Mahi fish tacos

 

 Well this was an unintentional dinner. But it came out delicious so I must share :) My husband decided yesterday he wanted to go on this diet called Primalburn. This diet is basically NO PROCESSED food. But think a little deeper... this diet says you can't eat anything that doesn't look the way it did when it came out of the ground. WTF?! Ummm first of all I will admit we do eat organic food. Not all, but most things I do try to buy organic. I cook with fresh ingredients and try to stay away from processed food and microwaves. But this diet says no wheat, flour, pasta, dairy.. and so on. So I'm like what the hell am I suppose to cook!? LOL Anywho- Went to the grocery store and bought some Mahi Mahi. One of my favorites! And the point of my story was Phil just wanted some grilled Mahi by itself, and I said I'll eat the processed food for ya! Gonna make some fish tacos for myself!! How bad could some corn tortillas be?! Yea they are processed because corn sure doesn't look like that when it comes out of the ground! LOL- hey they could be flour tortillas!! I don't feel so guilty now. :)

So I was in the mood for some refreshing dip because it has been so got darn HOT here in south Texas. So I decided to make pico de gallo with some mango. And what goes better on some fish tacos?!- Besides Avocado. :)

Recipe for Mango Pico de gallo

3 Roma Tomatoes diced

1/4 cup diced red onion

1-2 T cilantro (can be strong- start off with one T)

1 clove of garlic minced

1 mango diced

half of Serrano pepper

juice of 1 Lime

1/2 t salt

pepper to taste.

Dice your tomatoes and onion. Cut the Serrano lengthwise and removed the seeds. Finely chop one of the halves. Last, finely chop your cilantro and your fresh garlic clove. Toss everything in the bowl and squeeze your lime juice. Add salt and pepper.

Now, for the mango. They can be a little slimy. Here is the best way I have learned to peel and cut a mango.  Hold your mango from one side and slowly run your knife down the sides to remove the skin.

Then when your done you get a naked mango! Notice, the seed in the middle. cut the sides around the seed in the middle. You will know when to stop because it will get be tough

Dice your mango and enjoy a few pieces on a chip like I did.

Toss the mango together with the pico de gallo.

Fish tacos.

2 filets of Mahi Mahi 

Flour for coating

salt and pepper to taste
2 T canola oil

1 Avocado

2 Corn tortillas

Heat a pan on med heat, add oil to hot pan. Season your fish and then coat in flour. Shake off any excess. Cook fish about 3-4 minutes on each side or until flaky. 

Place your fish on your corn tortillas and top off with the mango pico, and fresh avocado slices. Enjoy :)

 

 

Fredericksburg

This weekend was mine and Phil's one year anniversary and we went to Fredericksburg to celebrate. We had a blast! It was our first time there, and the town is so charming. We loved it! Some of our friends joined us the second night to celebrate their anniversary as well. They got married on the same day as us, but they were celebrating their 7 year anniversary. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back.

We stayed at the Angels Above the Creek. Super cute bed in breakfast! Philip picked it and he did a good job :) It was very rustic and had that ranch feel to it. Our kind of style.

 

We got a couple massage the first day there. It was Philip's first massage which he loved! It was really cool because they came out to our room and set their tables up in our room upstairs. I snapped this shot real quick while we were undressing lol and they were down stairs waiting for us. Its not the best picture.

So I know my main purpose for this blog is to post my recipes... and I'm sure your wondering what great food we had?! So the first night we went to this really elegant restaurant called August E's and had some great food. They hand cut all their steaks, fly in fish from all over the world and NOTHING is frozen. They use the freshest ingredients and their menu changes depending what is available. They were so nice and gave great service. This place was very fancy and modern. They had some nice art work displayed by local artists. This place was so fancy that you could not use your cell phones in the dinning room. LOL Soooo I couldn't get any pics of the great dishes. But I snuck two pics :))

So this was my first course that I will Recreate one day because it was so unique and DELICIOUS!

Poached pear stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese and fresh spinach salad with toasted pecans. YUM!!

 

And for our dessert they surprised us with Creme Brulee.:) It was yummy.

Its a Rose =))

So the night went on with our romantic dinner and we went to a local bar after and called it a night. Our friends were coming the next day and couldn't wait to visit the wineries together! Tomorrow awaits...

