Lime Fish

So,

We started up the food blog again apparently. Tonight, Aly googled some lime fish recipe which was embarrassingly easy to make and we are gonna blog about it.

We left off a few of the ingredients because Aly didn’t like them, and she went shopping without me this week. So no red onion and no sesame seeds. I think the seeds would have been an improvement to an otherwise lame salad.

This meal was a dish and a side, which is kind of unusual for us, usually we do a meal and then forget about a side. The meal was the fish, and the side was a Snap Pea Salad. I’ll talk about the salad first. To make it you throw the olive oil and lime juice in a bowl. Then you are supposed to grate some ginger, but that’s a pain so I diced it. Throw that in, and then the peas. Mix and done. Overall they were alright, but didn't have a lot to them. Aly didn't like uncooked snap peas, but I didn't mind. Just nothing to write home about. Limey peas. I think I ate them all and she threw like 4 away. This is where the seeds may have added some excitement to the salad, but maybe not. We probably won't bother again, but if I see them in a salad bar I’m all over it.

The fish was the main dish. It was embarrassingly easy. Throw oil in the skillet. I didn't measure but used way more than called for. It wasn't enough and the fish stuck to the pan. As you can see from the pics, Aly's turned into a pile. We were supposed to use Halibut, but our Wegmans is weirdly stocked. We never have basic fish that isn't frozen, but always have tons of exotic 3 eyed puffer fish or other ridiculous stuff. We threw the fish in the oil and fried it 5 min on each side. Put it on a plate and served with lime slices. The recipe didn't mention what to do with them, so we squeezed them on the fish. Overall I forgot how easy and good fish like that is. We should probably do it a lot more often. We probably intend to do that again. 

-Jeff

Recipe from RealSimple.com
Ingredients:
-1 Tbsp Fresh lime juice
-1 tsp Grated fresh ginger
-2 Tbsp Olive oil
-Kosher salt and black pepper
-12 oz (4 cups) Sugar snap peas, strings removed
-1 Small red onion, thinly sliced
-1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
-4 6oz Pieces halibut fillet
-1 Lime cut into wedges

Directions:
-In a large bowl combine the lime juice, ginger, 1 Tbsp of the oil, and 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
-Add the snap peas, onion, and sesame seeds. Toss to coat
-Heat the remaining Tbsp of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat
-Season the fish with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook until opaque throughout, about 3-5 minutes on each side
-Serve with the salad and lime wedges

Black Bean and Corn Flautas

I have made a push recently when planning our dinners to try some new recipes. Most of them have been a bust, but luckily we happened onto this one and felt that it was a keeper.

We are pretty big fans of Mexican food, so this one looked like a good one to try because it also looked like it wasn't too time consuming. The only issues I've had so far has been with the bake time and temp. The recipe instructs 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Both times that I have made these flautas, they have been very crispy and browned, even though I've tried a few different positions with the oven racks. I will have to keep playing with it until I get it right, and if I get it i'll update this entry to let you know.

The original recipe was a little confusing in parts to follow.She started instructing you to do something with peppers that she never said you needed, and the microwaving instructions become a little strange, so I have re-written it. However, if you want to access the original, it is here.

Ingredients:

·         -9 Corn tortillas

·         -1 cup Black beans

·         -1 cup Mexicorn (corn w/ red and green peppers)

·         -½ tsp Chili powder

·        - ½ tsp Garlic powder

·        - ½ tsp Cumin

·        - ¼ tsp Red pepper flakes

·        - 4-6 oz Shredded cheese

·         -2 heaping Tbsp Taco sauce

·         -Chicken-cooked or mostly cooked (optional)

·         -Olive Oil

 -Dips/toppings of choice (sour cream, salsa, Sriracha, etc)

Instructions:

·         -Heat oven to 425

·         -Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and lay a cooling rack on top. If you don't have a cooling rack, you can use a broiler pan

·         -In medium bowl, combine black beans, corn, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, taco sauce, and chicken

·         -Pour a little bit of olive oil into a small bowl and shredded cheese into another bowl (will use later but want ready)

·         -Do this next step in small groups and fully prepare flautas from each group before starting next batch so they don't get cold. Wrap a few tortillas (about 4) in a damp paper towel followed by a dry paper towel and microwave on plate for 30 seconds

·         -Using a plate as prep space, rub a little olive oil on one side of a tortilla and fill with black bean mixture. Add shredded cheese. Roll up and secure with toothpick. Place on cooling rack on top of baking tray

·         -Repeat with all tortillas heated in this batch, then heat and fill next batch. Continue until all flautas are filled and ready to bake

-Bake on middle rack (not too close to top of oven) for 15 minutes. At the end of baking, set to broil for just under a minute to make tortillas crisp and golden