Fried Catfish Fajita Tacos w/ Spicy Tartar Sauce

It's going to be a busy week, I can already tell!  But I'm trying to think positively, and fit in as much sleep as I can =)

I had a discussion with a friend a couple weeks ago about the proper way to cook catfish.  He said that he tried to be "healthy" and saute it with some vegetables and said it tasted awful.  I sort of looked at him in a puzzled look and began to laugh.  I then went on to tell him that it was common knowledge that the only way you can cook catfish is to fry it!  Am I right?!

So that got me in the mood for some catfish.  I've been on a fish taco kick, so I figured it would be a good addition to tacos, as well! Throw on some spicy homemade tartar sauce and you've got yourself a tasty lunch!

Ingredients:

Catfish:

2 catfish fillets, cut into 4 strips
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup flour
2 eggs, whisked
1-2 tablespoons cold water
1 cup cornmeal
oil, for frying
salt and pepper, to taste

1 green bell pepper, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 small onion, julienned
1 tablespoon olive oil

Spicy Tartar Sauce:

1 cup mayonaisse
2 pickles slices - about 1/4 cup (I used sweet dill sandwich slices, but feel free to use cornichons or butter, or whatever suits your fancy!), minced
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste (obviously you want a lot if you want it to be spicy!)

Tortillas, warmed

Set up a 3 compartment breading station - one pan for flour, one pan for egg wash, and one pan for cornmeal.

In the first pan, combine the paprika, black pepper, salt, oregano, sugar, garlic powder, cayenne, and flour.

In the next pan, combine the eggs and the water.  Make sure it is fairly well whisked together.

And in the third pan, place your cornmeal.

Heat enough oil in a heavy-bottomed pan to come up about an inch.  Heat under medium high heat until temperature reaches about 375F.

Fry catfish until white throughout and exterior is golden brown, about 3-5 minutes, flipping once.  Place on paper towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper.

In a large saute pan, heat up olive oil under medium high heat.  Add bell peppers and onions.  Saute until onions are translucent and tender, but still somewhat crisp, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To make tartar sauce, combine mayo, pickles, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco sauce in a medium bowl.  The more Tabasco the better, in my opinion!

To make your tacos, place one piece of fried catfish on top of a warmed tortilla.  Top with onion and bell pepper mixture and desired amount of tartar sauce.

For some reason, I've been loving making fish tacos for lunch.  It's so fast and easy - and pretty darn tasty!  How do you prepare your catfish?

Secret Recipe Club: Fish Tacos

I know what you're thinking.  I already had my turn.  I was in Group A that posted earlier this month for The Secret Recipe Club.  Now I'm just being greedy.

But no, I'm actually being helpful!  I got an e-mail at the beginning of the month, that somebody from Group C had backed out, leaving a blogger without a "Secret" partner.  And being that last month, I happened to be a blogger that had someone back out on me (and thank goodness Winnie from Healthy Green Kitchen stepped up to volunteer to do another post - she's awesome!), I knew I had to step up and pay it forward!

And it turns out I got one of my favorite blogs - Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny!  Everything always looks good on Kelly's blog, whether it be her Grilled Chicken Thighs with Pineapple, Corn, and Bell Pepper Salsa or her Watermelon Martinis - there's something for everyone there.  And you know what the best part is?  Most, if not all, of Kelly's recipes are absolutely figure friendly and healthy for you!  You know how I know?  She includes all of the nutritional info with all of her posts, which is always helpful!

With so many choices, it was hard to pick what to make - but I eventually settled on her Sauteed Tilapia Tacos w/ Grilled Peppers & Onions.  Fish tacos are my absolute fave, and I believe it is essential that they grace everyone's table at least once during the summer!  I made a couple small changes, just based on things that I already had on hand - I used flounder as my fish and utilized my purple peppers from our CSA, as well as adding a little Asian flare with the Ginger Miso dressing (I'm obsessed right now!).

Ingredients:
Adapted from Eat Yourself Skinny's recipe

1 small onion, sliced
2 purple bell peppers, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large flounder fillets (about 1/2 lb.)
6 corn tortillas
Ginger Miso Dressing (I bought some from a local sushi joint - but you could easily make your own!)

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet under medium high heat.  Add onions and bell pepper and cook until starting to soften, about 6-8 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from skillet and set aside.

Season flounder on both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet used for onions and bell pepper (if needed) under medium high heat.  Add flounder and cook for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until fish is white throughout.

Place tortillas on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a semi-damp paper towel.  Microwave for about 15 seconds, or until warm.

Flake off the flounder and divide amongst the tortillas.  Top with onion and bell pepper mixture.  Then add a little bit of ginger miso dressing on top, if desired.  Fold up and enjoy!

These were seriously delicious!  And I felt good eating them!  Although, my changes probably made them a little less healthy than Kelly's.

And funny story about these tacos.  I had eaten 2 out of the 3 when I had to get up from the table and get something from another room.  When I came back, my last taco was gone.  I looked at Andy and said "where's my taco?!"  He shrugged his shoulders, and then we both saw Zappa (one of our dogs), licking his chops on his bed, and a little piece of corn tortilla by his paw - the dog stole my taco!  And apparently he liked it too!

Anyway, these were tasty, and I can't wait to try more goodies from Kelly's blog!

Want to join in all the fun?  To find out how, check out The Secret Recipe Club!

Sausage & Peppers

Phew what a busy day it has been! 

I know it's crazy late, but you know me... had to get a post in.

After work today, I headed over to register for classes.  CULINARY SCHOOL CLASSES.  Oh yeah.  I don't think I've ever been so excited to receive a stack of textbooks and binders.  I think today it's really starting to sink in.  I'm actually going to culinary school.  I'm following a dream.  And it is awesome.

