Fish Tacos

One of the reasons I love fish is that it is so quick and easy to cook. However, I actually don’t cook it that often so I am always trying to think of new ways to prepare it. One if my favourite ways is to make fish tacos. While I grew up eating tacos since my family is Latin American, I had never actually heard of fish tacos until I saw them in an Americanized Latin food cookbook. These are supper easy and can easily be put together in less than 20 minutes, perfect for a fast dinner.

For your fish you can use pretty much any kind of boneless, skinless, white fish fillets. I always use tilapia though since it is inexpensive and thaws quickly. I would avoid using cod however, since the flavour is so strong.

I can’t even remember when I bought this bottle of Worcestershire sauce but I finally got to the end of it with this recipe.

I added a few generous splashes to the fish along with some salt, pepper and minced garlic. This then went into the fridge to marinade while I prepared the chipotle sauce and the garnishes.

To go inside your tacos you need cucumbers cut in long thin strips.

And fresh cilantro.

The sauce for fish tacos is usually made with a base of mayo but to lighten the recipe I decided to use non-fat Greek yogurt. This stuff is such a staple for me, I buy two tubs every week and use it often to replace sour cream in recipes. It is also amazing mixed with some honey and granola sprinkled on top for breakfast. If they every stopped selling this stuff I might have to chain myself to the dairy section of the grocery store in protest.

I scooped around a cup of the yogurt into a bowl and added a generous amount of minced chipotle in adobo.

I gave that a stir and mixed in salt and pepper as well as a heaping tablespoon of mayo.

I gave that a taste and decided to put in a few generous squirts of lime juice.

Last but not least, some chopped green onions.

At this point I started to cook my fish. You could either dip the pieces in flour and then fry them or just cook them in a pan. To make it healthier and cut down on the prep time I just chucked the fish in a hot pan for a few minutes.

All done. It flaked a bit but that’s ok.

Assembly time now. First the fish.

Then the cucumbers and the cilantro.

Finished off with a generous amount of the chipotle yogurt sauce.

Do try this for dinner. I love the crunchy cucumbers with the soft fish, fresh cilantro and the cool, creamy yogurt sauce. It is really good and you really don’t need a recipe to prepare this. If you use a very neutral flavoured fish you could even make this for someone for isn’t a fan of fish. I’m still working on getting The Husband to try fish though!

del.icio.us Tags: Fish Tacos,Fish

Pulled Pork Gorditas

I love Tex-Mex food. Oh how I wish there was decent Mexican food around these parts. Every single Mexican food restaurant that I have been to in Montreal is either bland or very bland, unfortunately. Since I had a craving for Mexican food I decided to make Gorditas. I actually made this recipe a few weeks ago so I am sitting here trying to remember what I put in them. Strangely enough gordita means “little fatty” in Spanish. This is also a term of endearment for chubby women (no, I am not kidding. We’re not very politically correct in Spanish). I cannot imagine a scenario in which a man will call his wife “little fatty” in English and not end up sleeping on the couch for a week. The recipe for the tortillas is here.

The tortilla part was easy to make. You mix masa, flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

The recipe calls for adding some cotija cheese to the tortillas. Since Italian cheese is what passes off as exotic at my local cheese counter I ended up using feta instead.

I also added some corn kernels. I took some frozen corn and nuked it in the microwave until it was thawed and tossed it into the bowl.

I added enough water to bring everything together so that the dough was stiff but not crumbly.

Traditionally you fry gorditas but I decided to bake them instead. I scooped out the tortillas with an ice cream scoop and patted them down with moistened hands. I put them in the oven at 350 Celsius which the standard temperature that I use when I am baking something which is usually fried.

To top my gorditas I made pulled pork and once it was shredded I mixed it with browned onions that I had cooking on the stove as I took care of the tortillas.

To make a sauce I added in tomato puree, cumin, coriander, chili powder, salt and pepper as well as some Mexican spice mix which I had in the pantry.

I had no idea how long to cook the tortillas so I left them in the oven until they were firm and golden.

To assemble the gorditas I topped them with tomatillo salsa (from a bottle, but it comes from Mexico, Old El Paso’s travesty of a salsa has not yet darkened my doorstep), fresh cilantro, guacamole and some feta cheese. The tortillas were nice and tasty with the sweet corn kernels providing a nice counterpoint to the saltiness of the feta cheese. Tomatillo salsa and guacamole are always winners in my book and they make everything better. This meal was most definitely a repeat. It didn’t take long to make and made quite a bit of leftovers. The only downside was that this is not the kind of thing that I could take to work for lunch, however it made a few excellent meals to have during the week.

Technorati Tags: Mexican,Tex-Mex,Tortillas,Pork

Pupusas (Stuffed Tortillas)- Toronto

I was born in El Salvador, a tiny country in Central America with many problems but with good food. The national dish is something called pupusas, which are basically stuffed tortillas served with curtido (sort of like a vinegar base coleslaw) and tomato sauce. They are usually filled with refried beans, soft cheese and chicharron (fried pork meat). Alas, I think that the name pupusas is rather unfortunate as it has hampered their popularity as it is not particularly appetizing sounding.The Pipiles which are the indigenous native group in El Salvador started making them more than a thousand years ago. I know, Pipiles eating pupusas, it doesn't sound too good does it?

 

There is a Latin store near my parents' house in Toronto which also houses a small pupuseria (place where they make pupusas). I like going there because it is like a little slice of Central America and as close as I'll probably ever get to being in El Salvador again. There is always loud Latin American music playing and everyone in the store speaks Spanish.

Here are some shots of the decor. Not fancy but it works.

 

Now for the actual pupusas. I always get a chicharron and cheese pupusa. I got two this time but I should have ordered another one since I don't get to have them often.

Here is the curtido.

 

Here is the tomato sauce. 

 

Here is everything together. This is not first date food as it is eaten with your hands and invariably becomes a rather messy experience although it is part of the fun.

Here is a shot of the inside of a pupusa.

And to wash the whole thing down I had a Cola Champagne, which is basically Central America's version of cream soda. It's really hard to describe the taste but cracking one open always reminds me of being a kid in El Salvador.