Gerry caught a 20-lb striped bass last weekend. So I decided to make fish tacos and experiment a bit with the neighbors. I needed to figure out some inventive salsas.
First, at 7:50 am on Saturday morning I shopped for corn and flour tortillas, tomatillos, white (or yellow) peaches, cilantro, red and green cabbage, tomatoes, mangos, pineapple, avocados and fresh corn. I thought I might have to travel a bit for ripe avocados and tomatillos. Not so - our local Wareham Shaw's had everything I needed. I bought lots of fresh limes (five or six). At home I already had strawberries, red and yellow and orange peppers, more from-my-garden cilantro and salt and pepper and garlic. Added to that were scallions, red and Vidalia onions. Sriracha sauce. Black beans and Spanish rice. And fish.
Grilled Fish
First, I cut the fresh Striped Bass into 1 x 2 inch chunks - chunks big enough to be skewered or put into a grilling basket. I zested the rind and squeezed the juice of a fresh lime, tossed in a handful of fresh, chopped cilantro, ground some salt and pepper and placed it all with the fish in a Ziploc bag to marinate for 8 hours. Gerry and Roxie grilled the fish right before dinner. It was during a wicked rainstorm (we needed the rain!) and they bonded with the grill ... and wine ... under one umbrella.Earlier in the day I had chopped and diced tomatillos, peaches, cilantro, tomatoes, mangos, strawberries, pineapple, avocados, spring, red and Vidalia onions, and red and yellow and orange peppers
Fruit Salsa Citrus
I mixed one chopped mango with 8 chopped strawberries, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 large ripe tomato, 1/2 cup of chopped red onion, 1/2 lime juiced and 1/2 chopped onion with salt and pepper. I sprinkled a dried mixture of jalapeno and cilantro over that, and let it all marinate together for several hours.
Fruit Salsa - White Peach
Next I combined the diced white peaches, scallions, and a handful of cilantro. I added ground salt and tossed it all with a splash of Summer Peach balsamic (or use lime juice.)
Black Beans with Tomatillo and Corn
I roasted four chopped tomatillos with 1 cup of freshly-cut corn kernels and 1 cup of chopped Vidalia onion for about 1/2 hour until the mixture at the edges of the pan were starting to blacken. I added that to one large can of black beans, drained but not rinsed and tasted it for salt. I set it aside to warm before dinner.
Spanish Rice
I sauteed about 1/2 cup of red and orange peppers with 1/2 cup of chopped yellow onion in olive oil. I set it aside to add to the Goya Spanish rice that would cook in the rice cooker 1/2 hour before dinner.
Lime Crema
1/2 cup mayonnaise, a splash of Sriracha sauce, a pinch of sea salt, 2 T lime juice and an avocado. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender.
Red and Green Cabbage
Thinly slice a chunk of each, toss with lime juice and salt and pepper and set aside to marinate.
Place all in dishes on the table with freshly grilled corn and flour tortillas.