WE had a BLAST visiting the wineries! We had lunch first at the famous Fredericksburg brewing company. Food was good. Beer...eh I'm not a beer drinker but Philip enjoyed his beer sample. We all went down main street after lunch and then headed to the wineries.

WINERY STOP #1

The first winery we visited was the Becker vineyards. We did wine tasting and a had a little private tour and saw how wine was made. It was really NEAT!

These large tanks do the magic process of fermenting the wine. Converting the sugar into alcohol. A very crucial process.. I promise I'm not going to give you all a lesson on how wine is made. Just wanna show some pictures!! LoL :) And those are all the barrels that hold the wine.

Here are some pics of us. Yes the guys are drunk. Us gals are having a good time :) baby Taylor is chillin!! The lady that gave us the samples probably gave us more than our tickets could get us lol!! She loved us. Well the guys!!

WINERY STOP #2

That was our favorite sparkling wine from this winery. It had hints of almond. It was very delicious! And those grapes were actually the first harvested.

After a long fun day of wine tasting we went and had dinner at the Cabernet Grill. They had Delicious food! -

Philip and I  =)

OK .. LAST Stop before we left Fredericksburg ... LUCKENBACH. LoL!!

So I have never heard of the town but everyone swore we had to stop and get a T-shirt in Luckenback. There is a famous song apparently about this little town. When I say little... I mean it! LOL

This town was like on a 5 acre lot. And that is it. They have a little gift shop that is VERY old and stunk that also has a bar attached in the back LOL. The guys were upset they couldn't have a beer yet  because it was 11am on a SUNDAY. They have concerts out there and a food stand.. and that's about it. It's pretty redneck if you ask me.

This was hilarious. This cat was passed out on the bench outside the little gift shop. 

A little to much to drink last night cat????

Chicken Parmesan

This is my first posting and I'm really excited to share my recipes with you all. Here is one of my classic favorites that is a treat every once in a while for my husband and I. And well maybe Dixie (our dog) Ya'll will hear about her later. :)

Here it is...

Things you will need:
2 Chicken breasts
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of marinara sauce
1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella
1/2 a box of linguine pasta
1/3 cup of canola oil ( or eye ball it)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
pinch of nutmeg
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

So I though of going for the visual step by step process Here is my attempt. I admire those who take a picture of EVERY single step because it is a little challenging when your best tools in the kitchen (your hands) are getting dirty as you cook. Very time consuming. But I have a passion for cooking and I enjoy every bit of it. :)

Lets begin.

Start boiling your water and cook according to pasta's directions. Make sure your put about a teaspoon of salt once it started boiling.

Pound your chicken until about 1 inch thick. (I actually halved my chicken breasts and then pounded them because they were really big.

Make your assembly line of your egg wash and your breadcrumbs. Mix the two eggs and milk in a bowl. (you can see my big hand print LOL)

 

Put your  canola oil in your pan and place one medium heat. Wow we are going to be here forever.. lol

 

So next step, once an hour has gone by and you fill your pan with the oil LOL! Dip your chicken with one hand in the egg wash and then use your other hand to coat with the bread crumbs.  Then place it in the oil. ( Sorry didn't take a pic of those two steps because both hands were dirty)

Make sure you have about that much oil. Just enough to cover the surface of the pan. Fry for 3 minutes on each side. And you'll get a nice brown crust

 

Oh and if your wondering why I am just frying the one piece of chicken is because I made my husband his  dinner before he goes to work and that is before I go to the gym. :) I made mine later. 

So throw in that pasta into the hot boiling water. You don't have to use linguine noodles you can use fettuccine, spaghetti or angel hair noodles. This is just what I had on hand. All though it seems like the sauce just really coats these noodles very well.

Ok so put the marinara sauce in the microwave for about a minute. Then we are going to place a couple of spoon fulls on the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Place in a 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes until cheese is all melted and is heated through.

Now for the Alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in the pan on a medium low heat, add the garlic once it is melted and let is saute for a minute.  Then add the cream and let them marry for about 2 minutes. Don't let the sauce boil. Just keep it at a simmer and slowly add the cheese and stir constantly as it melts.

   

Once all the cheese is melted add your salt and fresh cracked pepper to your taste and the pinch of nutmeg. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes or until you reach your desired consistency. I like my sauces thick so I simmer for about 4-5 minutes.

And this is the treat you get. =))

Enjoy!!