Tag: Seafood

Fish Tacos

I was looking for a good non-breaded fish taco recipe. This one is nice with naturally buttery cod and a small amount of heat (don’t forget the sour cream). Jeff’s favorite part might be the slaw that you make to go with it. You can find the original recipe on Delish. It’s not crazy filling, but you can take that as an opportunity to have dessert with it, like churros.

And this one is naturally gluten free (just use corn tortillas).

Make it a meal with:

Fish Tacos

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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The fish has a fair amount of liquid while it cooks and the filets can stick to the pan, so keep an eye on them.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • 2 tsp. Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp. Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 1/2 lb. Cod (or other flaky white fish)
  • 1/2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Corn (or flour) tortillas
  • 1 Avocado, sliced (optional)
  • Lime wedges for serving (optional)
  • Sour Cream for serving

Slaw:

  • 1/4 c. Mayo
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • 2 Tbsp. Cilantro
  • 1 Tbsp. Honey
  • 2 c. Shredded Purple Cabbage
  • 1 c. Corn
  • 1 Jalapeño, minced

Directions

For marinade: In a medium shallow bowl, whisk together olive oil, lime juice, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne. Add cod, tossing until evenly coated. Let marinate 15 minutes.

For slaw: In a large bowl, whisk together mayo, lime juice, cilantro, and honey. Stir in cabbage, corn, and jalapeño. Salt and pepper to taste.

For cod: In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat vegetable oil. Remove cod from marinade and season both sides of each filet with salt and pepper. Add fish and cook until opaque and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Let rest a few minutes before flaking with a fork.

Assemble tacos: Serve fish over grilled tortillas with corn slaw and avocado. Squeeze lime juice on top and garnish with sour cream.


Tartar Sauce

Tartar sauce is perfect with fish and chips or seafood in general. Tartar sauce varies with a few ingredients from recipe book to recipe book, but this is how we always made it growing up. You can have more or less of any ingredient according to your taste.

And this one is naturally gluten free–just make sure to use either a new container of mayo or one that’s dedicated gluten free so you don’t get crumbs from previous sandwiches.

Make it a meal with:

Tartar Sauce

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Make in advance to let the flavors meld.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 – 1 Tbsp. Dried Minced Onion
  • 1 Tbsp. Milk
  • 1 c. Mayonnaise
  • 2-3 Tbsp. Sweet Relish

Directions

Place the onion in the bottom of a container or bowl and cover with the milk. Let it absorb for about 5 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Make in advance and let it sit for best flavor.


Fish and Chips Batter

I think this was originally a copycat for Long John Silver’s fish and chips batter. I’m not sure if really does taste like a copycat because I think I’ve only eaten there once in my life, but it’s a great recipe. It’s flaky and crisp like a fish and chips coating should be–flakier than say a soft sweet and sour chicken breading. Although, I have used this to make sweet and sour chicken as well, and it’s still delicious.

Make sure to use a nice white fish–I generally use cod–and squeeze the extra water out of the fish before dipping so the coating will adhere nicely to the fish. Otherwise it can get gooey and come off easily after it’s cooked. Also, if you’re frying fries to go with your fish, you’ll probably want to do those before frying the fish so the oil doesn’t taste fishy for your fries or have pieces of fish stuck to the fryer basket.

If you’re making this gluten free, all you need to do is use gluten free flour. I’ve made it a few times, and it’s delicious–I can’t tell that it’s gluten free. Note that gluten free stuff often doesn’t get as dark golden brown as regular, so you may want to cook it a little more “blonde” than usual so the fish doesn’t shrink and overcook. The recipe picture is gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Fish and Chips Batter

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: medium
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Make sure to use a nice white fish and dry it before coating.

Ingredients

  • Oil for frying
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3-4 Frozen Cod filets, thawed
  • 3/4 c. Flour (or gluten free flour with xanthan gum)
  • 2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
  • 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt
  • 3/4 c. Water

Directions

(Fry your fries before your fish so the oil doesn’t taste fishy. To thaw the cod, place it in a water bath in the wrappers for 30 minutes.) Preheat oil in deep fryer around 350. On a cutting board, place paper towels below and on top of cod filets, then gently press out as much extra water as you can. Lightly salt and pepper the fish, then cut the filets into chunks for frying (generally 4 or so per filet). In a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients to form the batter. When the oil is heated, place the fish chunks in the batter to coat. Using tongs, drop the fish in the oil. You may want to hold onto each chunk and let it cook for a few seconds before dropping, just so the batter doesn’t cook into the basket and get stuck. Cook fish until the coating is golden brown, generally 3-5 minutes. Serve with fries and tartar sauce.


