Friday, June 24, 2011

Fish tacos with crunchy squash topping on quinoa tortillas

Bailey (in middle) sandwiched between two dog pals, Kona (left) and Misha (right)
Misha and Bailey being mischievous
Fish taco with crunchy squash topping on quinoa flour tortilla
"The Bailey, Misha and Kona Show" continues daily at my house. It's way more entertaining than what's on TV.

Today, Kona (just turned 13 years) decided to greet the UPS man by jumping in his truck while he was in the back fetching a package. Imagine his surprise when he turned around to see Kona wagging her tail to greet him in hopes of retrieving a doggie bone. Of course, her efforts were rewarded.

In the meantime, Misha and little scrapper Bailey are doing their version of "wrestle mania" over on the grass lawn. Bailey can hold his own despite being outweighed 3:1. First, Bailey is on top; then Misha: and so on and so forth. Finally one of them squeals, "I give up," and the match ends.

In between all this entertainment, I found the opportunity to make fish tacos with the quinoa flour tortillas I posted about last time. Find the recipe for the tortillas at:  http://catsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/06/quinoa-tortillas.html

Fish Tacos with Crunchy Squash Topping and Butternut Spread on Quinoa Tortillas

Ingredients for two tacos:
  • 2 fish filets such as perch or tilapia (use wild caught)
  • 1-2 T. quinoa flour for breading
  • 1/2 small spaghetti squash, baked until fork tender in oven or microwave
  • 1/2 small butternut squash, baked until fork tender in oven or microwave
  • 1 T. unsweetened sunbutter
  • 1/4 cup hemp milk or alternative dairy beverage
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage
  • 1/2 cup diced jicama
  • 2 T. chopped green onion
  • optional: chopped cilantro
  • 2 T. + grapeseed or other oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions:

  • Several hours ahead or a day ahead, bake the squashes, either in the microwave or oven, until fork tender. Keep in the fridge until ready to use. 
  • Prepare the shredded cabbage, jicama and green onion, and refrigerate until ready to use.
  • Rinse fish filets and roll them in quinoa flour, mixed with a little salt and pepper.
  • Heat 1 T. oil in a large skillet. Crispy fry the fish filets. Wrap in foil and keep warm in the oven. (For extra flavor, add 1/2 tsp. of cumin to your flour coating. For extra crunch, add some ground whole quinoa to your flour mixture.)
  • Heat quinoa flour tortillas in the oven on low setting. Wrap in foil until ready to use.
  • Scoop out the flesh from the squashes. Keep them separate.
  • Take the butternut squash flesh and place it in a food processor with 1 T. sunbutter and 1/4 cup alternative dairy beverage, such as hemp milk. Adjust the hemp milk if needed. Add some salt and pepper if desired. Blend until smooth. Set aside for serving with the tacos.
  • Heat additional oil in a clean skillet. Toss in the stringy pieces of spaghetti squash and fry until crispy. Remove to a paper towel.

To plate up the tacos, place 1 T. butternut squash mixture on each tortilla and spread. On top of this, place a crispy fish filet, cabbage, jicama and green onion. Finally, top with crunchy spaghetti squash.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Quinoa tortillas

Bailey, my new sidekick, in watering can




Bailey, Kona and new pal, Misha.



Quinoa flour tortillas
I've added yet another new pet to my household, Misha, a two-month-old Husky-Malamute cross. He and Bailey, just three months, are great interactive toys for each other. They wrestle for what seems like hours and then cuddle up with their older, wiser pal, Kona.

Their favorite place to nap seems to be the doorway to the kitchen. This has always been Kona's favorite spot but now I have quite an obstacle to get across when the threesome are napping.

I still manage to get past the pile of dogs and kitten to get to the kitchen. Recently while the trio were napping, I experimented making quinoa flour tortillas. I enjoy eating these, smeared with a little tahini or sunbutter for breakfast. They also are great for fish  tacos.

These are super simple to make if you have a tortilla press and cast-iron tortilla pan. You can make them without but they may look like blobs from some other universe.

Quinoa Flour Tortillas
(makes 10-12 small tortillas)

Ingredients:
  1. 1 cup quinoa flour plus more for shaping dough balls and pressing tortillas.
  2. 1/2 cup ground whole quinoa
  3. 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  4. 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  5. 2 T. olive oil
  6. 1/2 cup water
Directions:
  1. Grind 1/2 cup whole quinoa in a coffee grinder.
  2. Put all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine.
  3. Add olive oil and water and mix.
  4. Now the fun begins. Add more quinoa flour and knead until the dough is dry to shape into balls.
  5. Press dough into tortillas using the tortilla press or rolling pin on flour dusted cutting board.
  6. Cook tortillas one at a time in cast-iron tortilla pan. Cook about 30 seconds each side.
  7. Extra tortillas can be stored in the freeze for future use.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Amaranth-millet tortillas


Kona with our new friend, Bailey.
I have a new kitten friend in the kitchen. His name is Bailey. At 10 weeks old, he already is making his loving, curious personality known. He makes it more enjoyable for me to be in the kitchen or in any room in the house as he provides constant entertainment as he explores everything.

Tiny Bailey weighs in at less than two pounds.

We adopted Bailey from the local animal shelter. We've had him for just three days. In the photo above, he shows his diminutive size in comparison to the pillow he is perched on.

Amaranth-millet flour tortillas

 Bailey has succeeded in getting me back into the kitchen to experiment with new recipes, including the amaranth-millet flour tortillas,pictured above. The purchase of a tortilla press is a must for these unless you are more skilled than I am with a rolling pin. Another essential is a cast-iron tortilla pan. Before purchasing these two items, the tortillas I made were edible but looked like something from another planet.

Amaranth-millet flour tortillas
(makes approximately 10-12 tortillas)

Ingredients:
  1. 1/2 cup amaranth flour to start + ? more
  2. 1/2 cup millet flour to start + ? more
  3. 1 T. olive oil
  4. 1/2 tsp. sea salt
  5. 1/2 cup water
Directions:
  1. Combine 1/2 cup of each flour in a large bowl. Add sea salt and oil.
  2. Add water to mixture and combine. Add more of one or both flours until dough is no longer sticky to the touch.
  3. Shape 10-12 balls adding more flour to get the right consistency for pressing.
  4. Heat the cast-iron skillet.
  5. Press the balls of dough into tortillas using your tortilla press or rolling pin.
  6. Cook one tortilla at a time once skillet is hot. These are done in a flash so be vigilent.
Keep your tortillas hot in a tortilla warmer or by wrapping in aluminum foil. I like spreading them with sunbutter. Yum! Extras can be frozen until you are ready for more. Next project: make quinoa flour tortillas.