Adobo Fish Tacos

I already teased the picture here in my tortilla post, but these tacos were fabulous. (And gave me a chance to use my lovely bass.) The adobo sauce is pretty simple - you just need the peppers - but it gives the fish a really nice flavor. It's healthy and tasty, especially served with some chopped jalapenos, pineapple salsa, radishes, and chipotle salsa. 

Ingredients:

2 dried ancho chilis

3/4 cup water, for blending

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 garlic clove, peeled

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp oregano

pinch cumin

1 tbsp oil

2 pieces of firm fish such as striped bass

juice of 1/2 a lime

Homemade Tortillas

As promised, now for the homemade tortilla recipe. It's really easy and pretty quick. It would be really quick if I had a griddle and could fit more tortillas on at once (my cast iron skillet only fits two at a time and even then they overlap). They taste great and fresh and are nice and pliable. 

Makes about 8-10 tacos

Ingredients:

1 cup masa harina corn flour (it should say good for tamales and tortillas on the bag)

3/4-1 cup warm water

big pinch salt

Chipotle and Roasted Garlic Salsa

This is an easy salsa that's so spicy and smokey and great on tacos. 

Ingredients:

2 dried chipotle peppers

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-low heat. Toast the chipotles and garlic. The chipotles for about 5 minutes and the garlic until it's soft and has some charred spots, 8-10 minutes. 

Puree the peppers, garlic, and remaining ingredients for at least 2 minutes until smooth. Season with salt and vinegar. 

Chicken Tinga Tacos

I now have a tortilla press that I was dying to use last night. Probably not something everyone needs, but I saw it at Sur La Table and remembered that my Mexican cookbook said homemade tortillas were infinitely better than store bought. I'll post about that later, but in the mean time, here's a great Chicken Tinga Taco recipe that you can use on store bought tortillas - or be crazy like me and go buy a tortilla press and use on fresh tortillas. Your call.

Adobo-Marinated Fish

 

This is an excellent, affordable weeknight meal (from my fave Mexican book). The adobo sauce is pretty quick to whip up, and you can buy a cheaper type of fish (still want fresh) as you're getting so much flavor from the adobo. Top the fish with a little pico de gallo and a fresh squeeze of lime, and it's just delicious. I made it twice last week with blue fish (a fish I usually don't like, but in this case it works really well) and I think I may make it again this week. One time (pictured) I made a quick black bean dish as a side. Yum!

If you like Mexican food, I recommend keeping your pantry stocked with a variety of dried chiles. They last forever and they're great for making an impromptu chile powder or adobo. If they don't sell them near you, you can order dried chiles from Penzey's.

Ingredients:
Adobo Sauce
3 ounces guajillo chiles (about 12), wiped clean, stemmed, seeded, and deveined
3/4 cup water for blending, more if necessary
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/2 tsp fine salt, or 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cumin

Fast Mashed Canned Black Beans

This is a delicious side for Mexican food, and would be perfect as a layer for a 7-layer dip. It's incredibly easy, and very cheap, and I just love black beans. I probably don't even have to say it, but it's from Truly Mexican. (There's a theme this week...)

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, including liquid, plus 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp mild olive oil or vegetable oil
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp  chipotle chili powder (or more if you like more spice)
1/4 tsp dried oregano, crumbled

Jalisca-Guajillo Salsa

This is a pretty easy salsa to make, and is excellent drizzled on tacos. Its more of a sauce than a dipping salsa, but is great in addition to some pico de gallo for tacos, or for serving with meat. It's from my favorite Mexican recipe source, thanks Jamie! It's great as an interesting additional beyond the more common salsas.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces guajillo chiles (about 6), cleaned, stemmed, seeded, and deveined
1/2 oz dried arbol chiles (15-20), cleaned and stemmed
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1.5" piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup water for blending
1 tsp apple cider vinegar, or more to taste
1/2 tsp fine salt/1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin

Directions:
Place the chiles in a medium pot with enough water to cover and bring to a simmer. Cook them until soft, about 15 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger to the pot for one minute.

Pulled Chicken Tacos

After making these nachos, I wanted to try the same method with chicken. It's cheap, pretty easy, and makes for great tacos (and quesadillas). Chicken thighs are affordable and juicy and pull apart nicely when braised - and unlike short ribs, braising takes 20-30 minutes. I topped them with some sliced avocado, sliced onion, and a dollop of tomatillo salsa.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 dried cascobel chile, stem removed
1 seranno or jalapeno chili, halved
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp oregano
1 15 oz can tomatoes
1 carrot, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Corn tortillas

Directions:
Take chicken thighs out, pat dry, and salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron skillet to high. Add onion, chiles, and garlic and cook, turning, until lightly charred. Add to a food processor with tomatoes, spices, and carrots and puree until smooth.

NY Times Braised Short Rib Nachos

Super Bowl involved a lot of food. Wings, Bacon Explosion, and this newcomer - the amazing nachos you may have recently seen in the Times. Yum! They were so rich but the salsa verde cut through the richness, and the leftover short ribs made incredible tacos. (It makes a LOT of short ribs, but it's worth it because they're great for leftovers.) I actually (oops) forgot the beer but they worked out great. 

Ingredients:

4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs, patted dry

5 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, more to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

5 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, halved lengthwise, seeded if desired

1 onion, peeled and quartered lengthwise

1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

Home Made Chile Powder

This sounds a little daunting, but is extremely simple. If you play around with what chiles you like, you can also customize it. I just kind of made it up, but I took 2 dried guajillo chiles, 2 dried chipotle mora chiles, and two chiles de arbol. (When I see dried chiles I just buy a bunch and keep them in the cabinet for impromptu recipes like this or chile-infused olive oil for black bean dip etc.) Head up a cast iron skillet to medium high. Split the chiles and take out all the seeds and veins. Two at a time, toast the chiles in the hot skillet, pressing down on them with tongs, until they start to blister a little (1-2 minutes). Put all of the toasted peppers in a food processor and blend until you have a powder. A couple bigger pieces are okay. Then use for chile, marinades, salsas... whatever you want!