Ceviche

There is a danger that people will begin to, or already have begun to hate me. I am not really flaunting my good fortune, writing and showing lovely pictures of life in the sunshine, while the rest of you are suffering the wilds of Mother Nature’s winter weather.

I am wallowing in it.

I am loving it.

I am reveling in it and want you to share my joy.

Thank you, to those who wish me well and are happy for me. For the rest, well….this won’t last forever and I am sorry for your suffering.

To give you something else to focus on, something you can enjoy at home pretending you are here too…I give you:

Morgan Freeman, my new best friend!

Did you know that Morgan is an accomplished sailor and that he is in love with the Caribbean? My kind of man. When Hurricane Ivan ravaged the island of Grenada in 2004, Morgan solicited friends to co-operate in a fund raising scheme to help rebuild and restore one of his favourite haunts. Ta Da:

Here in the Bahamas, ceviche is made with conch, or sometimes fresh fish. The islanders use citrus fruits, tomatoes and onions in their version. Personally, conch has no lure for me, but done well, a fish ceviche is superb. I love Morgan’s recipe the very best. I have made it twice, to rave revues! If I could get more fresh mangos, I would have it non-stop, until I got over this infatuation. Try this yourself. You can thank me later.

Welcome to my galley.  I am writing out the exact recipe for you as per the book, but I did not have all the ingredients at hand and had to improvise.  You will have access to a grocery store, I hope, and will do a better job than I did.  It was still so over-the-top delicious, people actually asked/begged for the how-to.

Grenadian Tropical Fruit and Shrimp Ceviche with Crispy Sweet Potato Chips.

Sauce: 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

½ chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tbsp. chopped, fresh ginger (I used the candied ginger I have onboard)

2 ripe Mangos, peeled and cut into large cubes

½ cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp. minced green chile pepper (Veronica, you will use this, but I left it out)

½ tsp. ground cumin

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 cups mango nectar (here I just squeezed the pulp of one mango)

Ceviche: 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed (I had frozen onboard, so I used 1 cup of shrimp for glamour, and used fresh caught Wahoo for the meat—yummy)

Juice of 6 limes

½ cup peeled, cored, chopped pineapple (canned works too)

½ cup peeled, chopped mango

½ cup peeled, seeded and chopped papaya (don’t laugh, I used canned peaches)

½ cup chopped tomatoes

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro (again, none found here so I used romaine.)

Chips: vegetable oil

2 large sweet potatoes

Salt

To make the sauce: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft (do not brown). Stir in the mango, brown sugar, chile pepper and cumin. When the mixture starts to boil and looks like jam, reduce the heat and stir in the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 5 minutes to let the flavours blend. Add the mango nectar and cook for 10 minutes. Transfer to blender and process until smooth. Strain and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

To make the Ceviche: In a large bowl, combine the shrimp/fish and lime juice. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then add pineapple, mango, papaya, tomatoes, onion and cilantro, toss to combine. Stir in the fruit sauce and serve chilled.

To make the sweet potato chips: In a deep fryer, heat the oil to 360 degrees F. (182 C) Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, slice the sweet potatoes as thinly as possible. Slip the slices into the oil and fry on both sides until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

To assemble the dish: Arrange the ceviche in a martini glass or on a serving plate. Garnish with sweet potato chips.  I have tried most unsuccessfully to persuade Captain B that sweet potatoes are good to eat, delicious even, and will not kill him .  You can see from this photo the evidence of my total and utter failure in that regard.

Let me know how it works for you.  "This is a good thing," as Martha Stewart would say.