beer-battered catfish tacos.

One of the perks of marriage is having someone to take care of you.  

This past weekend I managed to splice off the top of my finger and come down with the flu and having Tyler bandage me up and make me tea reminded me that marriage and relationships are about taking care of one another.  I like to pretend I am superwoman - that if I am sick with the flu that I can still go to work, and go to the gym, and make dinner, and be everything for everyone.  Sometimes you have to let that all go and wear sweatpants all day and watch a lot of really bad Bravo TV and be taken care of.  

It's nice being taken care of.  

But as much as I like being taken care of, I much prefer taking care of others - usually by cooking. While tacos aren't the most romantic of foods it's up there with pizza and cheese as my Valentine's Day meal of choice.  These fish tacos are the kind of perfect food because the two of you can make them together - one can assemble the slaw, the other the beer batter, and together you can fry the fish up.  Wash the tacos down with a couple of beers and a box of chocolates.  Sometimes romance is being taken care of and other times its doing something together.   

Beer-Battered Catfish Tacos

From The Homesick Texan’s Family Table, by Lisa Fain

Serves 4

For the Cabbage Topping

2 cups shredded cabbage

1½ teaspoons kosher salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and finely minced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ teaspoon toasted cumin seeds

2 tablespoons white vinegar

For the Beer Batter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Pinch of cayenne

1 egg

1 cup dark (preferably Mexican but anything works) beer

For the Catfish

Oil, for frying

1 pound catfish fillets, cut into thin sticks or bite-sized nuggets

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

¼ cup all-purpose flour

Corn or flour tortillas, warmed, for serving

Optional Additions - Lime wedges, sliced avocado, crema or sour cream 

Hot sauce or store-bought salsa, for serving

To make the cabbage topping, toss the cabbage with the salt and allow to sit for 1 hour, refrigerated.

Rinse and drain the cabbage. Stir in the garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, cumin seeds, and vinegar. Taste and adjust the seasonings, and then keep refrigerated until you are serving.

To make the beer batter, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne until well combined. Beat the egg with the beer and then pour into the flour mixture and stir until a smooth batter forms. Allow the batter to rest at room temperature for 1 hour. If it separates a bit during this time, simply whisk it again before using.

After the batter has rested, in a large, heavy skillet, heat 2 inches of oil over medium heat until it reaches 350°F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, after 5 minutes of heating, you can stick a wooden spoon into the oil to see if it’s ready. If the oil bubbles around the spoon, it should be hot enough. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

To fry the catfish, first season it evenly with the salt, pepper, and lime juice. Place the ¼ cup of flour on a plate, then, working in batches, lightly dredge the catfish in the flour. Holding it by one end, dip the catfish in the beer batter until well coated, and then gently lower into the oil. Fry for 2½ to 3 minutes, or until golden, turning once. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain the catfish on the paper towels. Repeat for the remaining fish.

Serve the fried fish with the warm tortillas, lime wedges, cabbage topping, sliced avocado, sour cream or crema, and salsa and let diners assemble their own tacos.

avocado tacos (and some awesome salsa.)

Last week I discovered one of my favorite farms finally set up shop on Thursdays across the street from my office.

Upon discovering this, I practically wept.

I manage to encounter a farmer's markets at least 5 of the 7 days a week and usually these markets have everything I could possibly need depending on the season we are in.  But most lack the "rare" produce - concord grapes, sugar pumpkins, and tomatillos.  These are the items that I love getting my hands on at least once a season. These are the kind of ingredients that makes cooking fun and interesting.

When I stumbled across the tomatillos last week, I knew fresh salsa was in order.  It also happened to coincide with the discovery of the most epic-ly simple recipe from the NYTimes.  This recipe is the kind of thing I want to eat when I am exhausted and have minimal energy to cook anything.  Avocado wrapped in corn tortillas with homemade salsa? Yes, yes, and more yes.  The salsa is both robust and mild.  It plays well with neutral flavors but manages to add an extra dimension of smokiness that you can never get from store bought salsa. Eating simple has never tasted so good.

