A New, Old Thing! Tuna Ceviche Chile Rellenos with Avocado Cream

You've probably figured this out by now but nothing gets me fired up like reinventing a classic or fusing different styles of cuisines.

So when our dear friend Jodi was coming over for a casual brunch, I wanted to fix something worthy of the 100+ deg temperatures we were having as well as celebrate her Mexican heritage that is so dear to her.

Now Chiles rellenos (pronounced - Chee-lehs Rreh-yeh-nohs) as a traditional Mexican specialty are cheese stuffed, batter fried chiles such as Anaheim or Poblanos. Also, Peruvian (or Ecuadorian, depending on where you're from) Ceviche (pronounced sa-vee-chay) is raw fish 'chemically cooked' in an acid such as lime juice.

So I have decided to not only fuse both these classic preparations but to also omit frying the chiles altogether and instead roast them only. I am then going to stuff them with the tuna ceviche & top it with some luscious avocado cream to pull together all the refreshing flavors.

Tuna Ceviche Chile Rellenos with Avocado Cream

I think we've got something good going here. Don't you?

The main ingredients are -

Tuna ceviche - Sashimi grade fresh tuna, limes, lemon, fresh cilantro, Spanish red onion, cherry tomatoes, 2 ripe avocados, extra virgin olive oil, pickling liquid from bottled jalapeno & salt

Avocado cream - Mascarpone cheese, Sour cream, ripe avocado & lime juice

Roasting fresh Poblano peppers (also sold as pasilla chiles ) - 4-5 poblano peppers (about 1 per person)

2 hours before serving - Begin by preparing the tuna first.

Tuna -

Slice the tuna along the grain 1/4" thick. Cut each slice lengthwise and chop each length to get 1/4" cubes. Continue till all the tuna is cut this way into 1/4" cubes.

Remove to a glass bowl and set aside.

Limes & Lemon - Squeeze the juice from the limes & the lemon in a bowl.

Add the lime-lemon juice to the chopped tuna.

Stir and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap.

Refrigerate immediately. Minimum refrigeration time is 1 hour.

Meanwhile continue working on the remaining ingredients for the ceviche. Recruit a large glass mixing bowl.

Red pepper & yellow pepper - Cut off tops, discard seeds, membranes & top. Chop fine. Set aside in the glass bowl.

Red onion - Cut off tops, discard skin. Finely chop. Set aside in the glass bowl along with the peppers.

Cilantro - Cut off stems & discard. Finely chop leaves. Set aside in the glass bowl along with the onion.

Red cherry tomatoes - Halve, then quarter. Set aside in the glass bowl along with the cilantro.

Avocado - Cut an avocado into half. Retain the other half with the seed, in the refrigerator. Score the avocado with a knife in a criss-cross fashion into 1/2" cubes. Do not cut into the skin.

Place the chopped avocado in the bowl with the remaining ingredients.

Add the jalapeno pickling liquid, olive oil and salt. Stir till well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & refrigerate.

Avocado cream -

Chop the avocado as described above and place in a bowl along with mascarpone, sour cream and lime juice.

Keep stirring with a spoon till the avocado is mashed up & thoroughly blended.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & refrigerate.

Begin working on the poblano peppers -

Char the peppers directly on gas flame. If using a electric stove, use the broil setting in your oven. Broil till completely charred and blistered.

On a gas stove, use tongs and keep turning over so the peppers are charred on all sides.

Place the charred peppers in a zip lock bag. Seal and set aside for 10 minutes to steam the peppers. This will allow the skin to come off quite easily.

If you are sensitive to hot chilli oils, don a pair of latex gloves. Keep scratching the surface so the charred skin peels off. Repeat for all the peppers.

Once the peppers are peeled. You can take a moist kitchen paper towel and wipe off the surface to get any excess charred skin off.

Make a slit in each pepper and remove the seed knob on the top. Halve the peppers & remove all ribs, membranes and excess seeds.

Lay all the peppers on a flat platter ready for assembly.

Remove the tuna from the refrigerator and drain any excess liquid off by straining in a sieve.

Add the tuna to the large mixing bowl with the remaining ceviche ingredients. Stir. Taste & adjust seasonings.

Assembly - To each pepper half, spoon the tuna ceviche till full. Top with a spoonful of the avocado cream and a cilantro leaf for garnish.

So there you have it! One of the most refreshing things you'll ever eat at a summer brunch!

When I first brought this to the table Jodi looked a bit dubious but once she took the first bite she exclaimed that that is one of the most refreshing and flavorful things she had ever eaten in a long time. If I recall she called it spectacular!

And here's the proof - the minute she got home, she rung me for the recipe & called me from the store 30 minutes later for some clarifications on the type of tuna she should buy because she was going to fix it for her family the next day! What more can I ask for?!

Needless to say, no leftovers people!

Recipe for

Tuna Ceviche Chile Rellenos with Avocado Cream

Traditional Mexican & Peruvian cultures & their specialty dishes have inspired this creation. Also, Mark Miller whose cooking concepts are always on the back of my mind whenever I am fixing southwestern, Mexican or South American foods. Thank You!

Preparation time - 45 minutes

Refrigeration Time - 1 hour

Serves 4

Shopping list

Ceviche-

1-1/2 lb fresh sashimi grade tuna

1/2 small spanish red onion (to yield 1/2 cup chopped)

12 oz or 1 bag rip cherry tomatoes

1/2 bunch cilantro (to yield 1 cup chopped)

1/2 red bell pepper (to yield 1/2 cup chopped)

1/4 yellow bell pepper (to yield 1/4 cup chopped)

2 ripe avocados

4 limes

1 lemon (limes & lemon together to yield 1/2 cup juice)

3 tbs olive oil

1 tbs jalapeno pickling liquid

1 tsp salt

Avocado cream -

1 ripe avocado

1/2 cup mascarpone

1/2 cup sour cream

1-1/2 tbs lime juice

Poblano peppers

4-5 green poblano peppers also sold as pasilla peppers

8-10 cilantro leaves for garnish

1 pair latex gloves for handling the peppers

Preparation -