Fish Tacos

While camping in northern California last week we went fishing in the ocean with my professional fisherman brother-in-law. I am proud to report that I caught my very first fish- a giant rock fish! Nate then caught 4, and I caught another, meaning we brought home over 12 filets of fish. Now, I'd say that's a successful fishing trip!

However, I'd never really cooked fish before. (except once last month and it turned out... fishy....)

So Friday we decided to brave the new, and master the art of the ever popular Fish Taco.

And, we were pretty darn successful if I do say so myself.

Delicious Fish Tacos

2 lb fish (we used rock fish, original recipe said Talapia)
2 eggs whisked
2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. canola oil
Vegetable oil
Tortillas

Cube the rinsed fish, and coat the cubes with the whisked egg (make sure each piece is completely coated, in order for the panko to stick). In a big ziplock bag combine the bread crumbs, paprika, thyme, oregano, salt and canola oil. (we also threw in a small amount of parmesan cheese-because why not?) Add the egg-coated fish, seal the bag, and shake to your hearts content. Each portion of fish should be coated in the mixture. Fry the fish cubes, a few at a time, in vegetable oil in a skillet on the stove. Fish and coating will turn a golden brown when done. Remove fish, and cook until all your fish portions have been cooked.

Serve on warm tortillas with pico de gallo, and cilantro lime rice.

Recipe adapted from here. 


Pico de Gallo

For the pico we were lucky enough to use tomatoes from our garden, and jalepenos from the local farmers market. I may be a little biased here, but this is a great recipe for any fresh tomatoes you have lying around!

3 large Roma tomatoes (chopped)
1 cup onion (chopped)
2 Jalepeno peppers (chopped)
1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 of a fresh lime (juiced)

Chop. Chop. Chop. I removed the seeds from the jalepenos- but if you like more of a kick leave them in! Once everything is chopped combine it into a bowl, and stir it all together. Add pepper to taste. Chill the pico before serving.

Note: The pico gets even better after a day. Keep it in the fridge and see what I mean!

Recipe adapted from here. 


Cilantro Lime Rice

I've made this rice a couple times now, and every time it's a hit!

1 cup and 1 tsp white long grain rice
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1 tsp butter or margarine
2 tsp sugar
1Tbs fresh lime juice
3 Tbs cilantro (chopped)

Add rice, chicken broth, water, garlic and butter to a rice cooker. Cook until tender. Once rice is done cooking fluff the rice with lime juice, cilantro and sugar. This rice is a must for any taco night, but the lime works especially well the fish tacos.

Recipe adapted from here. 


Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roll Bread

Hi!

So I had been craving something sweet for a few days, but cookies weren't quite doing it for me, but I also wasn't patient enough to make something difficult. Then I found this recipe in my pins and decided I'd give it a try. Oh. My. Gosh. It's so, so good. I made it for us to have after dinner last night and loved it, then had it again for breakfast this morning and it was just as good - if not better. So I thought it would be a good one to share.

Cinnamon Roll Bread

Ingredients:

Bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg - lightly beaten
1 cup milk (I used 1% because that's what was in the fridge)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/3 cup sour cream

Cinnamon Swirl/Topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar**
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons water

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk

**Funny story... We ran out of sugar partway through this recipe (probably too much Kool-Aid recently) so I finished off our sugar, then filled up the rest of the measuring cup (probably 1/4 of it) with brown sugar and I think it tasted great!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° and spray the loaf pan with cooking spray.

Mix dry ingredients for bread in a medium bowl. In a small bowl combine and stir wet ingredients (starting with the egg so you can beat it a little). Combine these two bowls and stir with a spoon (no mixer necessary!). Pour into bread pan.

In another small bowl combine the ingredients for the cinnamon topping. Using your spoon drop spoonfuls of the mixture evenly over the bread. Use a knife to swirl it on the top - the deeper you put the knife in the bread mixture the deeper the cinnamon will bake in - totally personal preference!

Bake for 40 minutes (our oven cooks everything fast so feel free to add time if you need to), or until you can do the toothpick test and get a clean one.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Now we get to make the glaze!

Pour powdered sugar into a ziploc bag, then add milk. Zip it up and mix with your hands, making sure there aren't any pockets of powdered sugar left. Set aside.

Remove bread from pan and let it cool completely (I put it on the plate I wanted to frost it on at this point). When it's cool, cut a corner off of the bag and drizzle the glaze topping all over the top of the bread.

This was super easy to make, we both loved it, and it made my kitchen smell amazing. Definitely will be making this one again soon!

Loves, Jord

Recipe adapted from here. 

Creamy Tomato Soup

So I had been craving Zupa's - but we don't have that down here. I also ended up with some extra heavy cream from a different recipe I had made and hated to waste it. So instead I looked up a couple recipes, adapted them to fit what we would like and came up with this.

Chase has already asked me to make it twice since and said it might be the most satisfying thing I've ever made - not sure if it gets better than that, and it took care of my Zupa's craving :)

Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1 can of family sized Campbell's Tomato Soup

1 can(^) of milk

Small can of diced/crushed tomatoes (I like the ones with basil)

1/2 - 1 Cup of heavy cream

Directions:

In a large pot over medium heat pour in the tomato soup, and the can of milk. Pour in tomatoes and use an immersion blender to blend them to a smooth consistency (or blend in a blender, then pour in). Add cream to desired creaminess - I lean towards the full cup. Stir occasionally until it reaches desired heat.

Serve with grilled cheese, sliced baguette, oyster crackers, shredded cheese, whatever sounds good to you!

Leftovers were great the next couple of days and it was also really easy to make enough for friends coming over for dinner!

Love you both!

Loves, Jord

Chicken Salad Sandwhiches

A couple months back I hit  recipe rut. I'd made Nate my "standard" meals. The Chicken Roll Ups, the Stroganoff, etc. I was desperate. Plus, it was getting pretty hot-and who wants to really cook in the middle of a hot summer.

Luckily at about that time Natalie sent me an e-mail full of recipes. It was heaven sent.

The first recipe I made from the e-mail was called Sonoma Chicken Salad Sandwiches-and we LOVED it! It was an easy, delicious, quick recipe.

And since I love you two so dearly-he it is:

Sonoma Chicken Salad Sandwiches 

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I usually boil 2 or 3 breasts, then shred it in my Kitchen Aid)
1 cup diced celery (2-3 stalks)
1 1/2 cups chopped grapes (I cut the grapes in half, or quarters)
3 Tbs finely grated Parmesan cheese
Bread (I use Costco Croissants)

Dressing
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup apple juice
3 Tbs honey
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp onion powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


In a large bowl mix together chicken, celery, grapes and Parmesan. In a separate bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients until well mixed. Stir dressing over bowl with chicken, and toss to coat. Serve on bread or croissants.

Left overs store great in the fridge! The original recipe called for pecans and dried cranberries (instead of grapes) but we really decided to just make it our own. It's a pretty adaptable recipe-so feel free to make it your own. I seriously debate throwing coconut in it every time (I'm coconut obsessed!).

Let me know if you like it! Love you both!

xoxo

Nicole




Recipe adapted from here.