Fish Tacos for Cinco de Mayo (or anytime)

Ingredients:       Serves 4 people                                            Difficulty Rating: Easy        

½ medium red onion, sliced thin
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ cup fresh lime juice (and zest), plus  2 more limes
¼ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup well chopped cilantro (measure it after it’s chopped)
1 jalapeño – remove stem and seeds, well chop
Kosher salt - to taste
1 pound Mahi Mahi, tilapia or cod or other flakey white fish (make sure there are no little bones) cut into 4 equal pieces. Then cut those pieces into 2" pieces
Red Cabbage - finely shredded (optional)
8 tortillas (I don’t make these, I buy them.  I used to buy corn tortilla but I don't anymore unless I can find certified organic corn tortillas- all the GMO stuff with corn is to scary  Now I usually buy whole wheat, it’s your choice)
Sour Cream or Mexican Crema (do yourself a culinary favor and make the Crema, it's super easy and well worth it).

Tomato Salsa (Pico de Gallo) ingredients:

4 medium sized ripe tomatoes

1 clove of garlic, minced

¼ cup diced onion (about 1/4 of a small white onion)

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 jalapeño (or more depending on your 'heat tolerance'– remove stems and seeds and diced

1-2 limes (depending on size), zested and juiced

½ tablespoon olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Tomatillo Salsa Verde ingredients:
1 pound fresh tomatillos1 medium to large Spanish onion cut into chunks
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
¼ packed cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves
½ jalapeño, remove the stems and unless you like lots of heat, remove the seeds

½ lime, zested and juiced

Kosher salt to taste

Mexican Crema:
8 ounces sour cream (whichever type you like, full fat, low fat)
2 medium limes, jucied and zested
 

Even though there’s a few steps in the preparation, they’re all easy, so don’t let it frighten you.

Preparation:

If you buy the salsa, then you can skip this, but if you're making it (which is much better), these recipes are fine to make ahead of time.

Pico de Gallo

    To Prepare Pico de Gallo:

    Add all the ingredients together.  Let them marinate for at least ½ hour. 

   Put about 1/3 of the salsa in the food processor and pulse a few times (you don't want soup, but you do want it juicy), and then add it back to the rest.








 

To Prepare Tomatillo Salsa:

Pull the husks off the tomatillo and wash them in cool water until they aren't sticky anymore.  

Cut then into quarters and add them to the food processor together with garlic and onion.

Tomatillo - like a tomato with a husk a.k.a. Tomate Verde

Process until smooth.



Add the jalapeño, cilantro, salt and lime juice
and process until the jalapeño is well chopped.

Pour the mixture into a small saucepan over
medium heat. 

Bring it to a boil, stirring often being careful
not to burn the bottom.  Turn it down to a
simmer and continue stirring until most of the
water is boiled off, about 10 to 15 minutes,
until it gets thicker and it gets the consistency
of relish. 

Cool and add lime juice before serving.
This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.

To Prepare Mexican Crema:

Combine the sour cream, lime juice and zest.  Mix well.

To Prepare Everything Else:

Marinate the onions in the red wine vinegar and ¼ cup lime juice for 30 minutes or a month!  They're good so you'll probably want to make extra and keep them covered the refrigerator.

Mix the olive oil, ancho chile power, cumin, jalapeño and salt together in a small bowl. 

Put the fish in another bowl and pour the olive oil mixture over it making sure it coats the entire fish. Let it marinate for about 20 minutes

I like to make the fish in a well-treated cast iron pan or griddle, but if you feel like it's easier in a nonstick pan, that'll be OK too.

Heat your pan over a medium flame.  If you're using cast iron, heat it longer than you would for a nonstick pan.

Pour the fish and marinade into the pan.  You don't need to add extra oil, because there's oil in the marinade.  Cook it for about 3 minutes on one side and 2 or 3 on the other.  Right before you're ready to take the fish out of the pan, squeeze 2 of the lime quarters over the fish and toss the fish around.  

Remove the fish from the pan, scrape out the left over marinade that's in the pan and sprinkle it over the fish with the cilantro.  If you want, at this point you can flake the fish a bit and make sure the left over marinade covers all the fish.  If needed, add some extra salt.

Put a damp paper towel on a dish, put 4 tortilla's on top of it then cover with another damp paper towel. Heat in a microwave for about 40 - 50 seconds

If you have a special plate for tortilla's use that, but if not, line a basket or bowl with a clean kitchen towel and place the tortilla's on it and then cover them.  Do the same thing for the next 4 tortillas.

You can assemble the first group of tacos for your guests or family, but putting about 1 heaping Tablespoon of fish in the center of the taco and adding some onions and red cabbage on top. 

