Beer-Battered Fish Tacos with Creamy Chipotle Sauce

The first time I had fish tacos was just this past September, in while in Aruba with my sister Allie. One evening after being totally exhausted from a fantastic snorkeling trip and not feeling much like venturing downtown for dinner, we headed down to the hotel's sports-themed bar/restaurant for a quick bite. We were very, very pleasantly surprised. Despite the corny ambiance we were fully impressed by their fish tacos, made with perfectly fried local fish and fresh, yummy toppings on white flour tortillas. Delish.

So, for some reason, I decided that I wanted to make some fish tacos of my own while still here on the Cape. Adventure!

The sauce is based off of my recipe for the spicy chipotle dressing that I used in my black bean bowls with brown rice and sweet corn salsa back in June. Basically you'll want to make the dressing in a food processor and add sour cream until you are happy with the texture - probably around three quarters of a cup or more. Since this will also cool down the spiciness of the sauce, it may take a little fiddling with to reach the level of spiciness that you're going for, but it's totally worth it. Also, this way you can make a signature sauce that's all your own.

Crispy golden fried fish covered in sauce and toppings.

This recipe serves 4 people.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. fresh cod fillets, sliced diagonally into about 4 inch strips
White flour tortillas (Not corn. That is a mistake that I very nearly made.)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 12 oz. bottle of lager (I used Sankaty Light Lager made by Cisco Brewers on Nantucket, which I recommend.)
Oil for frying (quantity will depend on the vessel you're using)
1/2 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning or a "house seasoning" mix

Oil for frying
Slotted or basket spoon, wok or cast-iron dutch oven for frying

Directions
1. Heat oil in your dutch oven or wok. If you have a thermometer for these purposes, you'll want it around 375 Fahrenheit. If not, you want it hot enough that if you add a drop of water, the oil sizzles and freaks out a little. Very scientific. (Another trick is to test the temperature with a cube of bread. If it browns within a minute, it's ready to go). Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
2. Wrap your tortillas up in some aluminum foil and place in the oven. In a large bowl, pour out the beer. Sift 1 1/2 cups of the flour into the bowl, add house seasoning and whisk until just combined.
3. Pat fish dry with a paper towel, season on both sides with salt and pepper and coat with beer batter. Dredge fish in remaining flour and slide into the oil.
4. Fry fish until deep golden and cooked through, about 4 - 5 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet lined with paper towels and keep warm in oven, frying the remaining fish in batches.
5. Serve fish with toppings and sauce on a small pitcher, gravy boat, or with a ladle, and the warmed tortillas.

This batter is, in a word, fantastic. With the Sankaty Light Lager we used our batter came out light and crispy, without overwhelming the delicious, flaky white fish. I would recommend this for any kind of fried fish or seafood that you feel like beer-battering. The toppings are up to your own artistic license. I served them with shredded red cabbage, thinly sliced red onion, guacamole, a wedge of lime and the chipotle sauce, but they would also be delicious with a corn salsa, diced peppers and onions or even cucumber, if you're feeling adventurous.

My only caveat with this dish is the work involved. There is nothing difficult about the frying - the battering and cooking are all pretty simple - but you will almost certainly want an extra set of hands to help scoop out the cooked fish strips and transfer them to the baking sheet. Fortunately my Mom was there to (enthusiastically) do everything that my batter-covered hands were much too gunky to do. So grab a friend or two, some fresh fish and a beer and make some yummy, crispy tacos!

Quote of the Day: Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish. ~ Ovid

Guerilla Kitchen in Aruba Part 2, or Sauteed Swordfish with Avocado & Green Salad

Our second full day in Aruba, today was our designated "do nothing" day. After a couple of hours at the beach, we took a break for lunch in our suite (delicious egg salad sandwiches made by Allie) before heading down to the pool for a couple more hours and the all-important pool happy hour. We've got a snorkeling adventure planned for tomorrow, and given the whitey white-white state of my skin before this trip, I was quite committed to building my tolerance in preparation for several hours on and around a catamaran. I've done fairly well so far.

A bit sheltered from the more high-traffic areas of the pool, this is a little slice of heaven where we've spent the last two afternoons.

 After some much needed showering (WHY must sunscreen be so hard to get off?) and a little chill-time, we considered the evening ahead. So, with our swordfish steaks busy marinading in Italian salad dressing, we headed back down to the beach to take in something Aruba is quite famous for, and which surely did not disappoint: A gorgeous sunset.

If this view (from under one of the beach huts, or palapas) weren't beautiful enough...

... This boat appeared at the last moment to make quite the photo opportunity.

