Soup N' Salad

That photo makes me want to lick my screen!

Every week here at FNM we're pushing boundaries and trying new things.  This week it's Tortilla Soup and Ceviche Salad (Mexican Everyday).  The last time we did fish it turned out quite well and this week's guest is responsible for turning me on to all of the AYCE sushi restaurants in Ottawa, so ceviche seemed more than fitting.

But man cannot live on fish alone, so I made sure that the tortilla soup had lots of chicken in it.  So tighten the straps on your straight jackets and let's see what happens!

Here is the gratuitous shot of all today's ingredients: tortillas, chicken broth, dried epizote, snapper, salmon, avocados, chicken, queso, onion, pasilla, tomatoes, limes and a jalapeno.

Herb Garden Update

I killed all of our cilantro plants. It was an act of Herbicide.

All of that cilantro, lime juice, a jalapeno and some garlic become the marinade for the fish.  It actually cooks the fish though, so, does that make it the oven?  I think they had ovens that colour in the 70's.

Beautiful hunk of salmon.  Both it and the snapper came from the New Seaway Fish Market in the Kensington Market which comes highly recommended for their cuts of sushi / sashimi grade fish.  The man who sold it to me can only be described as a character.

Soup ingredients.  Pasilla pepper inflating in a dry cast iron pan; it literally puffed up when I was toasting it.  And once again, trying to recreate that 15oz can of fire roasted tomatoes.  A visit to the broiler and into the blender they went along with the pepper, an onion, and some garlic.  After that, it gets fried up in a pan and the broth and epazote get added.

A little prep work:  Tortillas and avacado waiting for the soup to be ladled in, and a bed of lettuce waiting for the ceviche.

Such a nice shot.  Why I had to burn it on an incomplete place setting, I'll never know.

Tortilla soup! Huge pile of chicken front and centre in the bowl with shredded cheese, and more tortilla chips alongside.

Ceviche salad.  It wasn't until I saw them in the fridge later that I realized I completely spaced on adding the green onions! Next time gadget!

Both of these dishes were incredibly tasty. Considering not much goes into the tortilla soup beside a pasilla, garlic and epazote for seasonings, it's packed full of flavour.  The ceviche is very light and works well as a salad.  The fish was in the marinade about 2 hours before it hit the table.  Next time I'd like to try Rick's suggestion for the Peruvian variation and serve the fish as soon as it hits the marinade.  The limes were turned up to 11 in this one, but then again, maybe that's the point.  The true test for any dish is how do they taste the second day and both of these were still great as left overs.