Shrimp and Guacamole Bite

The other night, I made fish tacos for Ram and me. I started with a batch of Guacamole. It was bright with lime and fresh cilantro (it was on sale!). I added sauteed shrimp (for me) and pan-fried tilapia (for Ram) and served it with a side of pita tortilla chips. The single bite was delicious!

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An essential component, of course, is the shrimp/fish. I simply mixed a tablespoon of taco seasoning (out of the packet!) with a little bit of canola oil and poured it over a fillet of fish and a couple handfuls of shrimp. I let them marinate for a while. When it was time to eat, I simply heated a chicken fryer, added a tiny bit of oil, and tossed the fish and seafood until both were heated through.

The pita chips were a little more innovative, I suppose, though in retrospect they were so easy, I can't believe I didn't think of it before! I cut a whole-grain pita into sixths, then cut them along the fold. I ended up with thin triangles of pita, which I baked in the oven at a low heat (maybe 250 degrees) just until they were warm and slightly hard. They were the perfect bed for the other components.

Initially, I had no intention of making these tasty little bites. I simply wanted another vessel to get guacamole into my mouth. But when I realized how convenient it was (and how cool this would be as an appetizer), I started to think about the ways I want to turn my favorite entrees into delicious appetizers. I think food is more fun when it's eaten by hand, so I plan on spending more time inventing recipes that require no utensils.

Which begs the question: can I still end with my ubiquitous salutation: with fork in hand?

Salmon with Pasta Salad

Ram is a big fan of fish. I am not. But in our quest to diversify our diet and to reduce our meat consumption, I'm putting more effort into fish- and seafood-centered meals.

In my years of watching Food Network, I've learned a thing or two about cooking fish. But, per usual, I attacked this meal with no recipe, just some techniques I stored away in my gray matter.

I started by rubbing a half-pound piece of Atlantic salmon with a packaged spice mix. This one is intended for salads and features (as far as I can tell) dried celery, garlic powder, and sesame seeds, as well as a few other things. It's orange, anyway, so I suspect paprika and/or chili powder, though the flavors are not strong. Essentially, I was looking for some light flavors. I prefer the flavor of my seafood (and Ram's fish) to take center stage. A second night, I prepared a simple marinade of a tablespoon canola oil, minced garlic, ginger pa5ste, black pepper, and the juice of one lime. That was a fabulous flavor combination too. Both weren't too heavy and allowed the subtle fish flavor to remain.

The next step was to sear the fish. I wanted to do this to seal in the flavor and to create a nice crust on the fish. I heated a pan over medium heat until a drop of water Sizzler on its surface. I dropped in a tablespoon or two of canola oil and places the fish flesh side down. For a couple of minutes, I let it sizzle. Then, I turned the fish over, just to quickly toughen the skin side. A minute later, I put the fish on a cooling rack atop a baking sheet and baked it for about twenty minutes at 350-degrees. Ram likes his fish well done with no pink. If you prefer yours less well-done, bake it a little less.

This is a tecnique I will use over and over because the results were perfect. As I continue to develop my palate, perhaps I'll dine on salmon. For now, I sauté shrimp in the same spices and call it good. Either way, I hope you, too, will venture into new food territory with fork in hand.

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Cod Cakes

For what it's worth, my efforts are often unsuccessful. Cooking without a recipe-- my process, I'll call it-- means cooking instinctively, and sometimes my instincts are off.

I saw someone on Food Network make cod cakes, a knock-off of crab cakes, which I love. I've never worked with crab, and I've certainly never made a crab cake, but I've eaten a few, and I was determined to try this recipe. Cod is fairly mild fish, which I say as a person who does not eat fish. The finished product (spoiler alert!) had a taste reminiscent of crab cakes, and if they had been served properly, they probably would have been delicious. More on that later.

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I purchased frozen cod fillets at Hannaford. They came two to a package, and I ended up using just half of one piece (which means we'll be attempting this recipe again). Step one is to put a frying pan (one for which you have a lid) on the stove with maybe 3/4" water. Place the frozen fish (or fresh, if you have it) in the pan, and cover it until the fish has poached and is cooked through. While that's happening, I poured maybe a half cup to a cup of breadcrumbs into a bowl, along with seasoning: garlic, lemon peel (dried and crushed), and black pepper. When the cod was poached, I pulled it out of the water and plopped it into the bowl. I used a potato masher to pulverize the fish, then I used my hands to incorporate all of the ingredients. I added one egg to bind the mixture together, so that I could form four palm-sized cod cakes. The mixture did not hold together as well as I'd hoped, but I really didn't want to add more crumbs or another egg, so I squished and formed the cakes until they held together well enough to gingerly move them. I heated some olive oil with a teaspoon of butter (for flavor-- love that saltiness), and when that sizzled, I put my cod cakes carefully into the oil. A couple minutes on each side, and the cakes were brown and hot through.

Here's the rub. The sides were not done yet, so I placed the cod cakes in a pan and stuck them in the oven to keep them hot. Big mistake. When everything was eventually ready, the cod cakes were dried out and hard. The flavor was still there, and I believe in this process, but I would wait until the last possible minute to fry them. Lesson learned.

The sides were simple. I took two white potatoes, sliced into rounds, and sprinkled them with black pepper. I placed them on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet so they would be elevated and not fester in their own droppings. They took longer to cook than I thought they would, hence the dried cod cakes. But they tasted fine. With a little more seasoning and a little more time, they would have been delicious.

The other side was another coleslaw. I chopped the cabbage into small-ish pieces and tossed them with a mixture of Dijon mustard, honey, and lemon juice. I have never been a huge fan of Dijon mustard (unlike its yellow cousin, which I adore), and this was too much for me. But Ram loved it, and if you enjoy Dijon, you will too.

So those are cod cakes. Next time (and there will be a next time) I'll fry them off at the last minute so that we can enjoy the sizzling, hot, flaky cakes, with fork in hand.