Beer Battered Fish Tacos with Baja Sauce

These are a huge hit here at home. Now, I'm not a fan of fish. I hardly touch it. But when made this way? I'm licking my fingers. Not the healthiest (okay...not healthy at all) but so good. Enjoy!


Batter

4 tilapia fillets
6 tablespoons of flour
Tablespoon of cumin
Pinch of salt
Cayenne pepper (Depending on how spicy you like your food, I use about 2 tsp)
2/3 cup of beer (I use Blue Moon but it doesn't really matter)
Canola Oil


Cut up tilapia fish into 1 inch cubes.
Mix all ingredients (except oil) together. It should feel thick and goopy (yes, a word!) so it can coat the fish nicely while frying. Chill for at least an hr.
Pour oil to depth of 1 1/2 inches into a deep skillet
Cook fish about 4 minutes or until done. Drain on paper towels.

Baja Sauce

1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup of lime juice
Pepper to taste

We put the sauce on a warm corn tortilla, add the fish, then add fresh salsa and guacamole. Delish!

Guacamole. Patty's Way.

5 ripe avocados
1 white onion, finely chopped
2 serano peppers, seeded and finely chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
3 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper to taste
A squeeze of lime to taste


Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the fresh ingredients. So just adjust to your taste!

Mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime, tomato, garlic, salt and pepper and mash some more. Depending on how spicy you want your guacamole to be, add half of a pepper at a time. We usually use two, but we like some spice in ours.

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. That makes for a not so pretty guacamole dip. Refrigerate until ready.

Enjoy!

I usually put our guacamole in a Molcajete (Adobo Grill). It's the way my Mother always served it, and I like the look that it gives. Mine is currently in storage (it won't be out until February...booo)

I can't wait to move to a new place so I can serve my guacamole in it! Doesn't it give it an authentic look?

Pico de Gallo.

Pico de Gallo

1 white onion, finely chopped
4 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped
2 serano peppers, seeded and finely chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
Tons of lime juice
Salt to taste

This is the amount I use for dinner. It's pretty easy to make huge batches for pot lucks too. Pico de gallo is very popular in Mexican culture because it goes with so many dishes and because it is so quick and easy to put together. I love to put it on top of quesadillas, carne asada tacos, and just munch on it with tortilla chips. When Anthony gets home from work, he'll ask me to whip up a batch so he can have it pre dinner. It's his favorite appetizer. :)

Enjoy!
Patty

Peach Cobbler.

Oh, baking. I love it. My family loves it. And boy does it make the house smell scrumptious.

We bought some organic peaches at Whole Foods the other day and I thought to myself, I've never made peach cobbler before! Googled a recipe, tweaked it a bit and voila! Here ya have it. It came out pretty amazing. I've never made homemade crust before. I'm kind of proud. :)

Ingredients
2 cups organic pastry flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup cold water

3 pounds fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
2 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions
1.In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Work in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cold water. Sprinkle over flour mixture, and work with hands to form dough into a ball. Chill 30 minutes.

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll out half of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish, covering bottom and halfway up sides. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

3.In a large saucepan, mix the peaches and orange juice. Add 1/2 cup butter, and cook over medium-low heat until butter is melted. In a mixing bowl, stir together 1 1/2 cups of sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cornstarch; mix into peach mixture. Remove from heat, and pour into baked crust.

4.Roll remaining dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into half-inch-wide strips. Weave strips over peaches. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

5.Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top crust is golden brown.

Please, enjoy! A nice gallop of vanilla ice cream makes this recipe to die for. ;)

I couldn't get a picture after it came out of the oven because everyone attacked it. Hehe.

Cheese & Pepper Dip

Cheese & Pepper Dip

• 1 cup of dry lima beans
• 1-2 serano peppers
• 1 medium sweet red pepper
• olive oil spray
• 1/4c of onfat plain Greek-style yogurt
• 1/4 part skim ricotta cheese
• 1c feta, crumbled
• 1tbsp fresh oregano
• 1tsp lemon zest

1/4tsp black pepper (or to taste)

Cook lima beans until soft and tender, measure out 1 cup.

Preheat oven to 400*. Place hot and sweet peppers on a baking sheet misted with cooking spray. Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, until soft but not black. Let cool, then peel off skin and chop. In a large bowl of a food processor add 1cup of beans, roasted peppers, yogurt, ricotta and 1/2c of fetta.
Puree for 30 seconds until smooth. Transfer to medium bowl. Add oregano, lemon zest, and black pepper.
Fold in remaining feta. Serve at warm or at room temperature.

I love to eat these with Pita chips. It's too spicy for the boys, but perfect for us!

-Patty

Citrus Chicken Fajitas

I was at a loss on what to make (happens to most of us, right? Right?) with chicken. We eat a lot of chicken. It's a staple here. I go to Sam's and buy the chicken breasts in the huge bag. Multiple bags, actually. ;)

Anyway, here's the recipe for an easy, fast, Mexican dinner. It's not a perfect recipe as I just threw it together one night.

Chicken Breasts, sliced into thin strips
Orange Juice
Lemon Juice
Minced Garlic
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Red and Green pepper sliced into thin strips

Put the chicken breasts in a container covered with orange juice, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigate. Overnight is best, but you can also do it for a few hours, at least 3.

Heat a large skillet pan over medium to high heat. Spray with nonstick whatever you use. Stir fry garlic, then add chicken. Cook chicken, then add peppers. Add the rest of the marinade, until it's almost gone.

It goes great with rice, beans, and fresh pico de gallo.

delicioso!

Patty

Easy Bread Pudding.

Easy bread pudding recipes don’t get much easier than this. You can make this tasty treat in considerably less than an hour, and the ingredients are cheap and easy to find. None of the shopping at three place to get one thing! I topped it with slices of red apples, walnuts and drizzled some honey on top. It was A.J's first dessert. Safe to say he LOVED it!


Ingredients
12 slices whole-wheat bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cups fat-free milk
4 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp margarine, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup of chopped apple
Walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 2-quart casserole dish and set aside. Mix the milk, egg whites, sugar, margarine, vanilla and cinnamon in large bowl. Add bread and raisins. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Bake 35 minutes or until well browned. Cool the pudding on wire rack. Add the walnuts about 5 minutes before taking the pudding out of the oven.

Quesadilla- Patty's way.

1 medium flour tortilla(s)
chopped onion (to taste)
chopped, seeded jalapeno (to taste)
2oz low-fat Montorrey cheese shredded
1/4 cup grilled chicken breast

5 points on Weight Watchers*

In a heavy skillet, heat one flour tortilla. Spread shredded cheese on the tortilla and top with 1/2 the chicken mixture. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese over the chicken and top with another tortilla. When bottom tortilla is lightly brown and cheese has started to melt, flip quesadilla and cook on the opposite side.

You can serve it with guacamole or pico de gallo on top. I'll share a recipe for both soon.

Enjoy!

*I forgot to add in my introduction post that I am currently battling weight loss. I'm on the Weight Watchers program so my recipes will have the Weight Watchers points on them for those looking for some new low fat recipes.