I know, right now you are probably thinking "I thought this was a food blog. Why all the stuff about Aruba?" to which I don't really have an answer, except that these sights are too lovely for me not to share, and this experience too fun for me to keep quiet about. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

As far as the actual cooking of tonight's dinner goes, I cannot say that I strayed very far from last night's grouper, except to say that I did use lower heat for a longer period of time owing to the thickness of the fillets. I used the same Italian salad dressing marinade, and pan-sauteed the swordfish, serving it with lemon. With it we had a salad made by Allie and some sliced avocado as well as yummy multi-grain rolls. For me, avocado sprinkled with a little salt is one of the loveliest things around.

The paperwork to my right is our tickets for snorkeling tomorrow. Excited!

Before yesterday's grouper, I had basically zero experience with cooking fish. I've cooked seafood, sure - shrimp, scallops, what have you - but delicate, flaky fish has always been a bit intimidating to me. I think this is because I love it so very much. Who wants to be responsible for ruining something so naturally wonderful, let alone something they have a deep affinity for? So, putting aside my anxiety about it, Allie was willing to step aside and let me try it out, which I am grateful for. I've discovered for myself what I've always known to be true: Beautifully fresh, local fish, with just a few basic additions, speaks for itself.

Quote of the Day: Soup and fish explain half the emotions of human life. ~ Sydney Smith

Guerilla Kitchen in Aruba Part 1, or Pan-Seared Grouper with Couscous & Green Salad

Hooray! Vacation!

The "huts" are available to rent for the day, and are free if you grab them same-day. Thank goodness - shade is very necessary here.

 I realize I forgot to warn you all, but as you may know, the GK (meaning me, Genevieve) is visiting Aruba this week! I am here with my fabulously fun big sister Allie, and could not be happier about the whole thing. Thanks to my parents' investment in a Marriott timeshare many years ago, my Dad was able to offer Allie and I his hotel week this year. Obviously, this was very generous and we intend to make the most of our time here. There is much local food to try, and we intend to sample much of it, but Aruba is an island, after all, which means high prices on just about everything. This is especially true for the restaurants. Truthfully, cost was the motivation for us to cook some meals in our suite, but now that we've fully embraced it I think there is still much fun ahead in cooking and eating in the comfort of our hotel.

Last night, after a travel-weary but totally delicious experience with some Caribbean barbecue, we put together a few necessary breakfast items from a shop in the hotel: Just-add-water pancake mix, coffee, milk, butter and honey. (The honey was in lieu of maple syrup, which to be honest is what I prefer with my pancakes anyway.) This morning we had our pancakes before heading out to one of the big grocery stores in the area, Ling & Sons. This was surprisingly fun. The store carries many brands and products familiar to us Americans, along with some extremely foreign Dutch, Venezuelan and Portuguese items.

Our plan is to have breakfast in our suite, a few lunches, and a few dinners, so that we can save some money and still get a chance to taste (and cook!) local fare like super fresh fish, which is what we put together for tonight. After coming off the beach for a leisurely stay at the hotel pool (and, erm, pool bar), fish seemed like the perfect thing.

We made some iguana friends at the pool.

I have complete vacation-brain at the moment, which is probably to be expected. I say this because while I am very happy to tell you what went into these dishes, there won't be much in the way of ingredients or detailed instructions in this or future Aruban posts. But that's a pretty fair reflection of what I'm doing.

It's all very yellow to look at, but it was highly delicious.

I marinaded two grouper fillets in a combination of a basic Italian salad dressing, a little extra olive oil, a bit of salt and garlic & herb Mrs. Dash, adding a sprinkling of black pepper on top once the fish was coated with the marinade. I cooked them in olive oil (heated until smoking) for about three minutes per side, and served it with a piece of lemon. I made a yummy "toasted pine-nut" flavored couscous, and Allie made a lovely salad. And, because Aruba totally has the right idea and I totally do not understand any country or state in which it is unlawful to sell alcohol and food under the same roof, we enjoyed our dinner with some chardonnay.

The fish was extremely fresh, tender and juicy, and exactly what I had hoped for from a local catch. I wasn't sure at first how the pine nut couscous would be with the mild and lemony fish, but they ended up being quite tasty together - perfect counterpoints. We enjoyed it all and still have some beautiful swordfish that awaits us in the refrigerator.

Quote of the Day: All groupers are members the sea bass family, Serranidae, and are found in tropical and warm temperate waters world-wide. ~ FoodReference.com

P.s. Some of you may recall a resolution I made not long ago to limit my meat and seafood consumption for my own health as well as the health of the planet. But experiencing the best of local produce is also high among my priorities, and I can't ignore the abundance of beautiful fish caught right outside my window. So I won't! You could call this wishy-washyness, but I just call it smart.