thanksgiving

thanksgiving menu:

• Butternut Squash Soup
• Roasted Butternut Squash with Mixed Greens
  
• Portuguese Duck Rice
• Sauteed Brussel Sprouts
• Roast Chicken with Fingerling Potatoes
• Honey-baked Ham
  
• Stuffing & Gravy
• Black Pepper Tri-tip
• Ketchup Shrimp
• Mashed Potatoes
• Tuna Avocado Cups
  
• Shrimp & Red Snapper Ceviche

that's right, we had stuffing without a turkey to stuff it with however we did have a mish mash of dishes from all over the world. with fond memories of my recent trip to cancun, i chose an appetizer that originated from our southern neighbor, ceviche.

ceviche is a dish that consists of raw fish marinated in citric acids (usually lime) until the flesh is cooked. for the skeptics, i encourage you to chop up some raw white fish and let it sit in lime juice. the flesh of the fish turns from translucent to solid white right before your eyes.

i was a skeptic so i made a raw version (red snapper) and a cooked version (shrimp). lessons learned from my 8 hour ordeal:

• pay the extra money for peeled & deveined shrimp. it is NOT fun!
• when deseeding serano peppers, the gas from the pepper disperses into the air. i now know how pepper spray can get into your eyes, mouth, and nose and burn you to the point of unconsciousness. i discovered that if you deseed the peppers in a bowl of water, the gas can not escape from the water. (thank you mr. kanu! i did have a reason to use chemistry!)
• to keep avocados from browning, leave the avocado seed in the same container, this will slow down oxidation

Pictures and recipes from my thanksgiving contributions:

Traditional Ceviche
(Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse) 

Shrimp Ceviche
(Recipe courtesy of Anthony Lamas, Jicama Grill, Louisville, KY)

Lemon Tuna Avocado Snack

(Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart)

I take no credit for this spread, it was delicious!