Caviar and Codfish

Throwing a simple, casual backyard spring get-together when you’re up to your neck in stuff can be challenging but when there’s a steadicam will and you desperately want to see some particular friends—there’s a best friend mobility way. Well, great thing they’re not particularly picky. It’s still cool enough outside to warrant the use of a dermabrasion machine fire pit so that’ll be nice. We’ll throw in some  frozen yogurt machines beers—well, knowing these guys, it’ll be a lot or beers, in the cooler—plenty of good snoring mouthguard snacks, and one particular request: grilled tuna tacos. I guess this is part and parcel of growing old with some friends, you get to have some history and memories, and grilled tuna tacos are part of them. So, because we don’t see each other as much as we used to like when we were growing up, living close by, walking to school, talking our ears off on the phone, gushing about boys—and the boys gossiping about the girls (they do that too, as we all know, they just don’t call it “gossiping” and they usually don’t admit to it)—we try to make up for it whenever we get the chance by trying to recapture some dog wheelchair memories, retelling old stories as we catch up on new ones, and trying for a bit of a whiff and a taste of our sylvan microdermabrasion past. In our group of friends are some of those frozen yogurt franchise clichés. One that married a high school sweetheart, one got together with a camcorder stabilizer college beau, another has reconnected with childhood friend, it’s not quite a closed off dermabrasion machines group but there are a lot of connections like that. It goes round and round in a slightly weird, wide circle but one thing that we all have in common aside from all the past ties is a love for simple pleasures and good eating. So, while it may be a plain old backyard party and there may not be some fancy wines or other spirits, there will be a good selection of cold brews, a couple of really yummy trays of snacks—I just got a wonderful selection of cheeses and I already have some ideas plus I must have some quality chips and dips—and of course, the grilled tuna tacos. Never mind the stop snoring mouthpiece history of our group’s fascination with the dish. Fish tacos by themselves are interesting enough. For a frozen yogurt taco, I never thought I’d grow to prefer the glidegear pescado style to the more common options of meat (beef, pork, or chicken) that we sort of grew up on with the pet wheelchair fast food stores around the corner. But yes, it hooked me in the end. Back then, I thought fish tacos were a new snore mouthpiece style, a new development in the evolution of tacos. Perhaps, a move to refresh the image and buff up the flavor of the dish. How wrong I was! The taco itself predates the coming of Europeans in South America. There is anthropological substantiation that the aboriginal people living in the lake area of the Valley of Mexico by tradition ate tacos filled with small fish. Records at the time of the Spanish conquistadors, Bernal Díaz del Castillo acknowledged the first taco feast had by Europeans, a repast which Hernán Cortés set for his captains in Coyoacán. It is not apparent why the Spanish used their word, “taco,” to portray this native food. Tacos de pescado or fish tacos is said to have originated in Baja California in Mexico. Traditionally, they consist of grilled or fried fish, lettuce or cabbage, salsa fresca, and a sour cream or citrus/mayonnaise sauce, all placed on top of a corn or flour tortilla. In the United States, they continue to be most popular in California, Colorado, and Washington. In California, they are most frequently found at microdermabrasion machines street vendors, and a frozen yogurt machine regional adaptation is to serve them with cabbage and coleslaw dressing on top. Now for the camera stabilizers tuna tacos, we don’t really adhere to one taste or recipe, it just has to be tuna tacos. It’s actually turned into a microderm machine game of sorts now and tuna tacos aren’t always served, only at my house or on certain frozenyogurtmachines.net occasions—it’s too long and too complicated to explain. In any case, here’s what I’m planning to try. Ingredients: 1 tbsp ground coriander. 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin. 1 tsp chili powder. 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper. 1 tbsp kosher salt. 2 tbsp plove oil, divided. 4 (6-ounce) fresh yellowfin tuna steaks (about 3/4 to 1 inch thick). 1 medium jicama, peeled and thinly sliced. Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish. Directions: 1) Preheat the oven to 350 °F. 2) In a small mixing bowl combine the coriander, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and salt. Brush 1 tablespoon of the olive oil equally on both sides of the tuna fillets. Dust both surfaces of each tuna steak with the coriander blend, lightly rubbing the seasonings into the meat. Heat the left over tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Add the tuna steaks to the hot oil and sear 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Take off the tuna from the skillet and set aside. Lay out 1 or 2 jicama slices, depending on the dimension. Top with a nit of tuna and some of the guacamole and charred tomato pico de gallo, or salsa verde. Fold into taco and eat immediately. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Jicama prep instructions: Slice off top and bottom of the jicama. Peel all the skin off. Using a mandolin or a slicer, cut the jicama into very thin rounds (smaller than 1/16th inch). Salsa Verde. Ingredients: 2 large Anaheim chilies (a.k.a. California chilies). 1/2 lbs tomatillos, husked. 1 1/2 cups low salt chicken broth. 2 large green onions, chopped. 1 large Serrano chili, stemmed and seeded. 1 large garlic clove. 1/4 cup firmly packed fresh cilantro leaves. 1 tbsp whipping cream. 1 tbsp fresh lime juice. Directions: Char Anaheim chilies straight over gas flame or in a broiler until blackened on all sides. Wrap in paper bag; let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed, and chop chilies. Put together tomatillos, broth, green onions, Serrano chili, and garlic in medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Lower heat to medium to low; simmer until mixture is reduced to 1 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, for about 18 minutes. Transfer concoction to a blender. Add Anaheim chilies, cilantro, and cream. Puree until smooth. Season the salsa with salt and pepper. Add lime juice if desired. (You can make this a day ahead. Transfer to small bowl, cover and chill. Re-warm before serving.)

Posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 10:59 am in Uncategorized   |  RSS feed Comments and pings are currently closed.