Fresh Fish Tacos

This recipe was actually more of an impromptu recipe, that was inspired by a trip to the farmers market with two wonderful friends of mine.  At UCI, every saturday morning UTC hosts a farmer's market with great produce and all sorts of goodies including fresh seafood.  When i first made this recipe, I was still a freshman in the dorms and I remember taking any chance I got to cook in an upperclassman's apartment.  So as I was walking around the farmer's market, I found inspiration from one of the fish mongers who tried to sell these great looking sole filets at discounted price.  I bought the fish and decided to make a fresher-tasting fish taco that wasn't battered and deep-fried like u would find at say Rubio's, but rather fish easily grilled to perfection to really capture the taste of fresh fish and make it a lighter meal.  Please enjoy.  Cook.Eat.Love.Smile. 

04.30.11: Fresh Fish Tacos 

Fresh Fish Tacos

2 Sole Fish Filets (any white fish will work)

6 small tortillas

1 cup of Mexican cheese blend (or favorite cheese)

1 cup of shredded lettuce

2 tomatoes

½ large onion or 1 medium onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 stalk of green onion

½ tbsp of basil

¼ tbsp black pepper

¼ tbsp salt

Prep-work:

1.     Dice the tomatoes with the juicy insides

2.     Dice the onion

3.     Mince the garlic, chop the green onion

4.     Sprinkle the pepper, salt, basil on both sides of the fish filets

Procedure:

1.     Heat non-stick pan with a little oil to medium – medium high

2.     When the pan is hot enough, place the filets and cook about 3 min on each side or cook until you start seeing the filets turn white on both the side on the pan and on the edges of the fish, then flip

3.     Once finished cooking, take the fish off the pan and roughly chop into large chunks of fish

4.     Then take the pan with a light coating of oil and heat to medium high. 

5.     Add the onions and cook until almost translucent

6.     Add the garlic and green onions and cook until fragrant

7.     Then take the mixture off the pan and to the side with the fish

8.     Heat the pan again to medium-high heat without the oil

9.     Add 2-3 tortillas onto the pan depending on the size, but do not allow the tortillas to touch each other. (Cook in batches)

10. Sprinkle cheese and on top of the tortilla and allow to melt slightly

11. Then when melted, take off the heat and build the taco adding the onion/garlic mixture, fish, lettuce, and tomatoes.   

Valentine's Day Chicken Parmesan

This dish was inspired by my tendency to be a romantic both in the heart and in the tummy.  It was valentine's day almost two weeks ago and as a single college student, I was faced with the inevitable of not having plans while so many of my friends had plans with significant others and what not.  So my roommates and I decided to open up our apartment to others in our Christian fellowship (AACF) who did not have any plans for the night for a night of some good food, good company, and watching a sappy movie.  I had an excess amount of oil and pasta from the retreat (last post) so i decided to make chicken parmesan.  And earlier in the day, as I was sitting in class trying to pay attention, my hopeless romantic side got hold of me and decided that in light of valentine's day I could try to make the chicken shaped as a heart.  So that is precisely what I did, but this recipe is the same if you dont want hearts and just regular chicken breast filets instead; it will taste just as great.  Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day and may this recipe inspire you all to cook together or for your significant other.  Please enjoy.  Cook.Eat.Love.Smile.  

02.14.12: Heart-shaped Chicken Parmesan

Valentine’s Day Chicken Parmesan

2 large boneless/skinless whole chicken breasts

2.5-3 cups of vegetable oil

1 cup of Mozzarella cheese

1 cup of plain breadcrumbs

½ cup of flour

1 egg

2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp of garlic powder

1 tbsp of parsley

1 tbsp of salt

1 tbsp of black pepper

1 tbsp of cream cheese

1 tbsp of honey

1 package of spaghetti

1 jar of favorite tomato sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 garlic bread (optional, but in the picture)

Prep-work:

1.     Position the chicken breast so that the shorter side (or middle of the heart) is towards your left and the longer side is towards the right. 

2.     Take a sharp knife and carefully butterfly the chicken breast in half, from right to left leaving the opposite side intact.

