Cooking Challenge Week 5 - Alcohol - Fish Tacos

From the Good Eats recipe, except that I used the rest of last week's mahi-mahi instead of the tilapia.  Any fish would benefit from a tequila-lime-cilantro marinade, I think....

Also, the relevant half-episode of the show, which includes a fair bit of good advice on making the tortillas--though I used store-bought, because I haven't managed to make decent flour tortillas yet.  Corn, yes, flour, definitely not.

Sorry this one's a quickie, but I've got two big dinners coming up--one to cook tonight, to start a new personal challenge for this blog; and one to plan, for the Super Bowl on Sunday!

Cooking Challenge Week 4 - Pan Frying - Mahi-Mahi with Soy-Ginger Sauce

I had to hit the cookbooks to find something to pan-fry.  We don't really do meals in the hunk-of-protein-plus-side-dish style.  Hunks of protein can get expensive.  We do curries, casseroles, things tossed with pasta.  Soup and some form of bread.  Pizza.  But very few hunks of protein.  So I don't really pan-fry things.

But that's the point of the challenge, right?  So I found a recipe to use as a guideline, splurged a little on my favorite fish, mahi-mahi, and let the butter hit the pan.  I rarely cook fish, though I'm known by my family to get mahi-mahi nearly every time I see it on a menu, so I figured, why not?

No procedural today, though, I was too worried about getting the fish properly cooked to stop every step and take pictures.  Also, I'm kicking myself for forgetting the garnishes--the sauce heated so quickly and got a little too reduced, I was rushing to get it out of the pan and on the plate!

The cauliflower was delicious, and a good complement to the fish.  It's the Good Eats roasted broccoli recipe, which I've made often with broccoli, but today I wanted to use up the last of last week's cauliflower.

Pan-fried Mahi-Mahi with Soy-Ginger Sauce
(serves 4)

•  1 lb mahi-mahi, thawed if frozen, cut into 4 portions
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp fresh shredded ginger (or 1/8 tsp ground ginger)
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• sesame seeds and sliced scallions, to garnish

Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels.  Brush both sides of the fish with the 2 tbsp lemon juice.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the fish in the butter for 6 to 10 minutes (depending on thickness), turning once, until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.  Transfer to serving plates.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the water, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, and pepper.  After removing the fish, deglaze the pan with the sauce mixture.  Cook until just heated through and pour over fish.  Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and sliced scallions, and serve.