quart, serving 6 to 8 as an appetizer
Recipe from Season 6 of Mexico - One Plate at a Time
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Ingredients
1 pound sashimi-quality boneless, skinless halibut (or other large-flake or steak-y light-color fish like marlin, snapper or albacore tuna), cut into 1/2-inch pieces or slightly smaller
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon fresh coarse-ground black pepper
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
Salt
1 small ripe avocado, pitted, flesh scooped from the skin and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 to 3 tablespoons (lightly packed) cilantro leaves
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Directions
1. Marinate the fish. Scoop the fish into a non-reactive bowl and mix in the onion, black pepper and lime juice. Refrigerate, stirring frequently, for 45 minutes.

2. Finish the ceviche. Season the ceviche highly with salt (usually about 1 teaspoon)—keeping in mind that the saltiness of the juice will dissipate as the fish absorbs the flavors.

Spread the ceviche onto a smallish deep platter, then dot with the avocado and cilantro leaves. You’re ready to serve.

Anyway, hope you understand that I didn't mean to put you on the defensive

Hi Jenise,

No, no..I never thought that at all. But, I'll definitely keep your recco for a shorter dwell time for halibut in my notes. Amberjack is texturally similar to shark or barracuda. Holds up well on the grill or for blackening. Which is prob why it didn't degrade in 4 hrs. One of my favorite gulf species.

But now I gotta do some experimenting with lesser dwell times since it seems that what Bayless says on TV isn't too consistent with what he writes
.
Richard

How would this recipe work with large shrimp, and how long would you let it marinate?

[Jenise]

Anyway, hope you understand that I didn't mean to put you on the defensive

Hi Jenise,

No, no..I never thought that at all. But, I'll definitely keep your recco for a shorter dwell time for halibut in my notes. Amberjack is texturally similar to shark or barracuda. Holds up well on the grill or for blackening. Which is prob why it didn't degrade in 4 hrs. One of my favorite gulf species.

Never had amberjack, and I'm sure some of the oilier fishes could stand up to longer marination. But halibut? I didn't even know it could 'overcook' until I mixed a ceviche up too soon once, and it probably wasn't even as much as four hours since we're talking fresh fish here. I wouldn't have made that in the morning or even early afternoon for an evening event. It was for one of our neighborhood wine tastings, so the likely scenario is that I mixed it up around 5:00 or so for a 7:00 event wherein service didn't start until closer to 8:00. Big mistake, as I learned. Ever since I've been very mindful of the clock, sometimes mixing and marinating the vegetables for longer for a more complex exchange of flavors, but the halibut itself doesn't go in until deadline minus one hour with a bit more lemon or lime juice. And as the other Rick recipe I provided indicates, 45 minutes is usually enough. 45 works for salmon and scallops too, the only other ceviche medium available to me up here and in fact I prefer even less time on the scallops, since I like them nearly raw.

There was an interesting scallop ceviche recipe in the New York Times this week, wherein the recommended marinating time was only 15 minutes. We have enjoyed scallop ceviche on the beach in Mexico when I remember that the "cooking" time was no more than 15-20 minutes.
For scallops this seems to be plenty of time, and I would think for white fish 30-45 minutes would be lots of time for cooking without risking the mealiness that can result from excessive marinating time.

[Jenise]

There was an interesting scallop ceviche recipe in the New York Times this week, wherein the recommended marinating time was only 15 minutes. We have enjoyed scallop ceviche on the beach in Mexico when I remember that the "cooking" time was no more than 15-20 minutes. For scallops this seems to be plenty of time, and I would think for white fish 30-45 minutes would be lots of time for cooking without risking the mealiness that can result from excessive marinating time.

David, thanks for the corroboration and for using the word 'mealiness'--perfect word to describe the pilling effect. And aren't scallop ceviches wonderful? Of course, fresh scallops would ALWAYS be best but I have to add that a ceviche is a very good use for frozen scallops which you can get for $8.99 a pound at Costco most weekends these days.