Challenge #15 – Surf and Turf
This week proved challenging for me because my husband despises anything from that hails from the sea (or river… or pond… you get the point.). So I was a bit concerned going into this as to how I would make it happen.
See, I’ve never cooked seafood at home. I’ve lived in this house for practically 6 years now, and I’ve never once made seafood. Ok, maybe once while he was at work (immediately followed by opening the windows and lighting multiple candles).
So I asked my friend Tina if I could make tacos at her house. Her husband Craig’s response was as follows: “Wait. You’re asking if you can come to our house, bring all of the ingredients to make tacos, cook, and let us eat what your creations?” As you might have guessed, they were thrilled with the idea.
So Friday night, I grabbed my husband, my daughter, and my bag of ingredients, and we headed up the road. Craig enjoys cooking, so he helped me season the meats, but, as per the challenge, I did the cooking.
Surf was to become fish tacos with a habanero peach salsa. I used tilapia, seasoned well and marinated. It cooked up perfectly – so flakey with just the right amount of citris. The salsa was amazing, too – a bit sweet, a bit spicy.
Turf was more my husband’s wheelhouse: steak tacos with summer corn salsa. We marinated the steak in Montreal seasoning and garlic. And the summer corn salsa… I’m drooling just thinking about how good it was. Cilantro and corn, tomato and onion. Yum.
In the end, I think my favorite taco was any taco that got made. Ha! But seriously, the fish with the corn. Oh, yeah…
- 2 lb tilapia
- juice from half a lime
- salt + pepper
- Chipotle seasoning
- 2 peaches
- 1/4 c diced red onion
- tsp minced habanero
- 1/2 c chopped cilantro
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 lbs Steak (I used pre-cut stirfry strips for ease)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Montreal Seasoning
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- juice from 1/2 lime
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cans corn, drained
- 2 peaches chopped
- 1 jalapeno, cut into rings
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1 c. grape tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 c. cilantro
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- salt + pepper
- Combine first 4 ingredients together in a bag and allow to marinate for an hour. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
- Marinate steak for 1 hour in oil, seasoning, garlic, and lime juice.
- In tbsp olive oil, saute corn until beginning to brown. Remove from heat. Add to a large bowl, add peaches, jalapeno, tomatoes, onion, and lime juice, along with cilantro, salt, and pepper.
- Cook meat simultaneously on a grill or on two grill pans until you've reached your desired doneness.
- Place on top of tortillas, with sour cream, add salsas and avocado (if you feel so inclined). Enjoy!