Avocado Tacos 
Recipe adapted (barely) from the NYTimes

You will have A LOT of salsa left which if you ask me it's a good thing.  I am already planning on spooning in on baked sweet potatoes and pouring it over bean and cheese enchiladas.  It would be killer on a breakfast taco as well.

Serves 3 - 4 depending on your level of hunger

4 pasilla chiles

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

2 garlic cloves

10 tomatillos, boiled in salted water for 15 minutes or until soft

Juice of half a lime

3 avocados, sliced thin

12 corn tortillas

½ cup chopped cilantro

Optional toppings: Crumbled queso, sliced radish, black beans, lime juice

Make the salsa: Snap the stems off the chiles and remove the seeds. Using tongs, carefully hold the chiles over a medium flame to char on all sides. Transfer chiles to a food processor, add the salt and process into a powder. Add the garlic and tomatillos and purée until smooth.  Add lime juice.  Taste.  Add additional salt if necessary. (This makes 1 pint salsa, more than needed; refrigerate the rest in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.)

To serve, place 3 or 4 slices of avocado on each tortilla and top with salsa, cilantro, and any additional toppings of your choice.

creamy spinach and bean tacos.

I just started a book by Dan Barber titled The Third Plate.  Despite the fact that I have only read 10%, I can already tell that it's going to have me rethinking my eating habits, similarly to how the Omnivore's Dilemma changed everything I thought about food.  Dan Barber discusses in the opening of the book that the future of eating will require us moving away from meals centered around meat with a small serving of vegetables on the side to a meals centered around vegetables with a small accompaniment of meat to enhance the vegetables.  

After reading that and thinking about it I realized Tyler and I already eat like that. 

When I cook, especially during prime farmers market growing season (which is what we are in right now!), I center our meals around what I find at the market and then look for unusual ways to incorporate those ingredients into out meals.  You could look at a diet centered around vegetables and immediately think we only eat salads, but we don't.  We eat pasta tossed with spinach, asparagus, and ricotta,  peppers stuffed with corn risotto, and tacos, lots of vegetable filled tacos.  I love vegetable filled tacos because everything tastes better when wrapped in a (homemade) tortilla.   

This taco recipe is one that I rely on a lot and I've made it so many different ways I've lost count but this way is my favorite.  Creamy pinto beans, sauteed spinach, and the tiniest amount of sausage marry together to produce a most satisfying filling.  Especially when paired with creamy avocado and a couple of shakes of chipotle hot sauce.   

Creamy Spinach and Bean Tacos  

This recipe is so adaptable that it kills me.  Sometimes I do spinach, other times swiss chard or kale.  I've made it with black beans as well as pinto beans (though I do prefer pinto beans!).  The sausage is optional but it adds a whole other dimension of flavor that I can't get enough of especially if I have some of the really good sausage from Dickson's Farmstand.  I have made it many times without any meat and encourage you to try it meatless as well.   

The tortillas in these photos are homemade and while they may be ugly they sure beat what you can buy in the store.  

Makes 8 tacos 

1 link chorizo, pork and garlic, or other variety of sausage, casing removed (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil (only needed if you have sausage that doesn't give off enough fat)
1 large bunch of spinach (about 6 cups), washed and roughly chopped
1 cup pinto beans or black beans (up beans to 1 1/2 cups if you omit the sausage)
1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 teaspoon regular paprika
1/4 cup beer (I used a mango ginger beer and it was awesome!)
1 teaspoon hot sauce, plus more to taste (I love chipotle hot sauce)
Salt and pepper to taste
8 tortillas
Accompaniments: Sour cream, avocado, cheddar, chopped cilantro, or anything else you like

In a large skillet over medium-heat, add the sausage and break up the sausage with the a wooden spoon. Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the sausage is no longer pink and is cooked through.  When the sausage is cooked through you should have about a tablespoon of oil in the pan.  If you have more then that, spoon some off, if you have less, add some olive oil.  

