Finding Nemo in Your Taco

Unless you live in the southwest or in California, fish is probably not the first ingredient that comes to your mind when you think of tacos. But the ground beef version that you pick up a local fast food joint, or make at home could hardly be considered the original version of a taco.

Taco at its basic form, basically means sandwich. And just like a sandwich, it can have a myriad of fillings. Most of us would probably shy away from some of the early filling goodness that could include ants, locusts and snails, although Andrew Zimmerman would probably throw down on Bizarre Foods with these types of ingredients.

So if you want to skip the insects, but need (or want) to cut down on your fat intake, fish tacos might just fit the menu. The city of Ensenada, Mexico claim to be the originators of this culinary delight, and the people of the coastal areas of Mexico have probably been eating fish tacos for a few thousand years.

Last summer I came across a recipe on www.epicurious.com that looked tasty, yet slightly challenging since my experience with doing any cooking with fish was limited. Unlike many fish taco recipes, this calls for grilling the fish instead of frying, so we get another health bonus. I would mark it medium on the labor intensive scale, but that is mainly due to the grilling and cooking of the home-made tomatillo salsa, which you could probably forego for the store-bought type. However I suggest making as much of the ingredients from scratch, as you will find yourself well rewarded with the finished product. Add to this, the tasty beverage of homemade white Sangria (I will include this recipe later) and you have got yourself a very satisfying summer afternoon.

I would suggest splitting up the preparation of this recipe, by making the Salsa Verde (tomatillo salsa) and the lime mayonnaise a day ahead to let the flavors meld together. In addition, this recipe allows for alot of your own interpretation depending on your tastes. I used tilapia, but you could really use any whitefish that is to your liking, and you can increase the color of your presentation by doing a mix of both red and green shredded cabbage. I also put a layer of tinfoil over my grill to prevent losing any fish bits, onions and all that other marinade goodness. Good luck and enjoy!

Ingredients

•2 cups chopped white onion, divided
•3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
•1/4 cup olive oil
•5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
•3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
•2 garlic cloves, minced
•1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
•1 pound tilapia, striped bass, or sturgeon fillets
•Coarse kosher salt
•1 cup mayonnaise
•1 tablespoon milk
•Corn tortillas
•2 avocados, peeled, pitted, sliced
•1/2 small head of cabbage, cored, thinly sliced

Preparation

Stir 1 cup onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, oil, 3 tablespoons lime juice, orange juice, garlic, and oregano in medium bowl. Sprinkle fish with coarse salt and pepper. Spread half of onion mixture over bottom of 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange fish atop onion mixture. Spoon remaining onion mixture over fish. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Turn fish; cover and chill 30 minutes longer. Whisk mayonnaise, milk, and remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice in small bowl.

Brush grill grate with oil; prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill fish with some marinade still clinging until just opaque in center, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Grill tortillas until slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.

Coarsely chop fish; place on platter. Serve with lime mayonnaise, tortillas, remaining 1 cup chopped onion, remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, avocados, cabbage, Salsa Verde, and lime wedges.

Recipe for the Salsa Verde

Ingredients


•3 unpeeled garlic cloves
•1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed
•1 small onion, quartered through root end
•3 to 6 serrano chiles or 2 to 4 jalapeño chiles
•1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
•1/2 teaspoon (or more) sugar
•Coarse kosher salt
•2 tablespoons olive oil
•1 cup low-salt chicken broth
•2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lime juice

Preparation


Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Thread garlic onto skewer. Grill garlic, tomatillos, onion quarters, and chiles until dark brown spots form on all sides, about 9 minutes for onion, 6 minutes for tomatillos and chiles, and 4 minutes for garlic. Cool. Peel garlic. Trim core from onion. Scrape some of burnt skin off chiles; stem. Seed chiles for milder salsa, if desired. Coarsely chop onion, chiles, and garlic. Transfer tomatillos and all vegetables to blender. Add cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon sugar; puree until smooth. Season to taste with coarse salt.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Carefully add tomatillo mixture (juices may splatter). Stir until slightly thickened, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add broth and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture measures 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and more sugar and lime juice, if desired.

Easy Salad Story

Titling this blog easy salad may sound like I am repeating myself, because aren't all salads easy? Well maybe, but this one is super easy. Plus this salad reminds me of a story, and isn't any dish so much better when you have a story to go with it?

