Peruvian Ceviche

Another great "Miami" food. This ceviche was delicioso! I used fresh Wahoo but any white fish will do as long as it is fresh and high quality. This version includes grilled corn to help offset the heat of the pepper. I didn't use the pepper but the corn brought great flavor to the mix.

Peruvian Fish and Shrimp Ceviche

1 pound medium shrimp (16/20 per pound), peeled and cleaned
2 pounds meaty white fish, boned and cut into large dice
½ red onion, minced
1 piece ginger (about 2 inches long), peeled, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 celery, minced
Kosher salt and black pepper
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 - 2 ears of corn, grill with husk on
1/4 habanero, minced (no seeds or ribs), optional

Boil salted water. Have ice water ready on the side. Poach shrimp for just 30 seconds and cool in ice water and drain.

Combine shrimp with fish and toss with onion, ginger, garlic, hot pepper, celery, salt, and black pepper. Allow to cool in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours.

Add juices and refrigerate 1 hour.

Finish with cilantro and corn, check seasoning and serve.

Yucca con Mojo

Lately I have been inspired to practice preparing my favorite "Miami" foods. First up was yucca. I turned to my Cuban-cuisine expert Sylvia for advice. After we tweaked the recipe and made some bad batches - we finally got it right! This is how I like it!



Yucca con Mojo
Courtesy of Silvia Pernas

1 bag of frozen yucca or 1 ½ pounds yucca, peeled and quartered
1 lime, juiced
Kosher salt
1 – 2 yellow onions, sliced in either chunks or rings (whichever you prefer)
8 garlic cloves
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

Put yucca in a large pot and add water until it is just covered. Salt water and add the lime juice. Boil yucca until it's almost mush, about 1 hour for the defrosted bag of frozen yucca. Drain and return to pot. Set aside.

In a large sauté pan heat a layer of olive oil on medium heat until hot. Add onions.

While the onions cook, put the garlic cloves into a zip lock bag and smash them up with the flat side of a meat tenderizer, large spoon, or something else that's heavy. Add garlic into the sauté pan with the onions. After about a minute or so, add the lemon juice.

“Be sure to salt all of that and heat it up for a while until the fragrance of the garlic and onion is too much to bear and your mouth is watering.”

Pour garlic and onion mixture on top of the soft yucca. Salt again to taste, if necessary. Continue on medium heat until barely brown but not crisp, about 10 minutes or so.

Note: Add in a little onion powder or garlic powder, if you want to kick that up a bit.