Fresh Artichoke Ceviche

Artichoke Ceviche
Makes 8 servings.
 
1 Jumbo Artichoke, trimmed, boiled, choke removed
4 “Baby” artichokes, cleaned, boiled in lemon water, chopped
1 Lb. local, fresh-caught fish, (such as rockfish, sole, or snapper in our area)
2/3 C fresh lime juice
1/2 grapefruit 
1/2 orange or tangelo
2 Tbsp finely shaved shallot
1/4 C poblano or jalapeno pepper, de-seeded and finely sliced 
1/4 C red bell pepper, finely diced
1 medium ear corn, fire-roasted
1/4 C loose fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 tsp. Seafood Salt for the ceviche
1/4 tsp. Chili Blend to dust the chips
3 radishes, thinly julienned
Tortilla Chips for service
 
Optional Avocado Artichoke Cream:
½ C Canned or jarred artichoke hearts
1/2 small avocado
¼ C sour cream, full fat (optional)
Dash of Valentina or Tapatio hot sauce

     This recipe is obviously more about the artichokes than the spice rubs. We had a great time at the 57th Annual Castroville Artichoke Festival and ​even made artichoke lasagna for dinner on Sunday night - I'll get more into that in a minute. Now it's time to do as promised and post the recipe for the summertime deliciousness you see above. After all, it is a bit late but the family is fed and the kids are in bed! Great Success!
     Ceviche is really quite easy: pick your ingredients, chop them all up the same size, "cook" the fish in lime juice, serve. Now the details. Use only the freshest fish, as in still floppin' around boat if you can get it! I used rock cod the first day and petrale sole this afternoon. I preferred the rockfish which was thicker cut and more firm. Te trade off, however, was that after 30 minutes it was cooked to a little past medium rare which may worry a few of you guests, but is actually perfect! The sole on the other hand was more like medium well after 20 minutes in the juice. I noticed 1/3C juice per half pound of fish worked well and cooked at a good speed. 
     I set the fish to marinade and then prepped my other ingredients (be sure to shock your artichokes in ice water to cool them off so they do not heat up your ceviche, gross). I keep the shallots separate and when my fish is almost ready I mix them in to let their flavor mild a little with the acid and after 3 minutes I drain off the excess lime juice. Then I squeeze in a half of an orange and half of a grapefruit, toss in the Seafood Salt and all of the other ceviche ingredients a gently mix it. At this point, if you want to put it in the fridge or on ice for 15 minutes that would be ideal - enough acid has been removed that it shouldn't over-cook. If you used sole, and it's already cooked then maybe just serve it - you don't want it to get chalky. 
     To offset the acidity of the dish a little I like a fatty, sour cream based sauce. Put the ingredients into a jar and use an immersion blender to make a smooth sauce and it's done super quick! I served mine with tortilla chips that I dusted in our Special Chili Blend; it was perfect on the warm day that we all enjoyed at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. 
     Maybe next year I'll share my Lasagna Bianca that I made up tonight: Italian sausage and ground veal cooked in a garlic cream sauce layered between pasta sheets and ricotta, provolone, mozzarella and of course lots of artichoke hearts! To finish it off and add a splash of color I served it with an artichoke and kalamata puttanesca sauce.Now with my belly full and this blog post done the Sand Man is coming! Cheers and sweet dreams!

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