Fish Tacos and Mango Salsa

I have taken to liking fish tacos ever since I had one in Mexico from a beach-side shack. Nothing exotic or fancy that I found this taco,but it had an immense comfort food feeling and I had made up my mind that I would try at home. It turned down just as tasty. I for sure will be trying more fish taco recipes in the months to come!!!

Ingredients:
Corn Tortillas-5
Firm fish- 5 Cod/Tilapia fillets [I used Cod]
Beer - 1 bottle
Deep fry batter mix- 1/2 cup
Salt
Pepper
AP flour -for dredging the fish
Oil - to deep fry
Mayonnaise- 4 tbsp
lemon juice- 2 tbsp
Cabbage- 1/2 shredded
Mangoes- 1[ cut into small cubes]
Green chilies - 1 [de-seeded and chopped]
Cilantro- 1 tbsp [Finely chopped]
Avocado-1[cubed]

Fish:
Mix the batter mix with beer,salt and pepper and let it stand for 5 mins. If the batter seems runny add more batter mix to thicken. In the meantime, dredge the fish in the flour so that when it is dipped in the batter the fish gets well coated before it is deep fried. Keep the fish aside.
Heat the oil on medium heat. Just sprinkle some flour in the oil and if the oil is heated well enough the flour will just spread out. At this moment take the fish and dip it in the batter mixture and deep fry in the oil for about 3 mins on each side or until golden brown. Place the fish on the tissue to drain excess oil.

Salsa:
In a bowl mix mangoes, 2 tbsp of lemon juice,chilies, avocado and cilantro. Toss well and refrigerate until time to assemble tacos.

Sauce:
Mix the mayonnaise and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Whisk the mixture to a sauce consistency. Keep it aside.

Topping:
Refrigerate the shredded cabbage until time to assemble the tacos.

Assembling:
Take a corn tortilla,place the fried fish and top it with salsa, sauce and the shredded cabbage. Serve with chilled beer and experience the warmth of comfort food at home.

 Enchilada


It is sometimes so easy to put together a wholesome dinner which has everything and just would not require one to be in the kitchen all the time either cooking or looking over something so that it does not get burnt......and one of the many easy dinner recipes is none other than enchilada!! I love to make these when I have less time on hand and also am in a mood to indulge myself in some extra carbs and cheese. I make different versions of enchilada like the one with chicken ,shrimp or just vegetables. In this recipe I have used only the beans and rice and no vegetables.

Ingredients
Serves 4 people


For Enchilada:
Enchilada Sauce - 2 cans
Corn Tortillas- 4 
Cooked rice - 1/2 cup [ Need not necessarily be Mexican rice, I used left over rice]
Taco Seasoning- 1 tsp
Re fried Beans- 1 can
Grated mixed cheese [ Cheddar and Milk]- 4 tbsp for filling
Grated mixed cheese - 1/2 cup to put on top of the enchilada 


Warm the left over rice.Mix it with taco seasoning and keep it aside. Place the corn tortillas on a flat surface .Adjust the filling for four enchiladas and keep it aside. First spread the beans, next the rice and then the cheese.Roll the tortilla and keep it aside.While you  repeat it for other tortillas,preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Take a oven safe deep dish.Pour one can of  Enchilada sauce in the deep dish and place the rolled filled tortillas with the closed side facing up.Pour the other can of sauce on top of the enchiladas and sprinkle the cheese equally on top of all the enchiladas. Place it in the oven for 10-15 mins or until the cheese is melted and the liquid in the dish is boiling on the sides.




For Salsa:


Mango- 1 cup[cut into small cubes]
Green Chilly - 1 [ cut into small pieces]
Salt - 1 pinch 
Cilantro - 1 tbsp [ Chopped]
Lime juice -1 tbsp 


Mix all the ingredients and refrigerate until ready to eat.


Serve the enchilada with sour cream, jalapenos and salsa on the side.

Grilled Shrimp Avocado Salad

I wanted to mark my come back to the cooking world with a flavorful and fresh salad to complement the summer heat and I could not think of anything better than the Avocado and grilled Shrimp salad.

