“El Pescadorito!” The crewman on our dilapidated San Carlos Bay fish boat, chuckled as my 1o year old daughter landed her third Dolphinfish (Mahi Mahi) of the morning in one of our favorite fishing grounds on the Sea of Cortez. It was late morning, and we both said “yes” when asked if we were hungry. We had a pretty good idea of the ensuing fare.

Fish tacos are a favorite of many, yet so many of the recipes are neither authentic nor tasty. I’ve discovered that when trying to emulate food from a different culture, first consider the ingredients they have readily available. In Mexico, for example, any place but the most urban areas has limited selection of foods and ingredients, so it’s usually safe to assume their delicious fare  is made from relatively and simple ingredients. As you will soon see, the “secret sauce” is……not.  At BBQ4Dummies we always try to keep things simple and healthy. This  fish taco recipe is taken directly from our San Carlos charter boat, as I simply watched the mate cook our fresh fish and prepare the best fish tacos.

Fish: Mahi mahi is best, snapper, true cod, or redfish. Cut to McDonald’s Chick Nugget size, dip in milk or raw egg then dredge them in a dried bread crum coatings. Use Dixie Fry or Panko as a coating–I prefer Dixe Fry for fish tacos. Fry them in plain cooking oil. FRY means they should be covered with oil all the time while they are cooking, as in deep fat fry. An option is grilling, but although healthier I think pan fried tastes better.

Tortilla: Corn. Lightly coat with butter, then grill quickly for warming.

Secret Sauce: Mix a little mayo with some salsa; that’s the ‘secret sauce’ for most true Mexican fish tacos. It’s about a 40/60 mix. It ‘s not exact, and largely by taste, but start with 2 parts mayo to 3 pasts salsa.

The grill marks are inside the tortilla, not outside. Spread your salsa/mayo mixture throw in the fish, add some more salsa, top with a sliced cabbage, add a good sqeeze of fresh lime,  and you’re good to go.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Catfish Santa Fe
2. BBQ Pork Ribs Done Right

I’ve been grilling Catfish for nearly 20 years, and nearly always blackened. I like it because the farm-raised variety is readily available, relatively inexpensive ($5-$6 per pound in filets), and has a pleasant ,mild taste, unlike it’s “gamier” tasting cousin, the wild-caught Channel Cat which can be quite strong. Although at 50% fat with some cholesterol, farm raised Catfish isn’t quite as healthy as tuna or salmon, it absorbs spices and flavors beautifully and makes a great meal on occasion.

This recipe is original. I’ve called it Catfish Sante Fe because it combines several aromas, flavors, and spices, and in my opinion the Southwest chefs in Sante Fe are the best combiners on the planet.  This recipe uses our BBQ4Dummies Mango Salsa, and can be plated with JR’s Smoked Rice and Gloria’s One of Everything Salad. Doing so adds a few good calories and brings down the fat percentage. If you have those all made up, putting this beautiful and tasty dish out is a snap.  This recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

4 fresh Catfish filets

2 fresh limes

Chili powder

Oregon Marionberry preserves

Mango Salsa

Rub

Quarter one lime, and squeeze over both sides of each filet, covering completely. Sprinkle some fresh chili powder on each side, covering the area area about 50%. That’s somewhere between sparingly and generously. Carefully place the filets in a non-reactive container or Ziplock bag, and refrigerate for four hours.

Marionberry Glaze

Be sure to use preserves, not jam. You may be able to find sugar-free preserves as well, but avoid anything that adds corn syrup. Take two tablespoons and place in a small saucepan. Add the same amount of water, and wisk. Heat slowly, wisking until you have a liquid about the consistency of syrup, but not to boiling. Put this aside at room temp until ready to use.

