I’ve been dying to make a ceviche ever since I got cracked out on them 3 years ago at Victor’s Cuban Cafe in NYC.  They are very easy to make, so I’m not sure what took me so long but it was worth the wait!

This recipe is very refreshing in flavor, color & texture, which will be great for our 1st spring dinner party.

Ingredients:
1lb Red snapper – skinned, deboned, & cut into ½” pieces (I got mine fresh from Monahan’s Seafood Market!)
½ Cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
¼ Cup of white wine vinegar
1 Cup of mango diced
½ Cup of shallots diced
1 Jalapeño finely diced (remove seeds)
1 Avocado
¼ Cup of red pepper diced
Watercress
Ginger powder
Salt
Pepper
Potato sticks

Mixing & Marinating:

- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine your red snapper, fresh lime juice, white wine vinegar, shallots, jalapeño & a few dashes of ginger powder.

- Once mixed, cover & refrigerate for 2 hours stirring ever half hour to ensure that the fish is covered in your marinade.

- During the marination/”cooking” process, you will observe your fish transition from a translucent white to an opaque white as the acid from the lime juice & vinegar “cooks” the fish.

- After marinating, drain most of the liquid (also known as Tiger Milk) then add in mango, cilantro, red pepper & mix well. Salt & pepper to taste.

- Serve chilled with fresh avocado slices and watercress.

According to my friend Chef Eve Aronoff (former Bravo TV “Top Chef” contestant), it is traditional to serve ceviche with something salty/crunchy on top, so I decided to serve potato sticks with my ceviche.

History of civeche:

Ceviche, which is often spelled seviche or cebiche, depending on which part of South America it comes from, is seafood prepared in a centuries old method of cooking by contact with the acidic juice of citrus juice instead of heat.

The origin of ceviche is disputed between Peru and Ecuador, and as both countries have an amazing variety of fish and shellfish, it could easily have come from the ancient Inca civilizations of Peru and Ecuador.

Every Latin American country has given seviche/ceviche its own touch of individuality by adding its own particular garnishes. In Peru, it’s the national dish & is served with slices of cold sweet potatoes or corn-on-the-cob. In Ecuador, it is accompanied by popcorn, nuts, or corn nuts. (Source | What’s Cooking America)

Have you experienced the deliciousness of Mexican Coke yet? I’m still so hook on this stuff?

The tasty looking jicama & fennel slaw recipe that I saw last year on The Hungry Mouse inspired me to try my own version. This is a very easy side dish / snack to make & the flavors burst!

Ingredients:
1 Jicama root (about 2-3 lbs)
1 Red & green jalapeño
1 Cup red cabbage
Cilantro
1 Carrot
5 tbsp Honey
2 tsp White wine vinegar
½ Cup olive oil
½ Cup freshly squeezed lime juice
A Shot of your favorite tequila

Honey Lime Vinaigrette:
- Combine your wet ingredients (olive oil, fresh lime juice, honey, white wine vinegar) in a mixing bowl & whisk vigorously.
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Set aside
- Consume your tequila shot

>>>OK, now the fun part!<<<

- Peel your jicama root then julliene into nice small strips
- Dice your jalapeños
- Shred your carrot
- Shred your red cabbage. (I cheated with Dole bagged shredded cabbage)
- Mince 5-6 cilantro sprigs
- Combine all of your cut veggies & vinaigrette into a large mixing bowl & stir like crazy
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Chill then serve

With my slaw, I served chicken sautéed in salsa & blanched asparagus spears.

This recipe serves 5 & my kids love it!

Jicama root facts:
- A legume from Mexico and it can be eaten raw or cooked The roots are light brown in color, and may weigh up to 50 pounds.

- Has the texture of waterchestnuts & quite crispy. The flavor is that of a barely sweet apple.

- Packed with vitamin C, and used as a source of starch. One serving of jicama equals 1 cup, which contains about 45 calories.

Today I discovered Le Petit Zinc, a hidden restaurant in Detroit thanks to my good friend Tony. This now makes for two restaurants that I have discovered in Detroit this month.

