Grilled Shrimp Tacos

It's been four long months since my last baja style food.  Oh, what I'd give for a few fish tacos from Rubio's right now...I saw this recipe in last month's Cuisine At Home magazine and instantly got a hankering for baja tacos.  Mmmmm...

I have to say - either I'm a shrimp taco snob or this recipe was less than stellar.  It just didn't have the oompf in it to satisfy my cravings.  It was good, but not Southern California Good.  We rated this a 3 Spoons, so I'll definitely keep looking for a baja style recipe that works for us. 

Grilled Shrimp Tacos

adapted from Cuisine At Home, issue no. 81

Tacos:

1/2 c. lime juice

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. chili powder (I used Cajun Seasoning)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 flour tortillas, 6" size

Chipotle Sauce:

1/2 c. mayo or sour cream

2 minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1 1/2 tsp. honey

1 tsp. lime juice

salt to taste

Red Slaw:

4 c. shredded red cabbage

1/2 c. sliced scallions

1/2 c. cilantro

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. white vinegar

salt to taste

Whisk together lime juice, oil, garlic, and chili powder in a medium bowl.  Add shrimp, stir to coat, and chill until ready to skewer.  Preheat grill to medium-high.

Whisk together mayonnaise, chipotles, honey, and lime juice for the sauce.  Season with salt and chill until ready to serve.

Combine cabbage, scallions, cilantro, oil, and vinegar for the slaw.  Season with salt and chill until ready to serve, up to one hour.

Thread shrimp onto metal or soaked bamboo skewers and grill for 1-2 minutes per side.  Remove from skewers and serve on warmed tortillas with cabbage slaw and chipotle sauce.

Lemon Flounder

My family loves seafood. We eat fish on a regular basis, especially in the summer when we are able to catch it and eat it fresh. Fish is healthy and generally doesn't take long to cook at all. Without much effort you can have it tasting wonderful and many simple recipes can be used on several different types of fish. Give it a try!

This recipe is given a 5 spoons by all 5 of our family members.



Ingredients:
2 (12oz) flounder
flour
2 oz butter
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsely

Directions:

Dust flounder fillets with flour.

Heat a little butter in a large frying pan and cook the fish over medium heat, turning once, until lightly browned and cooked through. The fish will flake easily when tested.

In another pan, melt 2 oz. butter. Add 1 1/2 Tbs. lemon juice and 2 tsp. chopped fresh parsely. Cook until foaming.

Pour over the fish and sprinkle with parsely. Serves 2.

Creamy White Mac & Cheese Guest post

Creamy White Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:
2 c. Elbow Macaroni

3T Butter

4T Flour

1 C. Milk

8oz pkg Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

1 T. salt

1 t. ground black pepper

While noodles are boiling...

Melt butter in skillet, add flour to smooth consistency. Add Milk. Stir with whisk until thickened. Stir in shredded cheese until melted and smooth consistency. Stir in salt and pepper. (Can add more to taste)

Drain noodles and pour in cheese sauce. (Can add more milk for desired consistency.)

Delight in cheesy comfort!

*Any type of cheese (or combination of cheeses) can be used, but this is the one our family prefers.
*Can add anything at the table - hot sauce, ketchup, and even a side of grape jelly. Call me crazy, but the grape is great!


I rated this a 4 spoons!

Callie Robbins
www.callieshomecooking.blogspot.com

on behalf of:

Free Turkey Bacon?

I recently got a chance to try out Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon free thanks to being a member of Kraft First Taste - anyone can sign up and every so often there will be a new offer to sign up for...it's a great way to try out Kraft products for free.

While shopping for rice this week - My youngest son wanted to know what beans were...he thought that they only came in a can...so I made it my mission to show him how to make them...only I didn't know either. Gasp.

So I read the package directions - developed my plan of action - and then called my Mom to ask her what she thought...and then proceeded to ignore her. :)

Since I didn't give it enough fore thought to soak my beans over night...I picked through them, put them in a pot of water that I brought to a quick boil and let them sit there for an hour...then rinsed and drained them. (this was against my Mother's wishes) she said that the skins of the beans would come off - she was right - but only a few did.

While the beans were draining...I cut up the entire package of turkey bacon into small pieces and fried it in a little bit of canola oil.

If you have never tried turkey bacon - I would really recommend it! It doesn't taste anything like pork bacon...so you can't really use it to replace bacon - but it does have a good flavor and makes a really mean Turkey BLT.




I reserved most of it for topping beans and Jiffy Muffins.

Then I put the beans back into the bacon grease and left over bacon, added a full box of chicken stock and a little bit of water.

Cook for about an hour and a half at medium heat with the lid slightly offset.





Prepare Jiffy Muffins according to package directions...I just threw in some of the turkey bacon.




To serve...top bowl of beans with a little bit of cheese and crispy turkey bacon.

While this may not seem so TA-DAA - it was a welcome change. It was a recipe that I have never tried...and we loved it.




This is definitely a 5 spooner with everyone at my house - Even Hubby who turned his nose up when he figured out what I was making. In fact - he went back for seconds.

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