The Las Vegas Review-Journal and La Bonita Supermarkets have teamed up to bring the Virtual Food & Cocktail series into your kitchen. The original air date for Episode 3 took place on Aug. 12, 2021. La Bonita’s Chef La Che prepared a traditional carne asada barbecue, homemade guacamole, shrimp ceviche, plus refreshing Palomas demonstrated by Nick Polydoroff from Herradura Tequila. Learn more and register for future episodes, including homemade tamales, Mexican rice pudding, and spiked hot chocolate at reviewjournal.com/cooking.
Here’s a bit of trivia surrounding the Episode 3 menu and ingredients that will expand your culinary knowledge and wow friends and family as you cook.
Ceviche is considered a national dish of Peru, where it originated. It is essentially a seafood cocktail using fresh fish, or shrimp marinated or “cooked” in a large amount of lime juice. Lime juice is the main ingredient in a ceviche marinade. The dish also includes tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and some form of spice or pepper. The technique of macerating raw fish and meat in vinegar, citrus, and herbs was brought to the Americas from Spain and linked to Spanish cuisine’s Muslim heritage.
The preparation and consumption of ceviche is practically a religion in parts of Mexico, Central, and South America, and it seems as though there are as many varieties of ceviche. It’s served either as a first course or a main dish.
In Peru, slices of cold sweet potatoes or corn-on-the-cob are served with ceviche. In Mexico, many ceviche lovers enjoy the dish with raw onions, tomatoes, cilantro and served on toasted tortillas. Most classic ceviches are made with fish, shrimp or a mixture of both. In Episode 3, Chef La Che prepares a delicious shrimp ceviche.
Carne asada is another classic Mexican meat that’s perfect for warm weather and is usually thinly cut. Carne asada means “grilled meat” in English and is usually beef flap meat, chuck roll steaks or shoulder clod steaks. The steak is then marinated in a tasty Mexican mojo sauce and then grilled to perfection before being sliced thinly and served as you like.
Carne asada can be as simple as putting salt and pepper or it can be marinated with several different marinades and then grilled to perfection. Marinades for carne asada often contain lime juice, which helps to tenderize the steak. The main difference between American steaks and carne asada is the way the steak is cut, very thin.
Carne asada steak is usually served with Spanish rice, beans, grilled Mexican onions, radishes and salsa!
La Bonita Supermarkets surprised Episode 3 participants by placing longaniza in their food and beverage bags. Longaniza is a Mexican pork sausage made with many ingredients like vinegar, spices, chiles. If you like chorizo sausage, then you’ll love longaniza. La Bonita’s longaniza is an old family recipe from Michoacan, Mexico, and it is made fresh in the store every day.
There are many ways to cook longaniza sausages. Many people from Mexico like to dry the link by leaving it outside for a few days, and once it’s dry, they cut it into smaller sausage-like pieces and grill it. It usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to examine. You also can ground it up and cook it inside and use it for tacos, tortas or burritos and, yes, an all-time favorite is huevos con chorizo, which means eggs and sausage in English.
The final dish that Chef La Che prepared in Episode 3 was guacamole. Guacamole is an avocado-based dip, spread or salad dressing first developed in Mexico. In addition to its use in modern Mexican cuisine has become an international and American favorite as a dip, condiment and salad ingredient.
Avocados were first cultivated in South Central Mexico around 10,000 years ago. In the early 1900s, avocados frequently went by the name alligator pear. All avocados from Mexico that come to the USA are from Michoacan, Mexico. The city of Uruapan, Michoacan, is known as the avocado capital of the world.
Guacamole has increased avocado sales in the U.S., especially on Super Bowl Sunday and Cinco de Mayo. National Guacamole Day is celebrated on the same day as Mexican Independence Day, Sept. 16. When picking avocados for guacamole, you want to choose ones that are soft but not squishy – ripe avocados should have a little give, but still, feel firm.
Palomas is a tequila-based cocktail, which originated from Mexico. This drink is most commonly prepared by mixing tequila, lime juice and a grapefruit-flavored soda such as Jarritos and served on the rocks with a lime wedge. Adding salt to the rim of the glass is also an option.
Herradura Tequila® Paloma Cocktail
Ingredients listed below are for one cocktail
- 2 oz Herradura® Tequila
- 6 oz Grapefruit Soda
- Lime wedge
Instructions
- Step 1 – Fill the glass with ice.
- Step 2 – Add Herradura Tequila®
- Step 3 – Top with grapefruit soda
- Step 4 – Add squeeze of lime wedge.
Carne Asada Marinade
Ingredients
- 2 lb. Diezmillo or Paleta
- 1-12 oz can of Jumex Guava juice
- 1-24 oz can of Corona beer
- Juice of 2 oranges
- Juice of 4 limes
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- Two sliced Jalapeños (optional if you want it spicy)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
- Step 1 – Combine the guava juice, beer, orange juice, lime juice, jalapeños, garlic, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until well blended.
- Step 2 – Add the meat.
- Step3 – Cover the bowl and put it in the refrigerator. Marinade at least for 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but it can marinate for up to 24 hours.
- Step 4 – Preheat the grill to high heat or 500 degrees. If you are cooking the carne asada on the stove, you will want to set it to high heat. Make sure the grill pan or skillet is hot before you start to cook the meat.
- Step 5 – Add the steak to the preheated grill and cook for two to three minutes per side, or until you have reached your desired doneness.
- Step 6 – Remove the steak from the heat and slice the steak into thin strips.
Shrimp Ceviche
Ingredients
- 2 lb. Shrimp – cleaned and deveined
- Juice of 6 Limes
- 2 Roma Tomatoes cut in small cubes.
- 1 Red Onion cut in small cubes.
- 2 Cucumbers peeled and cut in small cubes.
- ½ bunch of Cilantro
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 Chile Jalapeño cut in small cubes (optional if you want it spicy)
- 1 ½ Tbsp Salt or to taste
Preparation
- Step 1 – Rinse the shrimp.
- Step 2 – In a pot add water and boil. Then add shrimp for 5 minutes,
- Step 3 – Drain well and rinse with cold water.
- Step 4 – Put the shrimp in a large bowl and add the lime juice. Cover the bowl and put it inside the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.
- Step 5 – Get the vegetables ready. Cut the tomatoes, red onion, jalapeno, and cucumbers.
- Step 6 – Once shrimp are done marinating, stir in the diced vegetables and chopped cilantro.
- Step 7 – Season with garlic powder, salt, and black pepper.
You did it!
Guacamole
Ingredients
- 4 Ripe Large Avocados
- ½ Red Onion, finely diced
- 1 Roma Tomatoes, diced
- 1 Chile Jalapeño, seeds removed and finely diced.
- ¼ bunch of Cilantro
- 1 Lime juice
- Salt to taste
Preparation
- Step 1 – In a medium bowl, mash the avocados and make it as chunky or smooth as you would like. Include the avocado seed (pits) with mashed avocados
- Step 2 – Mix in chopped onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and jalapeños.
- Step 3 – Add the lime juice and salt.
Ready to serve.
Enjoy the video, and don’t forget to share your completed dishes and virtual gatherings on social media by tagging photos with the hashtag #rjcooking.
For more information or to register for future episodes, click here.
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal were not involved in the creation of this content.