Monday, March 25, 2013

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Crema

Posted by Tina / 18 comments » / *Recipes, Main Courses, Mexican, Seafood

Apparently hubs and I are on a taco kick! Sorry to give you guys two in a row but these are TOTALLY different than our last ones. And hey, you can never have too many taco recipes… am I right? 😉

Anyhow, hubs and I have been burning the candle at both ends lately.  We’ve been planning too many things & just needed a BREAK before we start into our 2nd round of IVF. So this weekend we spent Friday/Saturday with just ourselves. We skipped the cleaning and the errands and just did FUN things. Gotta cut loose when ya can, people!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants in town on Friday night, Coolinary Cafe for some AMAZING Chicken and Waffles and caught up on some DVR’d tv afterward (life on the wild side, I tell you! hah). Then Saturday we grabbed a quick brunch at our favorite diner and hit the shooting range to get in some practice in with my baby, the Ruger LCR.

At some point hubs decided he was hungry again and had a hankering for fish tacos for dinner… to have his metabolism!

We went to a local fish market that we heard about from friends at our church and discovered that they sold grouper cheeks!!! Super delish, plus it’s turns out, they are a TOTAL bargain. Grouper was selling for $27.95 per lb and the Grouper Cheeks were only $7.95 per pound! SCORE! Same meat, just small little pieces since it’s from the cheek of the fish. Most people want big beautiful filets, but for fish tacos, the pieces are PERFECT!

BARGAIN. SHOPPING.

So this recipe is really quite simple. If you have good quality ingredients… you don’t have to do too much fussing!

I seasoned the grouper filet with a store-bought blackening seasoning. I know I know… Store bought? Knock yourself out if you prefer to make your own but I’d rather put my effort into making a fresh pico de gallo, PLUS we happen to love this seasoning. We pan seared them in a little butter and served them up with some homemade tortillas, shoestring shredded cabbage, queso blanco, chipotle crema, some lime wedges, and a mini batch of pico de gallo.

3 Things that set these tacos apart:

1. Homemade Tortillas. Seriously – these make SUCH a difference and are actually really simple! You can make them ahead and re-warm them.

2. Fresh Pico de gallo (aka: Salsa Fresca) is roughly equal parts tomato, cilantro, and onion (I used red onion this time) tossed with a little jalapeno and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. I never really measure when I make it, because it’s not an exact thing. For my mini batch of pico I used: 3 Roma tomatoes, 1/2 of a small red onion, a handful of chopped cilantro, 1/2 jalapeno, and 1/2 of a lime. The perfect amount for these tacos.

3. The Chipotle Crema. Sounds fancy, but it’s just a few ingredients and the pulse of a blender and voila! A fantastic sauce!  

Print Save

Baja Fish Tacos with Chipotle Crema

Yield: 6-8 small tacos

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 6-10 minutes

Total Time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Chipotle Crema:
2/3 cup half and half
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 whole chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (Can buy cans of these in the ethnic food aisle)
1/2 lime, juiced
pinch of salt

For the Baja Fish Tacos:
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon light olive oil
1 pound mild fish, pieces or whole filet
Blackening Seasoning of Choice
6-8 small corn or flour tortillas
1 bag shoestring shredded cabbage (may sub regular shredded if you can't find it)
Queso Blanco, crumbled
Pico de Gallo
1-2 limes, cut into wedges

Directions:

For the Chipotle Crema:
Add ingredients to a blender and pulse until well combined. Set aside and allow to thicken until ready to use.

For the Baja Fish Tacos:
Add butter and oil to a large non-stick skillet and heat over medium-medium high heat. While butter is melting/heating up lightly season the fish pieces (or filets) with a sprinkle of the blackening spices on both sides. CAUTION: It can be very salty to I usually go a little light handed and occasionally add some addition pepper or cayenne to get some more heat if desired. When butter/oil is good and hot, add the fish in an even layer, being careful not to over crowd the pan & "steam" the fish. You may need to do this in batches which could require a bit more butter (my pan happened to be large enough). The fish pieces should only take 2-4 minutes per side (may take longer if using large filets of fish). You are looking to cook the fish to 145ºF internal temp (should be opaque) and then immediately serve.

Note: If using whole filets, you will want to the cut them into small pieces for the tacos after they've been cooked.

Take a tortilla and add a small amount of the cabbage, squeeze a little lime over it (this helps flavor it a bit), then add the fish pieces. Top with some queso blanco, pico de gallo, a drizzle of chipotle crema, and another squeeze of lime for good measure!

Chipotle Crema adapted from: How Sweet Eats

 Print Recipe   

Share

18 comments