Reach for the stars with
seviche and cheesecake

Star-Bulletin staff

Here are some recipes from the repertoire of Jeremiah Tower, founder of Stars restaurants:

Seviche

2 pounds skinned fish fillets, such as red snapper (onaga), bass (hapu'upu'u), grouper, salmon, halibut, haddock, rock or ling cod
1 cup fresh lime juice
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2 fresh serrano chiles, seeded, finely chopped
1 fresh red hot chile, seeded, finely chopped
7 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 medium red onions, peeled, thinly sliced
10 lettuce leaves, washed and dried
1/2 cup salsa (see recipe below)
8 lime wedges
12 nicoise olives

Cut fish fillets into 3/8-inch cubes. Combine fish, lime juice, 1/2 cup of the lemon juice, chiles, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, salt and pepper in a glass, enamel or stainless-steel bowl; marinate 3 to 6 hours.

Toss red onion slices in remaining 1/2 cup lemon juice; marinate 3 hours, tossing 2 or 3 times.

Put 1/4 cup of the seviche marinade into a bowl and whisk in the remaining olive oil. Roll up lettuce leaves and cut into very fine strips. Toss lettuce in marinade dressing and put some lettuce in the center of each cold plate. Put seviche on top, and salsa on top of seviche. Place onions around the lettuce and garnish with lime wedges and olives. Makes 6 servings.

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Approximate nutritional analysis per serving using snapper: 360 calories, 19 grams total fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 55 milligrams cholesterol, 410 milligrams sodium.*

Salsa

4 cups tomato concasse (see note)
1 red onion, peeled, finely chopped
2 fresh serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, stemmed, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix tomatoes, onion, chiles and cilantro in a bowl. Add salt and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Mix well, taste, then add remaining lime juice as needed. Let salsa sit 1 hour before using. If it gets watery, drain it. Stir in oil and serve. Makes 4 cups.

Note: To make tomato concasse, put ripe tomatoes in boiling water 5 seconds; plunge immediately in ice-water bath 30 seconds. Peel off skin. Cut across equator of tomatoes (if you cut through stem and down, you seal off some seed chambers); hold tomato halves cut-side-down and squeeze out seeds. Dice; drain in a sieve.

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Approximate nutritional analysis per 1/4-cup serving salsa: 25 calories, 1 gram total fat, no saturated fat, no cholesterol, 140 milligrams sodium.*

Hazelnut Almond Cheesecake
with Rambutans and Rhubarb

1-1/2 pounds cream cheese
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup light whipping cream, liquid
1 cup almonds, skinned and ground
1/2 cup hazelnuts (filberts), skinned and ground
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon orange zest
1/16 teaspoon salt

Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and egg yolk, one by one, scraping down the bowl often.

Heat the whipping cream with the nuts. Let steep 2 hours. Strain and add to the remaining ingredients.

Fold mixture gently into cream cheese/egg mixture. Bake in a bain-marie at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until set. Makes 12 servings.

Note: Tower bakes cheesecake in individual ramekins. He garnishes each ramekin with rambutans (peeled and cooked in a light sugar syrup flavored with a little rum), topped with 1 tablespoon rhubarb (cooked and not very sweet), then drizzles passion fruit sauce around the plate.

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Approximate nutritional analysis per serving cheesecake only: 380 calories, 32 grams total fat, 15 grams saturated fat, 140 milligrams cholesterol, 200 milligrams sodium.*

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