Pure Food Wins Gourmand Awards’ Cookbook of the Year

We’re delighted to share that Pure Food: A Chef’s Handbook for Eating Clean, with Healthy, Delicious Recipes was recently announced as the national winner of Cookbook of the Year by Gourmand World Cookbook Awards! Every year the Gourmand Awards honor the best food and wine books submitted by participants from over 205 countries. It’s the only international cookbook award competition, and it’s an honor for Pure Food to be included among their winners.

Author Kurt Beecher Dammeier is the chef, restaurateur, food entrepreneur, retailer, and educator behind Sugar Mountain Foods and the Pure Food Kids Foundation. Pure Food was a labor of love that not only taps into Kurt’s cooking expertise, with its variety of over 80 mouthwatering recipes, but it also provides a roadmap for readers to forge a diet based on additive-free ingredients. Chock full of gorgeous photography, it’s a must-have on any cookbook lovers’ shelf.

We can’t think of a more deserving award winner, and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate the news than with a healthy, delicious Halibut Ceviche recipe from Pure Food:

Halibut Ceviche

Serves 4 as an entrée or 8 as an appetizer

Author Note: This is a regular menu item at Bennett’s restaurant on “Mexican Monday.” The most important thing is to seek out the highest quality, wild-caught seafood that you can find, since ceviche is a raw fish preparation and flavor and quality matter more than ever. Ask your local fishmonger to point you in the right direction. I prefer my ceviche “medium-rare,” with the interior of the fish still translucent and only the exterior turned opaque by the acid in the lime juice. This requires only 5 minutes of marinating time. I add seasoned rice vinegar and honey to the usual lime marinade to give it a rounder flavor. To make this ceviche truly outstanding, I like to serve Red Fresno Sriracha alongside or over the top of individual portions. Consider serving it with tortilla or plantain chips and diced avocado.

1 medium clove garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ jalapeño pepper, stemmed and seeded

¾ cup lime juice

6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

8 ounces halibut, diced into ½-inch pieces

½ English cucumber, diced into ¼-inch pieces

¼ sweet onion, shaved thin into 1-inch lengths

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Using a food processor, blend the garlic, salt, jalapeño, lime juice, vinegar, oil, and honey until smooth. (This dressing can be made up to 4 hours ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve.)
2. Just before serving, in a large bowl, gently mix the halibut, cucumber, onion, and cilantro with the lime dressing. Let marinate for up to 5 minutes, until the surface of the fish is opaque but the interior is still translucent. Serve immediately.