Add the spinach to the pan along with the beans and stir to combine with the sausage.  Cooke for about a minute or until the spinach begins to wilt.  Add the smoked paprika, regular paprika, and beer to the pan.  Cook for another minute or until the beer cooks down and evaporates.  Add the hot sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Serve in warm tortillas with the toppings of your choice.  

coconut-lime pork tacos with black beans.

Right now, New York is in the midst of a blizzard named Janus (really who names these things?) which is leaving commuters to battle against sideways snow, great gusts of wind, and slush filled sidewalks.  I made it home (my toes are still frozen but I have high hopes feeling will return to them by the time I finish catching up on Girls) but not before thinking a great deal about moving to the west coast (California I still love you).  I will not do such a thing the number one reason being that fall in New York steals my heart, but don't think I haven't thought a great deal about it.   

While I can't experience sunshine beating down on my face anytime soon (I think April will be the earliest that will happen and even still that's a far ways away), I can shove tacos into my face, sit it front of a portable heater, and drink tequila which is almost as good as actual sunshine (once you're drunk everything is great).  

These tacos are a great winter dish for when you find your insides aching for summer (or at least some warmth). Nothing screams the tropics like ground pork combined with coconut! lime! pineapple! avocado! (I've become an avocado addict).  The spices add the necessary heat and warmth which is something I crave immensely this time of year.  Serve it lots of hot sauce and some tequila and lime and you basically have the beginnings of a really awesome winter party.  

Coconut-Lime Pork Tacos with Black Beans 

Recipe adapted from Food 52

When I initially read this recipe I thought the dish would bring together the world of Thai food and Mexican food onto a flour tortilla and it kind of does that but in a much subtler way then how you would imagine.  The coconut milk provides the subtlest level of sweetness but more importantly keeps the pork moist which in my mind is the most important thing. Being the spice obsessed person that I am, I upped the amount of spices in this dish to cater to my own tastes and flavor preferences.  I think for an entire pound of pork you can use the extra punch of flavors but adjust according to your own tastes.  

Serves 4 to 6

1 pound ground pork

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 ½ teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon paprika

1 ½ teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika

Cayenne pepper, to taste

2/3 cups coconut milk, stirred (full-fat recommended)

3 tablespoons pineapple juice

2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, from about 1 lime

2 cups or one 15 ounce can cooked black beans, drained and rinsed

Corn or flour tortillas, for serving

1 large avocado, diced or sliced

Other recommended toppings: corn salsa, chopped cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese or cotija cheese, hot sauce 

In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and a large pinch of salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. Push the onion and garlic to one side of the pan, and add the cumin, chili powder, paprika(s), oregano, and cayenne. Let sizzle in the pan until they’re toasted and fragrant, about 1 minute, then stir well until the onions and garlic are evenly coated with the spices.

Add the ground pork to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat, breaking up any large chunks of pork and stirring occasionally, until the pork is just cooked through. Season with salt to taste. Remove any excess fat from the pan.

Add the coconut milk; simmer for about 5 minutes until thickened, then stir in the black beans, pineapple juice and 1 tablespoon lime juice and cook for an additional minute or two. Taste and add more lime juice if needed. Adjust the seasoning to taste. You can serve right away, or cover the pan and let the pork gently simmer over low heat.

Using a slotted spoon, divide the ground pork equally among lightly warmed flour tortillas. Serve with lots of avocado and other toppings of your choice.

chipotle chicken, corn, and avocado tacos.

 

Despite what you may think when you look at the pictures of s’mores, blueberry pie, and fried sushi cakes I am not an overly ambitious chef most nights of the week.  It’s not because I’m lazy or because I don’t want to spend my evening standing over my gorgeous slate island (Best. Purchase. Ever.) but it’s really because there is never enough time.  Things like the gym (to balance out all that bread I like to consume), laundry, and having conversations involving more than 10 words with my better half (because sometimes I want to feel like we still know each other at least a little) get in the way of my nightly culinary adventures.  Hectic nights leave me relying on reliable tried and true favorites – bowls of pasta, mussels, tartines, and my personal favorite, tacos. 