Serve them with the sour cream and salsas and the remaining lime wedges.

Note:  The condiments you serve with your tacos are up to your imagination.  Shredded cheese, guacamole or pieces of avocado or crunched-up potato chips.  It's all up to you!

Removing the skin from Peppers - A few ways to roast them

The fork method (with a gas stove)

This method is the best when you're only doing 1 or 2 peppers

Stick a form into the end of the pepper, or hold it with a tong, and rotate it over the flame on a gas stove
Keep rotating the pepper on the fork until the outside chars and the pepper softens
Place the pepper in a paper bag and close the top
After a few minutes steaming in the bag, the skin will peel off easily
OR
wrap the pepper in heavy duty aluminum foil and place it on the burner
Rotate it every 5 minutes (for 20 minutes total) using tongs
When it's finished, unwrap and place the pepper in a paper bag and close the top by rolling it up.
After a few minutes steaming in the bag, the skin will peel off easily

The Oven Method - best when you have a lot of peppers to roast and peel

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil
Place the oven rack on the upper half of the oven
Lay the peppers out on the baking sheet
Let them cook for about 20 minutes
Turn the peppers using tongs
(remove the baking sheet from the oven when you turn them so the temperature doesn't drop)
Cook them for another 20 minutes or until they are charred and the pepper collapses
When the peppers are finished, place them in a paper bag and close the top by rolling it up
After a few minutes steaming in the bag, the skin will peel off easily

Tagine - Cod,tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, olives, figs and some heat

Ingredients:                                                  Difficulty rating:  Medium

2 pounds cod fillets,  cut into 8 equal size pieces
3 Tablespoons Chermoula

12 small Yukon Gold or other new potatoes

1 red or orange bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)

3 cloves garlic – well chopped

15 grape or cherry tomatoes

15 – 18 olives, I use different types, Cerignola, Kalmata, Oil Cured,Sicilian, Spanish with Pimento

6 – 8  figs, cut in half lengthwise –  most times of the year you should use dried figs (plump dried figs) but if fresh figs are in season, use them

½ preserved lemon

Kosher salt or sea salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper to taste

½ cup water

Preparation:

Rinse the fish and pat it dry with a paper towel

Put the fish in a medium bowl and rub 3 tablespoons of the Chermoula into the fish and cover bowl with plastic wrap to marinate in the refrigerator for about 3 hours

When the fish is finished marinating remove it from the refrigerator

Boil water in a medium size pot a medium size pot 3/4 filled with water
When it starts to boil, add the potatoes and bring water back to a boil
Boil until they are a little soft, but not all the way cooked - about 8 minutes 
Drain out the hot water and run cold water over them to stop them from cooking anymore
Peel the potatoes, the skin will come off easily after they’ve boiled
Slice the potatoes into thin round slices <!--[endif]-->

While the potatoes are boiling, roast the peppers
Remove the skins & seeds

Heat Diffuser

Slice into thin strips 

Put a heat diffuser on the stovetop and put the bottom of the Tagine on top of the diffuser
Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and the Ghee. It will take a little while for the oil to heat up because of the diffuser, but once it is hot, it will stay hot - be patient
Add the garlic and sauté until it is translucent
Once it's translucent add the tomatoes, peppers and the remaining Chermoula. Once the tomatoes are a little soft, remove the tomatoes and peppers from the tagine

Line the bottom of the Tagine with  the round pieces of potatoes
Sprinkle some of the tomatoes and peppers over the potatoes
Add the fish on top
The add the rest of the peppers and tomatoes on top  of the fish 

Sprinkle the olives and figs over the fish and tuck some in around the sides of the fish
Sprinkle the last Tablespoon of olive oil on top and add the water on the side, that is,  without pouring it over the fish

Cover the Tagine and keep the flame medium-low for about 20 minutes

When the fish is cooked, sprinkle the juice from the preserve lemon over the top and server right away *Available at speciality stores and online

 

Al Frank's Horseradish

Ingredients                                 Difficulty Rating: Easy (but don’t touch your eyes)

• Horseradish root
• 1 good sized, but not giant beet
• 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water - Dad used white vinegar, but I use apple cider vinegar, about ¾ cup of vinegar to ¼ cup of water, pour a little at a time.  You don’t want this too liquidy
• 2 heaping teaspoons sugar
• Kosher salt

Preparation:

Warning:  Your eyes will burn!  DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES!

Peel the horseradish - you may have to use a knife because it is not easy to peel
Scrub the beet and clip off the top and bottom.
Cut horseradish and beet into very small pieces. 
Add all the ingredients, a little at a time, to a blender and grind
If it's too strong, add more vinegar, water, salt or sugar to taste - make sure you don't  make it too liquidy.
Put in glass jars, with very tight lids, in the refrigerator. Make sure the lids are tight or everything in the refrigerator will have a slight bouquet of my dad's horseradish.
 