With the fresh lettuce, perfectly ripe avocados, juicy tomatoes and fresh shrimp…… could not have been any better. The salad was just right for the summer and is a keeper and the highlight of this whole salad is the time it takes to make this, I can say is jiffy!!!

Ingredients:

For Salad:

1 ripened but firm  avocado- cut into cubes

 ½ cup Shredded iceberg lettuce

 2 fresh tomatoes- cut into cubes

Keep all the salad ingredients separate  and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Marinade for Grilled Shrimp

 10 cleaned and deveined shrimp

Chopped cilantro

2 tbsp lime juice

2 cloves garlic

Less than ½ tsp Salt and Pepper

1 tbsp butter or olive oil.

1 ziploc bag

Mix all the marinade ingredient in the zip lock bag and refrigerate for couple of hours or atleast half hour if you have less time.Heat over @ 375 degrees and the put it on broil. Place the shrimp along with the marinade liquid and grill for 15-20 mins. Keep the juices released after grilling to use as the dressing.

Mix all the salad ingredients and add the grilled shrimp on top and pour in the marinade liquid. Sprinkle salt and pepper if needed.

 Serve it with garlic bread or just plain baguette.

Pancakes and More

How good is it to dream someone to make a wonderful breakfast and hot cup of coffee when you wake up in the morning,Well my dream came true and it was more than wonderful. My Husband made one of the best omlette's that I had ever tasted and most heavenly pancakes! They were just delicious. I wanted this to go as a post, a gesture of gratitude for him. It was indeed pleasant and wonderful.

The recipe for Omlette is from him for two people.

4 eggs-nicely beaten

1/2 Onion- thinly sliced

2 tomatoes- diced small

3 green chillies- chopped(according to your taste.We like it spicy)

Mushrooms-Handful, thinly sliced

Salt-To taste

2 tbsp-Oil to grill the vegetables

2 tbsp -Oil to make the omllette( this measurement of oil is for each omllette)

To make:

In a grilling pan heat the oil and grill the vegetables till they are lightly cooked.Sprinkle salt on the vegetables and keep it closed. In a flat frying pan, heat oil and pour the beaten eggs to spread. let it cook for about 5 mins. Take couple of spoonful of vegetables and place it in the middle of the omllette and fold it in half and plate it as you like with toast or pancake.

Ingredients for Pancake:

Pancake Mix- 2 cups( makes about 5 pancakes)

Banana- 1 mashed

Blue Berry- Handful

Butter- 2 tbsp

Water- 1 1/4 cup

Strawberry- 10-12 thinly sliced.

Dollop-Whipped cream.

In a mixing bowl mix pancake flour and mashed banana and blueberry with water.Mix it to a pouring consistency( a lil thick). Heat the flat pan and butter it. Pour the pancake mixture and cook for about 1 min and flip to cook for another minute or so. Plate it and top it with freshly sliced strawberry and fresh whipped cream. Experience Heaven !!!!!

Sweet Corn Egg Soup

It was one of those days which called for ultra light dinner after an over dose of  south indian breakfast and lunch. We were in no mood to indulge in masala dosa's or rice and its accompaniments. Therefore I thought why not treat ourselves with a soup and a store bought salad along with garlic bread ... All the preparation required was 20 mins and we were at the dinner table enjoying the soup and everything. This soup is a must try and the best part is it can vary to suit vegetarians ,non-veges and eggetarians.

Ingredients: Serves 2

1 can -Sweet corn kernels

1 can - Chicken broth ( can also use vegetable broth)

1-egg white beaten

1/2 tsp- Soy sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Method:

Coarsely grind the sweet corn. Make sure you dont grind it to a paste. There should be some kernels to bite into.In a thick bottomed vessel heat the broth . Pour the coarsely ground sweet corn into the broth.Let it come to a boil. Add soy sauce,salt and pepper. Whisk the beaten egg white into the boiling soup.Whisk continuously so that the egg white do not form a lump.Serve hot with garlic bread. Tastes yummy!!