I called Tony up for lunch after I was done with a photo assignment Sunday afternoon & we settled on meeting at Mudgie’s (recent favorite). I was looking forward to a great turkey sandwich, root beer & chips. Actually, I had been thinking about eating there for the past few days so I really needed to satisfy my appetite.

All of my food lusting came to a screeching halt when I pulled up to Mudgie’s & noticed that they were closed on Sunday’s. Why didn’t I call first?

With disappointment totally set in, Tony asked where to next & I said to somewhere where grease wasn’t on the menu. Tony then suggested going to Le Petit Zinc. I was like what? What’s that?

As it turns out, Le Petit Zinc is one of many new creperies popping up around Detroit & it was literally around the corner from Mudgie’s.

We enter the small & cozy dining area & I was struck by the lively & VERY French décor. The bright yellow walls, aroma of brewing coffee & scent of warm bread comforted me.

The menu was offerings were simply stated & reasonably priced making me want to try it all!

I ordered the “Jambon et Fromage” (ham & brie), which came with a small green salad flavored with a light but tasty oil & vinegar dressing. The crepe was filing & hit the right spot! The cost of $6.25 made it even better.

Good fresh non-greasy food @ reasonable prices is a major plus!

While I‘m totally digging Le Petit Zinc, Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes is my unmovable favorite creperie in Detroit.

I wonder what I will stumble upon next!?!?

Side Notes:
- I LOVE roosters. They are so cool
- I have always wanted to paint my kitchen yellow
- I ate my 1st crepe 8 years ago
- Tony knows where everything is

I stopped eating beef a little over two years ago & it was a clean break with no regrets. That is, no regrets until I realized that I could no longer enjoy corned beef sandwiches or French onion soup; two my favorite dishes. Outside of those 2 treats it’s been all good.

Well, it’s been kinda all good! Since my self-imposed restriction, I have cheated 3 times with today being one of those times. From the image above, I’m sure you can see that I surrendered all for my undying love of corned beef sandwiches. I felt so guilty after it was all gone but so full & satisfied.

Today’s lunch was devoured at Mudgie’s Deli located in Detroit’s Corktown district. Shamefully, I have to admit that this was my 1st time @ Mudgie’s since Greg Mudge opened the much loved deli 2 years ago (almost to the day).

After I was seated, Greg asked me where I had been & I was basically like in Loserville for not being at his restaurant until today. Then he offered me on a Wild Bill’s Root Beer (made in northern MI & totally awesome).

Mudgie’s is located in the same spot where former favorite deli, Eph McNally’s existed, where Greg was also a server until they closed. Shortly after Eph McNally’s closed the Corktown location, Greg pulled some things together & before you know it, Mudgie’s was born.

Mudgie’s is one of few places near downtown Detroit where you can get an inexpensive, fresh, & fast meal that’s not packed in grease. The environment is refreshingly vibrant with bright orange walls & it has simply fun & funky décor.

Now that I finally have this place on my foodie radar, it’s on & popping! Especially since they are open through the dinner hour & SMOKE FREE.

Pictured above: Greg Mudge, some of the best “new” pickles in Detroit along with a “Barret” sandwich (corned beef, Mudgie-made creamy cole slaw, Swiss cheese and Mudgie-made thousand island dressing on an onion roll – $8.75)

I thought I was doing something special last night when I picked up a carton of black mission figs. I was like, hmmm, I’ll try these & see what they’re about.

I was really excited to try them after seeing some really delicious looking photos on Flickr.

So I made it home today & immediately sliced one of my deliciously ripe figs. The colors were rich, the smell was honey sweet, & the first bite sent me back in time.

Back in time? Yes, back in time! As I savored each bite, I remembered eating these as a kid in Alabama. Then I remembered how my mom used to talk about how much she hated figs.

I had all these rememories while chowing down on like 6 figs. Then I thought about how my grandmother LOVED fig bars.

So funny how food can trigger memories good, bad or indifferent.

While preparing this post, I called my mom & told her about my little flashback & she was like hell no. No figs!

