Cold and raining?! Ain’t got no time for that. It’s taco night.
A little crapola weather can’t keep me down
It doesn’t have to be a Friday in Lent to enjoy fish at the end of the work week.
Fish tacos are quick and easy. Clean flavors, loaded with lean protein, and widely-appealing.
I put a couple cod filets from Schnuck’s on a water-soaked cedar plank, and gave each a sprinkle of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt and a light dusting of Old El Paso Taco Seasoning Mix.
Alaskan Cod makes good tacos
By “light dusting” I really meant light dusting. That taco mix can be overpowering, and I want to taste the fish and the smoke. The taco mix is really meant to be a complement to the taco theme of the meal.
Instead of quickly cooking the fish by using the plank to steam and smoke the fish, I am going to let the cedar plank provide a clean platform for cooking and only some moderate smokiness. I have in the past put planked fish over semi-direct heat and let the plank char. Not this time.
How are smoked jalapenos? I guess I’ll find out.
Instead, I offset the fish to completely indirect cooking and put a few chunks of dry mesquite wood on the coals.
After about 45 minutes, the fish was done and looked pretty amazing.
Smoke color looks great!
For service, I warmed some flour tortillas and made small 5 bite tacos out of the fish, along with some black beans, taco cheese, cilantro, light sour cream, and some amazingly awesome Frontera tomatillo salsa. Finish with 1/8 lime drizzled over the plate.
To warm but not toast the tortillas, I just tossed some foil over the fire and quickly flipped them around until each was ready. I just stacked them up and wrapped the pile in that same foil until service.
They taste as good as they look
These were spectacular and the entire thing took less than an hour from start to mouth. The rich smokiness of the wood melded with the flaky fish. Cod can be oily and dry, but these morsels were far from it. Amazingly delicious.
Next time, I’ll pass on the black beans because their flavor rose up a little more than I wanted to interrupt the fish. One decent-sized filet made three heaping tacos.
Simple, easy, tasty: Three things that make this dish a winner.
simpson bbq 