Wonton Samosa

Lazy sunday afternoon's.......after a nap I always crave to eat something crunchy,fried and spicy. I don't mind going to the extent of putting some efforts to satiate my craving. This sunday it was a job which was easy and satisfying to the taste buds. I made samosa's using the wonton wraps. It took me close to half hour to prepare the samosa's ..but to wash it down it just took couple of minutes!!! yup! they were that tasty.

Ingredients: ( 8 samosa's)

Wonton Wraps-Six small wraps

Potatoes- 2 large

Peas-Handful(Frozen)

Garam masala-1/2 tsp

Cumin powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander powder-1/2 tsp

Chilli powder- 2 pinches

Oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Cook potatoes and mash them with green peas. Add garam masala,cumin,coriander and chilli powder.Add salt to taste. Take one wonton wrap and place it on your palm. Take a spoon and scoop the filling in the center of the wrap.Brush the opposite corner's with oil .Press it against each other so that it sticks together. Repeat the same with the rest of the wraps.

Heat oil in a frying pan and deep fry the samosa's untill golden brown. Serve it with kethchup and savour it with a hot cuppa coffee or tea!

Red Bell Pepper Soup

Peppers to me meant that they either had to land in Chutney's,Side dishes ,Curries or fritter's. Never did I think that they can be used to make soups too !! I tried this red bell pepper soup and it turned out simply delicious. The color of the soup was apetizing and the consistency of the soup just fulfilling.

Hubby dear was first a little apprehensive to try the soup but then he liked it so much that he said that I post this recipe in my blog so that I don't forget the ingredients to prepare it next time. That was quiet encouraging from a man who does not like his soups to be thick.

I must say that "A bowl of soup a day keeps the fat at bay" ;) .... How'z that??

Ingredients:

1 - Red Bell pepper(Cut into four pieces and deseeded)

2 -Tomatoes (Cut into halves)

1 small -Onion(Cut into small cubes)

6 cloves-Garlic

1 cup-Chicken Stock

1/3 cup cream or milk(Optional)

1 tsp pepper

1 pinch-Rosemary

2 sprigs -Thyme

1tbsp-Olive oil

Salt to taste

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.In a pan place the red bell pepper, tomatoes,garlic and onions and drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle pepper and salt and roast the vegetable untill soft and a little charred.It takes approximately 20 mins for the vegetable to roast.Allow this to cool.

Pour in these vegetables with the chicken stock in the blender to make a fine puree. Pour the puree in a thick bottom vessel and bring to a boil on low. Slowly stir in milk or cream so that it completely blends with the puree. Throw in the thyme and rosemary and stir well. Add salt according to your taste.Serve Hot and enjoy with Tortilla chips or croutons.

Shrimp Portofino

Well, Well... new year with loads of new and exciting things for me! I am now a mother !!! With this new role in life my cooking was put on the back burner.Things are slowly getting settled and I din't want to let my passion for cooking die just like that! I am here again to with a whole new purpose now and that is for my daughter to have a set of recipes when she would start cooking! How cool is that going to be for her to tell her friends that she has the vintage recipes !!!! :)

My friend S visited us this Christmas to see our lil one. We all went out to enjoy a good dinner at the Macroni Grill that chilly night.I am not a great fan of pasta's but that night I tried the Shrimp portofino and it was just great.I thought to myself that this would be the best recipe to get myself back on track in the cooking front.... tried this recipe with my variations and it has now become our favorite!!!

Ingredients

1 bunch-Whole baby Spinach leaves
1/2 cup -Mushrooms sliced
1/2 cup-Whipping cream
5 cloves-Garlic chopped
Handful -Pinenuts
3 tbsp-Butter
2 tbsp -Olive Oil
10-15-Shrimp
1 packet -Any pasta(preferably angel hair or sphagetti)
Salt
1 tsp-lemon juice
Red & Black pepper crushed

Cook the pasta al dente and keep it aside. Take a wok and heat the butter and Olive oil.Add chopped garlic and pine nuts. Take care not to fry them too much. Add the mushroom and saute.Pour in the whipping cream and boil the shrimp and spinach leaves and let the sauce simmer for a while(approx 5 mins) Add the pasta ,lime juice ,salt and mix well.Season with crushed red and black pepper.Garnish with parsley.

Serve with garlic bread and White wine.