Southeast Taco's

It's "Real Food Recipe Tuesday", peeps!  And last night, I made one to remember!  Making homemade tortillas has been on my to-do list for months, and I finally got around to making them.  You don't have to feed your family GMO tortillas!  You can even soak (sprout) them for the all around, perfect tortilla.  And on top, we're straying from our well-known southwest tacos and Mexican Taqueria tacos, and instead, marrying the flavors of the southeast with Taqueria comfort.  The result?  A match made in heaven, shall we say? 

For toppings, get creative!  I used Georgia trout that I caught with my family on Father's day, vidalia onion and tomato salsa (from Sun Harvest, my families favorite citrus stop in Ft. Myers, FL), jalapeno cream I made with my homemade yogurt, and Guacamole made from yummy Florida Avocados!  Here's today's recipe in full:

Tortillas 
*This recipe is NOT my own recipe.  I got it from Bon Appetit mag.  It is a very simple dough, and for full instructions, click here.  A few notes for you grain soakers...to soak this recipe, I would add 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar to the dough along with the water and let soak overnight.  Otherwise, you can follow all other instructions! 

Tortillas:
2 cups fresh corn meal
1 cup water (replace 1 tbsp. ACV if soaking)
1/2 tsp. salt
The consistency should resemble play dough.  Roll into balls about 1-1.2 inch in diameter.  You want the tortillas small so they are easy to handle.  Some people have a tortilla press, but I don't, so I used my bacon press, and it worked great!  Place one ball of dough between two layers of lightly oiled plastic wrap. (I cut 2 sides of a sandwich bag so three sides were open), like this:

press the ball between the plastic until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  Remove carefully from the plastic wrap and set directly in an oiled fry pan set over medium high heat. I had a few "fall apart", but just quickly pushed it back together on the pan with my spatula.  Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, and 1 minute on the second side.  The Bon Appetit recipe had a different time listed, but that didn't seem to be enough time for mine...you will just have to play with it the first tortilla or two.  Keep the tortillas warm in a dry kitchen towel while you work. 

Toppings

1 Whole Trout, about 1.5 lbs. (or 2 fillets if you would like to avoid skin and bones)
Cajun spices
1 avocado
1 lime
1 small jalapeno
3/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
1 jar of vidalia onion salsa (or your favorite salsa)
salt and pepper

First make the fish.  Sprinkle the inside of the whole fish with Cajun spices, salt and pepper.  Cook on medium low in a greased, covered pot (I used my fabulous Creuset), for 20-25 minutes, until flaky. 

Meanwhile, prepare a simple guacamole using your avocado, lime, salt and pepper.  Mash up with a fork, and set on a plate along with the salsa.  To make your jalapeno cream, mix diced jalapenos (take care to avoid touching the seeds while chopping, wearing gloves or chopping in a food chopper.).  Combine jalapenos with 3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream, and a dash of salt.  Set this along with your other toppings.  You can create a very simple taco bar with these 4 delicious toppings. 

Once your fish is cooked, remove fish from skin and bones, and lightly shred or cut into larger pieces if you wish. 

Assemble your tacos with fish, then guacamole and jalapeno cream, and finally the beautiful red salsa.  Eat slowly, savoring the fine combinations of summer at it's best!

From my real food home to yours,
Anna