Fish Tacos: Marinated Cod with Guacamole and Red Cabbage Slaw on Home Made Tortillas

Fish Tacos

Having invited friends for dinner and wanting to spend a little more time cooking something special, I decided to have a ‘Mexican’ themed meal. Although I love to eat food, I’m not especially keen on cooking meals that have lots of steps. I’m a one pot wonder lover! 🙂

I decided try my hand at making my own tortillas, guacamole, and coleslaw to go with the tacos. So all in all, a lot more than one pot used! 😀

I cooked for 6 people, but there was plenty left over. So here goes…

Cumin and Lemon Marinated Cod

1. Fish

Ingredients

• 500g white fish (I used cod, but any firm white fish works)
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Cut fish into big chucks, put in a medium bowl
• Squeeze lemon juice over the fish, sprinkle over the cumin powder and salt and pepper
• Toss the fish in the lemon juice and seasoning, then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight
• Take out an hour before cooking to allow the fish to come to room temperature
• Grill the fish for 8 minutes in the oven (200 degrees C) or pan fry with a little oil until just cooked

Guacamole

2. Guacamole

Ingredients

• 2 Avocados
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 tbs chopped coriander
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

• Roughly chop the avocado and squeeze over the juice of the lime, ensure all avocado is coated in lime juice
• Sprinkle cayenne, cumin and salt over the avocado, then mash it all into a chunky paste with a potato masher or fork
• Add the tomatoes, onions, garlic and coriander and toss it all together until evenly distributed
• Cover and refrigerate, take out an hour before serving to bring to room temperature

Red Cabbage Slaw

3. Red Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients

• Small head of red cabbage
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt and pepper

Method

• Finally shred the cabbage, squeeze over the lime and drizzle over the oil
• Sprinkle over the salt and pepper, toss it all together until cabbage is well coated

Tortillas

4. Tortillas

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup warm water

Method

• Mix all ingredients together and knead for about 5 minutes
• Portion into 16 balls of dough and roll out each one into a small tortilla (6-8 cm)
• Dry fry each tortilla, on a high heat, for a minute on each side (it may take less time so keep an eye on them!)
• Keep the cooked tortillas covered with a clean tea towel so they keep soft

Fish Tacos

I served all the elements of this dish in separate bowls so the guests could assemble their own tacos.  I also roasted a tray of sweet potatoes to go with the fish tacos, the flavours seemed to work quite well!  Put some extra sour cream and chopped coriander on the table too. 😀

 

 

 

 

Cardamom Cupcake with Fresh Cream, Strawberries and Pistachios

Cardamom Cupcakes with Strawberry and Pistachio

We’ve had a busy few weeks at home! There have been lots of visitors staying with us so I’ve had an excuse to bake some tasty treats… Does there always need to be an excuse to make cakes? If so, I’m sure I could think of one at the drop of a hat! 🙂

Strawberry Plant

During the British summer there is an abundance of strawberries, the season is relatively short but they are oh so delicious! I tried to grow a couple of strawberry plants in pots this year but there wasn’t much of a harvest…though what we did get was delicious! Strawberries and cream… the quintessential British summer treat!

Home Grown Strawberries

These Cardamom Cupcakes with Fresh Cream, Strawberries and Pistachios were a real pleasure to eat! I decided at the last minute to add the cardamom as an afterthought, I have a tendency to  add cardamom to any cake recipe I get away with!

Cardamom Cupcakes with Strawberry and Pistachios

Ingredients:

• 200g self-raising flour
• 200g butter
• 180g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs milk (add as required)
• 1 tsp cardamom (seeds from about 7-8 pods ground up)
• 300ml double cream
• 2 tbs icing sugar
• Strawberries (for decorating)
• Pistachio nuts (toasted and crushed for decorating)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cases
• Cream the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time
• Fold in the flour and cardamom, adding milk if the batter is too thick
• Half fill the paper cases and bake for 10-15 minutes
• Allow cupcakes to cool on a wire rack, in the meantime beat the cream with the icing sugar until it is thick enough to pipe
• Once the cupcakes are completely cool, decorate with the fresh cream, strawberries and pistachio nuts

Cardamom Cupcakes with Strawberry and Pistachio

These cupcakes are very quick to make and the contrasting colours mean they look very pretty! The cardamom adds an interesting background flavour, the strawberry adds some freshness, the pistachio gives a little added texture and the fresh cream brings all the flavours together…

Cardamom Cupcakes with Strawberry and Pistachio

I very rarely use fresh cream on cupcakes but after baking these little beauties, I am left wondering why! 😀

 

 

 

Date and Walnut Cake

Date and Walnut Tray Bake

The Great British Bake Off is bake on our screens in the UK and Mary Berry has inspired me to return to her ‘Mary Berry’s Baking Bible‘ cook book. The recipes are pretty straight forward and I’ve had some very successful bakes from it. Anyone who knows me knows that Mary Berry is my idol! 🙂

This recipe for a Date and Walnut tray bake looked interesting, and I happened to have a bag of dates and half a packet of walnuts lying around! It’s like it was meant to be…

Date and Walnut Tray Bake

Here’s the recipe:

• 250g stoned and chopped dates
• 40g softened butter
• 350ml boiling water
• 2 eggs
• 200g dark muscovado sugar 
• 150g ground almonds
• 150g chopped walnuts
• 350g self raising flour
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (although in my rush I forgot to add it in!)

