Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Fish Tacos a laingenuo

Fish Tacos Ingenuo 

Ingenuo means both naive and candid or simpleminded. These tacos are very simple to make and especially tasty when eaten with someone you love. The recipe can be varied like I did today with some beef chopped finely and cooked until done on the stove top. Eating them, standing around the kitchen waiting for the next tortilla to be done is a nice way to have your family interact with your cooking. If you are cooking for one, its pretty straightforward and simple to cook as well.

Fish Tacos Ingenuo

frozen fish fillets or sticks
corn or flour tortillas
cabbage
tartar sauce or a mixture of ranch dressing and salsa
lime slice

If you live in the southwestern part of the United States, you can find tortillas at almost any grocery store. These are essentially a thin flatbread made by rolling out with either a wheat four based dough for the flour tortillas or a mixture of corn called masa for the corn tortillas. If you have gluten issues, the corn tortillas are going to be a good idea. Some people don't like using corn tortillas because they only have experience with them breaking as you try to wrap them. I learned a secret from my friend who was married to a Mexican(grew up in Mexico, not just born of Mexican ancestors like a lot of people I know): You have to heat the tortillas up before you use them or they will break. The way I like to do this is to place them one at a time on a hot skillet and flip them over after a few seconds. You can, however, heat a stack of tortillas in the oven or microwave wrapped in a clean, dry dishtowel. So, if you are using the Fish, first thing you do is to preheat the oven and cook them according to the instructions on the box. I like Van de Camps brand. Consistent quality and yummy. How many? Oh, if you are cooking for you and you want one taco, one fillet or three sticks. Multiply that out by the number of tacos that you need to feed your family and you will have a good idea. While the frozen fish is cooking, shred your cabbage as finely as you can manage. We are talking the thinnest shreds possible. The thinner they are, the more sauce they get per area cut and it makes the tacos extra easy to eat. It can be disconcerting to find a huge piece of cabbage just as you are trying to chew your taco. The voice of experience here. I made my own salsa last year from some tomatoes someone gave me. I canned it and haul it out when I want good sugar free stuff. Limes are optional, but they can be a great flavor note to add to your taco, just slice in wedges and squeeze one wedge per taco. Take out your fish, place on either one flour tortilla or two corn tortillas, place  some cabbage and sauce on top, squeeze lime wedge and eat. Its simple, and it might not sound yummy but it is. The aha point on this came for me when I realized all the taco places around here sell fish tacos for about $2 each, but use generic frozen fillets that they deep fat fry. I could buy my own frozen fish fillets, bake them, and save a lot of money and have better, less greasy tacos. I was especially flattered that a friend told my husband he followed my 'recipe' and was surprised that the tacos were really good. Simple and good. Try them.

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