Needless to say, I’m all about figs now & they did taste as good as they look. Yum!!!

BTW, check out a few more shots of my figs here. Sure to get you hungry!

Last week, I visited the locally celebrated Eve restaurant who was serving up some delicious Cuban themed culinary delights as a preview to Eve Aronoff’s anticipated Frita Batido restaurant.

If you’re a “Top Chef” fan, you may remember Eve as one of the earlier contestants.

While at the restaurant, I helped out my boy Antonio “Shades” Agee display his art work (actually I was a lame helper, but help nonetheless.) & I wound up getting addicted to Mexican Coke, thanks to Eve who told me were the local supply could be found.

And so that you know, I’m not talking about the Coke you snort. I’m talking about that delicious dark caramel carbonated beverage that we all love to mix with spiced rum.

For those of you who are not in the know, the difference between Mexican & US Coke versions is that Mexican Coke is sweetener & way more delicious! Mexican Coke is made with pure cane sugar, while US Coke is made with high fructose corn syrup. US Coke bottlers switched to HFCS in 1985 as a cost saving measure because cane sugar was more expensive.

When I got home, later in the evening, I Googled Mexican Coke & was surprised to find so many articles related to it & how it’s something that people actually look for because it’s so much better than the US version.

I really tripped out when I found articles that told of US Coke bottlers trying to stop the import of Mexican Coke. Ultimately, they were unsuccessful.

Mexican Coke basically, can be found in most Mexican markets or other small world markets that cater to immigrant folk like ZZ’s market in Ann Arbor, MI.

If you get the chance to try Mexican Coke, you will taste the difference immediately! It’s so sweet & delicious & surprisingly even good without spiced rum.

As a side note, Suite Suzy noticed that the Kroger grocery store now has Mexican Coke for $1.79 a bottle. Hmmmm, I think I will just get it at ZZ’s when I need it. I like supporting the independent markets vs. corps whenever possible.

———————————————————–

Update:
Today, I got a call to tune into NPR & to listen to a discussion on the article recently published in the New York Times on this interesting debate. It’s so crazy to see that I’m ttally not alone in my love for Mexican Coke. And yes, I’m now one of 11,000+ fans on Facebook.

While strolling through New York’s China Town, I spotted these vivid dragon fruits being sold by market vendors all over the place.

I’ve always wanted to try them but can never find them in my area. So after searching for the best deal, I picked up 3 & spent 12 bucks (sold based on weight).

So now that I had these beauties in my grasp, I just had to get them home in one piece with no bruises.

Once I got home, I decided to challenge Olivia & Sade to a 5 buck challenge if they could name the fruit.

As soon as they got home from school, I presented the challenge, and then showed them the fruit to identify.

Out of almost nowhere, Olivia blurted out “that’s a dragon fruit.” I was like what, you know?!?!?! She was like, yes, I saw it on a show on the Disney Channel 2 years ago & thought it was interesting.

She put a big smile on my face because I just thought it was so random.

Well today, after photographing the fruit, we all gave it a try. Sadly, no one really cared for it, but I said that we had to eat the one we opened to not be wasteful.

The fruit has the consistency of a pear or cantaloupe. It doesn’t really have a smell & the taste is like no other fruit I’ve had. It was not all that sweet as I had hoped & heard about.

I have 2 more left & I’m giving 1 to a friend. I think I will let the last one ripen a bit more to see if that will make a difference.

Have you tried dragon fruit? If so what did you think? And what’s the most exotic/strangest fruit that you’ve tried?

Oh, here’s a link to a few more shots of the fruit.

I’m typically not a desert person but one treat that I really enjoy is fudge!

Last week, while enjoying my new favorite pastime (Twitter), I ran across a tweet for a dark chocolate & walnut fudge recipe on TheHungryMouse.com. I decided to check out the recommendation & found a wonderfully simple & delicious looking recipe.

The recipe looked so good that it actually made my mouth water while viewing the images & reading the instructions.

So I decided to give the fudge recipe a try but with a bit of a twist.