Mini-Meatball Soup (Zuppa di Polpettine aka Italian Wedding Soup)

Ingredients:                                                                    Difficulty Rating: Easy

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef (some people prefer 1/3 pound beef, 1/3 pound pork, and1/3 pond chicken)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2-3 medium garlic cloves, minced (depending on your love for garlic), plus 2 medium clove garlic, minced for the soup 
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½  cup grated freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano
• ½ cup unflavored bread crumbs (I use Panko because of their lightness, you can use regular unseasoned breadcrumbs if you prefer, with the Panko I use an extra ¼ cup and pulse them in the blender just slightly)
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher Salt to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 quarts chicken stock or broth – low sodium
• 2  cups ditalini, tubettini (both are small tubes), or conchigliette (small shell) pasta –  give whole grain pasta a chance. It goes well with this soup
• 1 pound fresh escarole or Tuscan Kale (very well washed), coarsely ripped

Preparation:                

In a medium size bowl combine meat, 2 minced garlic cloves, grated cheese, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper.  Don’t overdo the salt, let people decide how much they want on their own.
Use your hands to combine the above ingredients, but mix them together lightly, without squishing them in your hands, or it will become too dense

After the meat is well mixed, roll tiny meatballs, about the diameter of a nickel.  

In a large pot over medium heat 2 Tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot add the meatballs (don't over pack them, if you need to do half and then the 2nd half, that's fine).  Toss the meatballs around until they're brown - then put them in a small bowl.  Don't keep them over the heat for more than 3 - 4 minutes, remember they're small. 
When they're finished, scrape the meat off the bottom of the pot and add rest of the oil. When the oil is hot add the carrots, and celery, stirring occasionally.  After about 4 minutes add the onions and remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Stir often, so the garlic doesn’t burn. Add some salt and freshly ground pepper.  When the onions are translucent, stirring to ensure nothing burns. .

Add the broth, bring it to a boil.  Lower the heat and carefully add the meatballs. Add the pasta, cover and simmer soup until the pasta is cooked, it should be about 10 minutes.  Drop the escarole into the soup, and stir.  Once the escarole is wilted, the soup is done.

Serve with extra grated cheese, salt and freshly ground pepper and a delicious crusty bread.

Note: You can cook the pasta separately and add it to the soup, it’s up to you. But make sure you simmer the soup long enough for the meatballs to cook.

Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:     Difficulty Rating: Easy

1 ½ cups heavy cream

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound semisweet chocolate (high quality chocolate) broken into pieces
2 Tablespoons Cointreau or whatever liqueur you like (or none)
Cocoa powder for dusting

Preparation:

In a heavy saucepan combine the cream and butter over medium heat. Stir until the butter melts, and the cream is just about to boil. Use a rubber spatula while stirring to scrape down the sides.

Take the saucepan off the heat and add the chocolate, mixing continuously until it starts to cool and gets thick.
Add the Cointreau and stir.
Cover the chocolate mixture and put it in the refrigerator and stir it every half hour for about 2 hours.

Forming the truffles:

Dust a surface to roll the truffles and your hands with the cocoa powder.
Using a teaspoon, scoop out the chocolate and make balls of chocolate by rolling it between your cocoa dusted hands.
Refrigerate immediately.

Cacio e Pepe Pasta

 Serves 4                                                                      Difficulty Rating: Easy

 Ingredients:

·       5 quart pot of boiling water  (big enough to hold pasta without breaking it)

·       1 teaspoon Kosher salt, plus salt to be used later

·       1 pound pasta (spaghetti, linguini, gemelli, bucatini, bavette)

·       ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
·       Some Cannellini beans, well rinsed (this is my addition, I need the protien and I like this)
·       2 Tablespoons butter

·       Good quality freshly ground black pepper (I use Penzy’s India Special Extra Bold peppercorns)

·       ¾ cup freshly grated Cacio de Roma or Pecorino Romano or Gran Padano cheese

Preparation:

Bring water to a boil and add 2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Add pasta and cook following the package directions – al dente, that is, firm ‘to the teeth’

While boiling the pasta, heat the oil in a large sauté pan until very hot.

When it's hot, add some freshly ground pepper to toast it
If you decide to add the Cannellini beans as I often do because I need the protien (and it's delicous) I add them here and toss them around with the pepper - this is not part of the standard recipe.

When the pasta is al dente (still firm "to the teeth"), drain, keeping some of the pasta water aside

Add pasta and butter to the sauté pan – toss over medium high heat.

