Mahi Mahi Tacos with Lime Yogurt Sauce

Hola, foodies!

I recently moved into a new apartment and tonight I made my first "real dinner" since moving in. With the help of my roomie, of course!

I've always wanted to make fish tacos. For this recipe I used pre-packaged frozen mahi mahi filets from Trader Joe's. So convenient - and surprisingly fresh, too!

I came up with the sauce on the fly. I used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream because it basically tastes the same except it's fat-free and has a ton of protein. So yummy.. the sauce really made the tacos, for me.

• 1 pound mahi mahi filets
• flour
• extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp honey
• 10" flour tortillas
• pico de gallo (store-bought or homemade)
• any color bell pepper, finely chopped
• red or white onion, finely chopped
• cucumber, chopped
• cilantro, chopped
• shredded cheese of your choice

1. Combine yogurt, garlic, lime juice, and honey. Set aside.
2. Slice fish filets into 1-inch sections. Coat with flour.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until fish is completely opaque throughout. Transfer fish to a plate and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place fish pieces on warm tortillas. Drizzle with a good helping of yogurt sauce. Top with pico de gallo, peppers, onions, cucumbers, cilantro, and cheese. Enjoy!

Cheers,

L

Pumpkin! Pumpkin!! Pumpkin!!!

Welcome to autumn. It is officially that season where you see pumpkin (or the ever popular "pumpkin spice") everywhere -- muffins, quick breads, pies...all sorts of foods for that matter, lattes, coffee beans, coffee creamers, beer, candles, bath products, etc. For a few months, everyone deems pumpkin their favorite food and believes it is the best thing ever invented. Then the holidays are over and it seems everyone forgets about poor pumpkin until next year. I admit I am one of those people. I wish pumpkin was in season all year. Since October rolled around I've been dying to use it in the kitchen. I've had pumpkin spice coffee creamer on hand for the past month -- currently on my second bottle. When one store was out of said creamer, I went to another store to find it (success!). I am that desperate to grasp tightly onto the pumpkin craze before it disappears for another 10 months. Anyway, I haven't cooked with pumpkin yet this autumn. I have plans for pumpkin bread tomorrow, but tonight it was pasta.

My coworker recommended a Rachael Ray recipe and I'm glad I tried it. I altered the portions to serve two, and used half-and-half instead of heavy cream to cut the fat content, among other tweaks. The original recipe calls for sage, but I had none. So, if you have it, use it. But, word to the wise... follow Rachael's directions and USE WHOLE WHEAT PASTA! I only had regular semolina pasta on hand, and upon my first bite, my face lit up at the taste of the sauce but then I frowned a little. This pumpkin cream sauce needs the nutty richness of whole wheat pasta to bring out that autumn-y essence. Without it, the dish just lacks...something. I taste the pumpkin, the spices, but my palate is craving something else. One of the many reasons I love a really good quality (read: non-cardboard/sandpaper variety) whole wheat pasta is the depth of flavor it adds, and this is one of those cases.

I also want to mention that this would be a great main dish if you added chicken or sausage. Tonight, this was the "second course" of our dinner. Paul cooked the first course, and I cooked the second. I love when Paul cooks because his dishes always have his personality in them... from the seasonings he uses, to the tricks he's learned from his mom, to the very diligent, delicate, and patient way he chops up carrots into perfectly shaped little pieces. :) His first course was a salad consisting of romaine lettuce, carrots, apples, walnuts, and dried cranberries; topped with a pan-fried salmon fillet. Simple, yummy, and refreshing. This was a nice warm follow-up.


Pumpkin Lovers' Pasta for Two
adapted from Rachael Ray's Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta

• 1/2 pound whole wheat penne
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
• 7 to 8 ounces pure pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce (I used Sriracha)
• a dash of ground cinnamon
• a dash of ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper, to taste
• grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a sautee pan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook until soft.  Don't burn the garlic, like I did, and always will do.
3. Stir in the broth, pumpkin, and half-and-half. Add the hot sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Let simmer on low heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Toss pasta and sauce together, and serve with grated cheese and a dash of cinnamon on top.

Shallots & garlic cooking in olive oil. One of my favorite smells ever.

Simmerin' sauce.

Bon appetit!

Cheers,

L

Tomato Sauce from Scratch

I had the blessing of receiving a whole big batch of home-grown tomatoes from Paul's mom's garden.  They are unlike any tomato you can buy in the store; sweet, tender, juicy, yum.  Unfortunately, there were more tomatoes than I knew what to do with, so I decided to try a batch of tomato sauce (something his mom had also done while I was staying at their house this summer).  I pretty much winged it, eyeballed everything, and threw it in my (CUTE) mini slow cooker (I'm usually cooking for two -- it probably holds about 3 or 4 quarts). Here's my "recipe":

Homemade Tomato Sauce

• 4 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
• 2 tsp tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• a few shakes of dehydrated minced onion
• generous helping of whatever herb you have on hand (all I had was dried parsley for now)
• salt and pepper, to taste

1. Place the tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove, peel, and chop to your heart's desire. Place tomatoes in slow cooker.
2. Add tomato paste, garlic, onion, herbs, salt, and pepper. Stir.
3. If, like me, you want a less chunky sauce, stick your immersion blender in there and puree.  I blended until there were just a few tomato chunks left.
4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Mine's still simmering, so I'll have to update this post and let you know how it turns out.  Seems pretty foolproof to me, though.  I plan on boiling some frozen (yeah, I know) gnocchi tonight or tomorrow and using the sauce for that.

Cheers,
L

UPDATE: Great success! The sauce was sweet but not too sweet, and had a nice kick from the garlic.  The only negative was that it came out a bit watery -- next time, strain the tomatoes after chopping & before adding to the pot.

 Gnocchi (from frozen) with Homemade Tomato Sauce, Freshly Grated Parmesan & Romano Cheese