Fish Tacos!

It's Mexican/Spanish/Argentinian week at Casa de Bissler! We kicked off the week with some delicious fish tacos. 

We were less enthused reading the recipe and realizing we had to deep fry the fish, but they turned out pretty darn tasty. We used about 1 lb of halibut, rather than 2 lbs, but kept the amount of breading, oil and sauce the same. I think that was smart for the breading and the cooking part, but probably didn't need it for the sauce (as we're trying to figure out what to do with all the extra!). 

We used a Kaliber non-alcoholic beer (they are good for something, amirite?) to make the beer batter. I pretty much want to cover everything in beer batter now.

Beer batter on top, sauce on the bottom

Prepping the fish pieces

The deep-frying was a little scary at first. We were a little afraid of catching everything on fire, and I hate oil splatters everywhere. We fried the fish in about an inch of vegetable oil, and kept a lid nearby just in case things got out of control. We also kept our distance (and those of us who hate wearing shoes inside kept our distance). Since the pieces were a little bigger, Paul did two or three batches to make sure they weren't too crowded. 
 

Fried goodness!

Ready to enjoy!

We topped them with the sauce, tomatillo salsa and red cabbage. They were DELICIOUS. Like good as the ones I've had in restaurants before.

As for what to do with the leftover oil, we let it cool for a few hours and then dumped it back into the (now) empty vegetable oil container to throw away.

May 10: Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri, Bean and Corn Casserole

Paul and I were really excited about making a chimichurri sauce, using the parsley from our herb garden (read: three pots of dying plants on our front balcony). We decided to make a grilled flank steak as our protein, and use the sauce as a marinade. I found a recipe in my fave book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, for an easy chimichurri sauce.

To accompany the steak, we went back to the book for an Enchilada Style Baked Black Beans and Corn. (Note: the base recipe is listed at the top of the page, but we made the modifications for the version listed at the bottom of the left column for the enchilada style recipe.)

As per usual, I forgot to take photos until everything was assembled. We used a jarred salsa instead of a homemade version. We layered the salsa, the drained black beans (2 cans), the cubed Monterey Jack cheese, and topped it with the crushed tortilla chips and queso fresco crumbles. This went into a 400 degree oven.

Tortilla chips, beans and two types of cheese? Yes, please.

Paul got to work on the chimichurri sauce. He added 2 cups parsley, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 cloves of garlic (we used jarred minced garlic) and 1/2 cup olive oil. 
 

We spread the sauce on the steak (we had bought a 2 lb. flank steak), and let it rest for about 30 minutes, turning it periodically to coat in the marinade. 
 

I whipped up a quick avocado and mango salsa to go with the steak. The avocados were a little overripe, but they still tasted good. 
 

Ignore the brown spots. When it comes to avocados, I will eat these regardless of how brown they are.

Chopped up the mango we had...
 

I mixed everything up with a little diced red onion. 
 

Paul cooked the steak on the grill for about 6 minutes on each side. We covered it with aluminum foil and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.


Extreme close-up, a la Wayne's World. Whooooooooooaaaa!

The bean and corn dish cooked in the over for about 30 minutes. We topped it with some chopped cilantro. 
 

Obligatory melty-cheese close-up...

Paul put his excellent plating skills to good use...

We really liked how this turned out. The steak was cooked to the right temperature for me, and wasn't chewy (my main gripe with rare or medium rare meats). I think were we to make it again, I would marinate the meat longer so that it soaked up more of the chimichurri sauce. 

The bean dish, albeit a little unhealthy, was pretty good. We ate leftovers with chips as a dip later in the week, and as a filling for tacos. Paul sliced up the remaining steak, coupled with the bean mix made for a tasty lunch.

April 8: Zucchini Enchiladas

Last Friday, we decided to make some zucchini enchiladas, inspired by this recipe. We didn't have all the ingredients, and I used a canned enchilada sauce, but all in all -- I think it turned out okay.

I started by grating the zucchini. Photos taken by Paul -- let me tell you, that makes documenting the cooking process a lot easier!!

Trying not to grate my hand.

I tossed in about one small diced white onion and 1/2 teaspoon/a clove of minced garlic.

The metal thing in the photo is the "bash & chop." It may have been one of the best purchases we made. Seriously. It's instrumental in moving chopped stuff either into bowls or pans.

To that, I added the two grated zucchini (zucchinis? I don't know). We had some canned black beans leftover from a meal earlier in the week, so I tossed those in as well.

After taking off the heat, we added in about 1/2 cup of grated sharp cheddar cheese. We used some larger tortilla wraps to make the enchiladas.

Midway through the process. Thank you, photographer Paul.

Paul is so proud that I am using some of our wedding gifts. I think this green casserole dish has been collecting dust since October.

I poured the canned enchilada sauce on top, and added some more grated cheese. 

We baked it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.