Beer Battered Fish Tacos

A good friend of mine, Patrick, was visiting the city with his roommate from Chico State. I have known Pat since the early days of elementary school so it was awesome to be able to have him and his friends over for a meal during his first New York City trip. Because they were coming from California, I decided to make fish tacos but I wanted to mix it up and incorporate beer into the batter. Going with a Mexican theme I used a cold Modelo. I served the fish tacos with a mixture of chopped tomatoes, avocado and corn kernels, doused with lime and a bit of onion. Other sides included shredded cheddar cheese, pinto beans, spanish rice, cabbage, and sliced pickeled jalapenos. Here is a picture of Pat and I:

Beer Battered Fish Tacos

Ingredients:
6 Tilapia fillets
1 can Modelo beer
Flour
Cayenne powder
Olive oil

For serving:
Corn tortillas
Avocado, sliced
Cabbage, sliced
Salsa
Cheese, grated
Pickled jalapeno slices
Spanish rice
Hot sauce

Directions:
1. Mix together some flour with a sprinkling of cayenne powder. Pour in the can of Modelo and whisk together until you have a nice consistency. You may need to add more flour and cayenne powder to prevent it from being too liquidy. In a separate bowl mix together more flour and cayenne powder.
2. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees and line a baking dish with tin foil. Heat a layer of olive oil in a skillet over high heat.
3. Wash the fillets and dunk them in the Modelo batter. One at a time, take the fillets from the Modelo batter and coat them in the dry flour mixture. Place them on the hot oil and fry for about 4 minutes per side. You want to get a nice crispy brown coloring on the crust.
4. Place fillets in the oven to keep warm as you fry the others. Serve with toppings of choice and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Megan's Birthday!

My wonderful cousin, Megan, just turned 25 and she had a big shared celebration with her friend Rich. To help her celebrate I made 75 red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and different toppings. It was a little strange showing up at a club with two massive trays of cupcakes but I quickly learned that if I gave a couple of cupcakes to the bouncers I would get in smoothly without any lines or having to show my ID. I made a combination of a few different recipes. Here is a picture of the beautiful birthday girl (in the center) and her friend Rich (on the right).

                                           

And here is a picture of my kitchen amidst all the chaos:

                              

Red Velvet Cupcakes for Megan's Birthday

(For the purpose of this post I have downsized the recipe to make 50 cupcakes since you probably won't need 75 cupcakes anytime soon...) Adapted from Paula Deen's recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 3/4 cups cake flour

3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup canola oil

1 cup butter, melted

3 cups buttermilk

4 large eggs

3 tablespoons red food coloring

2 teaspoons white vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper with cupcake papers.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the flour, cake flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa and baking powder. In a large bowl whisk together the oil, butter, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until combined.

3. Divide the batter among the cupcake papers about 2/3 of the way and bake for 20-22 minutes.

Steamed Salmon with Crispy Butternut Squash

I love salmon. It is the perfect healthy comfort fish for any night of the week. It is easy and works well with a whole multitude of flavors. I didn't have much time and wanted to prepare a nice salmon meal for two that would use up the contents of my refrigerator. I had half a leftover butternut squash, some sage and some fresh ginger root and not much time. I served this over a bed of quinoa. My dinner companion told me that this was the best salmon he had ever had. To cook the salmon more quickly I covered the skillet and let it steam with all the flavors from it's marinade. It took no time and was very yummy.

                             

Steamed Salmon with Crispy Butternut Squash

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1 large salmon steak

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped

1 handful sage leaves

1/3 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon ginger powder

3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

Olive oil

Directions:

1. Wash salmon steak and place in a zip lock bag. Pour in orange juice, teriyaki sauce and ginger powder. Seal bag and mix around gently so that salmon is evenly coated. Place in the refrigerator and let marinate for 20 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how long you have).

2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place butternut squash in the skillet and put the salmon steak in the center of the skillet. Pour left over juices from the bag over the salmon and squash. Disperse the sage leaves on the salmon and squash. Cover the skillet and let steam for 20-30 minutes. Serve over brown rice, quinoa or with fresh bread. Enjoy!