Roasted Garlic Aioli

This mayonnaise aioli is a fabulous addition to sammies, I mean come on it has ROASTED GARLIC! Its so simple to make and you can use it on a plethora of things. For example I have a breakfast sammie I will post that I use it on and it makes me want to do the happy dance every time I have one of those puppies. It can be used as a dipping sauce for fries. You can top fish with it... Are you getting my point? I think you are. Just make it and make a simple turkey sammie with it and I promise you, that you will do a happy dance too.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of roasted garlic
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp of lemon or lime juice
• couple dashes of hot sauce
• pinch of salt

1. Add all ingredients in a mini food processor or you can mash the garlic very well with a fork then add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.

This stuff is so good it will make you want to smack yo' mama.

Enjoy y'all!

Fish Tacos

There are so many varieties of fish tacos. I've had them fried, grilled, and pan fried. Served with a creamy dressing, or vinegar dressing. Dressed with cabbage or simply pico de gallo. I personally like them seared on the stove and finished in the oven. Reason being is that I prefer my tacos to be non greasy, I also like them with pineapple salsa and diced avocado. The sky's the limit here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of a mild white fish such as cod, tilapia, mahi mahi or flounder
• package of fresh corn tortillas (usually there is 12 in a pack)
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp of chili powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2-3 cloves of garlic minced
• pepper to taste
• pinch of kosher salt
• zest of one lime 
• juice of half a lime
• 1 tbs. of olive oil

1. preheat the oven to 375

1. mix all ingredients except for the fish and tortillas in a bowl and make a loose paste

1. spread the mixture over the fish and allow to marinate for at least 30 mins

1. heat a pan to med. add a tsp of olive oil and add the fillets.
2. once you are able to lift the fish without it sticking to the pan, flip and transfer to the oven and cook until done 7-10 mins
3. as fish is finishing in the oven warm tortillas in a dry pan over med heat and place in a towel to keep warm.
4. when fish is finished flake into large chunks and serve with your favorite additions.

 

Here I have served with pineapple salsa, avocado and lime juice. 

Provecho!

Roasted Garlic

Roasted garlic is simply the food of the Gods. Maybe its my Korean heritage that makes me love it so much. Now a days you can find garlic in so many different forms. I personally like to buy fresh already peeled cloves. I use so much garlic in everyday cooking it just makes my life that much easier. I don't like the pre-chopped garlic because its jarred with preservatives

I love roasting garlic because of its versatility. Once garlic is roasted its very easily spreadable, you can spread it across toast or crackers, mix with goat cheese or top any other cheese you like. Mix it into spreads and sauces. How about this one, you can cook a filet to about rare, then top with roasted garlic and place the filet under a broiler to finish. As you can see the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:

• Handful of pre-peeled garlic cloves
• 1 tsp of olive oil
• Good pinch of good salt
• Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

1. In a small baking dish lined with aluminum foil add garlic

1. Add oil, salt and pepper 

 

1. This is important, close the foil into a little pouch like this, make sure its a little vented so the steam can evaporate out. Roast for 45mins to 1 hour.

Roasted garlic can last a week if placed in a airtight container in the fridge. Try it in the Roasted Garlic Aioli recipe that I have posted on my blog under the "Sauces and Salsas" category.

Pineapple Salsa

I've had many variants of this salsa. But the best pineapple salsa I ever had was in Mexico made by Guillermo, the best friend to a photographer I know. Guillermo told me he learned how to make this sweet, tangy and spicy salsa while in the Yucatan. God bless you Guillermo for teaching me how to make this. His version is a bit different than mine, he added the juice of several limes. I thought hey that's a lot of acid, and decided to add the zest to get the flavor of the lime and make the salsa less acidic.

I love to make this salsa to go with carnitas or pork tacos. Most of all I love it with fish or shrimp tacos. Its even tasty with just plain tortilla chips and give guacamole a zing when you mix this in with the avocado instead of Pico de Gallo which I'll show how to make in the near future.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a fresh pineapple chopped into bite sized pieces with juice.
• 1/2 cup of cilantro chopped or more depending on your tastes.
• Juice of one lime.
• Zest if one lime.
• Small red onion diced.
• 1/2 to 1 whole jalapeno or 1-2 serrano peppers depending on the desired heat.
• A good pinch of Kosher salt

Now all you have to do is mix all of this into a bowl and  set aside in the refrigerator.  There you have it. Simple and delish!

 

Pineapple, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno in a bowl

 

I zest my citrus fruit on a micro plain, once you zest the fruit, juice it and add salt to taste.

 
 

Salsa de pina! Provecho!