Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos are one of those things that sound a bit odd until you try them. Wow-great stuff. The best fish tacos I ever had were in a little dive in Needle, California that was in the parking lot of a motel.

I've always loved TexMex food, but California Mexican food is pretty good as well. Real Mexican food is not as spicy I like it. The Baja California fish taco is not like mainland Mexican food though. Something to do with all that water all around them.

A good fish taco is a little slice of heaven here on earth. I know, I tend to think that about a lot of stuff. Being a sort of foodie means I like almost all foods. Fish tacos show up in Colorado as the Surfers head inland from time to time. I've had a few fish tacos in Dallas, but they are not quite as good as the ones in Needles, California.

So whip up some fish tacos of your own. Use the best ingredients you can find and have something cold to drink close at hand-I like Dr Pepper.

Fish Tacos

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients 1 Pacific halibut fillet Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed 4 lettuce leaves California Avocado, Grapefruit and Toasted Ancho Salsa 2 medium Ancho chiles, wiped clean, stemmed and seeded 1 pink grapefruit, chilled 1 ripe Fresh California Avocado, halved, seeded and peeled ½ bunch chives, chopped ½ Cup freshly squeezed orange juice 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice 1 ½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil ½ tsp salt ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions California Avocado, Grapefruit and Toasted Ancho Salsa: Toast Ancho chiles directly over a medium gas flame or in a cast-iron skillet until soft and brown. Turn frequently to avoid scorching. Slice toasted chiles into 1-inch strips, then into a fine julienne. Slice ends off grapefruit and stand the fruit upright on your work surface. Cut away peel and membrane, exposing fruit. Working over a bowl to catch the juices, separate the grapefruit sections by slicing with a knife between membranes. Remove and discard seeds. Cut grapefruit segments and avocados into ½-inch dice. Toss with toasted Ancho chiles and chives in a medium mixing bowl. Gently stir in reserved grapefruit juice, orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Let sit 30 minutes before serving. Fish Tacos: On the stovetop, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat or prepare a medium-hot grill. Drizzle halibut with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill until barely done, 2 to 5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Remove fish from grill, cool slightly, and pull apart into large flakes. Place warm tortillas on a work surface. Line each with a piece of lettuce and chunks of fish. Top each with a generous spoonful of California Avocado, Grapefruit and Toasted Ancho Salsa. Serve immediately. *Large avocados are recommended for this recipe. A large avocado averages about 8 ounces. If using smaller or larger size avocados adjust the quantity accordingly.

For the California Avocado, Grapefruit and Toasted Ancho Salsa:

Per serving: 147 calories; 10.6 grams fat (1.3 sat, 7.3 mono, 1 poly);
0 mg cholesterol; 269 mg sodium; 14 grams carbohydrate; 2.5 grams fiber;
2.3 grams protein



For the Fish Tacos:

Per serving: 304 calories; 8 grams fat (1 sat, 4 mono, 2 poly);
41 mg cholesterol; 299 mg sodium; 28 grams carbohydrate; 3 grams fiber;
30 grams protein

Figs

My Mother had a fig tree in the backyard. It was a pretty good sized tree and had a lot of fruit each year. But it was never a sure thing that we would get many figs, as the Blue Jays in the Neighborhood loved figs. Well, they didn't really love to eat them so much as just poke their beak into the almost ripe ones. This would pretty much ruin a good fig. We tried putting aluminum foil in the branches, but that didn't help much.

In the end, we decided that the birds could have their share and we'd have ours. Mom always pickled a few jars of figs and we would eat them over the winter. They were so sweet it hurts my teeth just to think about them. It is a flavor that I miss once in a while. Like the Pickled Watermelon Rinds that she also made from time to time. Odd little food items that I don't see all that often.

I have tried dried figs, but those leathery little things are not at all like fresh figs. Whole Foods Market has fresh figs for sale when they are in season, and the often have three or four different types. I like the large pear shaped figs that are like the ones I grew up with, not the squat little green ones that seem to be an alien form of fig. But I eat them all.

Figs are one of those things that are good to be eaten with prosciutto. It's a sort of foodie thing to wrap a bit of ham around a fresh fig and let the flavors wash over you. Figs are a foodie food.

I have tried to grow my own fig trees with nothing to show for it. I just can't seem to keep a fig tree alive long enough for it to bear fruit. I have clay soil and I have added recommended types of fertilizers, but the trees all die on me. I guess I will stick to hot peppers, I can grow those easily enough. If anyone has advice on growing figs, I'd be willing to hear it.

In the meantime, I will just eat my expensive figs from the fancy markets and enjoy them. Maybe I'll pickle a few figs next time I find some.

Pickled (Preserved) Figs Recipe

For this recipe the figs must be only about half ripe and have the stalks left on.

* Large quantity figs
* 1 gallon vinegar
* 2 ounces sugar or treacle
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 4 ounces salt
* 2 ounces allspice
* 2 ounces ground cloves
* 2 ounces ground ginger

METHOD

Soak as many firm unripe figs as you can cover with a gallon of vinegar for three days.

Pour off the vinegar and add to it sugar or treacle, cayenne pepper, salt, allspice, ground cloves, and ground ginger and boil for a quarter of an hour.

Pour over the figs while boiling and cover the jars.

