Tropical Mango Ceviche

Last summer I visited a restaurant in Washington, DC called Oyamel. It's owned by Chef Jose Andres, and I highly, highly recommend you check it out. While I was there, I had the table-side guacamole, Tamal Verde, and Ceviche con Citricos. Lord, everything was so freaking good. I had never tried Ceviche before, but I realized I've been missing out. It was DELICIOUS!! I loved the hint of spice from the habanero. And, the juiciness of the pineapple. It was so good that I went searching for a similar recipe. I came across this one from Rick Bayless, and I decided to give it a try tonight. Wow! It's pretty damn good. Maybe not Oyamel quality, but certainly close. The recipe doesn't call for pineapple, but I added some to it, anyway. I'm glad I did. I love the hint of sweetness and juiciness that pineapple gives when you bite into it. I halved the recipe, and I still have plenty for lunch tomorrow! If you like Ceviche then you should definitely give this recipe a try! You won't be disappointed!!

Ingredients:
1pound “sashimi-quality” skinless meaty ocean fish fillet (halibut, mahi mahi, or bass all work well), cut into ½ inch cubes
1/2cup fresh lime juice
1/2cup fresh orange juice
1small red onion, sliced very thin
1fresh habanero, stemmed and seeds removed, finely diced
2cups (about 12 ounces) cubed mango (we love the honey manila mangos that come from Mexico, usually starting in mid March)

1 cup pineapple (optional)1smallavocado, pitted, flesh scooped from the skin, diced
About 1/3cup chopped cilantro, plus more whole leaves for garnish

Take out a glass bowl and add the lime and orange juice. Add the chopped habanero and chopped fish. I used Chilean Sea Bass from Whole Foods. Cover and place in the fridge. If you like your fish medium-rare then let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. If you want the fish fully cooked then let sit for 3-4 hours. Once the fish has finished cooking you can either keep the juices and add in the mangoes, pineapples, avocado, and onions. Or, you can drain the juice for a drier ceviche. Garnish with the cilantro, and serve by itself or with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Salmon with Fennel, Citrus & Chiles

Fresh salmon is so delicious that you don't even have to do much to it to make it mouth-watering. This recipe is a great example of that. You get a lot of just pure salmon flavor, bumped up a bit by citrus, fennel and some spicy chiles. I made this once before when blood oranges were in season, and although it's good with regular oranges, the blood oranges were definitely better. They have a much brighter, more tart flavor that fused with the fennel and salmon better, so if you can find blood oranges, I recommend using those. This is a really simple recipe (found in Bon Appetit) that only requires a little prep, and some slow roasting time in the oven, and before you know it you're eating some spectacular-tasting salmon. 

1-2 lb. skinless salmon filet

Salt & pepper

1 fennel bulb

1 blood orange (or navel orange)

1 lemon

1 Fresno chile or jalapeño

Fresh dill sprigs

1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

Sea salt

First, preheat your oven to 275 degrees. Place your salmon in a glass baking dish and season it with salt & pepper. If you have skin it's not a big deal, just put it skin-side down and make sure to remove it before serving. Now it's time to prep your fruits and veggies. Thinly slice the fennel bulb, orange, lemon and chile. You can do this with a nice sharp knife, or if you are like the Hubs and are obsessed with the mandoline, that works for the fennel and chile, not so much for the citrus. Once you've sliced everything up, arrange the fennel, chile and citrus plus four sprigs of fresh dill over the top of the salmon. The first time we made it, we followed the directions and put this on the bottom but the result was really tasty fennel, and absolutely no flavor in the salmon. We switched it around this time and that helped. Season one more time and then pour the olive oil all over the top. The original called for 3/4 cup of oil but that just seemed like a ton to us. 

Now, bake for about 30-40 minutes. We went for the full 40 this time and it was perfect. Sprinkle the salmon with sea salt before enjoying. We also found it helped to squeeze some of the citrus over the top of the salmon. Hope you enjoy the clean, simple flavor!