3.     Unfold, and the shape should be a heart **This takes some practice (videos on youtube could probably provide some more information and tips)

4.     Place the chicken breasts and salt/pepper in a gallon freezer bag and make sure the chicken is evenly coated

5.     Then, close the freezer bag and pound the chicken breasts into about ¼- ½ in thick.  Let the chicken rest for a few minutes. 

6.     In the meantime, take the breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley and mix well into a flat plate.  Take the egg and whisk in a separate plate.  Take the flour and place onto a separate plate.  Order the plates so that 1^st you coat the chicken breasts with flour, then egg, then breadcrumb mixture

7.     Also, place the oil in a large frying pan that can withstand frying temperature

Procedure:

1.     Take a large pot and boil water for the pasta, and cook until desirable. 

2.     Meanwhile, take the flattened chicken breast and coat it lightly with the flour.  Then coat the floured-chicken with egg.  Then coat the chicken breast with the seasoned bread crumbs generously

3.     Drop the chicken one breast at a time into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.  Be careful and make sure to rotate the chicken so that it becomes evenly golden brown and not burn on one side.  When the chicken is cooked through, place on a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the excess oil

4.     Meanwhile, start heating a saucepan and add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. 

5.     Then when the sauce comes to a boil, add the honey and cream cheese and wait until everything is incorporated

6.     Now that everything is cooked, take the chicken and put half a cup of cheese on top of each and bake in an oven at 400 F just to melt the cheese on top. 

7.     Plate to your own desire.  

Easy BBQ Pulled-Pork Sandwich and Coleslaw

This dish was actually first made during the AACF Winter Retreat 2012.  The retreat was at a beach house in Oceanside with two decent sized kitchen and I was put in charge with another friend helping me out with providing food for the retreat.  Which meant, 5 meals with 50 or so people for the whole trip.  This recipe was inspired from the fact that we had 4 crock-pots to our use and as I was trying to decide what to make for lunch...I wanted to make something that was relatively easy to make and low maintenance since I had to worry about the two other meals that day and I wanted to participate in as many activities as well.  After much deliberation I decided to make pulled pork sandwiches as an easy go to meal that tastes great and very easy to feed a large crowd.  This recipe is not to compete with authentic BBQ, but rather give a chance to a hungry college student who wants something to hit the spot for that BBQ craving.  The recipe here was reduced to from a serving size of about 60 to about 10 servings, but i promise it still tastes great.  Please enjoy :] Cook.Eat.Love.Smile

01.21.12: Pulled Pork Sandwich with Coleslaw
Photo Credit: Christine Be

Easy Pulled-Pork Sandwich and Coleslaw

1 2-3lbs  Pork Shoulder or Pork Butt

1 32oz Low Sodium Beef Stock

½ head of green cabbage

½ head of purple cabbage

1 cup of mayo

1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup of honey

favorite BBQ sauce

hamburger buns or sandwich bread

crock-pot

Prep-work:

1.     Cut the pork butt into more manageable sizes and trim that fat if needed to fit into the crock-pot. 

2.     Pour the entire package of beef stock into the crock-pot with the meat inside it or until all the meat is completely submerged

3.     Turn on the crock-pot and set the mode according to the time that can be used to cook the pork.  i.e. (low if you can leave it cooking for 8-10 hours overnight or high if you need it as soon as possible at around 4 hours)

4.     Let the crock-pot do most of the cooking and leave the meat be. 

Procedure:

1.     Cut the cabbage heads both green and purple into strips as thin as possible around ½ cm thick and place in a large mixing/serving bowl. 

2.     In a bowl mix in the mayo, honey, and vinegar constantly until very smooth creamy consistency. 

3.     Pour the mayo mixture over the cabbage and toss well so that all the cabbage is evenly coated

4.     Place it in the fridge to cool

5.     Take out the pork from the crock-pot and place it in a large flat bowl

6.     Shred each piece of pork with two forks to the consistency you would want (more chunky is less shredding vice versa)

7.     Pour in as much of your favorite BBQ sauce as you want, careful to not to add too much as you can always add more but not take out

8.     Combine the meat and the sauce well. 

9.     Toast the bread either in the oven at 200F or in the toaster oven. 

10. Place the shredded meat on top of the bread with a heap of coleslaw on the meat or on the side

11. Serve while the pork is warm and coleslaw is relatively cool .