Monday, March 14, 2011

Daring Cooks' March Challenge - Ceviche and Papas Rellenas


Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenged us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

My mouth started watering when I found out about this month’s Daring Cooks challenge. Although I’ve never knowingly had Peruvian cuisine, I have had ceviche and, like pretty much any dish featuring raw fish, I adore it. It was also very easy to make: just cut up fresh fish (tilapia, in my case) to your liking, add seasonings and lemon juice, and let the citrus do its job. Indeed, lemon juice cooks fish, which is one of the reasons it’s recommended to avoid using it in tartare. It was refreshing and delicate, served with a salad of corn, red pepper, and goat cheese (it was supposed to be queso fresco, but I couldn’t find any).


The mere concept of papas rellenas made me hungry: meal-sized mashed potato “croquettes,” stuffed with a meat filling. Croquettes are always welcome on my table, but I particularly loved the filling in this recipe: with ground beef, black olives, raisins, and cumin, it was a lovely combination of flavours. I made a large batch of the pappas and froze the excess ones (prior to frying), for a busy night.


What I loved about this month’s challenge is that both dishes are something I had never made at home, and am now seriously considering adding to my regular recipe roaster. Not that this hasn’t happened before with the Daring Cooks, but this month’s recipes were just very fun and accessible. Thank you, Kathlyn!


Please check out the Daring Kitchen to look at both challenge recipes. And take a look at the Daring Cooks’ blogroll to see if they’ve had as much fun as I have this month!

14 comments:

  1. Oh, I like your corn and pepper salad - good idea. I'd like to try the tilapia too.

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  2. Oooo, your papas look really really good... And you're also right that well, what's not to like about croquettes, right? I've made them before but just never really like this and I only made the ceviche for this challenge (which I totally loved by the way) but these papas I will have to make too!

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  3. That corn salad looks fabulous! What a great compliment to the ceviche. And Itotally agree about the papas - if it is potato, I am totally into it! Great job with this challenge! I am glad you loved it, and Ihope you make it agian, I would love to see your variations!

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  4. Awesome job on the challenge. Your ceviche looks so fresh and tasty (and, like the others, I love that corn and pepper salad!), and the papas look absolutely delicious. Great idea freezing a few, too! Wonderfully done.

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  5. Wow, both look absolutely delicious and perfectly accomplished! Great to know you enjoyed it so much!

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  6. Your ceviche looks awsome! Great job on this challenge.

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  7. Your ceviche looks so delicious! And the papas are perfectly fried, great job on this challenge!

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  8. WOW that ceviche looks perfect the texture of the 'cooked' fish is so creamy spot on. And the papas are so exquisite the colour of the crust is wondrous. You always do a great job on this challenge. Well done.

    Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

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  9. I was thinking of making ceviche for next week.
    And the Papas rellenas look a lot like the Japanese korokke.

    Great job on both dishes!

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  10. Congrats on both, they look marvelous. I love ceviche too and was happy to make it. Your papas look awesome. That salad with the ceviche sounds yummy!

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  11. I agree with your description of the recipe as fun and accessible. Great work.

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  12. Oh, Val..you totally took my breath away with your gorgeous ceviche and papas rellenos. I completely forgot about this month's Daring Cooks challenge!! lol Regardless, I can drool over yours :)

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  13. Thrilled to see they were fun and accessible and you made each recipe look perfectly delicious and very fancy, too!
    YUM!!!
    :)
    Valerie

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  14. I completely agreed. This challenge pushed me out of my comfort zone and gave me a dish I can easily make, especially when I am looking for the "wow" factor. Your papas look so good. I'm glad you had success!

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