These tacos couldn't be simpler and more summer appropriate (I imagine they will be equally lovely in the winter when you need some summer love).  Poached chicken is tossed in a tangy cider vinegar dressing that pairs well with wedges of creamy avocado and sweet corn.  Slivers of chipotle chile provide the perfect amount of heat and a swipe of sour cream helps to hold the entire thing together.  It’s a refreshing dinner, the kind of thing that requires nothing more than a salad of crisp lettuce and sliced radish to serve it with (and who am I kidding a couple of beers is also a good idea.)  

Chipotle Chicken, Corn, and Avocado Tacos

Recipe adapted from Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless

This couldn't be any easier (I’ve actually been making a recipe similar to this for a while now but this is a more streamlined version).  I love it because it can be made almost any day (because one should always have chicken in the freezer and chipotles in the fridge) and letting it chill in the fridge overnight really helps to marry the flavors (even though it’s pretty fantastic even after just 45 minutes of marinating.)  The corn was added because the idea of a meal without seasonal produce when we are in the midst of the seasonal produce peak would be a sad meal. And let's be honest, corn makes everything better.  

Serves 4

1 large bone in skin on chicken breast (about 1 pound)

2 large bay leaves

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 teaspoon salt, divided

2 ears of corn, husked and silky threads removed

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

3 – 4 chipotle chiles in adobe, seeded and thinly sliced

½ teaspoon Mexican oregano

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Accompaniments: 12 corn tortillas, sour cream, 1 avocado sliced into 12 wedges, cilantro to garnish

Bring 3-4 cups of water to boil in a large-sized pot (large enough to fit the chicken and also the corn when the chicken is done cooking).  Add to the water the bay leaves, peppercorns, and ½ teaspoons salt.  When the water comes to a boil add in the chicken, cover the pot, and cook the chicken for 10 minutes in the boiling water.  After 10 minutes, turn the heat off but keep the chicken in the broth (covered) for another 22 minutes.  This will cook the chicken all the way through.  Remove the chicken from the pot and allow it cool. 

Bring the pot of water you cooked the chicken in back to a boil.  Place the corn in the water.  Cook the corn in the boiling water for about 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes, remove the corn from the water and allow it to cool. 

Skin and bone the chicken then tear the meat into large shreds and place it in a mixing bowl.   Cut the corn kernels off the cob and place the kernels in the bowl with the chicken.  Skim off all the fat on top of the broth, and then measure 3 tablespoons of broth into a small bowl.  Stir in the vinegar, oregano, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and add the sliced chipotle chiles and cilantro.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Stir, cover, and let stand for 45 minutes at room temperature.  (If serving later you can refrigerate it at this point.  This can also be refrigerated overnight, but allow it to come back to room temperature before serving).  

Heat your tortillas up in the oven or over a grill.  Top each tortilla with a little sour cream, the chicken mixture, a wedge of avocado, and a sprinkle of cilantro. 

spaghetti squash and black bean tacos with queso fresco.

I know what you're thinking.  That the idea of spaghetti squash in a taco sounds absurd.  That the idea of any type of squash in a taco is just absurd and ridiculous but, you should leave logic by the way side and try them.  These tacos are life-changingly good.  I'm still unsure of what makes them so irresistible.  Perhaps its the combination of tender squash, and creamy avocado.  Or the loads of hot sauce mingled with lime and cheese, but whatever it is, these are pretty perfect (I should have never doubted it considering the recipe comes from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and Deb can do no wrong in my book).  We ate them twice last week and I imagine these will land on heavy rotation considering how quick, easy, and satisfying they are.  

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Queso Fresco

Recipe adapted (slightly) from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Serves 4 generously 

3 pounds (1360 grams) spaghetti squash (either 1 large or 2 small)

2 tablespoons (30ml) freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 1 lime)

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon crushed chipotle chili flakes (hot smoked paprika would also work)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Sixteen 6 inch corn torillas

One 15-ounce can black beans, drained, and rinsed

4 ounces crumbled queso fresco

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 avocado, sliced

To serve: Lots of Hot Sauce

Cut the squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and roast the halves facedown in an oiled baking pan for about 40 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  

When the squash has finished cooking and cooled slightly, working over a bowl, scrape the squash flesh with a fork, loosening and seperating the strands as you remove it from the skin.  Discard the skin.  In a small bowl, whisk lime juice, with chili powder, crushed chipotle, cumin, and salt.  Pour over the squash strands and gently toss them together.  Taste the squash and adjust seasonings as you wish.  

