Saturday, May 29, 2010

Rosie Makes Fish Tacos, Asian-Style Slaw, Jalapeno Tartar Sauce, and Mango Pineapple Habanero Salsa.

In case you're wondering, yes, Rosie is still cooking. Mr. Hawthorne came home with mahi mahi filets and I'm making fish tacos for lunch. First a slaw. I didn't want regular cole slaw. I wanted something different so I'm going with an Asian-inspired slaw.
Rosie's Asian Slaw:
 2 cups shredded green cabbage
 1 cup shredded red cabbage
 1/4 pepper, minced (I had yellow, so I used that.)
1 scallion, chopped
1 carrot, julienned
1 radish, julienned

Rosie's Dressing:
juice of 2 small limes
juice of 1/2 large lemon
juice of 1 inch cube of ginger and minced pulp (You need to nuke a frozen cube of ginger to produce the juice.)
zest one lime
And reserve:
2 TB Tamari
 1 TB Mirin
2 TB rice vinegar
 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 TB sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
 salt and pepper
1/2 tsp lime zest
1 TB cilantro, minced
 6 mint leaves, minced
2 pineapple slices, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
 And my secret ingredient - fresh cilantro seeds They're not coriander yet. They're still green and growing on my plants. Mix all ingredients and pour over slaw.
Mix veggies all together.
Isn't this pretty?
Mix well.
Sorry. I'm unorganized on this post.
 Other ingredients:
toasted black sesame seeds
 toasted white sesame seeds
And 1/2 bag Ramen noodles.
These are the fresh seeds on my cilantro. They're cilantro-ey and very citrusy. I likey.
Pretty little cilantro flowers.
Pour dressing over slaw mixture and toss to coat.
I melted some butter in my skillet, added in some Extra Light Olive Oil, and added in the Ramen noodles.
Cook until lightly browned.
Add Ramen noodles to slaw.
At the very end, I decided on the pineapple slices. Good call. Next, Mr. Hawthorne started on the batter for the mahi mahi.
Here's the mahi mahi fillet.
Mr. Hawthorne is removing the dark bloodline, which tends to be fishy.
More bloodline sliced out, then Mr. Hawthorne cut the fillets into about 1 inch pieces. While Mr. Hawthorne was preparing and frying the mahi mahi, I'm making sauces. First up, is a jalapeno tartar sauce.
Rosie's Jalapeno Tartar Sauce
 1/2 cup mayo
 1 TB sweet relish
1 TB dill pickles, minced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
 pinch of lime zest
1/2 jalapeno
I would've preferred fresh jalapeno, but mine in the garden haven't come in yet. I used this shriveled up red one. Still good.
I'm liking the colors here.
Mix all together, then I decided to hit it with a bit of the reserved lime zest. And the tartar sauce is done. And I must say it has a nice zing to it.
Now, what is this you ask. A few days ago, I made some creme fraiche. Very simple. And if you've never made creme fraiche, you need to do so. It's glorified sour cream and so much better. Take a cup of heavy cream, add in 1 TB buttermilk, and I like to add in 1 TB lime or lemon juice for a little extra punch. Mix, cover, and leave at room temperature over night. Refrigerate in the morning and use as you would sour cream.
This is my doctored creme fraiche for my fish tacos. I sprinkled a little cumin over top, some minced cilantro (You can always use parsley if you're a cilantro-hater.), and some raw cilantro seeds. Next, I'm making a mango/pineapple/habanero salsa.
1 mango crushed pineapple 1 TB cider vinegar 1 TB sugar 1 habanero 1 garlic clove
I sliced my habanero, seeded it, and toasted both sides. Decided on the garlic clove and also decided I needed more pineapple. I used 1/2 of a 20 ounce can of the crushed.
Everything went into my Blue Ninja processor.
And I processed away. Next time, I might add in another habanero for me. I'm feeding wusses here, so I had to go easy on them.
Here's my spread: At the very top on the green plate are the tortillas. Next row is my Mango Salsa, my Asian Slaw, and Jasmine rice. Then my doctored creme fraiche, jalapeno tartar sauce, black beans, and the fried mahi mahi. Bottom three little containers are lime zest, toasted black sesame seeds, and toasted white sesame seeds.
I filled my tortilla with rice, black beans, and fried mahi mahi. Added the tartar sauce on one piece of fish and the mango salsa on the other fish. Asian slaw and creme fraiche went on the plate. Sprinkled lime zest and sesame seeds over top.
Imonna tell ya. I have to say, this was pretty freakin' good.
The kids loved it. They had it for lunch, then came back with friends and had the rest at dinner. Funny. Half the time their friends have no idea what they're eating when they're here. They just know they like it.

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