My Summer of Ceviche: Home Attempt #1

How to make ceviche at home:

While out doing last-minute shopping for your wedding rehearsal dinner, decide that a perfect addition to the carefully planned and budgeted meal would be ceviche, which you have never made before. Use your fancy phone to google for "ceviche recipe" and so find this recipe. Decide you like shrimp more than fish and notice that avocados are on sale. Purchase:

2 lbs of frozen, raw shrimp
4 lemons
6 limes (because they're smaller)
a medium white onion
2 ripe-looking tomatoes
1 serrano chili
a bunch of cilantro
4 avocados

Also get the stuff you actually went to the store to purchase and go home.

Juice the lemons and limes and put the juice in a 9"x12" Pyrex dish. Thaw the shrimp by running cold water over them for a few minutes. Shell the shrimp and cut into 1/2" pieces, putting the pieces into the citrus juice as you go. It will take a long time. Your fiancee will stop by occasionally and gently, and reasonably, suggest that maybe someone else could cut up the shrimp while you do things that only you can get done, like finish up the thank you cards for members of the wedding party. Make vague noises about finishing up soon and stubbornly continue. When the shrimp have all been cut, stir and level the shrimp in the lemon/lime juice to make sure all the shrimp are covered. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and put into the fridge.

Chop the rest of the ingredients, mix, and place aside in a bowl. Wait two hours, then mix the remaining ingredients into the Pyrex pan. Plan on taking it out in an hour or so. Get involved in conversations and forget about the ceviche until nearly the end of the evening. Serve to the remaining guests on El Rey tortilla chips. Put away 2 pounds of ceviche. Sunday (two days later) wonder how long ceviche keeps, decide to chance it, and savor the super-marinated flavor.

Forget to take a picture.

(Originally posted on the Chicago Metblog, Aug 25, 2006: My Summer of Ceviche: Home Attempt #1)