Date I made these recipes:
May 5, 2016 – Cinco de Mayo
Published by: William
Morrow and Company, Inc.
ISBN: 0-688-10649-8; © 1994
Purchased at Arc's Value
Village Richfield
Recipe: Shrimp Ceviche – p. 90
Pati's Mexican Table
– The Secrets of Real Mexican Home Cooking (As seen on Public Television)
by Pati Jinich
Published by: A Rux
Martin Book/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 978-0-547-63647-4; © 2013
Purchased at The Bookcase, Wayzata , MN
Recipe: Classic Avocado Soup (Sopa de Aguacate) – p.
64-66
May is one busy month.
We have your May Day (May 1st) celebration (which here in
Mpls, is held at Powderhorn Park every year), then my late parent's anniversary
a few days later, then Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby, my wedding
anniversary, and then before you know it, we'll be looking at Memorial
Day. I'm exhausted already.
And then there's the fact that I was pretty busy in late
April making dishes for Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday and then
dishes to honor a late friend's birthday.
So when Cinco de Mayo came around, I almost bagged the whole thing (i.e.
cooking) but no. No, I'm a
"professional," I have the cookbooks, I can do this.
And so I did but I kept things simple. And this was not an easy thing to do because
both of these featured cookbooks celebrate the art of scratch cooking and
include recipes for things like salsa and other sauces, tortillas (flour and
corn) and many other dishes that require just a bit more time than I was
prepared to spend.
And so it came to pass that I made "Shrimp
Ceviche" from the Mesa Mexicana
cookbook written by two favorite cookbook authors, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan
Feniger and "Classic Avocado Soup" from Pati's Mexican Table written by the always delightful Pati Jinich.
In last week's blog about Australian food, I noted that I
liked one dish, a salad with shrimp and beets and carrots a lot, but was
"meh" on the meat ball soup.
Seems I had a theme going because this time around, I was
"meh" on the ceviche but (mostly) thumb's up on the soup. Go figure.
And now, on to the cookbooks, starting with Mesa Mexicana. Had I more time, I might well have made
another dish and would likely have found it delicious but I was pushing the
envelope on observing Cinco de Mayo in a timely manner and so wanted something
easy. This eliminated a good portion of
tasty-sounding recipes and so I urge you to give this book a whirl even though
the ceviche fell flat for me.
That said, I've never had ceviche before and so maybe I was
expecting a different flavor profile than I got? I am not a huge fan of red onion or cilantro
so that may have been it.
(Some people hate cilantro.
I don't mind it but I don't love it either.) And I wasn't exactly enamored
with the clam juice so that may have been it.
Or I might have gone too light on the lime juice although I used the
amount listed in the recipe.
What I did like was that you partially cook the shrimp
first; I am no fan of raw seafood. And I
liked the lime but just didn't feel it did anything to the dish. And so this was rather disappointing but not
such that I'm hatin' on [authors] Mary Sue and Susan because I'm not. I just made a mistake in judgment about the
recipe this time around.
Whereas folks, the soup fared much better. It too, contained cilantro but not a lot
(plus, I halved the recipe) and all the ingredients combined gave the somewhat
bland tasting avocado a bit of zip and flavor.
I like avocado but eating one does not send one's taste buds soaring –
just sayin'. Still, I had some the other
night and it seemed like it was missing something. Maybe more salt or maybe some ground cumin or
some other spice because it was good but not great.
Since I've talked and written about Mary Sue Milliken and
Susan Feniger in a previous blog, let's take a moment to talk about Pati
Jinich. I think I first saw Pati on the
TV show, The Chew but it looks like
she spends most of her time hosting the PBS
show, Pati's Mexican Table (the same
name as today's cookbook). Pati is a
native of Mexico
and I like her style of cooking—clean, fresh, fairly healthy. What I also like is that we get a chance to
sample Mexican food that isn't Tex-Mex in disguise (i.e. more Texas influenced than true Mexican). Like
most cuisines, Mexican cooking varies by region. Coastal areas are known for
seafood whereas parts of the interior are known for using various cactus and
other earthly delights.
If you have more time, these are just some of the recipes I
considered: Mesa Mexicano –
"Vegetarian Burritos" (p. 147); "Green chicken Chilaquiles
Casserole" (p. 116); "Potato Poblano Soup" (p. 106), and
"Coconut Flan" (p. 230). From
Pati's Mexican Table: "Avocado and Hearts of Palm Salad (with corn)"
(p. 46); "Chicken Tinga" (p. 140), and "Red Rice" (p. 224).
So that's my Cinco de Mayo story and I'm sticking to
it! Meanwhile, here you go: Mexican food made simple. Enjoy.
Shrimp Ceviche –
Serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer (makes enough for 12 tacos)
Author's Note: "This simple ceviche is a good choice
for entertaining since the fish is partly precooked, eliminating any qualms
guests might have about raw fish."
4 cups fish stock or clam juice
1 pound peeled rock shrimp or 1 ¼ pounds small shrimp, shell
on
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 to 2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded if desired and finely
chopped (Ann's Note: if you can't find
serrano, substitute jalapeno but use a little less)
2 large bunches cilantro, stems trimmed and roughly chopped
(Ann's Note: if you are not a fan of
cilantro, use a small amount)
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
Bring the stock or clam juice to a boil in a large saucepan
or stockpot. Add the shrimp and cook 30
seconds for rock shrimp, 1 minute for shrimp in the shell. (For the marinade to really soak into the
shrimp and the texture to remain crisp rather than rubbery, resist any
temptation to overcook.) Strain,
reserving the liquid, and spread the shrimp on a baking sheet to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the shrimp
if necessary.
Combine all of the remaining ingredients with the shrimp and
1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid in a bowl and mix well. Cover with plastic and chill thoroughly
before serving.
Variation: marinate ¾
pound sea bass or snapper fillets, cut in chunks, in ½ cup freshly squeezed
lime juice until opaque. Drain and
discard the juice. Combine the fish with
1 cup clam juice and the remaining marinade ingredients listed above with an
additional tablespoon or two of lime juice.
Classic Avocado Soup –
serves 8 – can be made up to 12 hours ahead, covered, and refrigerated.
From the author: "I have tasted many avocado soups, but
this one, based on a recipe from Dona Maria Rose Marmolejo, the former cook at
the ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. is creamier, lighter, and yet
more luxurious than any other I've had."
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ½ cups coarsely chopped white onions
¾ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
3 large ripe Hass avocados, halved, pitted, meat scooped
out, and cut into chunks
6 cups broth from Mexican chicken broth (p. 87) or canned
chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or to taste
¾ teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste
1 ½ cups Tortilla Crisps (p. 66) or croutons for garnish
1 cup diced queso fresco, Cotija, farmer cheese, or mild
feta for garnish
Heat the oil and butter in a medium skillet over medium heat
until the butter melts and begins to foam.
Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until completely
softened and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
Stir in the cilantro and cook until it wilts, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.
Working in batches if necessary, place the avocados in a
blender or food processor, along with the onion mixture, broth, lime juice, and
slat, and puree until smooth. Taste for
seasoning.
Serve the soup at room temperature, or chill and serve
cold. Top each serving with some of the
tortilla crisps or croutons and cheese, or pass the garnishes in bowls at the
table and let your guests customize.