So now that I've gotten my excitement out of the way, let's talk food.

I recently received a package in the mail from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker's program to try a sample of an upcoming line of Birdseye Chef's Favorites.  They're a variety of side dishes that include Mushroom & Green Bean Risotto, Creamy Primavera Risotto, and Lightly Sauced Creamed Spinach. 

I paired the Mushroom & Green Bean Risotto with this sausage and peppers meal and it was okay.  It was a tad bit "mushroomy" for my taste - but I mean, it was Mushroom and Green Bean Risotto after all.  I tried the Creamy Primavera Risotto as well and I found it more appetizing.  My only real complaint was that the packaging said there were 2 servings per package.  Now, I don't know if Andy and I just expect big servings of things or what, but there was definitely only 1 feasible serving on the package.  But other than that, if you're looking for a quick side without the hours of labor - then this might be for you, so look out for it!

Now, these sausage and peppers are a different story.  Quick, easy, and tasty.  No complaints on this one!


Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
1 purple bell pepper, sliced
1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 mild italian sausages, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt, to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet under medium to medium high heat.  Add onions, jalapeño, and bell pepper and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until starting to soften.  Season with salt.

Add sausage slices and cook until browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and mozzarella cheese until heated through and cheese is melted.


This was definitely a winner in my book.  Almost doesn't even need a side dish accompanied with it.


Well, I'm off to bed.  Have an early morning at work again tomorrow!  See you all in the afternoon!

*I received a free sample of Birdseye Chef's Favorites through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker's Program.  All opinions shared in this post are my own.

Black Bean Nachos

 

Happy Monday guys!  Let me tell you how mine started.  Well, if you're friends with me on Facebook, you probably already know.   But I'll tell you again because, frankly, I just need to vent. 

Before I left for work, I went to take the dogs for a walk.  As I'm walking, a biker is coming up towards us, and happens to have a dog along with him.  One of our dogs (Mocha), decides to book-it towards the dog and gets undone from her collar - this is one of those "oh sh*t" moments.  So after some sniffing in some inappropriate spots, I get Mocha away from the other dog (all while still handling our other dog, Zappa).  So I tell Mocha to "sit" and she does, but as soon as I come up to her to put her collar back on, she shoots off in another direction.  So this goes on for a good 10 minutes (maybe it was only 2 or 3, but my patience was getting thin and it seemed like an eternity) until I finally get her collar back on her.  So yeah, not the kind of Monday morning I thought I'd be having.

Anyway, we had our engagement picture session on Saturday and we had so much fun in the park!  I can't wait to see the final results and share them with you all - so stay tuned!

We made these nachos for dinner last week and they're just loaded with good stuff!  They're meatless, so even better for my vegetarian readers!  Although, I think we may try this next time with some chorizo!

Ingredients:

Tortilla chips
15 oz. can seasoned black beans, drained
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 & 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, plus more for topping
1/2 cup chipotle cheddar cheese (or regular cheddar cheese, but a friend of mine brought me this from Wisconsin a few days ago!)
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil under medium high heat.  Add onions and both bell peppers.  Saute until softened, about 6-8 minutes.  Stir in black beans and cook until heated through, about 1-2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with tortilla chips (I used about 3/4 of a bag).  Top with bean and pepper mixture.  Then add mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.

Baking in oven for about 10 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and slightly browned.

Top with additional cheese and sour cream, if desired. 

This was such a filling dinner that we didn't even miss the meat!  I'm loving easy dinners like this nowadays because it seems like our (work) days are getting longer, so it's nice to have a quick meal planned like this!  Feel free to vary on the toppings - jalapenos would be a nice spicy addition to this too!

How do you like your nachos?

See you all tomorrow!

Hot Sauce #2

Well, today is Friday.  Woohoo, right?!  Well, not really.  I've got to work until 10:30 tonight so it's not like I'll be doing anything fantastic.  Just a take-out and then straight to bed night, tonight.  But Saturday night, that's a different story. 

I got an e-mail the other day saying that I had won a free Happy Hour at Maker's Mark.  Basically, for 2 hours, I get to drink for free and my friends get to come and enjoy 1/2 price drinks with no cover charge.  Cool, huh?  If only it wasn't down on 4th Street Live.  4th Street is basically an area of downtown Louisville that has a bunch of nightclubs on it, and I don't know about you, but I'm not the 'nightclub bar kind of gal.'  I'm more of a 'hole in the wall bar where I can sit down and chat with my friends kind of gal.'  But, I can't hardly resist things that are labelled "free" and so I'm treking my way out to enjoy my free drinks.  We'll see how it turns out, and hey if I get at least 10 people to show up I get a $25 gift card to their restaurant, and if 25 people show up I get $50 cash at the end of my 2 hours.  So... even more reason to entice me to put up with the "poser" crowd.  Oh well, it'll be good to see a huge group of my friends and it's been forever since Andy and I have really gone out to the bars and whatnot, so it should end up being a good time.

Anyway, I've been on a condiment and sauce making kick for a little while, so I thought I'd share my hot sauce attempt #2 with you all.  It's definitely a cross between a hot sauce and a chimichurri.  Definitely great on tacos, proteins, and whatever else you want to throw it on! 


Ingredients:


3 hot peppers (jalapenos, habaneros, etc.)
small handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup water
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
juice from 1 lime
2 scallions, roughly chopped
salt, to taste

This one is pretty easy in it's preparation as well.  Just either throw everything in a food processor and pulse until you get your desired consistency or put everything in a bowl and blend it up with an immersion blender. 

Serve it on top of tacos, quesadillas, steak, chicken, whatever you like!

Enjoy the weekend guys!  And thanks again to everything who voted for me on Project Food Blog, I'm definitely looking forward to the results later on this afternoon!  Crossing my fingers!