Tastes Like Summer Fish Tacos

I'm willing, wishing, and doing magic dances to get the sun to shine in Berlin for more than 3 hours. Right now it's humid and muggy and grey. Not a patch of blue sky anywhere. Maybe if I write about summer food the sun can be coaxed out?

Back in June when it was sunny, and hot, I fancied some fish tacos. We could have gone over to Prenzlauer Berg to have the great fish tacos that Maria Bonita serves up, but instead I dug out a tin of chipotles in adobo sauce that was lurking in the back of the cupboard, took out a packet of corn tortillas that had been deep-sixed in the freezer, and pedalled down to our local Turkish market that has a fairly decent fish counter, to see what they had.

I came back with some Viktoria Barsch fillets. Not sure what they are in English? Kind of cod or haddock like.

Anyways, I made some chipotle mayonnaise, batter for the fish, and some shredded veggies for the garnish. I used some radishes, iceberg lettuce and red onion. Kelsie made a batch of her marvelous margaritas and our wee garden in Spandau was temporarily transformed into a Baja oasis. :-)


FISH TACOS
chipotle mayonnaise recipe from: All Recipes

for the chipotle mayonnaise:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor.

for the batter:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 cup beer

Mix together the dry ingredients. Then whisk in the beer. The batter will resemble pancake batter.

for the tacos:
500g firm fish fillets (we used Viktoria barsch)
canola or sunflower oil
wedges of lime
corn tortilla

To make the tacos:

1. Make the chipotle mayonnaise and set aside.


2. Make the beer batter and set aside.


3. Make the garnish -- shred iceberg lettuce or white cabbage, some radishes and finely slice some onions.


4. Heat 3 inches of sunflower or canola oil in a large saucepan.


5. Pat the fish fillets dry with kitchen roll. Slice into 2-inch strips. When the oil is hot, coat the fish in the batter and fry in the oil until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.


6. Heat the tortillas in a dry frying pan until supple.


7. To assemble the tacos, put a piece or two of fish in the tortilla, drizzle on some chipotle mayo, top with shredded veg to taste, and finish with a squeeze of lime.


8. Best accompanied with an ice cold beer or a margarita!

Flantastic First Supperclub Night

Finally we've launched TWMF Supper Club. And with the first night under our belts I've got time to reflect on the whirlwind weekend it was.

We did the first shop, mostly alcohol-based, on Thursday night after work. Keep in mind we don't have a car here. It's just us and our rucksacks and public transport. We do have a trolley that we can hitch to Kelsie's bike, but decided on public transport this round as we didn't know how much we'd be able to carry. Good thing we split the alcohol shopping from the food shopping. Wine and beer bottles are heavy.

The next morning we did the big Ikea shop. Got there really early and did pretty well, except we got stuck on the chairs and which to buy, cushions or no cushions? wish we knew how to sew, wish our friend jorge were here to help sew nice covers, do we have enough dessert forks? we took a taxi for this round, meeting Kofi, a Ghanaian in Spandau who was v. surprised when i started talking to him in Ewe.

We were home long enough to drop the stuff off and headed back out to do food shop part 1. This involved a journey to Charlottenburg to Aqui Espana to get the rest of the Mexican ingredients and the all important tequila. Had a mini-meltdown when we couldn't decide to spend another hour going to Getrankmarkt in Mitte where we were sure we could get the same bottle of Tequila for way cheaper. Decided not to, and headed back to Aqui Espana for the more expensive bottle.

Short train trip back to Spandau where we did food shop part 2 and finally got home around 5:30 pm. OMG. I started in on the flans and washing all the new crockery/cutlery/glassware. By 8 pm i was ready to start the mole. Mole is a very time consuming recipe. Practically each individual ingredient has to be cooked separately before joining the rest. And as with any sauce it takes time to develop. Lots of time. At 2:30 am i was finally finished. The house smelled deliciously spicy with all the cooking smells but i was beyond knackered.

After a fleeting sleep with mole-filled dreams I woke up on saturday. LATE! It was already 9 am and i still had to go back for food shop part 3. I left Kels at the flat to start setting things up, and hightailed it back to Charlottenburg for the farmers market at Karl-August Platz. Found beautiful side of salmon at my favourite fish stall, bargain limes, gorgeous lettuce, and pretty flowers for the table.



Once home i started 'cooking' the salmon ceviche, braising the turkey, and did all the prep for the evening. Lots of onion and garlic chopping, prepping the lime vinaigrette for the salad, and two of the 3 salsas. Amazingly by 5 pm i was ready. Kelsie had tranformed our place into a mini-Mexico, replete with crepe paper bunting with Dia de los Muertos cut-outs, and a beautifully laid out table. All i wanted was for the first guest to arrive so that i could start sending the food out.



