April 23: California-Style Fish Tacos

Things My Son Mostly Refused To Eat Or Drink Tonight

1. A peanut butter sandwich
2. A banana
3. A hot dog
4. Whole wheat pasta
5. A sloppy joe (he refused to believe that it was food; he thought it was a TV show. He threw the TV remote at me after I refused to let him watch sloppy joe.)
6. A slice of leftover mushroom pizza
7. Milk
8. Fruit Punch
9. A chocolate chip cookie (Seriously! A chocolate chip cookie! He said that he couldn't eat it because "it has brown in it." What?)
10. Green beans (this did not surprise me; he always refuses green beans, but I still offer them)

What he asked me for for dinner:

1. "Fackers." If anybody knows what a "facker" is, besides what my kid was acting like tonight, please tell me. He also refuses to go to sleep. Oh, this kid. There are nights when I consider medicating him, and settle for medicating myself. With wine.

I haven't wrapped a tortilla around anything in awhile, which is unusual for me. When I went to San Diego for the first time, my freshman year of high school, before my mother and stepfather were married and while he was finishing out his last year as a high school, we ate a lot of what I think of as "San Diego Mexican" food: queso fundido with fried and crumbled chorizo, chips with lots of cilantro-laden salsa, huevos rancheros with truly great ranchero sauce, everything served with freshly-made tortillas.

San Diego is famous for fish tacos as well, not a delicacy I have much of an appreciation for. I do, however, acknowledge their popularity, both in California and out of it. I also acknowledge the zen beauty of simple, fresh, beautiful food, and the joy in preparing and serving it.

My husband, a solidly midwestern boy, loves fish tacos, and despite the fact that they make my house smell like fish, I love making them. Fish chunks are generally cheaper than filets or steaks, as they're generally the trimmed parts, but if you can't find them, you can cut them from bigger pieces. Pick a good, oily, strong-tasting fish, like swordfish, shark, salmon, or tuna.

California-Style Fish Chunks in a Dipped Tortilla

2 1/4 pounds fish in 1-inch chunks
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 jalapeno peppers, stemmed and minced
1/2 a medium Napa cabbage, thinly shredded
Olive oil
18 corn or 12 flour tortillas
Tomato salsa of your choice
Thinly sliced red onion
Farmers cheese or queso asidero, crumbled

In a large bowl, mix together the lemon juice, soy sauce, and chili peppers. Add the fish chunks and turn to coal all over. Set aside to marinade for 20 minutes to an hour.

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with olive oil. Set over high heat until the oil begins to smoke. Add as many fish chunks as will fit in one uncrowded layer. Fry for 3 minutes, then turn andfry until flaky but still moist in the centers, 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove to a platter and keep warm. Continue cooking until all of the fish is cooked.

Add more oil to the pan. Add the cabbage and stir-fry until the cabbage is barely wilted, about 2 minutes.

Just before serving, dip the tortills in 1/2 cup of the salsa. Heat in a frying pan or the oven.

To assemble, spread about 1/3 cup of the fish chunks in the middle of a tortilla. Top with some cabbage, salsa, and cheese. Fold and serve.

April 3: Portuguese-Style Grilled Fish

So, it's more from The Well-Filled Tortilla tonight. You don't even have to bother with a tortilla: if fish is your thing, this will be good just sitting on a plate, with maybe rice pilaf , maybe some tender-crisp sauteed bell pepper strips, maybe, if you're me, with a big glass of some yummy chardonnay or pinot grigio, the same that's right down there in the recipe.

As it's been established, fish is not my thing, per se. But I like to cook it, and my husband likes to eat it. This is something I think he'd like--lightly marinated, gently spicy.

The cookbook recommends a topping of a roasted red pepper, chili, and pine nut sauce. I don't have the wherewithall to write that sucker up right now. If you're interested, leave me a comment, and I'll send you that too; I've made it and it's delicious.

Portuguese-Style Grilled Fish

2/3 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tablespoon sweet paprika
Small punch of cayenne
Small pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves or 2 teaspoons dried
2 1/4 pounds sea bass fillets, cut 1/2-3/4 inch thick
24 scallions, trimmed

Prepare a fire for grilling allowing charcoal to burn until they are mostly covered with white ash, about 40 minutes.

15-20 minutes before the fire is ready, mix together the orange juice, wine, paprika, cayenne, cloves, and thyme in a nonreactive dish. Place the fish in the mixture and turn to coat all sides. Set aside to marinade.

When the coals are ready, arrange the fish fillets on the grill rack directly above the coals. Grill for 4 minutes. Turn and grill another 4 minutes. Remove the fish and set aside to rest a few minutes.

While the fish rests, grill the scallions. Place them on the rack directly above the coals and cook for 2 minutes. Turn and cook until lightly charred, 1-2 minutes.

Pile scallions on a serving platter, and place fish on top of scallions. Serve immediately.