Daring Cooks Mar 2011 Challenge

It is now past the 14th, I can post it on my blog now :D

I recently joined thedaringkitchen.com. It's a place where food bloggers share recipes and tips and all that. But it appears to be known mostly because of the challenges it has every month. You can either be a daring cook or daring baker , or both. I am currently in both categories :D

The March Challenge was fish ceviche and papas rellenas. Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenged us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra. We could do both or either/or. I chose the fish ceviche due to simplicity and time constraints (curse you midterms). Everyone on that forum is so talented and creative. I loved looking at what they did to the dishes and add their own twist to them.

I bought halibut from Bristol farms (phew it is EX-PEN-SIVE) and only bought 1/4 of a pound. Just enough for one person. Hehe. Don't worry I gave a couple of bites to my apartment mates. I had to make sure the fish was sushi grade because this recipe "cooks" the raw fish in lime juice. The recipe said we could let it sit anywhere between 10 minutes to overnight. I "cooked" mine for about 45 minutes. The lime wasn't overpowering, but it gave it a punch. The thinly sliced red onions (which I totally sucked at by the way) gave it a nice crunchy kick. It had cilantro, pepper, and salt and pepper add to it as well.

The recipe also called for some sweet potatoes as a side. I just bought some yams and boiled them, sweet, simple, good. I originally wanted to roast them, but I didn't want to deal with the oven that day :P.

Let's see if I can remember the recipe..okay, nevermind *looks at pdf file* here's the recipe cut to 1/4 kind of...(courtesy of Kathlyn at Bake like a Ninja, I love that name):

Ingredients:

1/4 lb of fresh sushi grade white, firm fleshed fish. i.e. sole, halibut

1 garlic clove mashed

1/8 chili pepper, minced (any will do)

1/8 cup fresh lime juice, probably about 2 limes

1/8 Tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped

1 red onion, sliced thinly (you can just use about 1/8 and just chop the rest up and save it for your next dish)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 sweet potato, sliced

1. Peel your potato, then boil or roast it until tender, but not mush. Don't overcook it, you still want it to hold its shape.

2. Wash and trim your fish. You can cut it anywhere between 1/2 in cubes to 2 in. The bigger it is the longer it'll take to "cook" and it'll also be more raw in the center. I did mine about 1/2 inch.

3. Put fish in a non-reactive pan or bowl, like glass or Pyrex. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Mix together the lime juice, chili, garlic, and coriander.

5. Pour over fish and toss gently to coat and place sliced red onions on top.

As I mentioned earlier, you can let it stand anywhere between 10 min to overnight depending on how "cooked" you like your fish. As well as how much lime flavor you want. I'm sure if you leave it overnight it'll be cooked pretty thoroughly and REALLY lime-y.

I hope you enjoyed! Please join me at thedaringkitchen.com so we can have food adventures together! It'll be fun!

Until next time, cook, cook, COOK!