And the bell rang. 4 guests arrived at once. I put the totopos in the oven and started making a batch of guacamole. 10 minutes later, another 3 arrived. Totopos and 3 salsas went out, Kelsie was expertly mixing margaritas and serving drinks. 20 minutes later we were still waiting for the remaining two guests to arrive. and waiting. and ...waiting. we decided to start the meal and i plated up the ceviche.



it got quiet. good thing? bad thing? kels brought back empty dishes. good thing! meanwhile i did the rice and calabacitas con elote. mole was ticking away. everything running like clockwork.

and, because we had two no-shows we got to sit at the table too. that was probably the coolest thing for me. sitting at the table with our guests, talking about the food, watching them enjoy it. really really gratifying.




we had plenty of food for seconds (and more...). salad with lime vinaigrette and toasted pepitas was next. a nice fresh palate cleanser after the heady flavours of the mole.

and for dessert one of the two flans i made the night before. coffee and the aged tequila. and more tequila. and chili-orange truffles. before we knew it it was past midnight and our guests were making their way home. we surveyed the scene and after one more tequila (what were we thinking?!) went to bed.



sunday was a painfully hungover day interspersed with washing batches of dishes and trudging back to bed for hangover recovery.

i'm learning things as i go along. here's what i've learned this round:
1) split the shopping into stages esp if you don't have a car.
2) 10 people is not the same as an army. don't make too much food or you'll be eating leftovers for eternity.
3) it takes a lot less room if you chill your wine/beer outdoors. especially if it's cold outside.
4) avocados take longer than you think to ripen.
5) keep those water jugs full.
6) don't mix margarita/beer/white wine/red wine/tequila/port in the same night.
7) remember to take pictures!



Special thanks to FoodieInBerlin for her kind review and to all our guests for making the first night a success! We hope you join us again for another supperclub evening.

Autumn/Winter Flavours at Wahaca

Last Thursday, Kelsie and I along with 28 other luck Qypers, decended on the Westfield outpost of Wahaca. I've been to the Covent Garden one once, and rated it then though at the time it was a 'team lunch' with my new teamates, at my then new job, and I had to keep my focus on the team and not the food.

Always the eager beavers that we are, we were the first to arrive and were expertly guided to the mezzanine seating area which was still being set up for the evening feast. A couple of cold Modelo's soon arrived and then we met charming and enthusiastic Cecilia who runs the Wahaca blog. She recognised us from our twitter postings about Pozole making and my other comments in the blog. It was definitely cool to match an online entity with a name. Soon after that we met Tomasina and had a fabulous conversation about Mexican food, chiles, posole, one of my food idols Diane Kennedy (who btw is coming to London soon!), Tommi's recent recipe competition for creative chilli recipes and more. Alas, duty called and she had to get back to the prep as more guests arrived.



Creamy guacamole and zesty salsa were passed around with proper tortilla chips and fantastically light chicharones. Our server recommended a squeeze of lime on the crackling which made all the difference. Su-lin and I honed in on that and nearly finished a bowl ourselves.



Finally we were seated and Tommi and her business partner Mark welcomed all the guests. We got the run down on what we'd be served this night, and to my delight Mark also told us about a trio of tequilas that would be served alongside the dishes.



And then the food started arriving. The menu is split between Street Food; Soups and Salads; and Platos Fuertes.

We started with a selection of some of the new street food dishes. First up was a tostada with MSC smoked herring topping. The oiliness of the fish beautifully complemented by a sharp Veracruz style tomato sauce with flavours of olives and capers. This dish is definitely one to come back for.



Next, a taco filled with Pork Pibil. Succulent shreds of slow cooked pork, with an altogether different sauce.

And last from the Street Food section a Huitalcoche Quesadilla. I was really excited about this one as huitalcoche is a peculiar fungus that grows in between corn kernels, and not easy to come by here. As a result, for this recipe the corn fungus was mixed with sweetcorn and british mushrooms to round out the filling. I have to say I couldn't really make out a distinctive huitalcoche flavour but it was a good quesadilla nonetheless.

The next set of dishes were centered around the Soups and Salads section. First up was earthy black bean soup. I missed the assembling of it but enjoyed the texture and flavour layers in it. This could easily be a meal unto itself.




The Winter Fuerza salad was one of the evening's highlights for me. Frisee, avocado, crispy fried ancho chilies, queso fresco (or was it feta?), locally grown spelt, roasted squash all festivally presented in a big bowl to share. The vinaigrette tasted of lime but didn't overpower the ingredients.



Without missing a beat, the main dishes started arriving.

There was a pollock cooked Veracruz style, which arrived in a foil packet. I loved the big hits of cinnamon flavour coming through in the sauce, but was a bit underwhelmed by the fish. Not sure why, but it didn't seem to carry the sauce as a complete unit it felt like fish + sauce rather than fish in sauce. If that makes sense.


The absolute hit of the evening was next: a classic Baja-California Fish Taco -- crispy fried fish with just the right kick of chipotle mayonaise served in a soft taco. I could have eaten a whole tray of these alone and am now contemplating throwing a fish taco party in the near future. High marks for this one.