As a child I never really cared much for going to Grandma and Grandpa Patton's house. It wasn't really kid friendly. The house was small and dimly lit, and the furniture probably hadn't been updated since World War II. I don't remember sweet baking aromas filling the house, but to me, a boy at the age of 8, it just smelled like, well, old people. Granpa Patton was the gruff and grumpy sort, who just sat in a chair disagreeing loudly with whatever Grandma said. I was half scared of the man.

One evening my parents and Grandma were heading out for some event or meeting and I found myself unlucky enough to be spending the evening with Grandpa Patton. Great. I figured I was either going to die of boredom, or be yelled at all evening to not break anything. Upon arriving, Grandpa was in his usual chair in front of the tv, and I settled in on the couch and figured I was doomed to be subjected to hours of "old people shows".

I remember the room being dark with the exception of the flickering light of the television, glinting dully off the old rabbit ears. To you kids, rabbit ears are what allowed us to get a big four channel selection on tv before the days of cable. Yet, this evening instead of "old people shows", Grandpa was watching Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman. We laughed together while watching ol' Luke win the bet to eat all those hard-boiled eggs, sat in tense anticipation at the escape attempt, and growled and shook our fists at the mean prison guards. Thanks to Paul Newman, Grandpa Patton and I bonded that night. For the years afterward, until Grandpa passed away, whenever we saw each other we would sit and talk about that movie. Although I never really knew that much about my grandfather, I now will always think about him laughing and talking about ol' Luke. "Oh, Luke. He was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he's a natural-born world-shaker."

So by this point you are probably thinking what in the world this story has to do with salad. Well many years after filming Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman went on to have a little company called Newman's Own, which now has a pretty damn nice array of salad dressings. Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette is one of the three key components in this recipe. Strangely enough, whenever I pick up a bottle at the grocery store, it always reminds me of watching that film with Grandpa Patton.

Ingredients

6 Large Ripe Tomatoes (the firmer the better)
6 Large Avocados
Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette (to taste)

Preparation

Rough chop the tomatoes into bite sized pieces. Cut the avocados in half and scoop out the inside. Throw away the seed and skins, and rough chop the avocados into bite sized pieces. Put both tomatoes and avocados in a bowl. Add the Balsamic Vinaigrette and toss gently to coat. You can add as little or as much of the Vinaigrette to your taste. Serve.

This salad is simple and quick, and is great for those who have little to no kitchen skills. I wouldn't suggest making this salad to far in advance, since avocados tend to turn brown after being exposed to the air for too long and don't look very appetizing. This is a great summer salad and goes well with any cookout!

Eggplant: The Other White Meat

Eggplant, believe it or not is actually part of the Nightshade family, although it has relations to other garden favorites such as the Tomato, Pepper, and even the Potato. Just as Tomatoes were once known as "Love Apples" and considered to be poisonous, the eggplant was known as the "Mad Apple" around Europe until a few centuries ago and was believed to induce insanity. Fun huh?

Throughout the history of the eggplant, it has been known by many names to many different cultures, and there are many different varieties. The actual name eggplant came from the English due to the white eggplant variety they had that, well, sort of resembles an egg. Then thanks to Thomas Jefferson, the eggplant was introduced to America. There is still the prickly white variety grown at the Jefferson garden at Monticello, although strangely enough eggplants in general were mainly grown for ornamental reasons instead of cooking until 50 or so years ago!

Despite the many varieties, the most well-known version in America is now that oblong purple version. Growing up, I thought the only two ways to eat it was in eggplant parmesan or a fried breaded version my mother made that was topped with some good old Heinz 57. However with the increasing popularity of vegetarianism, organic foods and all of that other tree-hugging hippie crap that I am so fond of, the eggplant as gotten some more attention. Like the portabello mushroom, it is beginning to find its way in to the meat or even pasta replacement arena.

I came across a version of this eggplant recipe on www.epicurious.com recently and changed it up a little to fit my own tastes and what was available at the local grocery store. You can use any type of sauce that you choose, I just have an overwhelming preference to the Classico brand. I am sure that probably a home family recipe of sauce from scratch would be even better, but being of the Irish decent, I think my skills lay more in cabbage then in a day long bubbling sauce pot. Additionally, you can substitute the spinach with swiss chard or some other leafy green of your choice, although I would caution against anything too bitter like say, mustard greens.

