cooking class #1: ceviche & tortilla soup
Bob takes us through a couple of his favorite recipes for some great summertime eats.
ceviche instructions
Remove any bloodline, cut fish into small diced pieces. Next season the fish with salt and ¾ of lime juice, reserving some juice for final seasoning. Mix and let marinate for 5 minutes. At its core, ceviche is basically fresh seafood steeped in an acidic marinade, most commonly lime or lemon juice. The acid in the citrus forms an extremely low pH condition to denature the fish protein networks, similar to cooking with heat. This results in the seafood becoming opaque and more firm in texture. Set fish aside while preparing the vegetables.
Dice and mince the red onion, tomato, cucumber, and cilantro. Set all aside in a mixing bowl. Dice the jalapeño and set it aside in a separate bowl.
After 5 minutes of fish marination, drain the extra lime juice. Start adding the diced vegetables (except the jalapeño) and mix. The reason we have not added the jalapeño is that we want to gauge the level of heat we are adding to the dish by tasting and mixing, now is also the time to add more salt and the remaining lime juice. Once your ceviche is seasoned add a dash of olive oil and set aside.
Peel and pit the avocado. Mash and season avocado with lime and salt. Set aside.
Crisp tortillas in a sauté pan with oil on medium heat until golden brown. Remove onto a paper towel to let drain.
Assemble the tostadas. Spread the avocado on top of the tostada evenly, then top with ceviche.
tortilla soup INSTRUCTIONS
Preparing the shrimp: Lay down a paper towel on your cutting board to keep the surface clean. Remove the heads and shells from the shrimp and set aside for your soup stock. Slicing down the back with your knife, devein the shrimp. Slice the shrimp into bite-sized pieces, then set aside the cleaned shrimp in a bowl and discard the paper towel. Clean as you go!
Break down the rest of the ingredients, saving any edible, “undesirable” pieces for the soup stock. Peel the carrot and dice into ¼” pieces. Remove the outer skin from the onion and dice half of it into large chunks and half into ¼” pieces, then separate into two different bowls. Smash the garlic with the flat side of your knife and set aside. Cut off the top of the ancho chili and cut into large pieces. Cut the top off the guajillo chilies and remove the seeds, then cut into large pieces. Cut off the top of the jalapeño and cut in half lengthwise. The heat comes from the white flesh, so cut out as much as you like, then cut the jalapeño into large pieces. Remove the leaves and ends, then chop the celery into large pieces. Slice the tomato into large pieces. Dice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Cut 4 corn tortillas into large pieces.
Add your chicken stock and shrimp heads and shells to a large stockpot on medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, start a second stockpot on medium heat with enough cooking oil to generously coat the bottom of the pot. Once hot, add the large onion chunks and season with salt. Add the celery, garlic, peppers, and another dash of salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the “undesirable” carrots and tomatoes along with the chopped tortillas. Stir to combine and let the flavors marinate together for 3-5 minutes. Using a fine-mesh strainer add the shrimp stock to the vegetables, turning down the heat if you need to. Taste as you go - add more salt if you need to. Discard the shrimp heads and shells. Continue to let all simmer together.
Prepare the garnishes. Clean and cut the radish into ¼” baton pieces. Dice the 2 remaining roma tomatoes. Peel and dice the avocado. Chop the cilantro. Combine all in a bowl and season with salt. Set aside.
Cut 4 tortillas into ¼” strips. Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat with enough oil to coat the bottom. Once hot, add the tortilla strips and fry until they are crisp and break in half. Remove from oil onto a paper towel in a small bowl. In the same oil, add the remaining diced onion and carrot, then season with salt and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the diced chicken, season with salt, turn off the heat and let the residual heat from the pan slightly cook the chicken. The chicken will finish cooking in the soup.
Pour your soup into a blender. You may need to do this in a couple of batches. Blend for 1-2 minutes starting on low and working your way up to a high speed. Taste and add salt if you need to. Towards the end of the blending process, add the butter (split between blending batches if needed.) Strain soup through a fine-mesh strainer back into a stockpot and back on medium heat.
Add the par-cooked veggies and chicken into the soup along with the diced shrimp, turn off the heat and let it poach for about 5 minutes.
Ladle into serving bowls and finish with your garnish veggies and tortilla strips.