Heat a dry, heavy skillet over medium-high heat.  Warm and slightly blister each tortilla, about 30 seconds per side.  Transfer with tongs or a spatula to platter and sprinkle with black beans.  Top with some of the squash, some cheese, avocado, and cilantro.  

Serve with tons of hot sauce.  

tacos with potatoes and chorizo.

Yesterday was National Margarita Day, and while I don't usually need a reason to have a drink (a typical work day is usually enough of a reason), I felt it was only fitting to start my evening with a liquid libation in the form of tequila and lime.  While in theory, spending my evening drinking tequila seems like a good idea (everyone knows that only smart logical decisions are only made when consuming tequila), I figured a little hand-held snack to accompany my hand-held drink would help abate a pounding headache the next morning.  Since tacos and margaritas go together like peanut butter and jelly therein lie the answer of what to make for dinner.  I have had for several weeks now been thinking about a recipe for chorizo and potato tacos.  The idea of chorizo and potato tacos seemed like a more flavorful corned beef hash which in my book is always a good thing, especially if you can pile the hash up into warm corn tortillas with wedges of avocado and a drizzle of sour cream which is exactly what we did for dinner.  It was warm and comforting and the epitome of the perfect accompaniment to a blood orange and lime margarita which was inspired by the always on point Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen (I've said it before and will say it again, she always knows what I want before I even know).  

Tacos de Papas con Chorizo (Tacos with Potatoes and Chroizo)
Recipe adapted (barely) from Tacos, Tortas, and Tamales by Roberto Santibanez

These are ridiculously good.  There isn't much to say beyond that.  I imagine they would also be fabulous combined with scrambled eggs in a breakfast burrito (for those Saturday mornings when you need something to help combat a wicked hang-over.) 

Serves 4 (makes enough for 12 small tortillas)

1 pound red-skinned or Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided (or more depending on how salty your chorizo is)
3/4 pound Mexican chorizo, casings removed if there are any
1 cup finely chopped white onion
1 -2  jalapeno chiles, minced 
Accompaniments: Sliced avocado, diced cilantro, sour cream, tequila

Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat.  While you bring the water to boil, peel the potatoes and dice them into 1/4 inch cubes.  When the water comes to boil, add 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and then add the potatoes.  Cook the potatoes until they are tender about 5 - 8 minutes.  Drain and set aside.  

While the potatoes are cooking, place the chorizo in a cold, large, cast-iron skillet or other large heavy bottomed pan and set it over medium-high heat.  Cook, stirring, and breaking up the chorizo slightly, until it's completely cooked and lightly browned about 8-10 minutes.  Add the onions and chile and cook, stirring and scraping, until the onions are translucent and soft about 5 - 6 minutes.  

Add the potatoes and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until the potatoes are hot all the way through and have absorbed some of the chorizo flavor, about 5 - 6 minutes.  As you cook, mash some of the potatoes.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  

tacos al carbon.

Considering I started discussing summer on this blog with taco recipes it seems only fitting that the unofficial end of summer closes with a taco recipe as well (I do love when things go full circle).  Tacos al carbon is essentially a fancy name for grilled meat – in this case it’s skirt steak marinated in citrus and spices and some jalapeno for heat.  The marinade penetrates the meat which acts as both a tenderizer and a flavor enhancer.  The steak gets cooked on an extremely hot cast iron skillet in under 10 minutes and what emerges from the pan is one of the best steaks I’ve ever had.  The steak is smoky and tender and you can taste hints of citrus and spice in every bite.  I love it loaded up on warm corn tortillas with a little bit avocado (or this salsa!) and nothing else (simplicity at its best).  The best part is that since it doesn’t need to be made on a grill, you can have tacos and the tastes of summer year round which will make the cold days of winter that much better.

