Festive fare features fish and tasty ‘go-withs’

Since I missed Cinco de Mayo — at least in this column — I’ll honor it and our friends across the border in today’s recipes. And since I love Mexican fare and fish, I’m combining the two for your dining pleasure. Enjoy! 

Fish Fajitas 

1/4 cup lime juice 

1 Tbs. balsamic or red wine vinegar 

1 clove garlic, minced 

1/2 tsp. honey 

1/4 tsp. ground coriander seed 

2 tsps. ground cumin 

1 pound tilapia, Pollock or halibut steak, about 1/2-inch thick 

1/2 large green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced 

1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded, thinly sliced 

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced 

2 Tbs. salad oil or olive oil 

Salt 

4 warmed flour tortillas (10-inch diameter) 

Sour cream 

Salsa of choice 

In a large bowl, mix lime juice, vinegar, garlic, honey, coriander and cumin. Rinse fish fillet, pat dry and cut crosswise into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Stir carefully into the marinade and let stand for about 10 minutes, frequently stirring gently. 

Drain fish and discard marinade. Set the fish aside. Preheat a 10- or 12-inch shallow frypan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil, lower heat to medium-high and add bell pepper and onion; cook stirring until pepper is limp and onion is just beginning to brown — about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside in a serving bowl.  

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, add fish strips and cook, stirring gently until barely translucent in the center. Transfer to a bowl with prepared vegetables. Salt to taste, tossing lightly.  

To serve, divide fish/veggie mix between four prepared tortillas. Top with sour cream and salsa as desired. Roll to enclose and serve garnished with avocado and melon, accompanied with black and white bean salad or your favorite “go-with.”  

Note: Don’t leave in marinade too long, since it works as a “cooking” action. 

Fish steaks and/or fillets — especially of white fleshed fish, including mahi or ahi and others, are perfect partners for the spicy tang of Mexican fare. 

Here’s another, more substantial and very unique main dish; Paella in the oven!  This one’s for when you have plenty of time at home and in the kitchen, perfect for a casual dinner party. It’s a vegetarian recipe, so you can choose your accompanying fish (or shrimp, chicken, etc.). 

Vegetable Paella 

3 cups short grain white rice, uncooked 

6 cups veggie stock or water 

3 Tbs. olive oil 

2 cups peas 

1 large red onion, diced 

3 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 

6 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 

1 cup green pitted olives, drained 

1 3/5-oz. jar capers, with liquid 

1/2 cup pimientos or jarred red bell pepper, diced 

2 8-oz., pkgs. Tempeh, cut into 1-inch cubes 

1/4 cup dried tarragon 

1 Tbs. black pepper 

3/4 cup minced fresh parsley 

Preheat oven to 250F. Place rice in the bottom of a large casserole dish and pour stock over it. 

Toss remaining ingredients with olive oil, season with the tarragon and black pepper, and spoon into casserole. Cover, place in oven and cook for 1 hour. Uncover and stir gently from top, check the rice with a long-handled spoon for doneness. Re-cover, return to oven and cook another 30 minutes; check for doneness; add more stock/water if necessary. Cook another 30 minutes or as necessary until rice is done and carrots are tender. Quickly pan-fry your fish of choice, place on a platter; sprinkle parsley atop the paella and place casserole on a trivet for self-serve. 

Note: I’ve attend just two paella parties in my life; one in Guadalajara at a restaurant where everything was all mixed up together, and another at a private dinner at the home of a Mexican couple in the states, where the rice was cooked separately and the shrimp and veggies were self-served atop it. 

Here’s a final “quickie” for the working mother/businesswoman: Regardless of the name, it is not a dessert! Long-time pal Ginger Curtis gave me this recipe many years ago. 

Quick Mexi-Corn Pudding 

1 can whole kernel corn w/juice 

1 can cream-style corn 

1 cube (cup) softened butter 

1 cup sour cream 

1 egg, slightly beaten 

1 4-oz. can diced green chilies, drained 

1 small jar pimientos, drained 

1 box Jiffy corn bread mix 

Mix all ingredients together, pour into a lightly buttered baking dish and bake at 350F. 50 minutes. 

Now, it’s "hasta la vista" with a traditional dessert: heavenly flan! 

Caramel/Vanilla Flan 

1 1/4 cups sugar 

1/3 cup water 

2 cups half and half 

1 cup whipping cream 

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk 

3 large eggs 

2 large egg yolks 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Set out 8 3/4-cup custard cups. 

In a medium saucepan over low heat, stir sugar and water together until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to med-high and boil without stirring until syrup turns deep brown (watch carefully!). Use a pastry brush dipped in water to wipe down sides of pan and swirl the pan occasionally. Pour caramel evenly into the 8 custard cups and set aside. 

Bring half and half, cream and sweetened condensed milk to simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Whisk eggs and yolks in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture; whisk in extract. When blended, ladle custard into caramel-lined cups. Place cups in a large baking pan. Add enough hot water to pan to come halfway up sides of the cups. Bake until custards no longer move in center when cups are gently shaken, about 40 minutes. Remove from water and cool 1/2-hour. Cover and chill overnight. When it is time to serve, run a small sharp knife around custards to loosen if necessary. Turn out onto plates and serve as is or with a dollop of whipped cream.  

    For a casual dinner party, it's hard to beat a big casserole of vegetable paella, served with fish, shrimp or chicken on the side.
  

    This Mexi-corn pudding is a real "quickie" for busy cooks, combining corn, chilies and sour cream in one easy-to-make dish.    Silky custard and homemade caramel come together in this heavenly flan.
  

    Valle Novak
  

Editor’s note: For many years, Valle Novak wrote gardening and cooking columns for the Daily Bee. Weekend Gardener and Country Chef became renowned for their humor, information and common‑sense advice on everything from planting to cooking. She left behind many columns — such as this one — to delight her many fans.