I know, eggplants are bitter right? Well they can have an bittering flavor that can be off-putting, however by adding the salt and letting them "sweat" out alot of the internal liquid for about 20 or 30 minutes, the bitterness will be reduced quite a bit. In addition, the sweating and the broiling makes the slices much more pliable and easy to roll and make a great substitution for pasta shells which will reduce your carb intake. Its a win-win situation!

I made this earlier this week and my girlfriend and I plowed through the pan in two days and I made it again as soon as they were gone. The eggplant is so much lighter than pasta, and even though I was dubious at using mint in this type of dish, it gives a wonderful fresh flavor that really kicks it up!

So fellas, if you have a hot date with that hippie chick that works at Whole Foods, this dish will really impress....unless she is Vegan, as the ricotta, mozerella, and parmesan won't quite fit the bill. Enjoy!



Eggplant Rolls with Spinach and Fresh Mint

•2 medium eggplants, trimmed, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
•Coarse kosher salt or Sea Salt
•Extra-virgin olive oil
•1 bag of baby spinach leaves
•2 large eggs
•1 15-ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
•1 1/4 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided
•2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
•Ground Black Pepper too taste
•1 jar of Classico Tomato Sauce (I used the Garlic and Roasted Tomato one)
•1 Large ball of fresh mozzarella, drained, thinly sliced


Cover 2 baking cooling racks (you can also layer then in a colander) with 1 layer of eggplant slices; sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Continue layering eggplant slices in each colander, sprinkling each layer with coarse salt, until all eggplant slices are used. Place each colander over large bowl; let stand at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Rinse eggplant slices to remove excess salt; dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Position oven rack 5 to 6 inches from heat source and preheat broiler. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Arrange eggplant slices in single layer on prepared baking sheets. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil. Broil 1 sheet at a time until eggplant slices are tender and beginning to brown, watching closely and removing eggplant slices as needed if cooking too quickly, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove baking sheet from oven and cool eggplant while preparing filling.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add spinach to pot and boil just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Squeeze spinach very dry, then chop coarsely. Squeeze spinach dry again between paper towels. Whisk eggs and pinch of coarse salt in medium bowl. Stir in chopped spinach, ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan, mint, and black pepper.

Lightly oil 15 x 10 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Spread half of tomato sauce evenly over bottom of dish. Divide spinach-ricotta filling among eggplant slices, placing about 1 heaping tablespoon filling in center of each. Starting at 1 short end of each, loosely roll up eggplant slices, enclosing filling. Arrange rolls, seam side down, atop sauce in baking dish. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over. Place mozzarella slices in single layer over rolls. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake eggplant Parmesan rolls, covered with foil, until heated through, about 30 minutes if freshly made or 40 minutes if refrigerated. Uncover and bake until brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Chocolate Raspberry Love

If you are looking to impress your family, friends or significant other with a knock-out dessert, this is one that is sure to be a winner. You can make your own crust out of crushed chocolate wafer cookies, melted butter and the like and then baking it in the oven, but sometimes simplicity is best. In todays world you can get away with mixing in some some store-bought items with all your from scratch hard work and still come out with an excellent dish. They don't call it the SUPER market for nothin'.

Instead of making my own crust and whipped topping, I bought a premade chocolate crust and a couple of containers of coolwhip and combined that with some beautiful raspberries that were in season at the time and then the filling from scratch.

I whipped two of these up one Sunday morning and then took them to a family get together later that day and by that evening, there was one tiny and roughed up piece left in one of the pie tins.

The pie came out looking beautiful as a whole in the dish, but wasn't quite as pretty once it was cut and served. This may also be due to the fact that I did not chill overnight as the recipe suggests, but only for a few hours before serving. Chilling overnight will most likely allow your filling to have a firmer set. Just make sure you have it covered, so it doesn't pick up all those additional refridgerator flavors. However the chocolate decadence of this dessert overshadowed any lack of picture perfect slices.

Black-Bottomed Raspberry Cream Pie

Crust
Store-bought chocolate pie crust

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
4 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Topping
3 1/2-pint containers raspberries
1 Container of Cool Whip
or
1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


For filling:
Combine sugar, cocoa, and cornstarch in heavy medium saucepan; whisk to blend well. Gradually add 1/4 cup milk, whisking until cornstarch dissolves. Whisk in remaining 2 1/4 cups milk, then egg yolks and egg. Stir over medium-high heat until pudding thickens and boils, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and butter; whisk until melted and smooth. Spread pudding in prepared crust. Press plastic wrap onto pudding to cover and chill pie overnight.

