Fish Tacos and Nachos

At the cottage with eric, we of course had to make fish tacos. We did these with the fish of the vacation - mahi mahi and grilled it on the bbq. The tacos were great as usual, but for some reason i couldn't find corn tortillas at any of the usual spots i get them, and not surprisingly there were none in Haliburton, so we had to make do with some whole wheat flour ones. I didn't realize how much i prefered the corn ones - definitely better.

We made a bunch of dips in advance, but ended up snacking on most of them over the afternoon. I made my corn, feta and tomato dip (with bbq-ed corn), guacamole and salsa.

I seasoned the fish with cumin, chili peppers and salt and pepper

Once the fish was done i broke it apart and dressed it with a mixture of salsa, sour cream and lime juice

All of the standard fish taco toppings - guac, cabbage, onions, salsa

Later that night we were playing Cranium and were hungry again. I decided to take the left over fish and taco ingredients and use them as toppings on nachos. This was in part inspired by my pork nacho experiment. I also grated a lot of cheese and baked them up.

Fish Tacos

Yes, i know more fish tacos - they are soooo good, and have become a cottage favorite. This time i made them with mahi mahi. I also made my own coleslaw which i thought was a change. There was actually no bagged shredded cabbage at the grocery store to start with. I guess because it was the weekend there was a real rush on everything, it was tough to find most of the things i was looking for.

Sunny ingredients

I was going to do the fish on the grill, since mahi mahi is hearty enough to do this way. I rubbed them with a little olive oil, some cumin and chili powder. I figured they would only take about ten minutes on the grill, but when i went out to check on them about five minutes in - they weren't cooking. Turns out we ran out of propane!!! I had to line a baking sheet and put them in the oven to finish. They were still good but i was looking forward to a little char.

Luckily there was enough ambient heat to warm up the tortillas on the grill.

I had all the usual toppings, but i also decided to do some match-stick cucumbers in a light sour cream cilantro dressing for another topping. It was really hot out and i thought that this would cool us of along with the cabbage.

Fish and Chicken Tacos

Reading this, you've probably become aware of my love of the fish tacos. There were a number of us up at the cottage, along with some eating rules (of which i am totally guilty) so i thought that tacos, which are always great with a crowd would be a good option. Everyone can make there own and have as many as they want.

In order to create a little variety i also did chicken as a filling. I have never cooked chicken, so instead i took the easy route and bought one of those whole roasted chickens at the grocery store. This saved me cooking chicken and poisoning everyone, and it saved a bit of time in the kitchen, because honestly i would rather be outside on a beautiful day. Luckily Jen volunteered to take the meat off the chicken - so i got to escape handling the chicken all together!!

For the fish i just used some frozen tempura breaded haddock - the full filets and heated them up in the oven. I've made them from scratch, and really they weren't that much better - and at the cottage you don't really want to be slaving away, especially on a nice day - so frozen filets it was!

I wanted to make a few different dips or salsas so everyone could combine their own flavours and make their own meals. One of the things i made was a roasted pineapple and jalapeno salsa, so while the boys were bbqing their sausages for lunch i had them put on my veggies to roast them. I always like to make my dips in advance (except for guac) so that the flavours really combine and they create more of a liquid.

Along with the roasted pineapple and jalapeno dip, i also made my feta, corn and tomato dip which is always super popular. This time i roasted the corn for the dip instead of using canned corn. I think this would be better with peaches and cream or a corn with larger niblets, as they seemed a little anemic, but the dip was still awesome! Of course i also made a guacamole - this one was a little more rustic, but avocados are essential to fish tacos.

Chips and Dips

The spread

Fish Tacos on a Rough Day

Food, as you are probably aware, is one of my obsessions, and really a good meal can totally change my mood. I had a pretty rough week, and was feeling a little isolated and sorry for myself, so i thought i would put the extra tortillas and black bean mango salsa back to work and make myself some fish tacos. Fish tacos can cheer me up any day - especially when i make them just like i want them.

I ended up using a frozen haddock fillet from the President's Choice Blue menu which is sort of a short cut, but i do like my fish breaded in the tacos - i've made it many ways, but the crunch is essential! The other essential with this dish is the cabbage/coleslaw - its a nice contrast to the fish, and is very Californian. I made this coleslaw with a light sour cream-lime dressing along with some jalapenos to spice it up.

