Recipe: Fish Tacos

Last weekend, my brother was in town, so after enjoying an afternoon of margaritas and pina coladas we opted for homemade fish tacos for the evening’s dinner.

I took somewhat of a backseat on the cooking and was my brother’s assistant in the kitchen. That is, until he sliced his finger, and claimed he couldn’t prep anymore. After he was wounded, I got the luxury of standing in the kitchen listening to him bark orders at me ;)

To begin, we went to a local market up in Aptos, Deluxe Food Market, to get some fresh fish (shrimp and Mahi Mahi), vegetables to make fresh guac, salsa and ingredients for a white taco sauce.

My brother and I really don’t use directions when cooking. So, I can’t really recall what we marinated the fish in – basically olive oil, onions, cilantro and s&p.

The meal was amazing – nothing is better than fresh fish BBQ’d over a charcoal grill.

But, what really surprised me was how good the white sauce was that we drizzled over our tacos. I know what you’re thinking – white sauce, really? I was in the same boat – I prefer guac or salsa, only. But, this sauce paired incredibly well with the fish. And, since we made it ahead of time it was a chilled topping that complemented the warm fish off the grill.


Below, I’m including the recipe for the white sauce for fish tacos and our watermelon salad (or what I think we added to it)….

White Sauce for Fish Tacos
½ cup plain yogurt
2 tbs. mayo
1 tbs. sour cream
¼ cup chopped cilantro
Salt, pepper and paprika to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix together. Chill for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Watermelon Salad

Fresh (seedless) watermelon chopped into cubes
One bunch of fresh mint, chopped
1/4 of a red onion, sliced
S&P to taste

Cut the watermelon and add to a large bowl. Add the mint, red onion and seasoning, mix. Chill before serving.

Quick Byte: Unwind on Union Street, SF

Ending a great long weekend in San Francisco. The weather is gloomy, but am enjoying a wonderful dinner with the family in the Marina.

Started the night out at Unwind -a wine bar in San Fran - for some great white wine and appetizers. My fav was potato skins topped with Brie cheese and jalapeños - a unique combo that has still left my mouth on fire!




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Recipe: Greek Feast

So, two-ish weeks ago, my first time at Dancin on the Avenue was a success! Hurray!

Let’s just say I starved myself that day (well, starved is a relative term since I have been known to eat more than most guys) and made room for the food on the Ave.

I started with a Gyro from Opa! Absolutely amazing! The fresh pita was topped with juicy lamb, cucumbers, tomatoes and a wonderful tzatziki sauce. Then, a few booths down I got hungry again so downed a slice of cheese pizza from Pizza My Heart.

The next day, I woke up hungry. No surprise. Decided that a Greek Feast was in order.

I went over to Whole Paycheck Foods bought a little leg of lamb, fresh cucumbers, onions, tomato, yogurt, garlic, fresh naan, etc.

I trusted the Barefoot Contessa since I’ve actually made this recipe before.

All I have to say is this recipe is super easy and makes you look like a wiz in the kitchen. I’ve included the full text below, with my recommendations in purple.




Grilled Leg of Lamb
Note: This recipe serves 8-12; I cut it in half and had enough for four people. The recipe below is for 8-12 peeps.

2 pounds plain yogurt
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¾ cup of fresh rosemary
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 5-pound butterflied leg of lamb (Important, don’t skimp on good meat. I would recommend going to either Whole Foods, PW or Cosentino’s).

Combine all ingredients, except the lamb, into a large nonreactive bowl. Then, add the lamb to the yogurt mixture and cover it in the yogurt marinade for at least 2 hours.

Once you are ready, get your grill ready and take the lamb out of the fridge (bring it to room temperature). Scrape the marinade off the lamb and place onto the hot grill. Make sure you are grilling with indirect heat. Grill both sides for about 20 minutes per side (your meat thermometer should say 120-125 degrees for rare). For bigger pieces of lamb, you may need to add an extra 5-10 minutes per side.

Either way, you should be able to feast on this little lamb in about an hour.

Tzatziki
Note: Again, this recipe makes five cups; I cut it in half and had plenty for four people plus some for apps. The recipe below if for five cups.

4 cups plain yogurt
2 hothouse cucumbers, unpeeled and seeded (I don’t even know what hothouse cucumbers are, so I used normal ones. I also was lazy and didn’t unpeel or seed them).
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sour cream
2 tbs. champagne or white wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbs. good olive oil
1 tbs. minced garlic
1 tbs. minced dill
¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper

Place yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve and set it over a bowl (I don’t own cheeseclothes so I skipped this part, just make sure to skim the water that sits on top of the yogurt when you open up the container).

Grate the cucumber and toss with salt. Place it in a sieve over another bowl and let it sit for 3-4 hours. (This is extremely important since the cucumbers let off a lot of water, do NOT skimp on this part or you’ll be eating watery tzatziki).

After a few hours, mix all the ingredients together and let the tzatizki to sit in the fridge for a few hours to blend.






Source: Garten, Ina. Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That are Really Fun. New York: Random House, Inc., 2001. Print.

Quick Byte: Sam's Chowdermobile

On Thursday, my friend and I headed over to Sam's Chowdermobile early (last time there was a horrible line).

Success!

After waiting for about five minutes we were walking away with a lobster roll in hand.

For $15 bucks we split the roll (see picture below) as our lunch.

Pretty awesome - the bread was fresh, lightly toasted and buttered. And, the roll was topped with a generous heaping of fresh lobster (you definitely got your money's worth of lobster).

I loved how the lobster mixture wasn't smothered in mayo. And, I enjoyed the chunks of celery that gave it a nice crunch as you bit into it.

I'm a fan!

Check here to see when the Chowdermobile will be rollin into your neighborhood.


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