Fish Tacos and Chili Corn Pudding

I love to fish and I love to eat fish. So I make Fish Tacos.One of my big "secrets" to any good fish dish is fresh fish. Fish should not taste like old fish smells! God gave us a great sense of smell. Use it! Fresh ingredients are always best, so collect yours and let's make Fish Tacos.To get our creative juices flowing, let's take a quick photo tour. We are cooking to make a good tasting meal, so why not make it good looking, too? A few small adjustments in presentation make a big difference, so we will give a few hints on how to present as we share our thoughts and ideas.

Photogenic Fish Tacos and Friends

Red Green Cabbage

Slicing ingredients

Carmelized Red Onions

Fried Fish Fillets

Corn pudding

Fish Tacos

Here we have our red and green cabbage sliced, the red onions minced and are about to make the slaw. Now to prepare the fish and rest of the recipe. Here our fish fillets are ready to go and I am slicing the garlic cloves prior to roasting. I really liked the caramelized red onions and roasted garlic slices. They kick fish tacos flavor up a notch! Careful with the roasted garlic. I love them for an appetizer tray and on bread with olive oil, but don’t overdo them on this dish. Just try one two or three per fish taco. Here the fish fillets are sautéed, browned and ready for inserting into the taco shells. Here's our beautiful, golden Hatch Chili Corn Pudding! And taa daa! The finished Fish Tacos dish! I love the beautiful contrast of the red cabbage slaw, bright yellow corn and corn tortillas topped with avocado and deep green cilantro.

Here is the complete recipe for FISH TACOS

IngredientsWrap (shells) and seasonings

1. Flour or corn tortillas

2. Small amount of cilantro

3. Horseradish sauce

4. Avocado sliced lengthwise, thin

5. Olive oil

6. Unsalted butter

Slaw

1. 3 -4 cups of red and green cabbage sliced fairly thin

2. ¼ to ½ cup finely chopped red onion

3. ¾ to 1 cup lite sour cream

4. 1 lime

5. ¼ tsp salt

6. 3 tbsp. flour

Fish

1. 4 fish filets. I prefer a white fillet for this. I use striper a lot, but mainly because I catch a bunch and always have some! Any nice, clean, white fillet will work. Snapper. Red fish. Crappie. Walleye. Halibut, etc.

2. Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning.

3. 1 tbsp. olive oil

4. 1 tbsp. unsalted butter

Additional Possibilities

1. 1 red onion, peeled and cut lengthwise for strings

2. 6 garlic cloves peeled and sliced fairly thin

Make the Slaw

1. In a large bowl, mix the first three ingredients. Squeeze the juice over it. Sprinkle the salt and mix. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or until chilled.

Cook the Fish

1. Dust the filets in flour on a platter. You don’t want a lot on. Don’t dampen the fish or double dredge, just a dusting.

2. Heat the oil and butter on a medium high heat.

3. Brown half of the filets to give some color. Probably no more than 3-5 minutes per side. Season with Tony’s while cooking. Use it like you would salt. I think you will find Tony’s has a nice mix of salt and various peppers and at just the right amount.

4. Brown other half of filets the same way

5. You can flake the cooked filets a bit if desired, mainly just to get them to fit comfortably on the tacos.

Make the Tacos!

1. Heat the tortillas in a skillet with a small amount of oil or olive oil

2. Place 1-3 tbsp. slaw on the tortilla

3. Place enough fish to go from end to end of the wrap. Nice to get a bit of fish with each bite!

4. Add a slice or two of the avocado a few cilantro leaves and a splash of lemon juice and serve while warm!

Kick the Recipe Up a Notch

1. Place a tbsp. or two of olive oil and unsalted butter in a skillet and cook the red onions slices over a medium heat. We want to caramelize them and it takes time and heat. If you start with one or two they will still cook down to a much smaller amount. No short cut here. Needs time on the heat. Plan on at least 45 min and better at 45 to 60 minutes. You may have to adjust the heat a little as they cook. I usually start a little higher and then back off as they get going. I sometimes add a little more unsalted butter as they cook also. Let them cook and keep scrapping the skillet but not too often. You also may want a cast iron or stainless for this vs a not stick. You can also deglaze w a little water or balsamic vinegar as you wrap up.

2. As the onions are finishing they will reduce greatly in volume. I usually have room in the same skillet to roast the garlic slices in a little olive oil in a corner or side of this same skillet. Roast them until pecan brown.

3. Add a few of the caramelized onions on the taco and a few 2-5 slices of the roasted garlic

4. Any compliment you like from horseradish sauce to hot sauce is used to one's individual preference

Additional Notes:There is no ‘correct’ fish taco recipe. Use your imagination and enjoy the dish. When I catch fish I almost always catch some smaller and some larger. I usually use the big filets for the fancier dishes. Grilled, baked, broiled or sautéed. When trimming the large filets I usually end up with some smaller, delicious cuts from the same filet, just not large enough to bake or broil. These are the cuts that many times end up as my tacos! Same with some of the smaller filets. A person can only have and eat so much fried fish. We will expand on some of my variations of fish tacos and wraps as we explore various recipes I have cooked and eaten! Enjoy! ec

Hatch Chile Corn Pudding

Ingredients

1. 24 ounces frozen corn kernels (4 cups) thawed and drained at room temperature divide into 1 cup and 3 cups

2. 3 scallions, thinly sliced

3. 1 can (4 ounces) Hatch green chilies, diced                

4. 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (6 ounces)

5. 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

6. 5 large eggs, room temperature

7. ½ stick unsalted butter

8. 2/3 cup heavy cream

9. 1 tsp coarse salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Puree 3 cups corn in food processor. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in remaining 1 cup corn, salt, scallions, chiles, flour, and 1/3 cup of the Monterey Jack cheese. In a separate small bowl, whisk together eggs and cream until just combined. Stir the eggs and cream mix into the corn mixture in the larger bowl.

2. Place butter in an 8-inch baking dish. Slide into oven about 10 minutes (until butter has melted.) Pour batter into hot baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 2/3 cups of the cheese. Bake 45-50 minutes (until cheese is golden brown, puffed and bubbling.) Cool 30 minutes before serving.

Eddy’s Notes

1. I used a round 8 inch baking dish, but square is fine. It’s just what I had.

2. Not all ovens heat the same! Mine took just a bit longer to melt the butter and about an hour of cook time to get the great color.

3. I kicked up the Southwest flavor a bit with a couple of diced Serrano peppers

4. Easy and delicious side dish that will impress your friends and family alike!

Texan Eddy Claycomb is an engineer who works when he has to, hunts and fishes every chance he gets and invests his spare time turning what he collects into gourmet meals.