Dinner Tonight: Fish Tacos

If you live in San Diego like Tami, just get yourself to your nearest Rubio's. However - if you live far, far away from San Diego and you need a fish taco, here is what you do:

Ingredients
White Sauce:
1/4 c. mayo
1/4 c. plain yogurt or sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
lime juice
salt
chipotle chili powder

Tacos:
olive oil
chili powder
lime juice
salt and pepper
12 - 16 oz. bag of frozen tilapia, preferably farm-raised (just kidding - but that is what was on sale), thawed
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage or lettuce
8 tortillas - corn to be authentic, but I like flour better

Fresh Salsa:
1/4 c. finely chopped onions (I like red)
1/4 c. cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 c. chopped tomato

Other stuff:
chopped avocado
lime wedges for squeezing

Method
1. To make the sauce: mix mayo, yogurt, lime juice, garlic, chipotle chili powder and some salt. Taste for seasoning.

2. Marinade for the fish: Combine 2 T. olive oil, 1 tsp. chili powder, juice from 1/2 a lime and some S&P in a shallow dish. Taste to make sure it is yummy. Then place the thawed fish pieces in the marinade and let them hang out for a few minutes. (The marinade recipe is courtesy of Rachael Ray... mostly.)

3. Heat up 2 T. olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook 4-5 minutes per side or until flaky. OR: grill for 3-4 minutes per side (make sure your grill is clean and well-oiled first).

4. Warm the tortillas in a pan (I put them directly on my ceramic stovetop on a burner on low). Layer cabbage/lettuce, fish, fresh salsa, some avocado, and drizzle with the sauce. Roll it up and oh-so-good. If you want to be really authentically Rubio's, serve with a wedge of lime, and a Corona... and another wedge of lime, I guess. :)

Serves 2 starving people and one picky toddler.

Salmon with Sake and Ginger

We made this salmon last night using the baking method: it was amazing. All you need with it is some rice (to soak up the sauce).

Chili for 20

This is one of those meals that someone served to me on a Sunday afternoon after church, and it was so good I had to have the recipe...

Chili for 20 (but really more like 15-16... think: chili for a lot of people) :)
Ingredients
2 lbs. ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 lb. ground turkey
2 sweet onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 16-oz cans chopped tomatoes
1 20-oz can chilies
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Method
Brown meat with onions and garlic. Drain off fat. Add to crockpot. Stir in remaining ingredients and cook on low setting for 3-4 hours.

Note: Above is the recipe as it was given to me. When I halved this last night for a smaller group, I used 1.5 lbs ground beef and 1/2 lb. italian sausage. Instead of the tomatoes and chilies, I used 6 cups (48 oz) salsa (I still browned the meat with 1 onion and 3 cloves garlic). I served it with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

Maple-Pecan Granola

Thanks to this chick for inspiration on how to make crunchy pecan granola. That's the kind I always want from Trader Joe's ya know.

Maple-Pecan Granola
4 c. rolled oats
1 1/2 c. chopped pecans (almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds...)
1/4 c. Butter (half a stick)
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. real maple syrup
1/4 tsp (a couple dashes?) each cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 tsp. vanilla

1. Stir up the oats and nuts in big mixing bowl.

2. Melt butter in microwave in glass measuring cup. Add honey and syrup and microwave for 30 seconds more. Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Pour butter-honey mixture over oat mixture and stir up the whole thing really well.

3. Spread evenly on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 300. Don't stir. Turn oven off and leave granola in there for another 20 minutes (or even longer. If you forget about it, it's fine). Remove, let cool completely, and transfer to storage container.

Artisan Bread

I don't know what artisan bread really is; all I know is that if I make Grandma Dingler's bread recipe and then put it on a cookie sheet instead of in a loaf pan and make some slashes in the top, it looks a lot cooler than when I put it in a loaf pan :)


Now that I got your attention, here is my favorite recipe for...

straight-up white bread
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
1 c. warm water (120 degrees?)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 c. flour (you can do 2 c. white flour and 1 c. wheat flour)

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Add sugar, let it hang out a few minutes. Add salt, let it hang out a few minutes more.

2. Mix in flour with a spoon. Add more if necessary. Knead until smooth. Cover and let rise for about 1 1/2 hrs.

3. Punch down and get air bubbles out. Shape into a loaf and place on a cookie sheet (or in a loaf pan if you want a nice conventional loaf of bread). Make some slashes in the top with a good sharp knife and let it rise again for about an hour.

4. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes (optional: before baking, brush with milk). Remove from pan and cool on rack. Eat warm slices with butter and jam.

Balsamic Mushrooms

This is our favorite way to fix mushrooms...

Balsamic Mushrooms from Martha Stewart
1/4 c. evoo
12 oz. mushrooms, washed, dried and quartered
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms in oil 5 minutes, turning to prevent sticking. Add vinegar, salt and pepper flakes; cook 1 minute longer.

