Tacos de Pescado y más

Fish tacos, fried tomatoes (not the green ones), Spanish rice, black-eyed peas to start the new year right, and "not quite chili". That should keep you all -- or y'all in proper Southern parlance -- trying new and tasty goodies for the week.

Tacos de Pescado

This became one of Sally's favorite ways to eat fish, once I introduced her to the concept - Fish Tacos with panko breaded fish, avocado slices, diced onion and tomato, fresh lettuce from our container garden if it's available, and other toppings of choice.

Panko Breaded Fish

You can use any fish, of course, but a firm white fish rather than something like salmon, is preferred. We like grouper, cod, tilapia or catfish, in that order. If I could get monkfish at a decent price, that would be exceptionally good. Mostly we get tilapia because down here in Florida cod is expensive, but I can get locally farm-raised tilapia for a good price. Later this year I'm going bowfishing for wild tilapia that "infest" all sorts of shallow ponds around here.

Tacos, in Mexico, are a snack, an appetizer. North of the border, tacos are a meal in and of themselves.

1 Tilapia filet per person, cut into quarters

1 cup more or less Panko bread crumbs for dredging

1 cup more or less wheat or corn flour for dredging

1-2 Eggs, beaten, for dredging

2 Tbsp seasoning for the panko - Old Baytm, Emeril's Essencetm, Evergladestm, etc

2-3 tortillas (wheat flour or corn or both) per person

1 Roma tomato, diced

1/2 Onion diced

1 Avocado, sliced

Cheese if you please

Shredded Lettuce if you like (not that iceberg junk)

Pico de Gallo or Salsa

Chop and prep the toppings first, and chill them while you cook the fish.

You'll want three large, shallow bowls or deep plates to hold the dredge ingredients. Add a tbsp or 2 of water to the eggs as you beat them. Add the seasoning to the panko, or even to the flour. Get your griddle or skillet not quite smoking hot. If you drop a crumb of panko onto the skillet, it should immediately start to dance and fry. You'll want to cover the bottom of the pan with oil, but not by much. We're skillet frying, not deep frying after all. I use olive oil mostly, although have been known to use canola oil for this kind of frying.

Dredge the fish pieces first in the flour to blot up the natural moisture and make the egg stick. Then dredge them in egg. Lastly press them into panko all the way around, and lay the pieces into the hot oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side, or until they've browned nicely. Then flip and repeat. Remove each piece as it finishes to a paper towel-topped plate, before serving.

"Spanish" Rice

That's Spanish in quotes because yellow rice is not exclusively Spanish by any stretch of the imagination. In Spanish it's called Aroz Amarillo -- Yellow Rice.  The yellow color comes from one of two spices -- saffron or turmeric. Saffron is the most expensive spice on the planet. Luckily a teenie tiny pinch goes a loooong way. Turmeric is a LOT cheaper and just as tasty IMHO.

My version of Spanish Rice is made using a seasoning packet from the Badia spice company. Their Sazon Tropicaltm has not just turmeric, but other spices that give your rice a wonderful but not overpowering flavor. I use one packet of spice for up to two cups of uncooked rice.

Make your rice the usual way -- 1 cup of dry rice to two cups of water. Or the equivilent in a rice cooker (my favorite method). I prefer Jasmine rice for it's great aroma and taste. Basmati is my second choice. Add the spice packet to the water and stir vigorously to dissolve the powder.

Goes great with Tacos de Pescado or any Latin dish.

Beef 'n' Beans -- not really chili

I belong to the "chili does not contain beans" school; Sally belongs to the "yes beans" heretic school! So, last week, when she said she wanted chili, I knew it had to contain those round things.

There are as many recipes for chili as there are chili cooks. Here's what I used this time:

1-1/2 lbs ground beef 90/10 not the fatty stuff.

1 cup dried black beans, pre-cooked with thyme and cumin for seasoning

4 Roma Tomatoes, chopped

2 Cubano Peppers, chopped

1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped

6-8 red/yellow mini-Bell Peppers, chopped

6 cloves Garlic, chopped

2 stalks Celery, chopped

1 large Sweet Onion, diced

1 tsp Tony Cachere'stm Creole spice blend

1 Tbsp Evergladestm seasoning

1 Tbsp Cumin Powder

2 oz. Dark Chocolate

1/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray'stm Chipotle BBQ sauce.

Brown the beef with the Everglades seasoning. Add the onion and celery and continue cooking until they are soft. Add the cooked beans, garlic and peppers, a cup or two of water, and the spices. Simmer for at least an hour to marry the flavors and break down the ingredients. Adjust the flavor with your choice of spices and sauces until it's just right. Getting the consistency right is the hard part of making chili. You don't want a totally homogeneous glop. But you don't want big chunks of distinctive ingredients, either. You don't want it soupy thin, but neither do you want it stiff and dry.

Serve with or without rice, garlic bread, a pone of cornbread on the side. But please, don't serve it over spaghetti, Cincinnati style. That's just wrong in so many ways!

English Fried Tomatoes

Definately not the same as the Southern Fried Green Tomatoes (which are breaded the same way as Panko Fish). The Brit variety is much simpler.

1 firm ripe Tomato for 2 people as a side dish, Romas are OK but larger varieties are better

3-4 slices American Bacon (called streaky bacon in the UK)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut out the stems, then slice the tomatoes on the equator. On the cut sides, dig out those yellow-green 'eyes'. Dust the cut sides with salt & pepper. Sometimes I'll use Old Bay

or Everglades seasoning instead of plain S&P.

Fry up the bacon in a skillet. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. In that yummy bacon grease, place the tomato halves face down and fry for 5-6 minutes until they start to soften. Turn over and cook on the rounded sides for anothe couple minutes. Plate and serve plain or with a strip of bacon.

Black Eyed Peas

A ceremonial New Years Day dish supposed to bring the diner money (I'm still waiting.......)

1 cup Dry Black-eyed Peas (really a bean)

1 Tbsp dry Thyme

1 Tbsp 24/7 or other "all day" spice blend

6 cups water

It's a great urban myth that dried peas/beans need to be soaked overnight. It has been proven time and again that extended soaking does nothing to improve the flavor, speed the cooking process, or reduce the amount of gas production. So why bother!

Put the water in a pot. Add the black eyed peas and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer 30-45 minutes until they are fork tender but not mushy.  

Happy Eating Everyone!