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

Mexican Corn Nachos

Yesterday was the 2nd Thursday in the month, so you know what that means......  Nacho Night!

Last month I wrote about how Jimi and I decided that once a month should be a night of nachos and how dh chose the date.  So this time I had Jimi pick a random number and that would be the nachos we ate.  How adventurous with things like Duck Confit Nachos on the list (I so would've had him choose another number with that one)!

The nachos were fabulous!  I was a little nervous about eating corn on chips, but hey, the chips are made from corn, so the flavors blended well.  It had just a little kick of spice, so I wouldn't feed them to the littlest ones.  Jimi vouched for the older kids and said it was a winner.  If you can't find queso fresco, you can use feta or even mozzarella.

I got this recipe from my Food Network magazine.

Enjoy!

Mexican Corn Nachos

Preheat oven to 475.

Spread 8 cups of torilla chips on a rimmed baking sheet or in a shallow dish.

Cook 4 cups corn with 1 teaspoon each cumin and cayenne in a skillet for 7 minutes.  Stir in 1/2 cup mayonnaise and some lime juice (I used 1/2 large lime, use whole lime if it's small).  Top the chips with 3 cups  queso fresco and the corn.  Bake for 7 minutes, then top with sour cream, chopped avocado and cilantro.

Chicken with Chipotle Sauce

I'm a cookbook whore.  Harsh, I know, but it's true.  I just love them.  Love reading them.  Love buying them.  Love receiving them as gifts.  A good evening to me consists of me on a couch with the sales flier from the local grocery stores, a couple cookbooks and a pad of paper to plan out the week's meals.  Oh, all while Food Network or some trashy reality TV is on in the background. Ahhh........

Abe, on the other hand, feels that maybe I had too many (to which I laughed my butt off) and asked me to get rid of some.  The ones I could spare were mainly ones that he had gotten before we were married. One that he decided to keep was his old Mexican cookbook.  And today he asked me to make something from it. To be honest, I hadn't even looked at it.   I was sure I couldn't find anything in the old dusty book. 

But I was wrong. This is what I came up with.  Simple, but flavorful.  The boys really liked it.  It was, however, too spicy for Adam, who took one bite and stuck his tongue out and said "Too Picy!"

The sauce can be made ahead of time and put in the fridge.

I served it with a side of white rice with vermicelli and green beans.

Recipe adapted from one in Mexican by Jane Milton.

Enjoy!

Chicken with Chipotle Sauce
Serves 6

6 chipotle chilis (from can)
1 2/3 cup chicken stock
3 onions
6 boneless chicken breasts or thighs
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Place chipotle chilis and chicken stock in blender or food processor.  Process on high until smooth. 

Peel the onions.  Cut in half, cut them in half, then slice them thinly.  Separate the rings.

Heat oil in large frying pan, add onions and cook over low to medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they have softened but not colored, stirring occasionally.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the onion slices to a casserole that is large enough to hold all the chicken breasts in a single layer.  Sprinkle the onions with salt and pepper. 

Arrange the chicken on the onion slices.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Pour the chipotle puree onto the chicken breasts.  Place the casserole in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through, but still moist and tender. 

Mexican Black Bean Enchiladas Casserole

You know you can't go wrong with the words "cheese", "enchiladas" and "casserole".  Throw in "black beans" to make believe you're eating healthily and you won't feel quite as bad about enjoying every single bite of this yummy, gooey dish.

Abe and Jimi were expecting a dish made with chicken, so surprise when Mama made it where her vegetarian mouth could enjoy it too.  Abe loved it, but Jimi picked both the red peppers and the black beans out of it.  Quite the feat, I have to say.  He said that it was still ok and would be move to the "great" category if I had put chicken in it instead.   I'll take his suggestion into consideration.  Adam, as usual with most food he's given, devoured it. 

Actually, the base recipe would be good with any kind of switch up.... beef, pork, chicken would be tasty.  Even cubed baked tofu or mushrooms could work.  I can see adding cilantro the next time I make it, plus a dash of chipotle chili.

I got the recipe from vegetarian.about.com. 

Enjoy!

Mexican Black Bean Enchiladas Casserole
Serves 8 (or 4 hungry people)

2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup salsa
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 15.8 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
12 6-inch corn tortillas
2 cups Monterey Jack and Cheddar blend cheese shredded
3 tomatoes chopped (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)
1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine onion pepper, garlic, salsa, cumin and black beans in large skillet and bring to simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes.

Arrange 6 tortillas in bottom of 9" x 13" baking dish overlapping them as necessary. Spread half of bean mixture over tortillas and sprinkle with half of cheese. Repeat layering process with remaining tortillas, bean mixture and cheese.

Cover dish with foil and bake 15 minutes.

Carefully remove foil and serve warm. Garnish with tomatoes, sour cream and olives.

Poblano, Mango and Black Bean Quesadillas

I was looking for a way to use up the leftover poblano peppers from the kebob recipe.  This one called my name because it has a lot of the things I like- black beans, avocado and mangoes.  Plus, you can't really mess up a quesadilla.

I got this from CookingLight.com (along with the photo) and made a few tweaks.  If you don't like a spicier dish, skip the hot sauce and replace it with a tiny bit of cumin.

Enjoy!

Poblano, Mango and Black Bean Quesadillas
Serves 4 (or 2 hungry people)

1  teaspoon  olive oil
1 1/2  cups sliced onion
1/2  teaspoon  dried oregano
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/8  teaspoon  black pepper
1-2  poblano chile, seeded and chopped
1  (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1  cup  jarred sliced peeled mango (if using one in heavy syrup, rinse)
1/3  cup  cubed peeled avocado
Handful of cilantro, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
1-2 shakes of hot sauce
4  (8-inch) flour tortillas
Cooking spray
1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, oregano, salt, pepper, and poblano, and sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add beans; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat; stir in mango, avocado, cilantro and hot sauce.  Squirt lime juice over mixture.

3. Place flour tortillas on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Arrange about 3/4 cup bean mixture on half of each tortilla, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese over bean mixture, and fold tortilla in half. Lightly coat tortillas with cooking spray. Broil 3 minutes or until cheddar cheese melts.