Today I put these mushrooms straight from the pan onto a bed of spinach leaves. The heat wilted the spinach a little bit which I love, and the mushrooms just tasted like a really substantial dressing. SO GOOD.

Spaghetti Squash

I made this Spaghetti Squash Gratin last night but used kale instead of chard, omitted the green onions and used plain yogurt instead of sour cream.

It was so good that Ken said, can you please make this again, often? :)

Warm Applesauce....

OK guys, I think I am just slow, but did you know that if you just take like 3 Granny Smith apples, peel/core/roughly chop them, and put them in a pan on the stove on medium-low for like half an hour, with some brown sugar (hardly any, like 1/4 cup) and cinnamon, that it tastes like heaven?

And that you can use it as bribery to get your picky 20-month-old to eat crazy things that she would never usually eat?

Such as salad.

Bacon Tomato Cheese Pasta

This is a bit of a rip-off from Rachael Ray, but it is so good I had to share. We've had this dish twice in the past month and it just doesn't get old!

Also... if you have a soft spot in your heart for the Pan-Geos line in the Great Hall, try this and tell me if it evokes fond memories. If you detested Pan-Geos... Marie, don't judge this recipe before you try it :)

Ingredients
1 lb. short-cut pasta (whole wheat pasta was good)
1 Tbsp. evoo
4 bacon slices, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
salt & pepper
1 c. chicken stock (or 1/2 c. stock, 1/2 c. white wine if you have some lying around)
1 pint grape tomatoes (I used sundried tomatoes once which was delicious)
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded or diced
Fresh herbs: some chopped chives or parsley or basil or all 3
1/2 c. grated parmesan

Method
1. Chop everything up... onion, garlic, herbs, bacon.

2. Make the pasta, reserving 1/2 c. of the pasta water before you drain it

3. Heat the evoo in a large skillet over med-hi heat. Now pay attention to all these minutes:

• Cook bacon until crispy - 2-3 minutes.
• Add onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes.
• Add chicken stock and pasta liquid; bring to a boil and simmer 2 minutes.
• Add tomatoes; cook for 1 minute.
• Add the pasta to the skillet and stir it all up for 1 more minute.
  

4. Remove from heat. Stir in the mozzarella, fresh herbs and parmesan. Taste to see if it needs any extra S&P (probably not) :) Serve with a simple salad dressed with vinaigrette.

Early Thanksgiving: Roasted Squash and Cornbread Stuffing

Last night we had an early Thanksgiving since my mom and dad are in town for Ken's ordination service (which is tonight!). Ken's dad flew in last night and ate up the leftovers. I should have taken a picture before that happened because it was so beautiful.

Or as I would say if I was a real blogger:

It.
Was.
So.
Beautiful.

We had every color... brilliant red cranberry sauce, bright orange butternut squash, green salad... perfectly lovely.

I have two recipes to share with you... Maple Roasted Butternut Squash and Cornbread Stuffing.

Maple Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped (1" dice)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. (more or less) maple syrup
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch thyme
pinch rosemary

Method
1. Preheat oven to 375.* Chop squash and onion; place in 8x8 baking dish.

2. In a small bowl, mix syrup, oil, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Pour over veggies; toss and stir to coat. Bake for 45 minutes or until squash is tender.*

*We just threw ours in with the turkey at 325 for a little over an hour.

Cornbread Stuffing
Ingredients
bay leaf
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 Tbsp. butter
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
1 granny smith apple, chopped
some fresh parsley, chopped
GF cornbread, preferably stale, ripped up into smallish pieces
sage
thyme
salt
pepper
1 c. broth

Method
1. Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add bay leaf, celery, onion and apple and saute for 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the parsley and cornbread. Sprinkle S&P, sage and thyme over top and stir to combine. Pour enough broth in to moisten the bread.

Serve hot straight from the stove, or put it in a baking dish and place in the oven with the turkey, ideally for no more than 20-30 minutes.

Granola Bars

Deana over at the Scratch and Sniff shared these granola bars while we were in Nashville a couple weeks ago, and they were AMAZING. I haven't tried to make them yet, but I will shortly...

Marinated Zucchini

This is a brilliant Moosewood recipe to use up any zucchini you have hanging around! I remembered to take a picture before devouring the last two bites.

Ingredients
1 zucchini (or peeled eggplant), sliced about 1/3" thick
2-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
olive oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar (I like balsamic - especially the white balsamic from Trader Joe's)
dash salt
chopped fresh herbs (mint, parsley, basil, oregano, or thyme)

Method
In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add zucchini and fry until golden on both sides (work in batches if necessary). Transfer zucchini to a bowl. In a little more olive oil, saute the garlic until golden but not brown. Transfer garlic to bowl, and top with vinegar, salt and herbs. Stir to combine. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

If you want to make the zucchini or eggplant into a sandwich, toast the sandwich bread in the skillet in the leftover garlic-infused olive oil. You can melt some cheese on there while you're at it. YUM.