Caffeine in Energy Drink

Energy Drinks are one of my favorite beverages, but I don't drink them all the time. I also drink coffee, but not every day. Dr Pepper is the beverage if choice that I have on a daily basis, and often more than once a day. But the shocking beverage that I drink more than any other. . .water. I have always been one of those odd cases that drink four to six eight ounce glasses of water a day. Maybe even a bit more. But when I need a boost, water just doesn't give me the pep that Red Bull does.

USA Today reports that there is a petition for the FDA asking for regulation of Energy Drinks. The only ingredient that I look for on an Energy Drink label is the one for 1000 Milligrams of Taurine-the jump start component of Red Bull and many other energy drinks. Of course, it is not just Taurine that gets you pumped up, its Caffeine and Ginseng and other items in a proprietary blend. Caffeine is not listed by amount on many of these drinks.

I'm an old guy, so even when the ingredients are listed I often can't read the tiny type. More times than not the type is also blended with the design of can as well as being very small thus making it impossible to read. So I think the FDA needs do something about the current labeling, not just ask them to add a few numbers here and there. Make those numbers legible as well.

Top Selling energy drinks seem to have between 75 and 174 mg of caffeine and a couple of High-caffeine energy drinks-Fixx and Wired X505 have 500 and 505 mg of caffeine. A normal cup of coffee has between 75-150 mg of caffeine. My Dr Pepper has 41 mg and Coke Classic has about 35 mg of caffeine.

The FDA is not likely to take a petition too seriously, but you never know.

Riedel The Wine Glass Company

Tradition and innovation - the Riedel company can proudly look back on its 250-year success story. From its beginnings in northern Bohemia down to this day, for 11 generations (for now) Riedel Glass has stood for the high art of glassmaking.-Riedel


One of the nice things about being a sort of foodie is learning about things like Riedel Crystal. The Riedel Company makes wine glasses, wine decanters, and all kinds of other cool glass items to do with wine. Riedel is famous for a number of great product lines-Riedel O, Riedel Ultra, Riedel Vinum Extreme, and Riedel Sommeliers.

You can find discount Riedel, but since it is Reidel crystal you should expect to pay for the best quality. Reidel glasses come in a wide array of classic shapes and classic uses. Reidel wine go together like hand in glove. I like the look of Riedel decanters, another set of wonderful item that come in all shapes and sizes. Riedel stemware have a nice feel to it as a nice look.

Reidel wine glasses are used by the finest restaurants. The Riedel Decanter is designed to let wine breath and sediments settle. Riedel Vinum Bordeaux is a very classy line of glassware as well. Riedel Wine Glasses can make any meal feel like a celebration. Of course, for a celebration you would want to use Riedel Champagne Flutes. Riedel Crystal is 24 percent lead crystal, which is about as good as it gets.

Use Riedel Glass and you won't be sorry. Riedel glasses and Riedel glassware in general, are very beautiful and very useful. I like the Riedel o series the best, but then, I am more likely to use a Riedel water glass than a Riedel wine glass. But if your a wine drinker-Riedel is the wine glass to use.

Teavana Teas

I always fear that creation will expire before teatime. ~Sydney Smith

I've always been a Dr Pepper man myself, but I've heard that there are health benefits to drinking tea. So I have found that I like a nice cuppa tea once in a while. I like coffee as well as tea and I still drink a few Dr Peppers. I read that teas help with weight loss, so I have been trying to add some herbal tea to my diet.

I have tried a number of teas-black tea, chai tea, Chinese tea, English tea, green tea, oolong tea, white tea, and just about everything I can find that says 'tea.'

Some of these teas taste pretty good, some taste like brewed summer grass from an open field. The fact that tea leaves don't always taste that great is what has keep me away from organic tea and lead me down the road of bottled teas. But I have been trying to brew tea, and I tend to like fruit tea.

A good weight loss tea doesn't have to taste bad. Oolong Tea is one that is supposed to be good, but I haven't tried that diet tea yet. Organic teas are good-of course, everything says organic these days. If you don't want to actually drink tea you can always get some green tea extract.

Rooibos teas are herbal infusions made from a South African red bush and sometimes called "red tea." Rooibos teas are naturally caffeine-free and high in antioxidants. Rooibos teas may also help to relieve allergies, increase iron absorption, and aid in digestion. There's nothing like a nice healthful tea.

I like buying leaf tea and then making my own tea bags. Then cool it off and make some nice iced tea-I like iced tea with a lot of sugar. Of course, a proper tea party calls for hot tea poured from a tea pot into a nice teacup which is part of a good tea set. If your really on top of the whole tea thing you might even have your own tea room. Or you could just visit a tea house and watch as they make the perfect cup of tea for you.

Teavana offers gourmet, loose-leaf teas, teapots, and tea accessories. Teas are a healthy and delicious alternative to other drinks and are rapidly growing in popularity. Teavana only uses the freshest, highest quality teas for the best taste and health benefits. You can find something for all you tea needs at Teavana. Among other things, Teavana sells:

• fresh teas
• tea of the month clubs (great gift idea)
• teapots (cast iron, porcelain, ceramic, china, more)
• unique tea gift sets
• tea cups (porcelain, ceramic, unique, more)
• sake sets
• trivets, coasters, and serving trays
• sugar, honey, and sweeteners
• tea storage tins
• teapot warmers
• tea kettles, makers, and infusers
• books and music concerning tea