It’s been a while since my friend Evan moved to Chicago – going on five months now – but believe it or not, he only recently bought a couch. In Evan’s mind, there is no better way to celebrate buying a couch than to have a food-centric housewarming party (ok, so I may have had something to do with the party idea, but if you know Evan, you know the food-centric theme was all him).
Anyway, every invitee brought a recipe they had never, ever made before. Something they have never attempted. Something they never even thought about making. This set us up for potential disaster, to be sure, but surprisingly we all got out unharmed (unless you count being full past the point of comprehension). The food, in fact, was fabulous. I made a red snapper ceviche from Rick Bayless’s One Plate at a Time, which I’ll share below, but first is a little photo essay from the night.
Cheese to kick start the evening
Evan’s on-fire, very strong rye drink
Evan rinsing brown basmati rice
Danielle mincing garlic with this nifty garlic grinder
Danielle wrapping egg rolls
Evan not deveining the shrimp
Lots of butter in this recipe
Heaven
More butter
Shrimp in curry spices
Dessert… cherries jubilee
Barely fit this in my belly
Red Snapper Ceviche
from Rick Bayless’s One Plate at a Time
~1 pound red snapper, or fillets from 1 large meaty white fish
1 1/2 cups fresh lime juice, or enough to completely cover all the fish
1 small white onion, chopped
2 large jalapeños, stemmed and chopped
1/4 cup pitted green manzanillo olives
2 large ripe tomatos, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 small jícama, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt
juice of 1 orange
In a large stainless steel or glass bowl (plastic or other metals will react with the acid and add a yucky flavor to your fish), combine the fish, lime juice, and onion. The fish should float freely in the juice; if not, add a little more. Cover and refrigerate until the fish is cooked – I left mine in for 4 hours, but wish I had taken it out after 2-3 as I found it to be a bit too acidic. Strain out the lime juice and set the fish aside.
Combine the green chiles, olives, tomato, jícama, cilantro, and olive oil. Stir in the fish, with salt and orange juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve — preferably no longer than an hour or two. Serve with tortilla chips
Hey, the shrimp may not have been deveined, but it was still tasty. Great pictures!
Wow, the caption for my dish is “heaven.” 🙂 Thanks!!
@Evan – true, it was tasty. I never would have known!
@Danielle – those egg rolls were awesome! Thought I think I ate too much filling before they were even finished! I’m going to try to replicate them soon.
*though*