For topping:
Peel plastic wrap off pie. Cover chocolate layer with raspberries, pointed side up, pressing lightly into chocolate to adhere (some berries will be left over). Spread cool whip over berries on pie, or you can make your own whipped topping by beating cream, sugar, and vanilla in medium bowl until peaks form; spread over berries on pie. Arrange remaining berries atop cream. Chill pie at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

"Musseled" Up

In the early summer of 2009, I had taken a week off of work in celebration of my birthday. In past years, this usually meant a big pool party, lots of friends, along with an all-day imbibing of good brew. However, this past year, for whatever reason, I had the week alone to myself to relax, read, and try some new recipes.

I had often seen recipes online or in magazines, or even on the Food Network for Mussels. Having been raised vegetarian, these barnacle-looking shells seemed better suited stuck to the side of an old boat or a dock pylon rather then on my plate. But all of the recipes looked so good, and having already fallen in love with so many other seafood dishes, I thought I would give it a try.

I picked up all the ingredients, and having no idea of how to choose mussels, I just grabbed a two pound bag from the seafood section of the local grocery store. Arriving home, I tossed the bottle of wine in the freezer for some quick chilling since I wanted to have a glass while I cooked. I set to work on piling the mussels in a collander in the sink and started scrubbing them and trimming the beards. It was slow going as I really had no idea what I was doing, and found that almost half of the mussels were already dead and unusable (they should be tightly closed, or if they open, should reclose upon tapping on them, or so I have read).

After about 20 minutes of picking through and cleaning the usuable critters, I grabbed the bottle of wine and commenced removing the cork. Or at least attempted to remove the cork. I don't know if it was from sitting in the freezer, or simply the fact that I was using a corkscrew that was smaller then those that come on a swiss army knife (I forgot that I had an awesome electric one down at the bar in my basement). At any rate, I spent probably 10 minutes yanking on the cork to no avail. I began to panic since the garlic, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes were simmering mightily on the stove and were nearly ready for the wine and other ingredients to be added. Meanwhile two more mussels died in the sink, but whether it was from warming up and lack of moisture or hearing me scream expletives at a wine bottle, one will never know.

Finally, I overpowered the stubborn cork, poured myself a glass and added the additional amount to the simmering pan just in time. I quickly downed the glass of wine, and poured another and then added the remainder of my sad little mussels, who whistled away in the hot liquids. To the vegetarian in me, it sounded like dying screams, but apparently they do that when cooking.

The dish somehow came out perfectly. I am not sure how I pulled it off, since I understand that mussels and shellfish in general are very easily overcooked. But this dish was most excellent. The fennel seeds added an excellent flavor along with the kick of the red pepper flakes. Even with losing half of my mussel population I still had plenty to go with the pasta and this recipe makes enough for a couple of people at least. Alone I ate it for three meals.

Have no fear in trying new things in the kitchen. Even when all seems to be going awry, sometimes you get lucky and end up with a beautiful and tasty dish. I followed the recipe below exactly and didn't find the need to make any substitutions. So have a glass a wine and get cooking, because everyone has something to bring to the table.


This recipe was from Gourmet Magazine/July 2009. And can be currently found on www.epicurious.com

Linguine w/ Mussels and Fresh Herbs

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large garlic cloves, sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 cup dry white wine
2 pounds cultivated mussels, scrubbed
1 pound thin linguine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 1/2 cups chopped herbs such as basil, dill, flat-leaf parsley, and oregano



Heat oil and butter in a 5-to 6-quart heavy pot over medium heat until foam subsides. Cook garlic, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, stirring, until garlic is softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine and boil until reduced by half, 4 to 5 minutes. Add mussels and cook, covered, shaking pot occasionally, just until mussels open wide, 5 to 8 minutes. (Discard any that remain unopened after 8 minutes.) Remove from heat and keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook linguine in a pasta pot of well-salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain linguine.

Toss linguine with mussels and any liquid from pot, cheese, and herbs. Thin with reserved cooking water if desired.

