Friday, May 8, 2009

I like mine RAW






I’ve been going crazy on the meatarian dishes early this week, I had buttermilk fried chicken, rich beef stew and the “killer” Slow Cooked Pork Belly in Jack Daniels. It was so good, but I think my heart and cholesterol levels couldn’t handle it anymore and I decided to take the raw approach the other day to balance it out. I discovered the other day that Mike’s Fish Market, my favorite fish monger in St. Lawrence Market has a branch a few minutes from my house. Lucky for me because if I have to trek to Front St. on a weekday trying to beat QEW traffic to make it before they close at 6:00pm is damn near impossible. As soon as I found out about their Etobicoke Branch, I knew it was fish night that night. So there I was thinking of something to make for dinner, knowing that Mike’s was so close by, when I was haunted by memories of this delicious, tangy cerviche from Boulevard CafĂ© along Harbord St. My mouth started to water just thinking about it, so to satisfy my cravings, I decided to make my own version.

Making cerviche is surprisingly quite easy, it’s very similar to the Kilawin, a Philippine version, minus the vinegar, coconut milk and cranking up the citrus. It’s a very refreshing side dish or as an appetizer it prepares one for more good eats to come after.

For my dish, I decided to use a white firm fish that can hold its weight alongside the tartness of the limes. Mike’s had a special on Groupers that night, plus the lady behind the counter was kind enough to slice it into chunks which pretty much sealed the deal. All in all it took longer for me to slice and dice the veggies than it did to actually “cook” the dish.

I served it alongside a couple of Malpeque oysters, mignonette sauce, hot sauce and slices of lemons and a glass of rose (I ran out of white and I was too lazy to go out and get some). No need to dish out $50 for a raw bar, I spent less than $20 for 2 and it was worth it.

Grouper Cerviche
(For 2)

½ lb of Grouper
Juice from 3 limes
1 white onion, minced
Zest from 1 lime
1 jalapeno seeded and diced (more if you want a spicier dish)
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients together, marinate for at least 2 hours.
Drizzle a bit of olive oil prior to serving.
Enjoy!!!

(Sorry again for the pictures.. I’m planning on getting a Canon SD1200 this month and hopefully the pics would be better)