ceviche

One of my favorite things to eat when I'm visiting my parents at their place in Rockport, Texas is my mom's ceviche.  It is so fresh and delicious and reminds me of everything that is good about the Texas gulf coast.  She and my dad will cruise over to the harbor where the shrimp boats come in and buy the shrimp right off the boat, and she uses the fresh speckled trout we catch off the pier.  It don't get any fresher than 
this, folks.  So I guess you could say I'm a little "spoilt" when it comes to my seafood.  

Now that I live in Missouri, the landlocked capitol of the world, I have to rely on Whole Foods or Bob's seafood to get fresh fish for my ceviche.  While it's not the same as getting it fresh out of the water, it still gets the job done.  Making ceviche is easy and is such a delicious summer meal.  Just be sure and look for the freshest options for your seafood.

---

---

Ingredients
1 lb fresh white fish (speckled trout, red snapper, halibut, swordfish, etc,)
1 lb fresh large shrimp, peeled
1 bunch green onions
1-2 jalapeno peppers
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
3 tomatoes, chopped (or a small container of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half)
2 avocado
8 limes, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Peel shrimp if not already done.  Cut each one up into 3-4 smaller sections.  Cut up fish into small bite size pieces.  Put in glass casserole dish and set aside. 

Juice the limes. 

​(In this photo, I used key limes, but large, conventional limes work better and yield more juice.)

---

Pour juice from limes over cut seafood and let marinate and "cook" for about 6 hours covered in the fridge.  Seafood will begin to look opaque and shrimp may turn pinkish around the edges.

When seafood is done, drain off liquid  and return to a serving bowl.  Add chopped tomatoes, chopped jalapenos (veins and seeds removed), green onions, cilantro, and cubed avocado.  (If you don't like it too spicy, only add one jalapeno!).  Squeeze one more fresh lime over the top and season  with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with tortilla chips or plantain chips if not doing corn.  Or eat it on its own...it is that delicious

The finished product. It doesn't last long. Serve with a cold Mexican beer or a tasty dry white wine.

---

This bait stand has been in Rockport forever. We bought our shrimp here when there was no shrimp boats to buy from.

The lady weighs out my scrimps.