California Tacos

I love tacos. I love being creative with them and amping them up with new, unexpected ingredients. Inspired by Aaron's incredible Korean/Californian tacos - I decided to try something different than the usual tacos. I made a quick trip to the wonderful Mi Pueblo supermarket in San Rafael to pick up cheap ripe avocados, 10 limes for a buck (haven't seen that since my days of China Town in NYC!) and a few other seasonal staples. A few hours later and with a hungry mom and sister waiting at the table - I laid out the spread for these California Tacos. Why California? Because I can't figure out where else they would be from!

California Tacos

I serve these with whole wheat flat bread tortillas (low carb, high fiber - sorry if this sounds like an infomercial - but Trader Joe's has some excellent low cal tortillas!)

Ingredients + Directions:

Cabbage salad:
2 cups red cabbage, shredded to extract the juices
3 carrots grated
2 corn ears - husked
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons apple juice
half a lime - juiced
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions:
1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl, mix to combine, refrigerate until ready to serve.

Arugula Pesto
2 cups arugula
6 cloves garlic - mashed in a mortar and pestle
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup walnuts
lemon juice

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add lemon juice to taste.

Tofu Pieces:
Tofu chopped into rectangles
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Ground pepper

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Place the tofu rectangles on the skillet. Sprinkle with garlic powder and ground pepper. Fry for about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown.

Guacamole
2 avocados
1 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley
1/3 white onion, chopped
1 ear corn, husked
1/2 lime juiced

You know the guacamole drill. Prepare and combine :)

Aaron's Central Coast Tacos. DELICIOUS

One of my best friends, Erica, recently returned from Thailand and she came over with a friend she met there - Aaron for dinner one evening. Apparently Aaron had been talking about these 'Korean Tacos' (we renamed them Central Coast Tacos - because there is more about them that is 'Central Coast' rather than Korean) for a while - so there was a lot of excitement to try these. These tacos are ridiculous. Probably the best chicken tacos I've ever had. Aaron said he has been working on perfecting this recipe for a while and he hopes to one day open a food truck. I will be one of the first in line. These tacos are fresh and flavorful. The slaw has the perfect amount of tang to constrast the mildly spicy chicken. And the pesto ties it all together. Served on a fluffy whole grain tortilla - these tacos are nothing less than divine. Here is a picture of Aaron and Erica :)

(Insert cheesy line here) - Aaron's creation really puts the TAsty in TAcos.

Korean BBQ Chicken Tacos

1. Buy or Roast 1 chicken and shred it by hand into a pot

2. Pour Korean BBQ Sauce (see recipe below) over the chicken and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken has absorbed most the sauce.

3. Turn off heat.

Korean BBQ Sauce:

3/8 cup or 6 tbsp of Korean fermented hot pepper paste (gochujang)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 to 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (to your taste)

2 tbsp sesame oil

Asian Slaw

1. Shred a head of cabbage
2. Shred 1 or 2 carrots
3. Chop a bunch of green onions
4. Mix together in a bowl
5. Pour Dressing (see below) over the slaw
6. Mix every 2 minutes about 5 times
7. Let sit until ready to eat (at least 5 or 10 minutes)

Dressing

3/4 cup olive oil (extra light if possible)
1/4 cup white sugar (or a little less)
3/8 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Lemon Pesto
4 to 6 oz pesto
1/4 cup lemon juice (personal preference, do it by taste)
*Note - Can either stir or blend together depending on the type of pesto.

Tortillas

2-3 small fresh flour tortillas or gorditas per person (fluffier tortillas are better)
*Note - Recipe serves about between 10 and 12 small tortillas 

Putting it all together

Heat flours tortillas, put season chicken on, put slaw on, put a spoonful of lemon pesto on.

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!

Teriyaki Seafood Tacos

I love fish tacos. The only kind of fish tacos I have ever made are the fried fish tacos I started making last year. I wanted to try something a little different and perhaps with a more Asian flavoring. Instead of our usual corn tortillas, I used whole wheat flour tortillas, warmed up over the stove top for a smoky perfection. Instead of frying the fish, I decided to sear it and the tilapia and scallops came out perfectly tender and flaky. I'm sort of on this kick to incorporate blue corn tortilla chips in everything, like as toppings for a pizza, or crusts for salmon; for the tacos, we used the left over blue corn crumbs as a extra crunchy topping for the tacos. As one of the filling options I made a kicked up cayenne infused onions. They packed a lot of heat, if you are not into spice you can omit some or all the cayenne used for the onions. For a little variation, I decided to slice some hearts of palm as toppings for the tacos. Here is a picture of all the optional toppings minus salsa and the blue corn crumbs.

