Baja Fish Tacos

I don't care what time of year it is, we're always up for fish tacos. I think everyone has their favorite version.  And I have a few more versions myself. But this is one of my favorites.  My daughter, Malissa makes amazing grilled fish tacos. They are really the best I've ever tasted. But, I've ever met a fish taco that I didn't like. What can I say,  I'm a California girl at heart.  This is my version and we love it! So if you're a fish Taco lover too, give this a try. Your tummy will be very happy you did. 

Ingredients:
3 cups buttermilk
2 pounds cod fillets, rinse, pat dry, and cut into strips (about ½ to 1” wide)
2 cup self rising flour
1 cup cornstarch
½ package taco seasoning or more to taste
½ head fresh cabbage, shredded thin with knife or 1 package slaw mix
1 onion, sliced thin (optional)
1 package corn tortillas
Oil for frying

*See ingredients for the sauce below!

Directions:
Place all fish in a large mixing bowl and pour buttermilk over. Add more if needed to cover fish. Set aside. Add enough oil to the pan to fry fish. I like about ½ to 1 inch depth of oil in my pan. Heat on medium high until oil starts to pop a little. While oil is heating, mix flour, taco seasoning and corn starch together in a bowl. In another bowl, mix cabbage and onion together. When your oil is hot, one piece at a time, dredge fish through flour mixture. Lower heat to medium.  Make sure you coat well, but not heavily. Fry coated fish in pan until golden brown on each side bout 3 to 4 minutes. You don’t want rubber! Drain fish on paper towels and set aside. Heat another skillet and cook tortillas as desired, soft or crispy.

Assemble tacos as you would any other taco, with your favorite toppings. Add fish, slaw, and drizzle with sauce. I love these extras; avocados, fresh lime wedges, salsa, Queso Fresco (Mexican Cheese), fresh jalapeno slices, hot sauce.

Chipotle Lime Cilantro Sauce

Ingredients:
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce)
1 to 2 tablespoons adobo sauce, to taste
1 nice handful cilantro, chopped fine
1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a processor. Place in a bowl and chill until ready to use. I love my mini-processor for this task. : )

Enjoy!

Shredded Chicken Nachos

Shredded Chicken Nachos Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup white or yellow onion, diced
3 cups store bought roasted chicken or your own, shredded
1 15 ounce can black or pinto beans, un-drained
1 10 ounce can Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
¼ cup water
1 package taco seasoning
2 cups fiesta blend shredded cheese
1 bag of corn tortilla chips

Directions:In a skillet, sauté diced onion until tender. Add shredded chicken, beans, Rotel, water and stir in taco seasoning. Stir and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes or until thoroughly hot. Remove from heat. Add tortilla chips to plates, divide chicken mixture into 4 portions and spoon over tortilla chips. Add cheese and place plates in microwave for 30 to 60 seconds each or until melted. Microwave ovens vary in temperature, so watch it! Top as desired.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa (I used black bean and corn salsa).

Enjoy!

Leftover Bean Chili

Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground beef
2 onions, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup chili powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups left over pinto beans or use 2- 15 ounce cans pinto beans
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
1 10 ounce can tomatoes and green chilies
Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt, if desired.

Directions:
Cook the ground beef, onion and bell pepper in a large Dutch oven or soup pot until the meat is browned and the vegetables are tender. When done, drain any excess fat from the pot. Add minced garlic and cook until soft. Combine meat mixture with all spices, salt, pepper, and Sugar. Mix in the beans, diced tomatoes and the can of tomatoes and green chilies. Continue to cook chili for 45 minutes to an hour.

Love, love, love this served over homemade Nachos with lots of cheesy goodness on top : ). Step out of the box and use a cheese you don't normally associate with nachos, like blue cheese, Munster or brie.

Cooks note: If you like you can substitute the ground beef with chopped beef or chicken.  Or you can use ground chicken or turkey for a lighter version.

Albondigas Soup

A girl that I play games with on facebook mentioned that she was sick and her husband had brought her albondigas soup? I'd never heard of it. And being an Angelino for most of my life, I thought it was odd I had never even heard the word before. I guess in life you're always missing something, because when I googled it, I found many versions of this wonderful soup. Albondigas simply means meatball, or meatball soup in Spanish. I have to tell you I went straight to work on a version of a recipe that I felt had all the ingredients my family would like. I think I did it. My family loves it! Albondigas soup is truly Mexican soul food. It is colorful, comforting and flavorful. I hope you like this soup as much as we did. It is what I believe, the best of several recipes, all authentic with a few twists and turns of my own. I made it for dinner tonight and it is delicious!

Albondigas Soup
Servings:
8 to 10
Ingredients:

Meatballs
½ pound lean ground beef
1 pound Mexican chorizo sausage *See instructions below to make your own.
1 egg, beaten
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup rice, cooked
1 good handful of cilantro leaf, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin

Soup
8 cups chicken broth
½ cup onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 cans (10 ounce) tomato & green chile mix, such as Rotel (Do not drain)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 handful cilantro, chopped
2 to 3 zucchinis (depending on size), cubed
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make meatballs, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Roll into balls.
You should make around 25 to 30 meatballs. Place meatballs in a lightly sprayed baking dish and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. Remove and let sit until soup is ready.

In a heavy bottom pot, saute onion until tender. Add broth, carrots, zucchini, celery and cook until soft. Add both cans of tomatoes and green chiles, cumin, oregano and cilantro leaves. Bring to boil and drop baked meatballs in the soup. Return to simmer and cook another 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

*For those of you that don’t care for packaged chorizo: To make your own, use 1 pound ground pork or turkey and add:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon crushed dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

In a bowl, mix all ingredients well and let sit in refrigerator for 2 hours to let flavors to meld, then follow directions above.