I did this one deconstructed - putting everything out and assembling it. I also made myself a margarita to make the meal even more festive - bad mood solved!

Above:

Feel good meal
The fish
Ingredients (pretty simple)

Marlin Tacos on a Thursday Night

Eric, my guest chef from last week, and i have been making fish tacos for a while now. The originated apparently in Baja, and they are a lighter version of tacos and you tend to have them with cabbage. Often when i'm lazy i'll make them with already breaded frozen fish, haddock or halibut are nice options, but in honour of the worst month of them all - February, i thought i would get some fresh fish and make a light panko breading. When i was at the supermarket i saw some really nice Marlin steaks - i hadn't had Marlin in years, and knew it was a nice meaty white fish that would bake up well, so i grabbed a piece.

This is one of those meals where most of the work is actually in the chopping. As topping for the tacos i had cabbage (three types, but you can easily use the bagged kind) jalapenos, tomatoes, red onions, limes and i made a tomatillo sauce and guacamole. The tomatillo sauce was something i had read about, and after using canned tomatillos in the shrimp enchiladas i though that it might be a nice, fresh and tangy addition to the fish tacos. This was actually the most time consuming part of the whole process - i blended a tin of tomatillos with a hot yellow and two green serrano peppers and some cilantro. I cooked that for a few minutes, then added a cup of veggie stock. I cooked that for twenty minutes until it had reduced. I liked this one and thought it was a good addition to the marlin.

As for the fish, instead of using frozen filets (which is a great way to make these quickly) I cut the Marlin into larger than bite sized pieces, dredged them in flour, then egg mixture and finally lightly coated them in panko breading which i thought would lighten the meal up. I put them in a lightly oiled baking dish and baked them at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, flipping them once. Marlin is one of those fishes you don't have too worry too much about overcooking; unlike a lot of other fishes it is pretty hearty. For the last ten minutes i added the corn tortillas wrapped in aluminum foil. Once they both were done we were ready to eat!

Above:

My first taco
Tomatillo sauce
Marlin
Marlin breaded and ready for the oven
The meal

Double Duty

At my gym (with all that liquid cheese i do have to work out) they have subscriptions to "women's" magazines which i always take a look at for food ideas. Most of the recipes are a little too "kid-friendly" for my taste buds aka chicken, but i noticed that they would often try and make things that you could use the next day but in a entirely different meal. I only have to cook for myself, but i understand its tough to make every meal from scratch, so i decided to try making a little more of things, but using them in a totally different meal. It actually worked really well and made me think about what i was making in a different way.

Meal One: (Saturday)

Talapia with asparagus and roasted fingerling potatoes.

I picked up a couple talapia filets from the grocery store, talapia is pretty versatile fish and it can take a lot of flavour. I first melted butter and olive oil and spread it on the fish, then seasoned them with a mixture of cumin, red pepper, black pepper and salt. At the same time i roasted the potatoes in olive oil, rosemary and pepper. I broiled the fish, five minutes a side and threw some leftover asparagus in at the last minute.

Meal Two: (Sunday)

I took the left over potatoes and chopped them, sauteing them with garlic and adding a little taco seasoning. Once they were heated i put them into soft (flour) tacos with cheese, sour cream and some south west salad i had made for monday's lunch. (black beans, grape tomatoes, corn, red onions, jalapeno with cumin and chipotle flakes)

Mmmmm.... potato tacos (thanks New York Subway). If i had larger flour tortillas i would have grilled burritos, but i find the small ones too difficult to work with.

Meal Three: (Monday)

There was still the fish left, and i broke it up, heated it and also made tacos, this one topped with cabbage, avocado, tomatoes and a sour cream-lime sauce. I could easily have topped a salad with this fish, but i really like fish tacos. There was actually enough fish left for two people. Next time i'll get only one filet or pick smaller ones.

Mmmmm fish tacos! (there will be an entire post about this in the future)

So maybe these magazines are onto something. Instead of eating the same thing over and over, like i usually do making too much of one thing, this idea of making extra of one thing and using it in something different works well for weekday dinners.

Above:

Talapia Tacos
South west potato tacos
Talapia dinner
Seasoning the filets