Fish Tacos and Margarita Spritzers

In the next episode of Fancy Looks, Easy Cooks, I made fish tacos. I LOVE Rubio’s fish tacos. Alas, the closest one is something like 800 miles south. Years ago, Tyler Florence did a homemade version of Rubio’s tacos. His fish was hand breaded and fried, his crema sauce had canned, chopped chipotles in sour cream. I’m too lazy to do my own fish, and don’t use enough canned chipotles to use the rest of the can. So I simplified. A lot of this is to taste, so not a lot of quantity.

Tricia’s Fish Tacos

2 frozen fish sticks per taco (preferably small, whole fillet. One if they are bigger. But whatever)
2 corn tortillas per taco
Bagged cabbage slaw
Sour cream
Tabasco chipotle sauce
Bottled lime juice

Cook fish according to package. While cooking, place some cabbage in a bowl and add lime juice and mix. Let rest to wilt slightly. Mix sour cream in small bowl with chipotle sauce, lime juice, and salt to taste. Warm tortillas between very lightly damp paper towels in the microwave as fish is finishing.

In doubled tortillas, spread a dollop of crema, add some lime cabbage slaw, and two fish sticks. Put in your mouth as quickly as possible.



Margarita spritzer

Gold tequila
Triple sec
Lime juice
Salt
Lime sparkling water

In a glass, mix equal parts tequila, triple sec, and lime juice (a couple tablespoons each). Add a couple shakes of salt and stir. Add ice, then top with sparkling water. Drink up!

Scrambled Eggs Florentine

This is a fridge clean out type of breakfast. I had spinach left from my chicken the other night (another post about that later), and always have cheese and bacon bits. I’m trying to be purposeful in using the leftover produce from other things I’ve cooked. Now to come up with something for the ⅔ full bag of shredded cabbage…

Scrambled Eggs Florentine

1 T butter

½ t minced garlic (from a jar)

4 handfuls baby spinach

2 T bacon bits (from a pouch)

2 eggs

Salt and pepper

⅓ c shredded mozzarella cheese

1 T grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter over medium heat in a skillet with a lid. Add garlic and cook until it starts to sizzle. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Sprinkle bacon bits around and stir in, and spread spinach out in skillet.

Turn heat to low. Crack eggs on spinach and season with salt and pepper (go easy on the salt as the bacon and Parmesan are salty). Quickly scramble eggs into spinach. Turn heat up to medium and cook until eggs are almost done. Sprinkle mozzarella and parm on top, put lid on skillet, and turn heat to very low. Let sit 5 min for cheese to melt, turn off heat, remove lid, and mix cheese into scramble. Serve.

I’m starting a new “brand” called Fancy Looks, Easy Cooks. I like making pretty food, but I’m a lazy cook. So I will label the things I make that I think fall into this category. I’ve made a few in the last week, and will be posting them over the next couple days.

Thanks for reading!

French toast casserole for two

My kid put a loaf of bread in the wrong cupboard, so I thought I should buy more last Thursday on my way home from my last day of work. Saturday I was looking somewhere else, and found a rogue loaf of bread. Now I had 2.5 loaves of bread. So I thought about what all I could make, trolled Pinterest, and found several French toast casserole recipes that used regular sandwich bread instead of Texas toast, French, challah, etc. but there are only two of us, so I wanted something smaller. So I tinkered with my favorite parts of what I found, cut everything in half, and came up with this. 

French Toast Casserole

6 slices sandwich bread
2T butter
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
2 T sugar
2 drops doTerra Wild orange oil
¾ t vanilla
½ t cinnamon
⅛ t salt
2 t cinnamon sugar, divided

Melt butter in 8.5 x 6.5 pan in 400° oven and remove. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Mix eggs, milk, sugar, orange oil, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Cut 2 slices of bread in half. Place 2 whole slices and 2 half slices of bread in pan. Drizzle ½ cup of egg mixture slowly over bread, allowing it to soak in, paying attention to crusty edges. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place remaining bread on top, and drizzle remaining egg mixture over. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Tilt pan gently to allow any pooled egg to soak in. Let rest on counter 10 min. 

Bake in 400° oven until egg is set and casserole is puffed, about 20 min. Let cool 10 min before serving.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I made my favorite Beef and Guinness Stew for dinner. But I made it in my instant pot instead of my crock pot. No night-before prep. No remembering to turn it on before leaving for work at 5:30am. Perfect. I could cut it with my spoon.

