Fish Tacos and Fruit Salsa

I must admit, I'm a little leery writing about fish tacos.  There seems to be an almost Underground movement of fanatic fish taco braggadocios, who might just come to get me with pitchforks and flames if I get this wrong.  There is a certain school of thought that says ONLY a fried fish taco is a "real" fish taco, then there's the whole Thrill of the Grill crowd.  Being the opportunistic eater that I am, I've always thought the best fish taco is the one that's currently in front of me.  There are, however, some "essential elements" of a basic fish taco that we can all agree on.  Maybe.

 

 

Here we have some rock cod (snapper) sprinked with blackening seasoning, rolled in breadcrumbs and pan fried crispy.  We topped it with some shredded cheddar cheese, a spoonful of fruit salsa and a touch of sour cream.  Delish!

 

You could easily substitute salmon, mahi, halibut or any other favored fish - whatever sounds good!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This next photo shows an oyster taco! (And if you've never had the oyster tacos that they make next door at Dockside during the lunch hours, you haven't lived - they're worth it!)  We rolled the oysters in panko and baked them crispy in the oven, then placed them in a tortilla on a bed of coleslaw and topped them with cheese.  A squeeze of lime and you're ready to go!   

 

Serve these up, or your own "signature fish taco" concoction, with an ice cold white wine on the patio and congratulate yourself on the perfect summer meal.  :)

So fruit salsa is sort of one of those "use whatever you've got" concoctions, that does just fine if you add or subtract an ingredient or two, (I don't personally love the tomato in this one, so I usually leave that out and I KNOW we have some bell pepper haters in this crowd) so no worries about adjusting this to your preferences! 

 

Here's our basic recipe: Half a fresh pineapple, small chunked Whole fresh mango, small chunked Two big slices of red onion, diced fine Two cloves garlic, diced fine Two whole jalapeno peppers, diced fine Small bunch cilantro, chopped Orange and yellow bell pepper, diced Fresh tomato, diced The juice of one lime A generous shake of salt

We combine the pineapple and mango first, then scoop out a generous spoonful for our little north-of-the-border girl.  She doesn't like the onion and peppers and such, but she loves a little fruit on her fish taco.  Once that's done, we simply combine the rest in a big bowl, stir it up and pop it in the fridge to let the flavors come together while we're making the rest of the meal!