Fish Tacos

Photo courtesy of Food Network

It's Friday during Lent, so could only mean one thing..... that I realized this fact pretty late in the day and was left scrambling in the freezer to see what kind of fish I had on hand.  Turns out I had 2 sad little tilapia loins left (note to self: get some more from Costco before next Friday sneaks up on you...).  Not enough for a proper meal for my two guys, but certainly enough for a proper fish taco.  Phew.

I've made the crew fish tacos before, but wanted to switch it up a bit.  I found this recipe from Food Network and adapted it to what I had.  I didn't get the fish part, but I loved the salsa and plan on making that again.  I ate it on a baked potato and it was delicious.  Abe really liked it too and both Abe and Jimi said the fish was really flavorful.  I served the tacos with the salsa, shredded lettuce, sliced onions and sour cream.  I might try the shredded cabbage next time, too.  I didn't have the serrano pepper for the salsa, so I omitted it; I will use it next time, as it will add a lot of heat and flavor.  I also didn't have a chipotle hot sauce, so I used Asian chili hot sauce (the one with the rooster on it) and sprinkled a bit of dried chipotle in it.  I'm guessing you can just use regular hot sauce if you wanted.

Fish Tacos
Serves 4

Tacos:

1 pound white flaky fish (I used tilapia, but mahi mahi or cod works too)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lime, juiced
1 tablespoons ancho or Mexican chili powder
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 flour tortillas

Garnish:

Shredded white cabbage
Hot sauce
Sour cream
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced green onion
Chopped cilantro leaves
Pureed Tomato Salsa, recipe follows

Preheat grill pan (or regular pan with a touch of oil) over medium-high heat. Place fish in a medium size dish. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno, and cilantro and pour over the fish. Let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.



Remove the fish from the marinade place onto a hot grill pan.. Grill the fish for 4 minutes on the first side and then flip for 30 seconds and remove. Let rest for 5 minutes then flake the fish with a fork.


Place the tortillas on the grill pan and grill for 20 seconds. Divide the fish among the tortillas and garnish with any or all of the garnishes.

Pureed Tomato Salsa: 

 

2 tablespoon canola oil
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped(or 1 can of chopped tomatoes)
1 serrano chile, sliced (I didn't have this and omitted it)
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 tablespoon chipotle hot sauce 
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano or regular oregano 
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat, add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add tomatoes, serrano and jalapeno and cook until tomatoes are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Puree the mixture with a hand-held immersion blender (or place in regular blender) until smooth and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Add the hot sauce, oregano, cilantro and lime juice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings