Welcome to Mountaintop Quilting Studio

This is where you find me exploring a variety of creative adventures mostly about but not limited to quilting. I'm a firm believer that one increases their creativity by being open to and playing with a variety of cretative endeavors ... at least that my excuse for today. Enjoy your sourjourn through my studio playroom. May you find encouragement and inspiration, and on occassion, a little pin-prick that may be thought-provoking or spark your imagination. Thank you for stopping by.

My friend Pat celebrates her birthday in March. As a part of our birthday celebrations in our Tuesday sewing group the birthday person would get to choose the lunch menu for the day. Pat never cared what  particular dish was fixed as long as it had avocado and shrimp in it. This recipe is for you Pat and is one of the first things I fixed in my new kitchen. Think of you lots and hope your birthday was as special as you are. Wish you could have been here to enjoy this scrumptious dish with me.

This recipe is from Emril. On my cruising through the web to find out more about a ceviche and just what that means I found he has several variations on this recipe. Some use pineapple juice; some have ginger and various other spices added. One even uses papaya in the list of ingredients.

Shrimp Ceviche ... the official recipe ...

Poaching Liquid:

• 2 quarts water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt

Ceviche:

• 1 pound raw shrimp (21-25 per pound; peeled and deveined
• juice of 2 lemons
• juice of 2 limes
• juice of 2 oranges
• 1 cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped 
• 1 cup diced seeded tomato
• 1 avocado, chopped into 1/2" pieces
• 1 tablespoon rough chopped cilantro
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Bring water and salt to a boil; add shrimp and remove from heat immediately. Allow shrimp to reach that "just-cooked" stage by sitting in the hot water for about 3 minutes. Remove to a cutting board and cut into 1/2" bite-sized pieces. Place in a glass bowl. Add the citrus juices, cucumbers, chiles, and onion. Stir gently just to mix and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Stir in tomato, avocado, chopped cilantro, oil and salt. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilantro leaves.

As with quilting, when I'm cooking it is a rare occassion when I follow the recipe exactly. These are the changes I made to Emeril's recipe: (rather presumptious of me, don't you think! LOL)

• I used cooked shrimp rather than dealing with all of the prep with raw shrimp
• I used sweet grape tomatoes cut in half
• I used about half of the chile - I'm not too big with too much heat
• I'm also not a big fan of cilantro so what would be a good alternative? Any suggestions? I did try my first batch with cilantro just to give it a shot. It still tasted musty. I was thinking one could use the typical standby herb with fish which is dill, but I wonder about that and all the citrus flavoring. When in doubt I always reach for fresh tarragon or basil. I love the flavor of both of these herbs with citrus.

So, what is a ceviche and what have I learned in fixing this recipe? One of my favorite reality shows is Top Chef on Bravo and it seems like nearly everyone at one point includes a ceviche on their menu during the show. Until now, I thought it was a fun word to say - sounds so very sophisticatedly gourmet-ish, but I never really picked up on what it actually meant.

Ceviche is traditionally made with raw fish being "cooked" in  a strong acidic "soup." It isn't the heat from the stove that cooks the fish, it is the acid bath that cooks the raw fish. Hmmmmm .... interesting conept.

The above recipe makes enough for about 4 servings and since there is only me by myself most of the time, I had left overs. Not a problem; in fact, how wonderful. I'll have lunch and even dinner the next day. I planned accordingly setting avocado aside to be added just before eating each meal.

The first serving was mouth-watering-to-die-for heaven with tender shrimp and the yum of fresh crunchy veggies. However, on the second serving the veggies weren't quite so crunchy but that was to be expected. Shrimp tasted good but was a little tougher. Hmmm... must just be getting used to the taste of a not-so-new dish.

Third serving ... shrimp downright rubbery! Now I know what they mean about the "acid soup" cooking the shrimp! After this I will prepare the "acid-soup" and "cook" the shrimp as needed just before serving for perfect texture and flavor each time.

Visit HERE to see Emril fixing a different version of his Shrimp Ceviche.