Teriyaki Seafood Tacos

Ingredients:
2 fillets Tilapia
6 scallops
Olive oil
7 tablespoons Teriyaki sauce
1/3 white onion, sliced
2 hearts of palm, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 Persian cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
1 cup Chinese cabbage, thinly sliced
Cayenne pepper
Salsa, for topping
Blue corn tortilla chips, crumbled
6 whole wheat flour tortillas

Directions:
1. Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, place the onion slices in it and sprinkle generously with cayenne pepper. Saute until soft and fragrant. Set aside.
2. Wash the tilapia and scallops. Heat some olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Place the tilapia on one side of the skillet and the scallops on the other side. Pour the teriyaki sauce evenly over the seafood. Sear the tilapia for about 4 minutes per side and the scallops for about 6 minutes per side.

3. While the seafood is searing, warm up the flour tortillas over a flame and wrap in a dish towel to keep warm.
4. Assemble tacos with the avocado, hearts of palm, cucumber, Chinese cabbage, salsa and sprinkle with blue corn tortilla chip crumbs. Enjoy!

Fried Tilapia Fish Tacos

I love fish tacos. I made them for the first time a few months ago using Catfish. Fish tacos can be made with pretty much any fleshy white fish. I've since refined my technique and while there is still a lot I can improve on, I have created a rather solid method for fried tilapia tacos. This is a wonderful meal for a party or large group. It's fun to create a buffet of toppings and allow guests to create their own tacos. It's difficult to go wrong with toppings; the hard part is making it all fit in the small corn tortillas! There is a well known restaurant near my apartment called Mercadito; I have yet to actually eat there but they have a $20 all-you-can-eat taco night on Tuesdays! I'll have to check it out for toppings and sauce inspiration. All the cutting and prep work for the toppings can be done ahead of time when you marinate the fish. This way it's all ready to go as soon as you fry the fish. Enjoy this meal with some mojitos or corona and you've got a fantastic fiesta on your hands!  I picked up delicious Indonesian Tilapia from Rainbo's Fish at Essex Market this weekend. They sell "Uptown fish at downtown prices" and have sushi grade fish too!

I also picked up a large Gwen avocado from the Essex Market. These are a large oval shape and the flesh is creamy and sweeter tasting that traditional avocado. The green skin is pebbly and these are available through late summer.

Fried Tilapia Fish Tacos

(5 large filets of tilapia can make about 20 tacos)

Ingredients:

Tilapia

Buttermilk

Hot pepper sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 handful chopped cilantro

Flour
Cayenne powder
Olive oil

Toppings:
Spanish rice
Cilantro chopped
Green onions sliced
Chopped red onion
Avocado slices
Green cabbage sliced
Salsa
Lime wedges

Directions:
1. Wash the tilapia and place in a glass bowl. Fill the bowl with buttermilk until fish is immersed. Add in hot pepper sauce depending on how spicy you like your food. Then add in lime juice and cilantro. Gently mix the ingredients and flip the tilapia to make sure the pepper sauce and cilantro are evenly dispersed. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1.5 hours and no more than 3 hours.

2. In a large dish or bowl mix flour and cayenne powder (amount depends on your heat tolerance).

 

3. Heat olive oil in a pan. Keep olive oil readily available as you will need to add more between each fish filet.

4. Taking one filet at a time, remove from the marinade and place in the flour mixture to fully coat. Then place the coated filet bake in the buttermilk mixture briefly before placing back into the flour mixture for a second time. This double dipping in the buttermilk and flour mixtures makes the fried coating extra thick and crispy.

5. Place filet in the pan. Fry on each side for about 4 minutes. 

 

 6. Place fried filets on a pan in the oven at 200 degrees to keep warm and cook further while you prepare the other filets.

7. Heat corn tortillas over a flame for about 20 seconds on each side and flip with tongs. Cover to keep warm.

 

8. Put out the toppings and start creating delicious fish tacos!

 

CHEERS!!