Tag: fish taco

Food, Living, Mexico

Fish Taco Online Birthday Party

Jane Bauer

Since few people are traveling and getting together in person is not an option, I have been offering cooking classes online. This has been a challenging experience and also a lot more rewarding than I would have expected. I get to share my love of cooking and connect with people that otherwise I wouldn’t get to see.

A few days ago I was honored to be a part of an online birthday celebration for Leslie and her friends who are located in various parts of Canada and unable to see each other.

For more information about my online drop-in classes that are every Tuesday at 7pm CT or to book a private class for you and your friends:

http://www.HuatulcoCookingClasses.com chiles.chocolate@yahoo.com

 Menu for Online Cooking Class with Jane Bauer:
 Beer-battered fish tacos
 Street Corn Salad
 Chipotle Mayo
 Rum Horchata
  
 Recipes:
  
 Garlic oil- We call this ‘Heaven in a Jar’ at the cooking school
 1 cup vegetable oil 
 6 garlic cloves
 Mix in a blender until uniform. Keep in a jar and use with everything!
  
Fish Tacos
White fish filet such as mahi-mahi or any other firm fish like marlin, swordfish, sea bass, cod cut into strips 1-inch in width by 2.5 inches in length
Salt and pepper
Pour a generous helping of Heaven in a Jar over filets and massage them with your hand.
  
 Beer Batter
 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose wheat flour
 ½ teaspoon of oregano
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1 bottle of beer
  
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and pour in beer in a gentle stream while mixing with a plastic spatula until the batter has the consistency of pancake batter. 
  
Frying: Heat 3 cm of vegetable oil in a pan. When oil is hot, place a strip of fish into beer batter and then into oil, fry until golden. Place fried fish on a paper towel to de-grease. Place fried fish onto a corn tortilla, top with shredded purple cabbage, grated carrot and cilantro. Garnish with cream and/or chipotle mayonnaise.
Mix and knead  with your hands until the dough is smooth and  homogenous. It should be soft but not sticky, like  soft  Play-Doh;  if   necessary,  adjust  the  texture with  more  water  or  masa  harina.
 
 Chipotle  Mayonnaise
 2 chipotle chiles (from a can)
 1 cup of mayonnaise
 1/4 cup orange juice. 
 Place all ingredients in a blender and mix. Taste and adjust. 
 Too spicy? Add more mayo
 Too smokey? Add more juice
 Not spicy enough? Add more chipotle
  
 Street Corn Salad
 4 cups corn (about 5 ears), cut from the cob- canned corn is fine!
 1 tbsp olive oil
 1/2 small red onion finely chopped
 1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
 6 green onions chopped
 1 jalapeno pepper diced
 1/2 avocado chopped
 4 tablespoons lime juice (from about 2 limes)
 1/2 teaspoon cumin ground
 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
 1/4 teaspoon black pepper ground
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 2 tablespoons sour cream (or yogurt)
 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
 1/2 cup feta crumbled
  
 Mix all ingredients and serve!
  
 Rum Horchata
 1 cup of rice
 1 liter of water
 Cinnamon
 Vanilla
 Simple syrup or sugar
 Rum 
  
Soak rice in water for about an hour. Blend well so rice breaks down. Pass through a sieve. Add cinnamon and vanilla to your taste. Serve over ice and your rum of choice.
  
 Provecho!
  

Advertisement
Food

Save the Fish Taco

Jane Bauer

4073ADD6-FACA-4F2E-9FD8-74F984CE9B25.jpgLiving by the ocean, it is amazing to me that when I go to the corporate-owned supermarket the only seafood available is imported and most likely farmed. To get local fresh fish one needs to go find the guys with coolers on the street corner or small fish stalls.

While for most of us fish is an occasional meal, chicken, beef and pork being the most common protein in the North American diet, for much of the world fish is a main staple.

About 1 billion people largely in developing countries rely on fish as their primary animal protein source. In 2010, fish provided more than 2.9 billion people with almost 20% of their intake of animal protein, and 4.3 billion people with about 15 % of such protein.

At Café Juanita and Frida’s Fish Taco Food Truck, we are committed to only serving locally caught fish. This means occasionally not having fish or at times ‘making do’ with fish that are less popular.

When I first moved to Southern Mexico almost 20 years ago the waters were abundant with marine life. My then-husband routinely went diving for lobster, came home with fresh yellow fin tuna or amberjack.

In the past few years I have noticed a large decline in the amount and variety of fish available. Part of this is due to warmer waters and less cold currents that my favorite fish favor. Causes of this are global warming, overfishing by large-scale fisheries, pollution and contamination.

A few things you can do to protect the ocean and guarantee delicious fish tacos will still be available in 20 years!

  1. Eat sustainable seafood.

Global fisheries are on the verge of collapse. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), three quarters of the world’s fisheries are now overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or recovering from overexploitation. Ask your seafood restaurant or fish market to buy from sustainable fisheries. Look for special terms like “line caught”, “diver caught”, “sustainably caught” or “sustainably harvested.”

  1. Reduce energy use.

Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels is making our oceans more acidic. One consequence could be the loss of corals on a global scale, as their calcium skeletons are weakened by the increasing acidity of the water. There are many simple ways you can reduce your energy use. Ride a bike, walk or use public transportation. Use high efficiency appliances in your home. Turn off appliances when they aren’t in use. Turn up your thermostat a few degrees in the summer and down a few degrees in the winter. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs in your house.

  1. Use reusable plastic products.

Plastic debris in the ocean degrades marine habitats and contributes to the deaths of many marine animals. Because floating plastic often resembles food to many marine birds, sea turtles and marine mammals, they can choke or starve because their digestive systems get blocked when they eat it. Help prevent these unnecessary deaths—use cloth grocery bags and reusable water bottles.

  1. Properly dispose of hazardous materials.

Motor oil and other hazardous materials often end up washing into coastal areas because they aren’t disposed of properly.  This pollutes the water and hurts the overall health of our oceans. Be sure to dispose of hazardous waste in an environmentally safe way.

  1. Use less fertilizer.

When fertilizers are used in gardening and agriculture, the excess eventually ends up in the ocean. One result is a “dead zone” — an area with very low levels of oxygen in the water — the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico during the spring and summer. Since all marine life requires oxygen to live, including fish and shrimp, they must flee the area or die. Many other coastal areas are at risk too. So, use fertilizer sparingly and remember more is usually not better.

  1. Pick up garbage and litter near beaches.

Much of the plastic and debris found in the ocean has its beginnings in beach litter. As beach crowds increase, so does the amount of trash left behind. Don’t let your day at the beach contribute to the destruction of our oceans. Bring a trash bag with you for your garbage and volunteer for beach clean-ups.

  1. Buy ocean-friendly products.

Avoid products produced through unsustainable or environmentally harmful methods. For example, avoid cosmetics containing shark squalene and jewelry made of coral or sea turtle shell. These products are directly linked to unsustainable fishing methods and the destruction of entire ecosystems.