Baja Fish Tacos

When I was visiting San Diego in the spring, I had the pleasure of going to Brigantine's on Coronado Island. This was where I had my first taste of Baja Fish Tacos. I have tried to recreate it to the best that I could remember it, but it's one of those things that you can make a bit different every time you try, and it never turns out the same.

I haven't made these since our summer vacation, but my sister wanted the recipe and I was trying to remember how I made them. I thought I would post it so that I had a copy of the recipe somewhere. (If there are any pictures taken when my sister makes them maybe my she will send them to me so I can post.)

Baja Fish Tacos

Baja cream

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp. finely grated lime peel
• 1 tsp. chili powder (or more if you like it spicy)
• 1 dash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce or Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• Pinch of salt

Reserve about half for serving on top of the tacos with the other condiments.

With the remainder, add:

• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 4 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 small chopped red onion (or thin rings of onion work too)
• 2 tbsp. white vinegar

Mix until blended.

Fish

• 1 lb. Cod, Soul or Tilapia
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 2 tbsp. cumin
• 1 dash of garlic powder
• 2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Mix together spices. Mix together lime juice and olive oil.
Marinate fish in lime juice and olive oil mixture, then dredge in spice mix. Alternately, you can sprinkle the spice mix over top of the fish. Broil or grill until flaky and cooked through.

You will also need:

• 8 to 10 small corn tortillias, soft or hard
• fresh guacamole
• salsa

To assemble:
Fill tortillias about half-way with coleslaw mixture, add a piece of fish or two and top with a dollop each of Baja cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Fall Minestrone

To me, fall is about slow food and slowing down. That's probably why I usually spend all of my free time cooking in the fall. It must go back to the natural instinct of *hunkering down for the winter.* On this chilly fall day I wanted to cook something for dinner that reflected the season's change, could simmer on the stove and be ready for dinner whenever I was and could easily be reheated for Aaron's late evening arrival.
I looked in my fridge and freezer, as usual to try to drum up inspiration. There were 2 left over Italian sausages and lots of veg. All I needed was a few things from the pantry and I had dinner!

Fall Minestrone

• 2 Italian sausage links taken out of their casings

Fry the sausage, drain the fat and add the next 6 ingredients.

• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, diced
• 10 baby carrots, diced
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 1/2 a green pepper, diced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Sauté vegetables and add remaining ingredients when onions are translucent.

• 1 tsp. ground fennel (that great flavor used in most mild Italian sausages)
• 1 tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 can white kidney or any other white bean (navy, cannelli)
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil pesto (I cheat and use President's Choice)
  

Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Freezes great. Serve with crusty bread and herb butter. Serves 4 plus leftovers!

I would rather use fresh herbs and fresh homemade pesto (Aaron's is the best), but realistically, living where I live, finding fresh herbs all of the time is difficult or expensive and a lot of the time, I'm cooking when my son is napping, so running to the store is out of the question.

It tasted good and I look forward to another bowl for lunch tomorrow!

Updating a classic - Banana Bread

Aaron is on his way home tonight and in celebration I made one of his favorite guilty pleasures, banana bread. Plus I was running out of room in my freezer and had the 3 bananas that I needed right there. My original recipe for banana bread is a classic for me. Tried and true, used it a thousand times. However, it is like cake. White flour, white sugar, bananas and oil. With all the talk these days about the importance of a healthier diet enriched with whole grains, less refined starches and omega-3 fatty acids, I decided to update my banana bread recipe and see if anyone noticed the difference. My son sure liked it and proceeded to eat that entire first piece.

Updated Banana Bread

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup spelt flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 tbsp. ground flax seed
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix together.

• 3 bananas mashed (I freeze them when they're brown and then defrost them on high for 2 minutes in the microwave)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Canola oil (or replace 1/4 of the oil with apple sauce)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans, as I find walnuts bitter these days)

Combine and add to above. Mix until blended.
Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

By adding ground flaxseed, whole wheat flour, spelt flour and a half a cup more nuts than originally called for I've increased the fiber and added those healthy omega-3's. So it's not that bad for you. I find using the apple sauce instead of half the oil makes the bread more spongy in texture, I prefer to use all the oil.

Ice Cream Treats

OK, admittedly not the best day to make ice cream sandwiches given the cold weather, but we've had these super cute Tovolo Farmyard Ice Cream Sandwich Molds laying around the kitchen for a few weeks and we were bored. Truthfully, making cookies always makes me happy, maybe it's the dough, which I tend to eat a lot of.

I used my super-easy, never-fail, chocolate chip cookie recipe, spread it out on a cookie sheet and let it bake. After it cooled for a bit, Izzy happily cut out the shapes, and we assembled with ice cream in the middle. They didn't turn out too bad for a first attempt. A few notes: make the dough much thinner, only let the ice cream soften for about 10 minutes and store the finished ones in the freezer because they melt quick!
Izzy and I agreed that we liked the pig best. Can't wait to try these to assemble sandwiches for her bento boxes that I've been making for her school lunches. A fun and crafty, rainy day activity that tastes great.

Soba Noodle Soup

Today was a gloomy and cold fall day outside, not to mention Aaron went away for four days to Vancouver. So I was looking for some warmth and comfort that would agree with the kids as well. I had been wanting to use some Dashi powder that my friend Anna had given to me in the spring when I visited her in San Diego, and I had long ago bought some dry soba noodles.

I brought 6 cups of stock to a boil and added about 5 grams (half of the package of Dashi) along with a good handful of noodles. To it I added some random veggies that I had: red pepper, corn, green onions, 4 mushrooms, a few carrots. I let it all boil until the noodles were soft and then I added 1 tbsp. of sesame seed oil and 2 tbsp soy sauce. My soba noodle soup turned out surprisingly well. The kids ate it, and I loved it, but felt that it needed some more heat, so I added a dash of hot chili paste to my second bowl. Perfect.