Salmon (pan seared)

Pan-seared salmon is great if you’d like a little bit of crust on your salmon or if you’re trying to make it really fast. The baked one goes pretty fast too, but we generally opt for the pan-seared one lately. Just make sure to press out extra water from the salmon so it sears better.

And of course this one is naturally gluten free. Just make sure that your garlic butter hasn’t been contaminated with bread crumbs from previous uses.

Make it a meal with:

Salmon (pan seared)

  • Servings: varies
  • Difficulty: easy
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Like most seafood recipes, try not to make leftovers with this one–it’s better fresh.

Ingredients

  • Salmon Filets
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Olive Oil
  • Garlic Butter (for gluten free, make sure it’s a new tub or not contaminated with old bread crumbs)
  • Lemon Juice (optional)

Directions

Place paper towels under and on top of filets, then press out extra water. Season the salmon filets with salt and pepper. Heat a small amount of oil in a heavy pan on medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the salmon filets. Brown the salmon for 2-3 minutes (even with a crust if desired), then flip the salmon. Place a dollop of garlic butter on each salmon filet and let it melt. Squeeze in a little lemon juice over the fish, and spoon the melted butter and lemon juice over each filet before serving.


Salmon (baked)

I thought about combining the two easy salmon recipes that we use and just calling it “Salmon Two Ways”–But then I thought I should just separate it. We used to make this one all the time in my teenage years and 20s. It’s nice and easy. Baked salmon is good if you’ve got a lot of people to feed, but the pan seared one is faster by a few minutes. Lemon pepper and dill are both great with seafood, and we generally use both. But if you’re not a fan of dill, it’s great with just lemon pepper. I’ve also made it with just salt, pepper, and garlic butter (like in the photo).

And of course this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Salmon (baked)

  • Servings: varies
  • Difficulty: easy
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Like basically all seafood recipes, try not to make leftovers with this one–it’s better fresh.

Ingredients

  • Salmon Filets
  • 1 Tbsp. melted Butter per filet
  • Lemon Pepper Seasoning
  • Dill Weed (optional)

Directions

If filets are frozen, place individual packaged filets in cold water to thaw for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°. Cover a cookie sheet in foil and spray with nonstick spray. Place paper towels under and on top of filets, then press out extra water. Then place filets on the cookie sheet and cover with melted butter. Sprinkle each filet generously with lemon pepper seasoning. Lightly sprinkle each with dill weed. Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes (depending on size of filet).


Shrimp or Chicken Alfredo

I originally found this listed as a Red Lobster copycat recipe. I’m not sure it’s a copycat, but it’s very delicious. I did double it from the original recipe because it originally called for 8 oz. of pasta, and generally linguine or alfredo noodles come in 16 oz. packages. The leftovers don’t reheat the best, though–(it gets really oily when you microwave it)–so you might just want this as a one-time meal without leftovers, or add less oil at the beginning to help.

Here’s a picture of the shrimp version using linguine:

Now we mostly make this as chicken alfredo because chicken is cheaper and more popular with several family members. And of course I just use chicken broth instead of clam juice.

If you’re making this gluten free, I’ve made it with gluten free rotini and once I actually used zoodles, and it has turned out well. Of course with the zoodles, the sauce doesn’t cling as well to the noodles so it’s soupier, but it still tastes nice and is a low carb option.

Make it a meal with:

Shrimp or Chicken Alfredo

  • Servings: 6-8?
  • Difficulty: medium
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Flavors of Red Lobster–just try to eat it all in one sitting instead of having leftovers (it doesn’t reheat amazingly).

Ingredients

  • 1/3 c. Olive Oil
  • 6 cloves Garlic, minced (2 Tbsp. minced)
  • 2 lb. raw Shrimp (peeled, deveined, no tails) or chicken, cubed
  • 1 1/3 c. Clam Juice or chicken broth
  • 2 c. Heavy Cream
  • 1 c. Parmesan Cheese
  • 1/2 tsp. dried Basil
  • 1/2 tsp. dried Oregano
  • 1 package Linguine or Fettucine (16 oz.) cooked and drained (or gluten free pasta or zoodles, lightly sauteed so they keep some crunch)

Directions

(If making chicken version, cook chicken first, then place in a separate bowl.) Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; reduce heat to low. Simmer until garlic is tender. Add shrimp and cook until opaque. Remove; reserve liquid in pan. Add clam juice or chicken broth, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; add cream, then cheese. Cook until thickened. Add shrimp or chicken to sauce and remaining except pasta. Pour over pasta in large bowl; toss gently to coat.