TDogg's Surfside Sandwich

Ah the seaside. For me, it brings back memories of great family vacations to the Outer Banks, or Topsail, NC. Spending a week with family and friends, playing botchi ball, sunning on the beach listening to great tunes and getting a beat down by the waves. Even further back, I have tons of memories of day trips to the Jersey shore with the sights and smells of the boardwalk. Of course, you can't have a great beach trip without great food. Hence my inspiration for today's recipe.

Consumption of fish is recorded back through most of all written history, whether it was the Egyptians who floated in boats made of papyrus on the Nile, Oppian of Corycus the author from ancient Greece who wrote about fishing in the Halieulica, or the Moche people of Peru, who depicted fishing on their ceramics. Today overfishing and pollution has caused many issues and if not carefully managed, could cause the collapse of many of the sea's populations and put a serious damper on the continued use of these culinary delights.

Fish have many excellent nutritional values in addition to being downright tasty. Calcium, protein, iron and of course the highly touted Omega 3 can all be a part of this complete breakfast, lunch or dinner when dining on fish! You can check out some nutritional values of various types of fish here: http://www.fish4fun.com/nutrition.htm

Well enough of history and science. Let's get on to the recipe. I put together this recipe earlier this week, when I wanted to make quick and tasty dinner for my girlfriend and I. This sandwich would also be great for lunches, and a good mid-day beach energy booster. Enjoy!

TDogg's Surfside Sandwich

Ingredients

2 Tilapia Fish Fillets (removed of bones and skin)
2 or 3 Cloves of Garlic
1 bunch of green onions
5 Tablespoons of fresh Thyme (finely diced, stems removed)
1 Serrano pepper
5 Limes
1 container of Greek Yogurt
1 Red Onion
1 Cucumber
1 Tomato
1 Package of Pita Bread or Whole Grain Sandwich Thins
All purpose flour
Vegetable Oil
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Preparation

Place the tilapia fillets in a large baking dish. Finely dice and add to a separate bowl the green onions, garlic, and 4 Tablespoons of the thyme. Dice and add the Serrano pepper to the bowl(you will want to remove the seeds from the pepper to reduce the heat). Juice 4 of the limes (you may need more depending on the size) and add this to the bowl. Stir ingredients together and then pour mixture over the tilapia fillets. Cover and let stand to marinate for 20 minutes to an hour at room temperature.

While you are waiting for the fillets to marinate, put 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt in a bowl and stir in the juice of the remaining lime and the remaining 1 Tablespoon of thyme. Cover and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. This can also be made a day ahead. The longer, the better as the flavors will meld together.

Once the fillets are done marinating, lightly shake off the marinade and then salt and pepper both sides of the fillets. Lightly dredge in flour. Put enough oil in a large saucepan to just coat the bottom. Set the pan on medium high heat for a couple of minutes to heat up the oil in the pan and then add the fillets and the marinade mixture. Cook fish until done, flipping halfway through. About 2 to 3 minutes each side. The fish is done when it flakes away easily with a fork and is lightly opaque in the center. Transfer to a plate with a papertowel, which will help drain a little of the oil.

Assembly

Take your pita bread or sandwich thins, and stuff (or top) with the fish. Add sliced red onion, thinly sliced cucumber, sliced tomato and the yogurt mixture for topping. Serve and enjoy!

Additional Notes: While I used tilapia in this recipe, feel free to use your favorite whitefish. Also the amount of limes will vary depending on the size and how much juice you get out of them. For the marinade you want enough lime juice to mix well with the diced items and to ensure you get a nice coating over the fillets.

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.