The Quest For Biscuits

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a house where home cooking and baking was the norm. The house was often filled with the warm aromas of fresh baked bread, sweet cinnamon rolls, oozing mountains of pasta and cheeses, and myriads of vegetable dishes. Though raised vegetarian, there seemed to never be a lack of tasty dishes.

My mother, and subsequently my three sisters, were all the down home country cook types. Being surrounded by such kitchen expertise, I came to love all things food from an early age. I often helped my mother bake breads, cookies, mini cakes and the like, and by the age of probably 8 or so had already had some successful forays in and about the kitchen.

In addition to baking, we always had a large garden from which we filled wheelbarrows and baskets full of squash, peppers, green beans, tomatoes and all sorts of other homegrown goodness. So much so that my parents often were carting large amounts of produce to give away at church or to perhaps half the people in our neighborhood. My mother, being a school bus driver and having summers off, spent much of the summer canning tomatoes, making tomato juice, freezing vegetables, or canning peaches, pears, plums, and making homemade applesauce from the fruit we picked at a local "pick-your-own" farm market. Our dungeon-like basement (or so it seemed to me as a child with its crumbly walls and dingy light bulbs) was filled with shelves upon shelves of these home canned goods that would take us through the winter until the growing season returned once again.

With such a background, you would think I would have taken all of this with me into adulthood, and become some reknowned chef, or at the very least have a spot on a Food Network competition. But alas, with busy schedules and good old fashioned American laziness, I delved into the realms of fast food, box pasta mixes and frozen vegetables, feeling quite proud of myself when I spruced up a dish with a sprig of parsley or a few dashes of pepper.

It wasn't until after my divorce at age 30 that I began to rediscover the joys and satisfaction of cooking from scratch. No longer a vegetarian, I also began to try all sorts of new dishes, from baked salmon with lemon to trying my hand at steaks on the grill. Spurred on by some early successes such as the Spinach Swiss Wreath (my take on a Pampered Chef Recipe) and a homemade Focaccia/Sauceless Pizza that went over well with the fellas for Sunday night football games, I continued on with my kitchen endeavors.

However, with the exception of the Focaccia bread that I made, I had not truly returned to my baking roots. On a recent Sunday morning, my girlfriend and I decided that biscuits and gravy would be a great way to start a cold February weekend morning. In recent years, this meant I would simply throw some Pillsbury biscuits in the oven and whip a packet of gravy, but being without the complete store bought premade rolls, I thought I would attempt a semi-scratch version. "I've been baking since the age of 8!" I thought to myself, "Biscuits will be easy!".

Now as I said, this was a semi-scratch version, as I did not have enough flour or yeast to go full on biscuit mode. However, I had milk, some Bisquick and a good supply of tap water, so I started mixing and following the directions on the box of Bisquick. The dough came out looking as it should, and I was quite proud of myself by this point. These biscuits were going to rule! But once I rolled the dough out, it seemed to be a little thin for a flaky multi-layered stick to your ribs type biscuit. I used a regular drinking glass to cut out perfect rounds and then put them on the already greased baking pan. They seem to be staring forlornly back at me. Deciding that this was not going to work, I took the remaing dough, formed it back into a ball and rolled it again and cut out another set of rounds, placing these atop the ones on the baking sheet. I repeated this a third time, now positive that I would have a nice tri-layered set of biscuits once they rose to their full height of greatness in the oven.

Putting the sheet in the oven, my girlfriend and I waited eagerly for them to finish baking, while I whipped up a package of powdered sausage gravy....ok it wasn't all from scratch, but it was baby steps here.

Finally the timer went off and I opened the oven and was greeted with the wonderful aroma of freshly made biscuits. The aroma was about as far as the "wonderfulness" went however. Looking in, I saw some sad and very dilapidated and flattened mounds that very much wanted to be biscuits. Upon taking them out and adding them to the plates, we found they were better off as very crunchy crackers then biscuits. But being the optimists that we are, we added the gravy and crunched through our breakfast, being careful not to chip a tooth in our efforts.

So now I am on a quest to make great biscuits from scratch. In the meantime, I thought it may be helpful to share my experiences, recipes I try, and mistakes to not only show that anyone can have success in the kitchen, but also that not every dish is going to come out as planned. I continue to try many new dishes, some excellent, others to be left to someone with better kitchen skills then I. For as with any quest, many other lessons are learned and friends made along the way. The quest for biscuits will be a journey of epic proportions.