Best Ever Fish Tacos

How lucky am I that the other day my good friend Melinda called me and asked if I wanted some fresh caught ling cod? Her husband and brother had spent the day fishing in Santa Cruz, and they had plenty of fish to share. Fresh caught fish? Sure! We would love to have some! Before I even got of the phone, I had decided that we would be enjoying some delicious fish tacos for dinner.

I met Melinda at the grocery store where she give me a giant bag of freshly cleaned fish on ice. Look at this fish she gave me! Yes, I was lucky indeed! I was doing the happy dance in the Nob Hill parking lot before we both headed into the store to pick up a few groceries. I needed a few items to make the perfect fish tacos. So much fresh fish! Some of the ling cod they had caught had a blueish tint. It was absolutely beautiful in color. I had never seen blue ling cod before, but I quickly learned that it is not all that rare. The blue fish cooks up white just like the other fillets. Red fish, blue fish…

Fish tacos are a family favorite recipe. It has become a summer tradition of ours to have a giant end-of-vacation fish taco feast when we spend time at Lake Metigoshi in Bottineau, North Dakota. At the lake the kids have to fish all week to gather enough fish for to feed everyone tacos for lunch.  All during the week the kids hook up their fishing lines, and sit on the dock fishing. They have also all learned how to clean and fillet fish, so that they can hand it to me to wrap and place in freezer. They fish, I cook.  By the end of the week we will have amassed enough fish for me to bread and sauté for the tacos.

But in this case we had these giant fillets of beautiful ling cod. Yes, I keep saying beautiful – but they were indeed! I cut the cod into smaller pieces since they were to be going into tacos and lightly breaded them in a simple bread coating of seasoned bread crumbs, Pappy’s seasonings, and salt and pepper.  I actually ran out of bread crumbs as I was coating this batch, so I also used panko crumbs in the coating.

 Then sauté in a olive oil.

Add some toppings of fresh avocado, garden tomatoes, a squeeze of fresh lime, and my salsa infused cole slaw.

And you truly have a feast!

If you are extra hungry pile them up high! These beauties were built by my daughter’s boyfriend, Chris. So yummy!

Fish Tacos

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Pounds of fresh white fish cut into strips about 1 inch wide.
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 2 Cups Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• 1/4 Cup Pappy’s Seasoning
• Salt
• Pepper
• Vegetable Oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Lightly beat the eggs with the milk and place in a bowl.
2. Mix bread crumbs and Pappy’s seasonings into a second bowl.
3. Salt and pepper all pieces of fish.
4. Dip fish pieces into egg-milk wash and then dredge in bread crumb mixture until fully coated.  Set aside on plate. (I fully bread all fish before start frying.) At the lake I often bread the fish ahead of time, cover, and refrigerate for a couple of hours because I cook such large quantities there.
5. Heat three tablespoons of oil in sauté pan.
6. In small batches sauté fish in oil turning once until a nice golden brown and cooked throughly. About five minutes.
7. Remove to platter and set on paper towels to soak up extra oil. Keep warm (in oven set to warm or under heat lamps) until all the fish is cooked.

Salsa Cole Slaw

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 head of cabbage shredded
1 cup bottled cole slaw dressing
1/4 cup medium-heat salsa

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all three ingredients (to taste) and refrigerate until serving time.

Putting it all together…

Of course you will need the tortillas.  I always get an assortment of whole wheat, regular, and low-carb. Lay out your tortilla, top with some of the fish, some of the salsa cole slaw, fresh avocado slices, chopped garden tomatoes, and if you like, a bit of heat.  Sliced radishes also go well with these tacos.  Enjoy! They really are the best fish tacos ever!

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