Tea Peas

I just found out that someone actually reads my blog. So I am going to post a recipe. Or it's more of a suggestion really. Next time you make peas to go with your traditional English roast beef dinner, after they're finished cooking, stir in some crunched up dried mint leaves and some honey. It makes them taste kind of like tea, but really good. Tea peas.

Oh yeah - ALWAYS use petite peas. Never those nasty big ones.

Pumpkin Pudding

In an attempt to create gluten- and dairy-free pumpkin pie, I came up with this pumpkin dessert which is really more like pudding, but still really good (even Ken said so). The only disappointment we had was that it is really nothing like a pie. So bear that in mind and don't try to carve this up - approach it with a spoon.

Ingredients
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
1 15 oz. can coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 eggs
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger and a dash of cloves)
1/4 tsp. salt

Method
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased baking dish and bake 45-50 minutes at 375. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.

Potato Soup

I tried the Potato soup from Claire's Corner Copia, and it was not that good. I felt like it had way too much butter in it for it to be so boring.

So, next time I am going to try this potato soup from Simply Recipes... the website where the eggplant parmesan and potato-spinach-sausage casserole (which I tampered with here) came from. It looks really good, and I like the fact that it could quite easily be dairy free.

I think I might do regular old onions instead of leeks though... and bacon instead of ham??

Butternut Squash Soup

from Better Homes & Gardens Vegetarian Cookbook

Ingredients
1 T. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
3 c. vegetable broth
3 c. chopped peeled butternut squash
1 c. chopped peeled papaya, peach, nectarine, plum....??
Salt to taste

Method
In a large soup pot, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add spices, saute about 1 minute more. Add broth, squash and fruit. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25 minutes or until squash is soft.

2. Transfer soup to blender or food processor, working in batches if necessary. Puree soup until smooth. Reheat gently and salt to taste.

Crisp

It's not quite apple season, so today I made peach-blueberry crisp. It was lovely.

I assume you know how to do crisp, and if you don't you could very easily ask Betty Crocker. But... since I'm here I'll just jot it down, in case someone out there isn't aware that a brilliant fruit dessert is well within the grasp of the most novice cook.

Ingredients
about 3 c. of fruit - sliced apples (4-5 Granny Smith), peaches, blueberries, rhubarb, to name a few
1/2 c. each of rolled oats, flour and brown sugar
1 T. (?) cinnamon
nutmeg (go easy)
1/3 c. butter (softened)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Arrange fruit in 8x8 or pie dish (no need to grease, I should think)
3. In medium bowl, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles crumbs. Pour/sprinkle mixture over fruit. Bake for 30 minutes.
4. Please try eating this for breakfast topped with yogurt. You will not be sorry.

Eggplant Parmesan

While I'm on the topic of eggplant... I made this eggplant parmesan and it turned out quite deliciously if I do say so.

It's kind of a pain to make and takes a while, but if you want to simultaneously feed and impress about 10 people, this is the ticket. It makes ahead very well (kind of like a lasagna) so you can do all the slaving away the day before if you want.

I had some people over for lunch after church today who deemed it quite yummy, and then the clincher... "and I don't even like eggplant."

Score.

Sicilian Eggplant Sauce

Thank you Claire's Corner Copia cookbook for this awesome sauce recipe. It's perfect for a summer garden that includes eggplant, tomatoes, parsley and basil!!

Corner Copia Claire's grandma from Sicily serves this over fresh fettucine.

Ingredients
1/2 c. + 2 T. olive oil
6 large cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
2 medium eggplants, peeled & chopped (about 1" dice?)
1/4 c. water
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 28-oz. cans whole peeled tomatoes (TJs is good), or 6-8 fresh peeled tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
salt to taste
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

Method
1. Heat oil in heavy pot over low heat. Add garlic and eggplant. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. The oil might get all soaked up by the eggplant; you can add a little bit more if it starts to get scorchy.
2. Add water, red pepper flakes and oregano. Cover, bring to a low boil and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Add tomatoes, parsley, salt, pepper and basil. Simmer uncovered about 40 minutes, stirring frequently, until the eggplant is tender and the sauce is thick. Taste for seasoning.

Mama Hitchman's Pasta Salad

Dressing:
1/2 c. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. red wine vinegar (white wine vinegar or white balsamic are acceptable substitutes)
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well to combine.

Salad:
In a large bowl, mix any or all of the following:
8 oz. pasta, cooked according to package directions (rainbow rotini or bow ties are good)
chopped red or green pepper
chopped salami
fresh mozzarella balls
olives... I like kalamata
sun dried tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil

This tastes better after the flavors have melded for a while........