Fish Taco Recipes...Delivered

Alright. As promised, here are links to the recipes for the two fish taco dishes I posted earlier.  Enjoy!

 Pepper & Cumin Crusted Salmon Tacos with Cucumber Dill Slaw & Chipotle Sour Cream

                                                                                                                                                        

Spice Rubbed Ling Cod Tacos with Roasted Tomatillo & Avocado Sauce

BLT Bliss

I must confess, I have a little crush on bacon.  But, really, who doesn't?  All I could think about this afternoon was a BLT and how great that would be for dinner but, I wanted to make the BLT blog-worthy so, I had to kick it up a notch (or two).

First, the bread.  Going beyond your typical grocery store variety, I needed a fresh and flavorful loaf of something special to build my sandwich upon.  The best bread (& wine selection) in my neck of the woods is found at the fabulous Empire Cafe.  A quick stop there this afternoon and I was on my way with a delicious loaf of fresh ciabiatta and a bottle of Zinfandel.  Happy girl.

Next, the B.  Bacon.  I used some higher quality, thick cut bacon purchased at the grocery store.  Nothing fancy or too expensive--just a step or two up from your regular thin slice bacon.  Done.

Now, the L.  Lettuce.  Wanting something that offered a little more flavor, I decided to go with peppery arugula and fresh basil leaves, tossed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Yum.

And finally, the T.  Tomato.  There isn't a whole lot out there that is better than a ripe, juicy, sweet tomato, straight out of the garden, warm from the sun, sliced thick, dressed with nothing more than a little olive oil, salt and pepper.   Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  But, unfortunately, finding a really tasty, quality tomato at the grocery store, on the Oregon coast, in the middle of February is near impossible.  To get the most flavor out the tomatoes I had to work with, I decided to roast them...low and slow...concentrating their flavor and enhancing their natural sweetness.

It was a sunny day today so, in the spirit of springtime, I decided to include the grill by lightly grilling the bread, the base of this open faced BLT, making it slightly crispy and looking oh so delicious with a few toasty grill marks.

Stacked high on a plate, served with a big glass of Bonterra Zinfandel, our BLTs tonight.....were something to blog about. 

Roasted Tomatoes
If you have the time, the best way to roast these tomatoes is low and slow--200 degrees for 1.5-2 hours.  The flavor after roasting is amazing making them perfect for layering in a caprese salad or on a fancy BLT.  If you're short on time (like I was tonight), you can increase the temp in your oven to about 300 and roast for about 45 minutes.

5 Roma tomatoes, halved pole to pole, seeds removed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/8 tsp sugar

Arrange your seeded tomato halves on a rimmed baking sheet.  Sprinkle evenly with the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar.  Roast at 200 degrees for about two hours (preferred) OR, if you don't have that kind of time, roast at 300 for about 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven, set aside.

While the tomatoes are roasting, fry about 12oz of thick sliced bacon until crispy but not cremated.  Drain of excess oil on a plate lined with a paper towel.

For the greens, combine about 2-3 cups of loosely packed fresh arugula (washed and dried) with 10-12 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces.  To the greens add about 2 tbsp of good olive oil, 1 tbsp good balsamic vinegar and about 1/4 tsp each of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  Toss to combine.

Slice your good, crusty bread thick and on an angle to create a large surface area.  Lightly drizzle slices with olive oil and grill on a preheated grill (about 250 degrees) until the edges are crispy and you're seeing some light grill marks.  You don't want to over toast the bread and dry it out because it will be too crunchy and harder to eat.

To assemble the BLTs, lay a piece of your grilled bread on a plate.  Place two or three pieces of tomato on top of the bread, followed by a few slices of the cooked bacon and top with a generous pile of the dressed arugula and basil leaves.  Drizzle the whole sandwich with a little more olive oil, and serve with a few slices of avocado on the side.  A fresh take on an old favorite--enjoy!

Grilled Flank Steak with Balsamic Chimichurri Sauce & Smashed Baby Reds

The sun is out....time to start grilling!  I don't care if it's only February--I'm calling it an early spring and taking advantage!  Grilled flank steak is SUPER simple, delicious and fancy enough to serve to guests.  With this delicious chimichurri sauce on top, flank steak goes from good to OH MY G......SOOO GOOD (it might even deserve a little happy food dance--yes, I have a happy food dance--judge away).

Traditionally, chimichurri sauces are generally made with red wine vinegar (or sometimes a white vinegar) but, I like to use good balsamic vinegar because I think it goes so well with grilled meat.

I served our steak with smashed baby reds but, any potato dish would be great.  Smashed baby reds are just a nice alternative to roasted or mashed potatoes.  So, if you're feeling like trying to do something new with those potatoes, give this a try.

Grilled Flank Steak

1.5-2lb beef flank steak

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Take the steak out of the fridge about a half hour before you plan to grill it, cover it with the olive oil, soy sauce and pepper and leave out on the counter so that it can come up to room temperature.  Letting the meat warm up a bit before grilling it helps ensure even cooking.  

While this is coming up to room temp, put together your chimichurri sauce.

Chimichurri Sauce

1 generous handful of fresh flat leaf, Italian parsley (about 1 cup, loosely packed), finely chopped

1 generous handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 c extra virgin olive oil

3 tbsp really good balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients (parsley, cilantro and garlic finely chopped) in a bowl, stir to combine and set aside (at room temperature) to let all of the flavors come together.

Fresh flat leaf parsley and cilantro.

All ingredients in the bowl....

Now you can start prepping your potatoes.

Smashed Baby Reds

2 lbs baby red potatoes, scrubbed clean
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
olive oil for frying
salt and pepper to taste

Place your scrubbed baby reds, whole,  in a large stock pot, cover with cold water salted with 2 tsp kosher salt and bring to a boil at high heat.  Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender but not mushy--you don't want them falling apart.  When the potatoes are done, drain off the water and let them cool slightly (cooling until most of the steam has escaped off of them).

Once they are cool enough for you to handle, smash the potatoes with the broad side of your chefs knife very carefully, only pressing down slightly--you aren't going to mash them totally flat.  The potato skins will burst on the side but if you press them too hard, they'll just completely explode and won't hold together at all.  Be prepared to go through a few 'practice' potatoes until you figure out the right amount of pressure.  (I had quite a few 'practice potatoes').

Once all of your potatoes are 'smashed', put enough olive oil in a large skillet to cover the bottom of the pan and heat on medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking.  Working in batches, carefully place a few potatoes in the hot oil and fry until crispy and golden brown on each side.  Sprinkle the fried potatoes with salt and pepper and the fresh rosemary.  You can hold these in a warm oven, arranged in a single layer on a baking sheet, until you are ready to serve.

Back to the steak.....

Preheat your grill to about 425 degrees (super hot).  Grill the flank steak for about 4-6 minutes per side (depending on thickness--this is the time we cooked ours so that it was medium-rare on the inside), only moving once to flip over halfway through cooking.  Try not to move the meat around any more than you have to so that you get a good sear on both sides.

Remove the steak from the grill, place on a wooden cutting board with a groove cut around the edge, cover with foil and let rest for at least 10-15 minutes.  Resting the meat before cutting into it will help the meat stay juicy.

When all is ready to serve, slice the flank steak thinly, on an angle and arrange on the large platter.  Surround with the smashed baby reds and garnish the meat with some chimichurri sauce.  Serve immediately and with extra chimichurri sauce on the side.  Enjoy!