Next up was chicken enchiladas served with Oaxacan (wahacan) mole sauce. Think rich, chile/chocolate/spicy sauce. A perfect foil for the shredded chicken and tortillas.



The last main was a vegetable burrito. By this time we were glassy eyed and really struggling to find room for this. I powered on, heard snippets of conversation about cabbage not belonging in the burrito (i wholeheartedly disagree btw), and managed to finish my 1/4 burrtito.



Miraculously we all found room for the dessert which was a platter of light crispy churros served with a bowl of hot chocolate. Another inspiration i am going to try making these at home.



Add to the wonderful food an absolutely exhuberant group of people to share the love of good food and drink and it was an evening to remember for a long time. I had great conversations with http://tikichris.wordpress.com/, sulin, and made a new friend of thelondonfoodie.




Thanks again Qype and Wahaca for putting on this event!

making Pozole

mel, jorge and me all made a video on how to make pozole. check it out here

Mexican Pozole from kelsie mortimer on Vimeo.

Six Nations Final and Enchiladas de Jalisco

Yesterday was the RBS Six Nations final. We didn't have enough dosh to buy a ticket to Twickenham, so opted for a couch view instead.

In the weeks leading up to yesterday i started craving enchiladas. Probably it has something to do with a) going to uni in Dallas, Texas; b) rugby looking a lot like American football (don't worry i appreciate it wholly for what it IS not what it's LIKE); and c) needing something hot and spicy to offset cans of Red Stripe (or is it supposed to be the other way around?

These were not your ordinary Old El Paso pre-processed enchilada packs. These were real home-made beef enchiladas with an earthy spicy red sauce. The only thing that wasn't home made were the tortillas. I used to have a tortilla press that would come out once or twice a year and finally parted with it after too many house moves.

The recipe comes from The Cuisines of Mexico by Diana Kennedy. The book is a treasure trove of facts and recipes of the diverse regional cooking styles from all over Mexico. I bought it over 20 years ago when i moved from Texas back to NYC. I missed the food that was so readily available and wanted to recreate it at home. At that time Mexican food and ingredients were near impossible to find in New York City. I had dried chilies mailed to me from friends back in Texas, and on the odd occasion was able to find fresh poblanos. Proper fresh corn tortillas were also sometimes difficult to find. Over time the Mexican population in NYC grew and it was exciting to watch that food culture finally take root in the city.

Enchiladas de Jalisco (serves 4)

1 courgette (about 125 g)
2 small carrots (about 250 g)
3 small red-skinned or waxy potatoes (250 g)
2 large beef tomatoes (500g)
250 g course beef mince
250 g course pork mince (*Note: i used 500g beef mince and omitted the pork)
salt
lard
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1-2 Tbsp parsley finely chopped
10 guajillo chiles (about 60g)
2 whole cloves
1/4 inch piece of cinnamon stick
8 corn tortillas
grated cheddar cheese

1. Trim the courgette but leave whole. Top and tail the carrots, peel and quarter lengthwise. Peel the potatoes and cut in half. Cover the vegetables with boiling water and add 2 tsp salt. Let cook for about 5 minutes.


2. Tightly squeeze the meat into two large meatballs. Add to the vegetables along with the two tomatoes. Let cook covered until the vegetables are just tender. Drain the veg and meat and reserve the broth.


3. Peel the two tomatoes and puree in a blender.


4. When cool enough to handle, cut the veg into small dice and set aside.


5. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan and put in the dried chilies. Move them around so as not to burn. Remove from heat as soon as you smell them. Remove the stems and seeds from the chilli pods and cover the pods with hot water. Let sit for 20 minutes.


6. In a large frying pan heat a couple Tbsp lard and saute the chopped onion until soft but not coloured. Crumble in the meatballs and add the parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes. Pour in the tomato puree and let bubble until the tomato sauce has thickened slightly.


7. Add the chopped veg and 1/3 cup reserved broth and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.


8. Remove the chilli pods from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer to a blender jar. Add 1 cup reserved broth along with the cloves, cinnamon and some salt. Process until smooth and adjust seasoning.


9. In a separate frying pan heat another Tbsp of lard and cook the chilli sauce for about 5-8 minutes until rich and thick. Add more reserved broth if the sauce is too thick.


10. Preheat the oven to 180C. In a thirday frying pan lightly fry each tortilla in oil for no more than a few seconds each side. Place on kitchen roll to drain.


11. Now you prepare an assembly line. First take a tortilla, dip both sides in the sauce then tranfer the tortilla to a rectangular oven dish. Spoon some of the piccadillo onto the edge of the tortilla and roll up tightly. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas until the piccadillo is finished. Line the enchiladas up side by side in the oven dish. If you need another layer spread some sauce over the bottom layer of enchiladas first. Finish by spreading more sauce over the enchiladas and scatter grated cheddar cheese over the top. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.


12. This is best served with rice and refried beans.