For the icing:

• 225g icing sugar
• Grated rind and juice of one lemon
• Walnut pieces, to decorate

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 180°c or 160°c fan assisted, and grease and line a baking tray
• Place the chopped dates and butter in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over the top and stir well. Set aside and leave to cool.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a separate bowl, stir in the date mixture and add the remaining cake ingredients. Stir until just combined and then pour into the lined pan.
• Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Let it cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing from the tin, peeling off the baking paper and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
• While it cools, make the icing by mixing the sugar with the lemon zest and juice to create a smooth spreading consistency. 
• Decorate with walnut pieces and cut into squares.

Date and Walnut Cupcakes

The recipe suggests using a 30x23cm baking tray, I used a square one so had left over batter. Luckily there was just enough to make 4 cupcakes! 😀

Date and Walnut Cupcakes

I really liked the texture and taste of this cake, however I wasn’t entirely convinced that the lemon icing was the best flavour to go with it. I’m not a big fan of icing as it can be overly sweet… this one tasted like lemon sherbet! If I made it again, I’d probably try another icing, maybe using pomegranate or cardamom? Yum! 🙂

 

 

Spiced Potato Wedges

Spiced Potato Wedges

This recipe is a really quick and simple one. I often turn to it to use up extra white potatoes but it would also work great for sweet potatoes…

I like to keep the skin on the potatoes for a little extra texture, the potatoes can be cut thinly or left as chunky as you prefer. 

I like to make a big batch and freeze them in smaller portions so I can easily cook them from frozen for mid-week meals. They are also great for snacking on when you have a group of friend around for drinks or slouching in front of a movie with a loved one…

Ingredients:

• 4 large white potatoes (e.g. King Edward or Maris Piper)
• 2 tbs cayenne pepper
• 2 tbs smoked paprika
• 2 tbs dried mixed herbs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 2 tbs vegetable oil

Method:

• Cut potatoes into wedges/chips (peel if required)
• Mix the rest of the ingredients apart from the oil together in a large freezer bag, add the potatoes and toss to coat the potatoes completely
• If cooking straight away, toss them in the oil and spread evenly on a baking tray so the potatoes do not overlap. 
• Bake for 30-45 minutes at 180 degrees C, depending on the size of the potatoes (mine were quite thick so I baked for the full 45 minutes), turn them half way through cooking to brown evenly
• Serve with whatever dips you like, I just like mine with plain mayo…

Spicy Potato Wedges

If you are planning on freezing them, then just leave the potatoes in the freezer bag and stick it straight into freeze. Once completely frozen, the potatoes will stick together. To separate them, just smack the whole bag against counter top and they will break apart. They can be baked from frozen, just coat them with the oil straight from the freezer and add ten minutes onto the cooking time. 

You can add whatever spices you want to the spice mix, go ahead and experiment with flavours! 😀

If you like these potatoes, check out these ‘Crinkle Cut Potatoes‘ made in the same way but using a handy vegetable crinkler!

Vegetable Crinkler

Dark Chocolate Muffins

Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

Wow, it’s been such a long time since I’ve written a post! It’s scary how life just runs away with you… I’ve had a lot less time to experiment with my cooking, but have a lots of little posts to write up. This is the first of many!

I work in the charity sector and we have amazing young people who volunteer their time to support those you are less fortunate than themselves. They travel to the UK from other countries; Germany, Armenia and Sweden, to volunteer for a year before they start their university degrees. During this time, they are full time volunteers and we get to know them very well. It’s always sad to see them go!

These muffins were made as part of their leaving celebrations. As I have been very busy at work, I hadn’t prepared in advance by shopping for the ingredients for some fancier cakes. I had a root around the cupboards and found some dark chocolate, so decided to make some chocolate ‘chip’ muffins.

Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

It’s been such a while since I made them, I have forgotten the exact recipe I used… but it went a little something like this:

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 100g caster sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 175ml milk
• 75ml vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 125g dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips and salt.
3. In a jug combine milk, oil and egg, add to the dry ingredients all at once and stir until just combined.
4. Fill cases 2/3 full  and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of this recipe, although it may be because I used dark chocolate and there isn’t much sugar in the batter do I found it all quite bitter. I’m also not a fan of dark chocolate! 🙂

Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins

However the muffin was light and it’s quite a straight forward and simple recipe to follow. I’ll have to try them again with come milk chocolate next time! 😀

 

 

 

 

Turkey Chilli with Crinkle-cut Potatoes

Turkey Chilli with Crinkle-cut Potatoes

I was given a new kitchen gadget by my sister and wanted to try it straight away! It’s what I call a vegetable ‘crinkle cutter’ 🙂

Vegetable Crinkler

It’s a really cool little gadget that makes your potatoes, or any other vegetables, all wavy. Apart from looking pretty it also serves a practical purpose. Think how pasta is shaped in different ways to maximise the amount of delicious sauce it can pick up. Well this does the same thing with vegetables!

Jazzing up the potatoes, I made a spice mix using smoked paprika, cumin, salt, coriander and garlic powder then shook them all up in a freezer bag ready to be used when needed or used immediately. Freezing them in portions means that they can be easily taken out and baked straight in the oven with little fuss! Just coat them in oil to help crispen up. 

Spiced Crinkle-cut potatoes

I decided to make a big batch of Turkey Chilli for a mid-week meal (and left overs for office lunches) and these potatoes went perfectly with them. Add some crisp nachos for extra crunch!

Turkey Chilli with Spiced Crinkle-cut Potatoes and Nachos

Turkey Chilli with Melted Cheese and Jalapeños

Serve with a salad of avocados, tomatoes and cucumber… enjoy! 🙂