I am Feeling Daring!

This is my first Daring Cooks challenge and I had so much fun!  I can hardly wait till the next one.

So the Daring Cooks Challenge was something that I had thought about for a while; Do I have the time?  Will it be too difficult?  Will I like the food?  Finally, I made my decision and I am so glad that I did.  So the challenge for March was Ceviche and Papas Rellenas.  I have had ceviche before.  I actually had it on a boat in the Bahamas where the guy who was driving the boat got a conch and made us the ceviche right there on the boat.  Fresh and citrus-y and super yummy.  I enjoyed that kind of ceviche but wanted something more tropical and I liked the idea of fruit in with the fish, as I had once in a restaurant in San Francisco.  So I scoured the Internet for recipes and mix and matched them all together till I had what appeared to be MY perfect ceviche.

Salmon, mangos, orange and red sweet peppers with the juice of lemons, orange and mandarins.  It was tangy and fruity and the salmon was so tender and yummy.  I had to beat my husband off with a wooden spoon because he just couldn't stop eating it.  It also falls into the category of one of the most eye pleasing food dishes I have ever produced.

Find the printable recipe for this ceviche here

Next on the agenda was the Papas Rellenas.  This was new to me but I had a few ideas.  I figured, how can you screw up something that has mashed potatoes and is then fried!?  I can up with this delectable concoction.


Find the printable recipe for these papas here

 
I went with some of my favorite things, cuban pulled pork with lime juice and orange and a little kick of spice, then added jalapenos and poblanos to corn and onions and black beans.  The hairs on my arms are standing up just talking about it.  In the potatoes I added some shredded kale and the exterior was Sazon Goya con Azafran with eggs and a little flour (see how the outside has a lovely saffron color) and panko.  Whew!  

When all was said and done it was all really good and my family ate every last bit of ....well....everything!  If I make the Papas again I will kick it up a bit in the spice department but this time I added the salsa to take care of that aspect.  The ceviche I would leave just the way it was.  My first Daring Cooks Challenge down and I am feeling very daring and having a ton of fun.  I am so glad that I stopped being such a procrastinator about this and just did it.  Now I am looking forward to April's challenge.  By the way, if you are interested in joining us for one of these Challenge dinners let me know and I will add an extra chair!

Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges 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.  

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