ceviche recipe

Ceviche is a traditional dish served in restaurants all over Peru. There are hundreds of variations of this signature recipe.  Personally, I am more of a purist and prefer the simpler versions using the five basic ingredients of: fish, salt, lime, chili peppers and onions.  

This recipe is from the Lima Gourmet Company, a great food tour and cooking class that was one of the highlights of my recent trip to Lima. 

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CEVICHE  // serves 4

by Lima Gourmet Company

prep time: 15 minutes // cook time: 15 minutes // TOTAL TIME: 30 min

INGREDIENTS: CEVICHE

• 800 g. white fish ( about 1.75 lbs. of sole, sea bass or flounder )
• 300 g. red onion - julienne ( finely sliced )
• 2 aji limo peppers - if you can't find this, substitute with habanero peppers
• 12 limes
• 500 ml. of "tiger's milk"
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
• salt to taste
• ice cubes

INGREDIENTS: TIGER'S MILK

• 500 ml of lime juice
• 500 ml of water
• 200 g. fish stock
• 25 g. rocoto chili ( deveined and seeds removed ) 
• 25 g. aji amarillo ( deveined and seeds removed ) 
• 25 g. aji limo ( deveined and seeds removed ) - if you can't find this, substitute with habanero peppers
• 50 g. celery
• 10 g. ginger
• 30 g. red onion
• 50 g. salt
• 10 g. white pepper

METHOD:

1. Soak the chopped onions in cold water with ice.
2. Cut the fish into medium-sized cubes, and place in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the onions, lime juice and season with salt.
4. Tiger's Milk: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let marinade for 5 minutes.  Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and strain through a sieve. 
5. Add the "tiger's milk" gradually until desired taste is obtained. 
6. Let the fish marinade for 10 minutes in the fridge before serving to allow the fish to "cook."
7. Garnish with cilantro.

NOTES:

• Serve this dish with slices of cooked sweet potatoes and corn on the side which is the traditional accompaniments. 
• Only use the freshest, semi firm, white-fleshed sea water fish like sole, flounder or sea bass.  Don't use oily fish like tuna or mackerel. 
• Use fresh limes and don't squeeze all the juice out of them to avoid bitterness. 
• Make sure to cut your fish evenly so it cooks evenly. 

vegan fruit crumble recipe

I LOVE fruit bordering on the obsessive side. During the winter months, I like making crumbles using what I can find at the farmers market, which is usually apples and pears.

I recently started experimenting with making dairy free crumbles.  This recipe is vegan and uses gluten free oats. I added strawberries, to give this recipe a hint of summer and used a medium size, stoneware casserole dish from american bakeware that cooked this recipe perfectly. 

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VEGAN STRAWBERRY, APPLE & PEAR CRUMBLE  // serves 8 - 10

by brunchpants

prep time: 30 minutes // cook time: 35 - 40 minutes // TOTAL TIME: 1.25 hours

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:

• 4 ripe peeled pears
• 4 peeled apples ( gala or fuji preferably  )
• 1 cup whole strawberries 
• 3 tbsp. almond meal
• 1 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/3 cup maple syrup 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TOPPING:

• 1 1/4 cup of almond meal
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 10 large juicy ( or soaked ) dates 
• pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp. coconut oil
• 2 cups of gluten free "old fashion" oats
• 1/2 cup of sliced almonds
• 1 cup of sliced strawberries ( set aside for decor on top )  

METHOD: FILLING

1. Preheat the oven to 350' F.

2. After peeling the apples and pears, cut them into quarters, remove the core and seeds, and slice lengthwise to create even slices.

3. Core and slice the strawberries.

4. Mix everything together and put into a 9" baking dish and set aside.

METHOD: TOPPING

1. With the exception of the strawberries, pulse all of the ingredients ( using only half of the oats at first )  in a food processor to evenly blend.  You want everything to be mixed well but not pureed. 

2. Once everything is well blended, add in the second half of the oats and pulse only a few times, so you keep large pieces of oats in the mixture. 

3. Add the topping to the filling mixture, patting it down so it is evenly distributed. 

4. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until bubbling and browning on top. 

5. While the crumble is cooling, add the sliced strawberries to the top in a pattern of your choice. 

NOTES:

• You can refrigerate the crumble after you put the topping on and bake it before you want to serve.

homemade chai tea recipe

After making homemade chai tea, I was obsessed. The spices and flavors are addicting.  I like to make this on cold rainy days.  

Chai tea recipe:

4 cinnamon sticks, 4 black tea bags, 8 whole cloves, 12 cardamom pods, 2 star anise, 8 whole black peppercorns, 4 cups water, 4" sliced piece of ginger, 1 vanilla pod, 1/8 tsp nutmeg.

Bring all to boil for 10 min. add almond milk and honey to taste. Makes 4 cups.

grapes arrangement for centerpieces

This arrangement will show you how to make a flower centerpiece using grapes.   (I recently posted a similar flower arrangement for small tables, which can be used together) 

In this post, I used champagne grapes and small half cup size glass dishes. I suggest using small shorter bowls or cups so the flowers in the centerpiece don't get too high, making it difficult to see over them.  

Note: use different color grapes & flowers depending on the event and the season

Materials:

• 3 small clear glass cups - 1/3 filled with water

• scissors

• large bunch of grapes

• 8 - 9 flowers with the stems cut down

• 4 green leaves ( I used asplenium crispy wave leaves )

• extra greenery as needed - I used some ferns and leaves that I found outside 

Materials

asplenium crispy wave leaves

place the outside leaves first, making sure the leaves are not angled out too wide on your table

fill the cups half full with water

drape the grapes over the glass dishes, letting some of the branches fall outside 

keep draping until you have covered most of the dishes and a "cage" is in place to start placing flowers

place the main white flowers into the grapes, making sure they stay in place where you want them

after the main flowers are in place, fill in with smaller flowers and green accents 

finish

make custom greeting cards with artifact uprising

Check out the print service through the artifact uprising mobile app.  They offer a square print set that lets you print straight from your instagram account or camera roll.  The 5" x 5" prints have a white border and a textured matte finish which I paired with 5.5" envelopes from paper presentation that fit the cards perfectly.  I plan on using these cards for birthday and thanks you cards. I am looking forward to creating a second set, customizing them with photos of friends and family.  natural kraft square envelope 5.5" x 5.5" - 25 pk