Sans Coconut, Shrimp Ceviche

For this entry I wanted to make Ceviche. So I Googled recipes and landed on one called Shrimp Ceviche in Coconuts...I just so happened to have a coconut on my kitchen counter.. I know, coconuts aren't usually hanging around so I have to make this recipe right? Even though it is from Tyler Florence (I can't decide if he is pretentious or not...or do I get him confused with Bobby Flay?), I am going for it.

I gather my ingredients:

Cilantro, Serrano peppers, limes, a lemon, garlic, bay leaves, red onion, salt and peppercorns; which I am out of so we have to use the ones in the pepper grinder that I can't get out without grinding. So, we will variate. And I am sure I am not using that word in context.

Shrimp, that coconut and Dad's hammer.

And a can of coconut milk.

It starts with putting a halved lemon, three bay leaves, salt, pepper (uncorned), and garlic added to water that is brought to a boil. 

Now I get very confused because I thought ceviche is 'cooked' through citrus juices but instead Tyler is telling me to poach my shrimp. Since I don't have 7 shows on the Food Network, I oblige. But I question why I don't have a show of course.

The shrimp are only poached for 2 minutes even though the recipe says 3-5. Then I put them in the fridge to chill. Now, I mix the coconut milk, chopped peppers, lime juice, cilantro and red onion. 

Then after the shrimp has cooled, I slice it down the middle and add it to the mixture; let refrigerate for an hour.

OK, so now I go to work on the Coconut. Tyler says to tap it with a hammer along its equator and eventually it will split down the middle.

Apparently I have a Coconut for Dummies as the equator is clearly marked on mine!

I commence to tapping and tapping and more tapping and then remember it did say, eventually!

Finally it cracks opened and it looks like I am going to have to back up and punt.  

I think this is passed its prime. That is what you get for buying a coconut just because it is in the grocery store, where in my grocery store it never is. I had no plan for it and now I am paying for it. This is what I come up with.

I am going to sit on the porch with a white wine spritzer and eat my Sans Coconut Shrimp Ceviche!

It is really very refreshing! Try it, tell me what you think!