Tacos al Carbon

Recipie adapted from Homesick Texan by Lisa Fain

Serves 6 (if not 8 depending of what you’re serving it with, this can also be halved!)

½ cup lime juice

4 cloves garlic

Juice of 1 orange

¼ cup cilantro

1 jalapeno, stems and seeds removed and chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 pounds skirt steak       

Green onions (optional)

Tortillas, avocado for serving

To make the marinade, in a blender mix the lime juice, garlic, orange juice, cilantro, jalapeno, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Pour the marinade over the skirt steak and let it marinate for 2 to 8 hours in the refrigerator.  Before cooking rinse of the marinade and let the steak come to room temperature. 

Heat on high for 5 minutes a large ovenproof skillet, preferably cast iron.  Also, turn the broiler on in the oven.  When the skillet is hot (to test drop some water onto the skillet, it should immediately evaporate), add the steak.  Cook on one side for 2 minutes and then turn and cook on the other side for 2 minutes. 

After its cooked on both sides, place the green onions, if using, in the skillet with the steak, and place the skillet under the broiler for 2 minutes.  Remove the steak from the skillet and let it rest for 10 minutes.  After the meat has rested, slice against the grain and serve in warmed tortillas.  

fish tacos with peppadew tartar sauce.

Last night, as I walked home from the gym I could feel in the air that the skies were about to open.  The sky quickly changed from a shimmery pale grey to a deep grey that almost appeared black, it was as if a blanket was placed over the earth.  Wind whipped through the trees so fiercely, that it looked as if they were dancing.  All around me people were rushing home, we all knew it was about to pour and just as I reached the door of my apartment the rain came down. 

I love summer rains.  They remind me of tropical island vacations and lying on the beach and then running for cover at the nearest taco shack where you sit under a thatched roof eating fish tacos until the storm passes and the sun shines again.  It seems only fitting that last night was fish taco night in our apartment (the summer of the taco continues!). 

I have made many tacos in my life, but I had never made a fish taco before (a first for everything!).  I also realized that I am rather silly to have waited so long to make them because the homemade version is unbelievably good and it comes together rather quickly (a plus when you get home late!).  I made a rather delicious tarter sauce that was sweet from the peppadew peppers and spicy from the cayenne I added to it.  It paired perfectly with the crispy fried fish.  The only other accompaniment needed was a few slices of creamy avocado, a little bit of cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. 

Fish Tacos with Peppadew Tartar Sauce

Recipe adopted from Tasting Table

Serves 2

Tartar Sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Greek yogurt or sour cream

3 peppadew peppers (or 3 tablespoons roasted red peppers) and 1 teaspoon pepper juice

2 teaspoons chives or 1 scallion thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon cayenne

Salt and Pepper to taste

Tacos

½ pound tilapia or other mild white fish, each fillet sliced into 3 inch long pieces (I got about 10 pieces out it!)

1 lime

2 tablespoons cornmeal

¼ cup panko

1 teaspoon cayenne

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup oil

6 tortillas

Cilantro and avocado for serving

Make the tartar sauce: In a medium bowl, stir together the mayo, yogurt (or sour cream), peppadew peppers, chives (or scallions), cayenne, salt, and pepper.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate. 

Make the tacos: In a medium bowl stir together the panko, cornmeal, cayenne, salt, and pepper. In another medium bowl squeeze half of the lime.  Dip each piece of fish into the lime juice and them dip the fish into the panko mixture, pressing the mixture firmly onto both sides of the fish.  Place dredged fish pieces on a plate. 

In a medium non stick skillet set over medium heat, add the oil.  Once the oil is hot after about 1 – 1 ½ minutes, add half the fish pieces.  Reduce the heat to medium and fry on both sides until golden brown about 4 - 5 minutes total.  Use a spatula or tongs, transfer the fish to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.  Repeat with the remaining pieces. 

On a warmed tortilla spread some tartar sauce. Top the tartar sauce covered tortilla with 1-2 pieces of fish (depending on the size of the piece of fish.  Add sliced avocado, a few cilantro leaves and a squeeze of lime.