Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos are one of my favorite dishes at restaurants, so lately I’ve been preparing them myself!

Red Cabbage Slaw: Toss finely sliced red cabbage with a citrus onion vinegrette dressing. Prepare dressing, in a blender, by pureeing ingredients: sweet onion pieces, apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, celery seed. (Alternatively use orange juice rather than lemon and reduce amount of sugar.)

Pico de Gallo: Mix diced tomato, finely diced sweet onion, diced ripe avocado, finely diced jalapeno or serrano pepper (seeds removed), lime juice, mexican oregano, salt.

Fish: Here I used catfish chunks; tilapia, salmon, or shrimp are also good choices. Dip either strips of fillet or slightly larger-than-bite-sized fish pieces in an egg wash and coat with a spiced flour mixture, e.g. spiced with: salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, perhaps a touch of cayenne. (I like to use Morton brand “Nature’s Seasons” which is a salt blend including onion, celery, and parsley as well. This time I also used a touch of a spice blend called Vulcan’s Fire Salt: http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/Vulcans-Fire-Salt Be sure to limit additional salt if you use salt-based blends.)
Alternatively, you can use a cajun blackening spice rub rather than an egg/flour batter.
Pan fry and place on paper towels to draw oil.

Assemble tacos in warmed corn tortillas at the table to your liking.
Here I also added sour cream; you may like cheese instead.

Toasted Italian Bread with Fresh Basil Pesto

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Toasted Italian Bread with Fresh Basil Pesto

Something simple: yup, *toast* – haute cuisine, indeed.

Instead of me describing how I made a pesto, you can just watch this beautiful Italian make it instead: http://thepastachannel.com/pesto-sauce-pasta/
(We only disagree in that I’d rather use “too much” garlic…
Oh, and she made this in 5 minutes and it took me half an hour. :-)

Hmm, can I count the mortar and pestle effort as my second workout today?

Jambalaya and Jalapeno Cornbread

Jambalaya and Jalapeno Cornbread

This is a proper Jambalaya with grilled andouille sausage, chicken breast, and whole shrimp accompanied by jalapeno corn bread.
OK, I’ve posted Jambalaya before, but this one’s more different.The meats here are grilled, and I did the rice in a rice cooker with hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce in the water.

Grilling for Jambalaya

Ingredients are pretty much Emeril’s http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2/ , except celery seed instead of celery, whole (dried) oregano, and I switched up the paprika, using smoked and turkish hot.

Jiffy brand corn muffin mix (thankfully less sweet than Trader Joe’s) with a seeded jalapeno, finely chopped, added.