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Published on Friday, March 31,
2023
We have not yet recovered from our Saint Patrick's Irish stew and shamrock sour recipes from a couple of weeks ago, and now it's time to start planning delicious Easter recipes.
Ticos usually cook very elaborate no-meat recipes to share in family gatherings for Easter Sunday, a holiday when Catholics commemorate the resurrection of Jesus.
Avoiding red meat during the 40 days of lent is a custom inherited from the Spanish Catholic colonizers, according to my friend Sonia Rojas, who I have known for more than 10 years, as a sociology professor. She said the act of not eating red meat was a sacrifice and penance in honor of Jesus.
"By making this sacrifice a person makes in spirit, body and soul, it is an act of reparation for the damage caused by human's sin and for the good of the Catholic community," she said.
Easter is the time when Ticos prepare special elaborate meat-free recipes such as fish, seafood, hearts of palm and Chiverre empanada, which is a type of fried pastry filled with squash marmalade, among others.
Well, let's take advantage of the Tico Easter tradition to make delicious recipes, as our new friend Scott Horsley did.
He shared a couple of very successful seafood recipes, Ceviche Tico and Tropical Shrimp Brochettes, that he discovered in Costa Rica.
As he once said, "his life has been better since he left everything behind in his town Platte County, Nebraska, to start a brand new life in Tamarindo Beach."
Big jump huh?
So, lets go to the kitchen!
Ceviche Tico
From Platte County, Nebraska Living in Tamarindo Beach, Guanacaste.
In Tamarindo Beach, with the help of my new friends, he learned how to fish and cook the classic "no-cooked" fish appetizer ceviche.
It is a recipe for dummies like me.
The ingredients you will need are:
2 fish
filets, you can use Corvina or
Tilapia. 2
chopped red tomatoes. 1
chopped red sweet chili. 3
tablespoons of chopped coriander
(cilantro). 1/4 cup
chopped white onion. 1/4 cup
chopped red (purple) onion. 1/4 cup
lemon juice, preferably freshly
squeezed. A pinch
of salt and pepper. 1
tablespoon of mayonnaise.
Avocado. Tortillas.
Cut the fish filet into small squares. In a glass bowl mix the fish with the lemon juice. The bowl must be glass. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so that the lemon does its job and can "cook" the fish.
Then, add the tomato, onion, coriander, chili and mayo. Mix. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Serve the ceviche over the tostada.
Add some avocado slices and drink all the beer you can have.
Tropical
Shrimp Brochettes
If you love seafood like me, this recipe is a must-do. You can make it in the kitchen or on the grill.
The ingredients that you will need to serve 4 are:
8
jumbo shrimp without heads (you can
prepare them with or without
shells). 1
package of minced chicken sausages. 1/2
cup pineapple, chopped into squares. 1/2
red sweet pepper, chopped into
squares. 1/2
green sweet pepper, chopped into
squares. 1/4
white onion, chopped into squares. 1/4
red onion, chopped into squares. 1
stick of butter or 1/2 cup of
vegetable oil. Salt
and pepper. Don't forget the brochette sticks.
If you use wooden brochette sticks, before cooking you must soak them in water for 30 minutes, so the brochettes do not burn with the heat of the grill.
First, gently remove the shell from the shrimp. With a small knife or toothpick, remove the black vein on the back of the shrimp.
I always cut the tail, but if you prefer you can cook it with the tail. Don't forget to wash the shrimp only with water.
Take a brochette and go through 1 square of sausage, 2 squares of white onion, two squares of red chili, one cube of pineapple, one shrimp, one square of pineapple, two squares of purple onion, two squares of green chili and close with a sausage.
Turn on the grill or oven on medium heat.
Medium heat is when you can place your hand 15 centimeters over the heat of the grill and leave it for about 5 seconds without burning yourself.
Add the melted butter (or olive oil) to the skewers. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
Put the
brochette on the grill or the oven
(this is a very obvious step). Cook for 2 minutes, gently rolling the brochette, until the shrimp turn pink in the center and golden on the outside.
If you are afraid that your shrimp may get burned, you can cook shrimp without removing the shell. This gives protection to the shrimp when it is cooked on the grill. It also gives the shrimp a lot of taste. But (there always has to be a but), the problem is this specific way is a little more difficult to eat or remove the shell after cooking.
These so-tasty Tropical Shrimp Brochettes make a wonderful match with white wine or a cold beer. Yay!
Have a Pura Vida Holy Week!
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