Beer Battered Fish Tacos

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I consider today to be the last day of summer. Here in Maryland, there is already a crispness in the air in the mornings. School buses are on the move, and dare I say it, but I’ve already seen a few leaves changing color. It’s been a wonderful summer for me and my family. We’ve got a new baby on the way (due on Christmas Eve!), had an abundance of fresh seafood, many glorious days at the beach, and plenty of good food on the table. Even though I have not been regular with my blogging, rest assured I still have been putting out “good eats” on the regular. This, my friends, was one of our favorite dishes this summer. Beef tacos and chicken tacos are wonderful, but a good fish taco is on another plane of existence!

Now, of course you could grill or pan sear your fish for a healthier option. But, I gotta give two-thumbs up for the beer batter. I used my husbands home brewed 60 Minute IPA, and the beer flavor really shined through. The fish also stayed crispy long after frying. We were nibbling on fish nuggets long after dinner was over! I like to employ a double-shell technique for these. I had some wonderful blue corn taco shells that I got while in the “big city” a month or so ago. But, they are very fragile. My solution was to wrap a flour tortilla around the corn, and it really does give it a little something extra as far as the texture is concerned. We topped ours with a spicy chipotle ailoi, pico de gallo, and of course the traditional thinly sliced cabbage.

They’ve definitely become a favorite in our household, even with our 2 year old Drew. He couldn’t get enough of the fish, as well as the Spanish rice I served it with (which, I will have to blog on it’s own in another post…it’s insanely good as well!). I see us having this dish in the cold winter months as well for sure!

Beer Battered Fish Tacos

1 firm white fish filet (cod, haddock, catfish, flounder)

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup beer (whatever you’ve got laying around)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp kosher salt

6 hard corn taco shells (blue is nice, but yellow is fine too!)

6 small “fajita-sized” flour tortillas

finely shredded cabbage

pico de gallo or chopped tomato

vegetable oil for frying

For the chipotle aioli :

1/2 cup good mayonnaise

3 tbsp chopped chipotle in adobo sauce

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp hot sauce

juice from 1/2 a lime

Combine 1 cup flour, paprika, chili powder, cumin, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the beer to the flour mixture and let it sit for at least 30 minutes to let the yeasts in the beer develop. Meanwhile prepare the fish by patting the filet dry with paper towels, then cutting into 1×1 inch chunks. Place the remainder 1/2 cup of flour into a small bowl, and toss the fish chunks in the flour to coat.

For the aioli, combine the mayonaise, chipotle pepper, cilantro, hot sauce and lime juice. Add salt to taste. Place in serving dish and set aside to let flavors mingle.

Heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat to 375 degrees.  Remove fish from the flour bowl, and place about half of the chunks into the beer batter. Once coated in the batter well, place in hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove to paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining chunks of fish.

Heat corn tortillas in a 350 degree oven to crisp, and warm the flour tortillas on a plate covered with plastic wrap in the microwave for about 45 seconds until pliable. Place the corn tortilla inside the flour tortilla. Place fried fish inside the shells (I had to cut some of the chunks in half as they were large), and top with shredded cabbage, chipotle aioli, and pico de gallo. A squirt of fresh lime juice is nice as well. Enjoy with a nice cold beer!

Source: Inspired by a dish at Gordon Biersch

Pot Roast with Stout Gravy

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Allow me to introduce you to this recipe. We go way back. I first stumbled upon it when browsing The Spice House’s website (which is owned by Bill Penzey’s sister. They’re just a whole family chock full of spice tycoons, I tell ya). At the time, St. Patrick’s Day was right around the corner. I’m not a huge fan of corned beef, unless it’s in hash form. The recipe called for Guinness to be used, so I though it would be a festive alternative to the traditional corned beef and cabbage. I was right, it was a huge hit. I went out with some girlfriends that evening, and when I returned…it had all been consumed by the husband.  And make no mistakes folks, it was a large roast.

Needless to say, it since became my standard pot roast recipe. So much more flavor that your  standard Crock-Pot variety pot roast. Not only that, but I feel like it’s been improved upon by trying out different beers. I had heard wonderful things about coffee-braised pot roasts. So, I thought it would be very interesting to combine the two. Again, boy was I right!

We have  2 oh-so-wonderful local breweries in my area (hey – we don’t have much, but we’ve got good beer by God!). Both happen to make wonderful, rich dark stouts that use coffee in the brewing process. The first is Dogfish Head’s Chicory Stout. If you haven’t heard about DogFish, and like beer, do yourself a favor and try something out. You can find them nationwide, if you look hard enough. The second is Evolution Brewing Company’s Rise Up Stout.  “Evo” started  up about a year or so ago, right here on the Eastern Shore, and have been putting out wonderful craft beers. Chances are if you don’t live in the Chesapeake area, you won’t find them. But, by all means, get out there and explore the beer coolers at your local stores. Lots of great microbreweries are springing up all over the place. I’m sure you could find something near you that is equally as wonderful!

I don’t list potatoes in the recipe, but feel free to add them in with the rest of the other veggies. I usually use red potatoes that I’ve halved.  However, it’s wonderful with mashed potatoes too. You want as much of the gravy as you can get, folks. Enjoy this recipe, I promise you that you won’t miss that corned beef a bit!

Pot Roast with Stout Gravy

1 3-4 pound chuck roast

2 cups beef broth

16 oz of dark-colored stout

2 medium onions, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 2″ pieces

1 small head of cabbage, cut into wedges

2 tbsp olive oil

kosher salt

black pepper

3 tbsp cold water

2 tbsp cornstarch

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Season beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.  Place roast in pan, and sear well on both sides until nice and brown. Remove roast to plate and set aside. Add onions to the dutch oven and cook, stirring often, until the onions are starting to brown on the outsides. About 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the beef stock to the pan, then slide the beef into the stock. Cover, and cook for 1 hour.

Reduce oven temperature to 350. Remove the roast from the oven, add the stout, re-cover, and cook for an additional 1 hour 15 minutes.  Remove roast again, add the vegetables and re-cover. Cook for an additional 45 minutes.

To make the gravy, remove the roast (and, it will be falling apart!) and place on a platter. Then, remove the various vegetables and arrange them on the platter as well. Cover it with aluminum foil to keep warm while you make the gravy. Using a fine mesh strainer, pour the braising liquid into a medium saucepan. Combine the cornstarch and the cold water in a small dish, then add to the gravy. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the cornstarch works it’s magic and the gravy thickens.

You can try to slice the pot roast, but I just like to use two forks to pull it apart into large chunks. Whatever floats your boat, though!

Source: adapted from The Spice House