Beef and Guinness Stew

2.5-3 lb boneless chuck roast, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 onion chopped
1 T chopped garlic
8oz baby carrots
1/4 t dry thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle Guinness Stout
1 can beef broth
Thickener (you can make a cornstarch slurry. I used instant potato flakes)

Colcannon (mashed potatoes with cooked kale mixed in)

Set instant pot to medium sauté and brown meat cubes in batches. Remove to a plate or large bowl.

Add onions to pot and cook til translucent. As garlic, stir for a minute, and add carrots, thyme, salt, pepper and Guinness. Bring to a simmer for a minute. Add beef and juices back to pot, and add beef broth.

Turn pot off and put lid on. Set to seal, then set manual for 35 minutes, with 15-20 min NPR. Remove lid. Stir potato flakes in a few tablespoons at a time, letting sit a minute to hydrate before adding more.

Serve on or with colcannon or regular mashed potatoes.
🍀

Penne with Cajun Parmesan Cream Sauce

We had a ham dinner and ukelele concert fundraiser at church last night, and we got some of the left over ham. So I made this instant pot pasta dish, which doesn’t need ham, but is yummy with it. You can also you chicken. It is reminiscent of a dish I had at Hof’s Hut in Long Beach CA growing up.

Penne with Cajun Parmesan Cream Sauce

1 lb penne (or mini penne)
4.5 c water
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1/2 c half and half
1/4 c smoked paprika
1/2 t each garlic powder, dry thyme, and dry oregano
Cayenne/red pepper flakes/Old Bay/salt/pepper to taste
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 c diced ham or cooked chicken, optional

Put penne and water in instant pot. Putnon lid, set to seal, and set on manual for 0 minutes. When timer is up, let NPR for 15 min, then QPR remaining pressure and remove lid.

Pour in evaporated milk and stir pasta well. Let rest a couple minutes while adding spices, then stir well. Add half and half and Parmesan and stir, then add meat if using. Serve with parm sprinkled on top, and a little paprika/cayenne/Old Bay for color.

Mardi Gras shrimp and grits

For Mardi Gras tonight, I made my version of a recipe I got from Paula Deen’s website. Shrimp and grits Florentine. Spicy Cajun shrimp on top of a spinach cream sauce with cheesy grits. Yum.

Shrimp and Grits Florentine
Serves 2

1/2 lb medium uncooked, peeled and deveined shrimp (I used wild  pategonia pink)
Cajun seasoning (a blend of cayenne, smoked paprika, garlic, thyme and oregano)
Salt and pepper
2 T butter
6ox fresh baby spinach
1 1//2 c half and half
1 c grits
3 c water

Season shrimp liberally with Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper.

In skillet, melt butter over medium high heat, then sauté shrimp until done, turning once, about 5-7 min total. Remove to a bowl.

In same skillet, sauté spinach until wilted. Add half and half to skillet, and keep on low while making grits.

In large pot, combine grits, salt, pepper, and water and whisk well. Cook over medium heat, whisking regularly, until thick. Be careful of spitting as it thickens! It burns!

To serve, put grits in bowl. Top with spinach, cream sauce, and shrimp. I sprinkled a little Old Bay on top to be pretty!

Instant Pot Pumpkin Pasta

I’ve been making Pumpkin Pasta for a long time. And tonight I finally adapted it to be a one pot instant pot meal. 

One pot, Instant Pot Pumpkin Penne 

1lb sage breakfast sausage (or 1lb ground pork*)

1lb penne

1 12oz can evaporated milk

1 15oz can pure pumpkin

1 1/2 t sage

1/2 t garlic

Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste*

Parmesan cheese to taste

In 6qt instant pot, cook sausage/pork on medium sauté until cooked thru. Remove to a plate, and drain and drippings. 

Add 4.5 cups water and 1lb penne to pot. Seal lid and pressure cook on high for 0 minutes (yes, zero. That is how long I’ve come up with thru trial and error, starting with 4 minutes, which was waaayyyy to soft). Let NPR for 10 min, then QPR. Remove lid when pin drops and steam is done. 

Quickly stir in the evaporated milk and let rest a few minutes to absorb. Add pumpkin, sage, salt, pepper, garlic and red pepper flakes. If still too runny, turn pot on low sauté for a few minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking and burning. Stir in Parmesan and serve. 

*You will need more seasoning if you use pork instead of sausage. 

This recipe is adapted from Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pasta-with-pumpkin-and-sausage-recipe-1939614.amp