Shrimp with Orzo, Asparagus and Feta

We’ve been on a roll of dinners that are…fine. Just *yawn* fine. We make them. We eat them. Everything is copasetic. So this dish was a slap in the face, wake up call for our tastebuds. It was so good, you guys. SO good. Tons of flavor. Super easy to make. And it felt very fresh and spring-appropriate with the lemons and green veggies. The Hubs insisted that it be added to the “rotation” and I obliged. In fact, I’m making it for dinner again tonight. It’s on the Serious Eats blog and the only thing I changed was to use regular orzo instead of whole wheat (we really aren’t whole wheat pasta people.) It took about15 minutes from prep to plate and I seriously suggest you try it as soon as you possibly can.

1 cup (about 5 ounces) orzo

1 1/2 Tbsps vegetable or canola oil, plus more for the pasta

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1/2 Tsp red chili flakes

1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and roughly chopped into 2-inch pieces

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Oregano

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

4 Tbsps fresh juice from 2 lemons

1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Start by making the orzo according to the instructions on the box, in a small saucepan. Let that cook while you multitask, then drain it and set it aside. Use a skillet over medium heat to heat up your vegetable oil until shimmering. Put in the garlic and red chili flakes and cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant and golden (don’t burn it!). Add in the asparagus next and season with salt and pepper. You don’t need to cook it for too long, just enough so that it’s tender but still crisp: about 3-4 minutes. Push the asparagus to the side and add in your shrimp. Sprinkle them lightly with oregano and cook on both sides until they are pink, about 4 minutes total. Now add in the orzo, basil, lemon juice, olive oil and feta and stir in, letting it all warm back up for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and then serve! I promise it will be much more than just “fine.”

Seared Scallops over Pancetta Brussels Sprouts

I’ve watched enough food TV to know that scallops are deceptively difficult to cook. You want to get a good crust on the top and bottom, without overcooking the center. So I guess that’s why even though I will order scallops ad nauseam at restaurants, I’ve never ventured to make them at home. And, to be honest, I still can’t say that I did. The Hubs graciously took on the scallop cooking and absolutely nailed it. But I will take credit for the Brussels sprouts and they were also knee-slappingly fantastic. I found this recipe on a blog called In Sock Monkey Slippers and followed it pretty much to the letter, except that we used pre-cubed pancetta. I will say that we almost killed ourselves making the sauce and although it was pretty good, it’s not a sauce I would risk my life for again. I think our problem was that we had oil in the pan when we added wine to it and it was definitely a major hazard to bare arms and open eyes. Don’t do that. 

Ingredients

3oz cubed pancetta

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1/2 pound Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 sea scallops (we used 10 as ours were on the small side)

1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

1/2 cup dry white wine (like Sauvignon Blanc)

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

3 tablespoons butter

In a sauté pan over medium heat, cook the pancetta about 3-5 minutes until the fat starts to render, and then add in the shallots. Saute another 5 minutes or so. You want the pancetta to be crispy. Add the thinly sliced Brussels sprouts as well as the lemon juice and toss, making sure the sprouts get covered with the pancetta juice. The instructions said to sauté just for 5 minutes, but I like to get my Brussels sprouts with a touch of color on them, so we probably went for more like 7 or 8 minutes. Do as you like. Add salt and pepper to taste (we also added some red pepper flakes) and set aside.

For the scallops, pat dry with a paper towel (essential for getting a crust) and season with a good amount of salt and pepper. This is the only seasoning on your scallop. Heat the grapeseed oil and when it’s very hot, add the scallops, searing on top and bottom for about 3-4 minutes a side. You want to get that nice golden sear. Remove to a plate and reduce the heat to medium.

Here’s where we nearly burned ourselves and the entire house, so be careful. Let the oil cool down, and consider pouring most of it out. I really think the combo of wine and hot oil was our issue. I’m not even sure you need any oil in the pan at all. So, carefully add the wine to the pan. Hopefully you’ve let it cool enough that it doesn’t automatically go crazy and splash all over you like it did for us. You want to simmer the wine until it reduces to about a tablespoon, which should take about five minutes. Add in the thyme and whisk in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Remove it from the heat when the butter is fully melted into the sauce.

Serve the scallops on top of the Brussels sprouts with a little drizzle of the sauce over each scallop. It feels fancy, but it really isn’t all that difficult once you get the hang of it. Good luck with your scallops!