Grilling the Catfish

Heat a charcoal or gas grill to 400 deg. When ready, warm the glaze up in a saucepan or microwave on low power. Brush some olive oil on the grates to prevent the fish from sticking. Quarter the second lime. Place the filets on the grill, and give the filets a final coating of fresh lime juice.  Grill until the entire filet is opaque throughout; it should be a rotation of about 4-4-4-4, meaning 4 minutes, then rotate 90 degrees for another 4 minutes, flip the filets to the other side for 4 minutes and once again coat the exposed side with lime,  rotate 90 degrees and finish the last four minutes.

Serving

Place the filets on their plates. Now, carefully spoon 1 tablespoon of the warm Marionberry glaze onto each filet, covering thoroughly. Do not use more than one tablespoon per filet. When done, then add one heaping tablespoon of the Mango Salsa, heaped in the middle of each filet.

Add the sides and serve! Using the smoked rice and Gloria’s salad on the plate, you will create artwork with explosive summer colors. The taste will first be the glaze and mango salad, then the chili-lime heat will be felt slightly in your throat.

Pair with a Pinot Gris for a Northwest taste, or a Riesling for a slightly drier, California touch.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Mango Salsa in 4 Minutes
2. Gloria’s One of Everything Salad
3. Darcy’s Grilled Zucchini Bruschetta

Shrimp have come down in price with the advent of modern quick freeze plants in Asia and South America. Most of the shrimp we get today are actually freshwater, farmed shrimp. It is not quite as pungent as a fresh prawn from the salt, but less caloric and very affordable.

Surprisingly, comparatively little has been done with shrimp in the barbeque and smoking world. Most of the innovations come from Australia, and an obscure internet site from Down Under inspired me to start experimenting.

We talk a lot about bringing on BBQ4Dummies. Brining adds flavor, improves texture, and in general makes many foods better on the Q or smoker. I’ve experimented a dozen times with brining shrimp, and I don’t think the process is additive. It cannot last more than 30 minutes or the shrimp will become too salty, and the net result isn’t worth the effort. The shrimp smoke beautifully with a simple seasoning—keep with us.

Have no guilt in buying frozen shrimp for smoking or even grilling. The flash freezing processes have been refined to produce nearly as good a product as fresh from the salt. I have two main sources, Wal-Mart and Costco. The Wal-Mart 21-30 count (count is approximate shrimp per pound) 14 oz. bags sell for $5. The product is slightly superior to what I’ve had from Costco, however Costco offers larger quantities, more selection, and competitive pricing. I buy the shrimp with the heads and shells removed, tail on. The seasoning works better than way.

To 14-16 oz of defrosted shrimp placed in a one gallon Ziplock bag, add the following:

Olive Oil–About 1/2 cup, enough to fully coat the shrmip. I use Consorzio Roasted Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil almost exclusively in place of conventional olive oil. It’s available at Costco by the liter, and I go through a bottle every month or two. Great product. Shake the bag well. Then add….

Bay Seasoning–a traditional seafood seasoning, been around for decades. Add a few shakes from the container, shake the bag, add more, until lightly covered.

Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning-same as above with the Bay. Both Bay and Tony’s should coat equally, and don’t use too much as there’s some heat in this one. As is Bay Seasoning, Tony’s is readily available at most supermarkets, but I often get mine at the Dollar Store. I use it on nearly everything shellfish in various quantities.

You can add a squeeze of fresh garlic, juice of half a lime, and a half teaspoon of chili powder, even some curry powder or Tandoori spices for variations on the taste. I usually call it quits after the oil and two seasonings as the smoke is the dominate taste. These additions are more additive and noticeable when grilling.

Give the bag a few final shakes, making sure all the shrimp are properly coated. Refrigerate from 2-8 hours, no more. Te shrimp will get soggy with the oil.

Prepare your smoker with a light wood, preferably cherry, apple, or pecan. These are small shrimp, and cannot take much smoke. Set the temp at 165 degrees if you have a variable temp, and if not make sure it’s below 200 degrees. Smoke for 45 minutes. Remove the shrimp, they will look like the picture. Let them cool completely at room temperature. Serve at room temperature without sauce.

If you don’t have a smoker, you can grill these but they will not have the same flavor.  Try adding some wood chips to your charcoal fire.