Ingredients:

- 2 milk chocolate chips
– 2 oz. semisweet chocolate
– 1/2 tsp. baking soda
– 1/8 tsp. salt
– 1 14-0z. can condensed milk
– 1 Tbls. vanilla extract (next time I will go only use 1 tbls)
– 1 cup chopped pecans
– 2 oz. caramel
– Spray oil
– 4 oz. Spiced rum

Procedure:
- Spray an 8×8 pan lightly with oil. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Press it down gently so it sticks. Set the pan aside.

- Next, start a boiler. Put about 2 inches of water in a pan on the stove over high heat to get it boiling.

- In the top portion of your double boiler, measure out your chocolate chips and put them in a large (usually a bag measures 2 cups), add your dark chocolate. Depending on how your semisweet chocolate comes, you may need to break it down into smaller pieces.

- Add the baking soda and the salt then stir thoroughly to coat the chocolate and evenly distribute the salt and baking soda.

- Thoroughly stir in your condensed milk & vanilla.

- Drink your shot of spiced rum now.

- Set the pot onto the boiling water once the mix is all set, set the pot onto the boiling water.

- As your mixture melts, add in your caramel but be sure that you break it into small pieces so that it can melt easily. And be sure to stir constantly until it’s fully melted, smooth & chocolaty.

- Once your mixture is thoroughly melted & smooth, mix in your nuts and your done. Well almost.

- Pour your fudge out into your already prepared pan & smooth it down with a spatula so the surface is fairly even.

- Let the fudge rest & cool for a few hours until it firms up.

- Once the fudge is solid, it is ready to be cut & devoured.

Here is a link to the original recipe with detailed images. Be careful if your sweet tooth is active!

One of my favorite spots to haunt lately is “Eve” restaurant located in the Kerry Town district in Ann Arbor (MI).

I’ve had Eve’s food before at catered events, but it was only 2 months ago that I actually went to check it out myself.

One of Suite Suzy’s friends had been telling us about the banging ginger lime martini offered there. So being the flavored/designer martini lover that I am, I had to have one.

So on this fateful night, I sampled the ginger lime martini & my life (or at least the next few months) was changed after having the best fucking martini ever!!!

Eve’s martini is smooth, spicy, tart, sweet & orgasmic all in one chilled glass.

Since that night, I’ve been back to Eve several times; most recently with Cousin Dee for a Thursday night jump off. I now have her feeling the power of the ginger lime martini.

The other muist have item at Eve are the Thai chicken dumplings, the perfect accompanyment to the ginger lime martinis. The dumplings are so good that I almost came on myself a little bit the 1st time I had them.

So since I’m now hooked on the ginger lime martini & hooked on saving money whenever possible; I have been experimenting with a few recipes that I collected & came up with something that is my own but not really. After 3 weeks of testing, I am now confident enough to share.

Ingredients:
- Fresh lime juice
- Fresh ginger
- Crystallized ginger
- Simply syrup
- Vodka (no Mohawk or Absolute please, think top self!)

Simple Syrup Procedure:
- Combine 1 cup water of with 3/4 cup of sugar in a small pot and bring to boil.
- Take a swig of your vodka
- Reduce heat and let simmer 5 to 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool.

>>>OK, now the fun part!<<<

- Juice 3-5 medium/large limes

- Peel your ginger root & slice 4-5 pieces width wise. Pieces should be disc shaped depending on the part of the root that you slice. (The more ginger you add, the spicier your martini will be)

- Toss ginger pieces in your cocktail shaker & muddle them to almost a pulp. This will extract the juice needed to flavor the martini.

- Add ice to your cocktail shaker along with 1/3 cup lime juice & 1/3 cup simple syrup & a big splash of vodka then shake thoroughly.

- Pour your delicious sweet, sour & spicy concoction into a chilled martini glass. (use a fine colander to sift out lime pulp & ginger pieces that slip through). My Ikea cocktail shaker happens to have a strainer but I still use a sifter to make my drink smooth.

- Slice your crystallized ginger into slivers & toss a few into your drink. They make for a nice surprise at the end of the glass.

This recipe should produce two martinis.