Our Chopped meal was a night late this week. Mike and I were in California enjoying a nice kid-free vacation and we didn't return home until right before dinner on Sunday night. I was definitely not up for preparing our special dinner so we pushed it off until Monday night. It was funny how much Benjamin and Jonathan were looking forward to our Chopped meal on Monday.
This week I made Chipotle Tilapia Tacos with Mango-Cilantro Salsa and Mexican Cornbread. The recipe for the tacos looked intimidating - lots of ingredients and what seemed like many steps. But, I found it was quite manageable. I just broke up the recipe and prepared most if it in advance of dinner. I cut up and coated the tilapia and just put it in the fridge. I was also able to make the salsa and aioli ahead of dinner and just put them in the fridge as well. Doing all of this prep work in the middle of the afternoon while the older boys were still in school made dinnertime much more manageable.
The first thing I noticed about the recipe for the tacos was that it required 3 tablespoons of chipotle chili powder - yes, that is correct - 3 TABLESPOONS!! Oh my, but I went ahead and made the recipe as it stated. This is what the tilapia looked like with the chipotle coating. There are a few other ingredients in the coating, but what you see is mainly chipotle chili powder. I then placed the tilapia in the fridge and for the next few hours, until dinner, my fridge smelled of chipotle.
I next prepared the salsa. It seemed like a lot of work considering the recipe only states that you should use a spoonful on each taco. But, I love fresh salsa and this is where I incorporated the mango.
It really didn't have a whole lot of taste alone, but it did really add to the overall taste of the taco. There definitely needed to be some fresh, mild flavors to balance out the heat from the chipotle chili powder. It also looked quite pretty.
I then prepared the aioli, which is a fancy word from flavored mayo. It was super simple.
After some outside time with the boys and a few loads of laundry, it was time to make the remainder of the meal. I had to cook the fish, make Spanish rice (using a recipe from my rice cooker), simmer two cans of black beans, and make the Mexican cornbread. I had a lot to do! I made the rice first and just let the rice cooker do most of the work. Easy. Done. I then made the cornbread. I used a favorite cornbread recipe of mine and added three sticks of string cheese, diced, and 1/2 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder. I could have added more of the chili powder, but I wanted to keep the flavor mild since I knew the tacos were packing some heat. The corn bread was very yummy!!
Now, it was time to cook the fish. Once again, very easy. I just had to cook it in a little olive oil on both sides for about 5 minutes each and it was done.
Benjamin wanted to help out a little. But, since I did most of the work while he wasn't home (school and then some batting practice with Mike), I gave him the job of warming the tortillas. He's done this before so no explanation by me was needed. What this picture doesn't show is Mike coughing in the background as his eyes watered from the aroma of the chipotle chili powder!
At last, it was time to eat!! The boys gave the meal a "thumbs-up", but then quickly went for their water glasses to cool off their burning mouths.
It was hot - very hot. But, that didn't stop Mike and I from eating it. We ended up scrapping most of the chipotle coating off of Jonathan's fish and Benjamin just stopped eating his fish about half-way through the taco. They loved the corn bread, as did Jake. Here's the finished meal.
While it was very hot, we all want to make it again. I will likely cut the chipotle chili powder in the fish coating in half if not more and only lightly coat the fish in it. Jonathan has requested no spices at all on his fish, which is typical. But, the tacos were very good. These are not your ordinary tacos and felt like something you would order in an upscale Mexican restaurant. I have to share just one more picture, a close-up of the taco plating. Chef Anne would be proud!!
Next week's mystery ingredients: Hot Dogs and Kit Kats. Well, I think Mike feels my ego is getting a little inflated due to the success of my Chopped meals. So, he threw me a curve ball for next week with the selection of the hot dogs. Seriously, how to you make hot dogs into a nice meal. Ugh!! I do have an idea, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it. As for the Kit Kats, I think he just wants me to make dessert, which we usually don't have at dinner. Should be an interesting meal!
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