You can use these shrimp as an appetizer, in salads, in an omelette, or as an entree. They are relatively inexpensive and after smoking will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week.

This is an excellent recipe for your experimentation. Try adding different seasonings and spices, even a marinade (no more than 2-4 hours). Consider using citrus, bourbon, beer, really anything you like and see how you do. Please report back!

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Jambalaya Perfection
2. Smoked Chicken Salad–Low Fat and Amazing!
3. Catfish Santa Fe

Jambalaya hails from the great state of Louisiana, and was adapted from Paella, commonly found in the Mediterranean countries. It’s a Creole dish,  and although there are hundreds of variations, Jambalaya always has three common ingredients, meat, vegetables, and rice.  For the meat, you can use shrimp or crawfish for the seafood portion;  chicken, ham, and Andouille sausage for the other meats. Typically, either your Jambalaya is water-dweller or land animal based, but I think Andouille sausage should be found in every Jambalaya. The triage of bell pepper, onion, and celery is present in any respectable Jambalaya.

Prior to trying this recipe, the best Jambalaya I ever had was in Emeril’s  in New Orleans. We had a wonderful dinner there, about one week before Katrina hit. Unlike so many celebrity restaurants, Emeril’s is about as good as it gets in New Orleans, and that’s a huge compliment as that city has some of the finest dining in the world.

The recipe used here is based on a Jambalaya recipe in Emeril’s book Louisiana:  Real and Rustic. The major departure was substituting JR’s Barbequed Rice, a core recipe I’ve been using since I tasted it at JR’s School of Southern Barbeque , based in DeWitt, Arkansas but held in San Diego in 1994. I’ve modified the recipe heavily over time, but it’s still Jerry Roach’s  inspiration and a favorite of all that taste it.

I use my barbequed rice for everything that calls for rice. While JR uses white rice, I use brown rice. It’s much better for you, is fairly low glycemic, and tastes great after treated with a smooth fruitwood smoke. You can find that recipe here.

Ingredients

3 hot links or Andouille sausages

½ lb ham, sliced to  3/8″ about thick

Bell pepper—chopped into 1/2″ chunks

3 bay leaves

2 fresh tomatos- processed to a pulp

½ cup chopped green onions

2 small Jalapeno peppers, thin sliced

Half a batch of JR’s Smoked Rice

Tony Chachere’s Creole  Seasoning—about 1 tablespoon

The rice should be done first, and it will take 2-4 hours. When the rice is done, the next step is to grill the sausage and the ham. Don’t shortcut this step, as grilling over a wood or charcoal fire adds a subtle smokiness that totally compliments the smoked rice. When done grilling, slice the sausage into 1″ sections, and the ham slices into  1/2″ chunks. Next,  spray a frying pan with some Pam, and bring to medium high heat. Add  the veggies, and after grilling and slicing the links and the ham, throw those in the pan.

Stir, and allow the vegetables to because well sauteed, evidenced by brown to black edges. This will take at least 15 minutes with Pam spray, less if you use cooking oil. Once brown, place the rice in a crock pot, add the contents of the frying pan, and stir the mixture. Set the crock pot to low, and let the mixture meld for at least 2 hours.

What makes this Jambalaya unique and so amazingly rich in flavor is the added smoke from the rice and meat. It’s subtle, but you can smell it and taste it. For seafood, you can use a good quality 21-30 count shrimp, shelled. Wal-Mart sells them for $5 for 14 ounces and it’s the best quality frozen shrimp I’ve found. Crawfish can be bought from local seafood markets, bait shops, or you can do what I do and trap them. I’ll detail those adventures later. The shrimp can be sauteed with the veggies; the crawfish should be boiled only.

Serve the Jambalaya in a bowl. That’s your dinner, you need nothing else. I prefer to wash it down with a cold Alaskan Amber.

Share this:

Related posts:

1. Smoked Cajun Shrimp
2. JR’s Smoked Rice
3. Smoked Chicken Salad–Low Fat and Amazing!