Add cheese and pepper, and salt if necessary and toss. If it’s too dry, add reserved cooking liquid ¼ cup at a time until you get the desired moisture level (not too much, moist, not swimming).

Toss and serve immediately.

Big Al Frank's Potato Latkes - with some new tips

  

Frying Latkes in Dad's Skillet
Al Frank's Potato Latkes

Super Crispy Outside, Soft Inside

A food processor is used in this recipe.  My dad started using one about 20 years ago.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can use the shredding side of a grater.  It takes a little longer, but my dad used a grater for years and years

Ingredients:                                         Difficulty Rating: Easy to Medium

·       5 lbs baking potatoes – they have to be hard, like Russet.  Peel and cut out all the eyes, because they  add a bitter taste.  Hint - You can easily half or double this recipe. But when you half it,  use 2 eggs and use just a little less than 1 teaspoon baking powder.

·       3 or 4 yams (a variation – use 3or 4 medium size yams, it’s delicious if you want to give it a try)

·       1 big onion

·       3 eggs beaten

·       1 teaspoon baking powder

·       1 palm of Kosher (course) salt (if your palm is small, add more, my dad was a big guy with big hands)

·       Matzo Meal

·       All purpose flour

·       oil – a light oil like canola or sunflower oil or a light vegetable oil

Tip 1 - put a cheese cloth in a big colander in the pot or bowl you are using and put the shredded   potatoes in the cheese cloth covered colander.  The moisture will drip out through the colander and then you can squeeze the extra out using the cheese cloth.  Once you squeeze it all out, open it up, toss the potatoes around and squeeze them in the cheese cloth again to ensure that all the moisture is out.  If they aren't dry, they won't hold together.

Tip 2 -  Potato Latkes should be golden brown and crispy.  They often start out  that way, but by the time they hit the table they are soft.  Or, people make the mixture ahead of time and do the frying right before dinner, but then the potatoes turn black and ugly.  This year my sister Carol and I tried something new.  We cooked the latkes until they held together like a pancake but were not yet golden brown.  Then right before we served them we refried them in hot oil for about 45 seconds per side, or until they are golden on each side.  It is fast and a perfect way to serve perfect latkes even for a large crowd.

If you have one, use a heavy frying pan, if not, use what you have. Sometimes we use 2 frying pans to get this done faster, if you do that, you’ll need more oil. But usually there is too much going on in my small kitchen to use 2 pans

Cut the onion into pieces that will fit in the food processor - put in food processor with bottom blade – and process


Remove the bottom blade, put on top blade with shredder side up (not slicer)

Shred potatoes and then put them into a very large bowl or pot (preferably a colander covered with cheese cloth)

When they’re all shredded you need to get as much moisture out as possible. I do the following:
Drain excess liquid from potato mixture - if you have them in a colander over a bowl or pan, push them down and squish the moisture out.  If you're following the cheese cloth hint above, squeeze the moisture out, toss the potatoes around and squeeze again.  Only dry potatoes hold their shape.

Add eggs to onion/potato mixture

Add baking powder and salt

Cover mixture with flour  (not too thick, not too thin - that's what Dad told me)

Cover this mixture with matzo meal (thicker than flour)

Mix everything together - I use my hands because there's a lot of potatoes here.

Taste to be sure salt is OK (hint - if you taste before adding the matzo meal and flour it may taste too salty, always taste after they've been added)

(In the variation using the yams, the mixture doesn’t get as wet, but it is ok)

Heat the oil in a very large frying pan (or two). The oil has to be very hot or the pancakes will fall apart

Important - the oil must be very hot, but not smoking.  I usually am not patient enough to wait for the oil to be hot enough and my first batch fails.

Scoop some mixture into a slotted spoon - make it just enough to allow at least 4 pancakes to cook at the same time with enough room that they don't touch – don’t expect to make it into a pancake before it is in the oil.  Just carefully place it into the hot oil and it will stay together.

Before turning it over, lift it a little to be sure bottom is deep golden brown (they’re the most delicious when they’re crispy).

Remove from heat when both sides are golden.  When you lift them out with a spatula, press top of the pancake with a big fork or against the side of the pan to get excess oil out.  Drain on acookie sheet covered with paper towels (or a brown paper bag like Dad used to do)to get as much oil out as possible. 

General Hint - Keep an eye on the people in the kitchen at this point, because they will trying to sneak a latke.

Tip 3 - This is my sister Meryl's tip for cooking and freezing lateks ahead of time, and keeping them crispy. 
Cook the latkes as you normally would. When the are cool freeze them in a single layer.  When you are going to use them, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put the latkes in a single layer on a rack in the oven.  Cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until warm all the way through.  Voila!  Crispy delicious latkes!

Traditionally, for Chanukah, Potato Latkes are served with apple sauce.