Rock Fish Taco & Not Gross Slaw

I guess one cool thing about having a recipe blog as my "job" is that I get to decide when I do it. So, here I am months and months after my last post (which wasn't even a recipe). We were blessed with our 4th child at the end of August and I decided to focus on that! Things have settled and I am good to go now. Wahoo!

My father in law took a fishing trip to Alaska and caught some amaaazing Rock fish. He had it filleted there and fresh frozen to bring back for us! Ooooh it was a beauty. Since it's more a mild fish, we were trying to think of what to do with it and how to season it. We decided we'd take the fish taco route. We were SHOCKED at the amazing flavor the fish had on its own! Somehow the seasonings were paired really well with it to where you could taste the seasoning and the fish both separately while having the flavors compliment each other as well.

Now, about the slaw. My husband and I are not slaw people. We can't even figure out how there are so many people who are. It makes zero sense to us. But, we couldn't just not have slaw with it. It's a fish taco. So this is a slaw that works without being the gross slaw ;). I actually just drizzled the dressing made for the slaw on my taco by itself without the slaw at all. My husband did both. We taste tested the dressing for the slaw and it was really good, but we were a little baffled that there was no garlic in it. "Should we add garlic? We never skip garlic. Should we? It's good without it....but we love garlic so much. Yes? No?" We didn't add any! Who are we?! It just had this magic flavor that seemed so right with a fish taco, we left it as is.

So, here's the deal. My husband knows a guy named George. He's our food guy. Everyone should have a food guy. He recommended Sazon Goya seasoning, claiming that, "if you don't want to spend the money on saffron, but want incredible taste, go with Sazon Goya." Yes, sir. Correct, sir.

(For the record, with the going price of a lb. of saffron being anywhere from $500-$5000, I don't buy saffron. I have tried it exactly one time at a brunch at The Grand America and I didn't like it. So I was nervous at his recommendation for this in place of saffron. Like I said, though, he was correct. Trust the process.)

What you will need:

Fish-

• Rock Fish fillets (I mean, if you don't have Rock Fish freshly caught in Alaska...cod will do ;) )
• 1 packet Sazon Goya seasoning
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 T oil 

Slaw-

• Green cabbage, julienne
• Red onion, sliced
• Cilantro, chopped
• jalapeno, diced

Dressing for the slaw-

• 1/2 C salsa verde
• 1/4 C mayo
• 1 T lime
• Hot sauce to taste
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Fish-

• Bring a large saute pan to medium-high heat and add the T of oil
• Rinse your fillets and pat dry
• Rub Sazon Goya and salt/pepper on each side of the fillets
• Lay each fillet in the pan and cook each side 2-3 minutes

Slaw-

• Slice, chop and dice ingredients and add to a bowl.
• I don't have any measurements, just go with "some of each" and see where it gets you. Live on the edge.

Dressing for the slaw-

• Add each ingredient into a blender and blend until it's all mixed until smooth and saucy.
• Pour the dressing over the slaw and mix well
• Maybe reserve some on its own in case you just want to drizzle the goodness by itself. Like me. Be like me.

Baked Salmon

I am SO excited to be posting about this! Right now I haven almost 11 month old son. This son is seemingly always in an extreme Mama's Boy stage. Cooking dinner is almost always a challenge with him around (or really, looking in any direction but towards him is a challenge these days). I really really really wanted to make some salmon, but babysitting it with oil splattering around while my boy screamed "MAMAMAMAMAMAMAAAAA" in tears and pulling my pants down didn't seem worth it.

Thankfully I remembered seeing this idea somewhere on the interpin (my mash up of interweb and pinterest) and went on the hunt!

Wouldn't ya know it? Pioneer Woman. Duh. She basically just tosses the sucker in the oven. I figured I could do that just fine with a mini me-monster in the house. But then....what to season the salmon with?

Well don't you worry. After many many many many'o tests, I think I've found "it." THE flavor for salmon, if you will. 

 Click right here for my Garlic Bread recipe for the Garlic butter instructions (the BEST garlic butter ever...ever ever), because you'll be using that here, but adding some lemon juice into it.

Between that deliciousness, some kosher salt, pepper and a Garlic/Rosemary spice blend it was absolute perfection, especially with this cooking technique. Completely flawless!

You will need:

• Boneless, skinless salmon filets
• Kosher salt
• Pepper
• Garlic and Rosemary seasoning blend (I found mine at Sam's Club)
• Garlic butter
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Directions:

• Line a baking sheet with foil
• Place salmon filets onto the baking sheet
• Sprinkle with salt & pepper
• Add Garlic and Rosemary seasoning blend and lemon juice to the garlic butter
• Coat the salmon filets with the butter
• Put in a cold oven
• Turn oven on to 400*
• Set the timer for 25 minutes

Lemon Garlic Pasta with Salmon

I kept seeing this picture of pasta on Pinterest that said to toss pasta with lemon juice, olive oil and bread crumbs. I thought that was a wonderful idea! So I expanded on that idea and came up with this-

My favorite thing about this recipe (aside from the taste), is that I don't have to be very particular about my salmon. I'm usually very precise and critical when making salmon, but with this I can just chop the sucker up halfway through and forget about it. You could easily make the salmon the star though and turn it into a salmon dish on a bed of lemon garlic pasta and that would be great, too!

ps- I paired this meal with Crack Bread and a fresh green salad. It worked really well together!

What you will need:

• Spaghetti Pasta
• 6 cloves garlic
• Onion powder
• 1/4 C butter
• 2 lemons
• 1 6 oz. salmon fillet
• 1/4 C Bread crumbs
• 2 T olive oil

Directions:

• Before you add your pasta to boiling water, grate 3 cloves of garlic into the water and add some onion powder
• Add pasta to the water 
• Add 1 T of olive oil to a cast iron skillet and bring to medium heat
• Lay your salmon fillet on the pan and let each side cook for about 2 minutes before roughly cutting it up (I just used my spatula) and allowing the rest to cook to desired doneness
• While the salmon is cooking, add the butter to a small sauce pan and grate the remaining 3 cloves of garlic into the butter.
• Add the juice of 1 lemon to the garlic butter and let simmer until the pasta is done
• Once the pasta is done, drain the water and toss the pasta in 1 T olive oil, a little lemon juice, bread crumbs and salmon
• Drizzle the lemon garlic butter over the top for an added oomph of flavor, or opt out if you'd rather try and be more healthy