Haaaaaa - llelujah!

Imagine a massive choir breaking into the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah. That's how I felt on Friday night at about midnight when, after 4 hours marinating in the fridge, I finally took a bite of my first ever homemade ceviche. For those who are not yet members of the Ceviche Fan Club, ceviche is basically raw fish marinated in citrus juice, usually lime. The acid in the citrus lightly "cooks" the fish and makes for a wonderful and refreshing appetizer or snack. You can eat the marinated fish solo or pair it with herbs, fruits, or vegetables for a little variety.

Ceviche is one of those foods that I swoon at the thought of. The kind of thing that I order without fail if I see it on a restaurant menu. One of the dishes I've been planning to try my hand at ever since I got into this whole cooking thing.

I started with fresh yellowfin tuna (only about 1/3 of a pound, since this was experimental after all) and 1/2 cup of lime juice. I chopped the fish into chunks and marinated it in the lime juice for about 1 hour. That was when the creativity came in. I decided to split the tuna and lime juice into two bowls to try out two types of ceviche, because I really wanted at least one to turn out well! I was loosely inspired by this recipe from Epicurious and this recipe from The Foodnetwork.

Here's how it all went down:

Bowl Number 1: 1/2 the marinated tuna and lime juice 1 tbsp finely chopped red onion 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped 1/4 cup grated jicama dash of cumin dash of cayenne 2 tsp jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped 1/2 Florida avocado, chopped into chunks

Bowl Number 2: 1/2 the marinated tuna and lime juice 3 tbsp mashed or pureed avocado 1/3 cup ripe mango, chopped into chunks 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup jicama, chopped 1 tsp olive oil 2 tsp jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped

1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Return to the fridge for as long as you like--I left it three hours.
3. Remove and enjoy as midnight snack.

Both turned out very well. My preference was for the spicier selection in Bowl Number 1. I think Ash preferred the sweetness that the mango added in Bowl Number 2. Next time I am going to be a little bolder and try incorporating some coconut milk! If you're a ceviche fan, I definitely urge giving the homemade variety a try. If I can do it, clearly it's not too tough, and then you can save yourself all the dollars that they love to charge for this appetizer in restaurants.