tangerine – The Pajama Chef

Welcome to December Mystery Dish! Should be a good post for my last recipe of the year. I didn’t intend to take a two week break, but it’s been nice to unplug. 🙂 Sherri at The Well Floured Kitchen was this month’s host for Mystery Dish, and the ingredients she chose for us included: Dark Chocolate, Greek Yogurt, Berries, Coconut Oil, Walnuts, Fish, Baby Spinach, and Pecorino Romano Cheese. We had to use at least two, and I chose to use fish and berries… cranberries to be specific. I know cranberries aren’t always thought of as traditional ‘berries’ but they are in season and I love them so I wanted to use them! For more info on berries, check out Wikipedia. 🙂

Ben helped extensively with this recipe–he came up with the idea to make fish tacos, and I wanted to try my hand at a cranberry salsa. Fruit salsas are so complimentary to fish tacos, and this one, though a little more tart than most, was absolutely amazing. I used two types of fresh herbs [rosemary and parsley] and tangerine to flavor it up, then added a little sweetness and tartness with honey and red raspberry vinegar. My goal was to make the salsa be different from my usual cranberry relish [fresh cranberries, sugar, and an orange], and I think I succeeded!

While I was cranberry salsa-ing it up, Ben was busy preparing the fish tacos. He’s the fish taco expert in the family, and decided to season the tilapia with some olive oil and vinegar–but not just your average olive oil and vinegar. He used some special blood orange-infused olive oil and coconut-infused white balsamic vinegar from the Bumble Olive Oil Company in his hometown [Toledo, Ohio]. If you can get your hands on these infused oils, DO IT! So good. But if not, use extracts or juices to create the same effect. The result? A sweet, tender, flaky fish that pairs so well with some tart salsa and crunchy cabbage. I also whipped up some Mexican rice with dinner… aka my favorite side ever. Yum yum and yum! Hope you enjoy!

one year ago: White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies
two years ago: Classic Sugar Cookies
three years ago: Cranberry Scones

Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa
click to print

Ingredients:

3-4 tilapia filets [frozen or fresh]
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil [mine was blood-orange infused]*
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar [mine was coconut infused]*
1/4 of a sweet yellow onion
4 cloves garlic
1 tangerine, sliced and seeded [leave on peel]
1/2 cup parsley
4 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons red raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups fresh cranberries
freshly ground black pepper
salt
tortillas, for serving
chopped red cabbage, for serving
lime wedges, for serving
sour cream, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, then place tilapia filets in baking dish. Combine olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl, then brush mixture over tilapia, turning to coat. Cook for 13-15 minutes or until fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. If you use fresh fish, the cook time will be reduced.

Meanwhile, combine onion, garlic, and tangerine in a food processor. Pulse until nearly smooth, then add parsley, rosemary, vinegar, honey, and cranberries. Pulse a few times to break up cranberries, then season with pepper and salt to taste.

Gently slice fish into strips, then serve in tortillas with cabbage and sour cream, squeezing lime wedges overtop before enjoying.

Time: 25 minutes.

Yield: 3-4 servings.

Note: I used infused evoo and balsamic vinegar. You can add a few drops of coconut or orange extract for a similar flavor profile, or a little orange juice or zest.

Please check out the rest of the Mystery Dish posts when you have a chance too. They all look SO delicious!

1. Cinnamon Coffee Cake from Buttercream Fanatic
2. Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Oil Cookies from Chez Catey Lou
3. Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart from The Dessert Chronicles
4. Berry Chocolate Streusel Bars from Baking a Moment
5. Green Berry Smoothie from I Want Crazy
6. Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa from The Pajama Chef
7. Dark Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Brownies from Joyful Healthy Eats
8. Healthy Homemade Granola Parfait from Yummy Healthy Easy
9. Pear Cranberry Crockpot Oatmeal from See Hubby Cook
10. Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies from Culinary Couture
11. Raspberry Chocolate Crumb Bars from I Dig Pinterest
12. Dark Chocolate Walnut Coconut Macaroon Fingers from The Well Floured Kitchen

Cran-Tan-Oat Scones — fresh outta the oven!

This recipe is all iTunes’ fault. So if you hate it, blame iTunes, okay? But if you love it, well, then you can thank me for using iTunes. 🙂

Confused? Let me back up.

I have a big project for school due today, and have been at my computer more hours than I have not recently. Bummer, huh? So I’ve been listening to iTunes, particularly their Genius mixes made with my music. I was a little surprised to hear “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” to come on in the Country mix… especially because it’s classified as “Holiday,” not “Country.” I normally have a strict provision against listening to Christmas music until Thanksgiving weekend, but this time, it was forced upon me.

Naturally, the lover of baking I am, I began to wonder what holiday-inspired treat I could make as a procrastination device that wouldn’t be too seasonal. I had wanted to whip up some cookies but I was swayed.

Enter Cran-Tan-Oat Scones.

Sweet cranberries. Chewy oats. A hint of citrus. A touch of sweetness.

Perfect for fall. Perfect for Thanksgiving morning. You should try ’em now first though, just as a test run…

…and remember, it’s iTunes’ fault. I think I’ll still use iTunes though, these scones are pretty darn tasty.

Cran-Tan-Oat Scones

Servings: 8
Time: 30 minutes
Print

adapted from Eat Better America

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons butter, chilled
2 cups oatmeal
6 ounces vanilla yogurt
zest of 1 tangerine
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 egg, beaten
sugar
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lighly flour a large baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine flours, brown sugar, and baking soda. Zest 3/4 of the peel of 1 tangerine into the mix and stir to combine. Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the yogurt, then stir in the rest along with the cranberries, egg, and oatmeal. Mixture will be sticky and loose–don’t worry if it doesn’t stay together.

Scoop dough out onto the prepared pan. Using your hands, press and shape dough into an 8 inch circle. Brush dough with remaining yogurt, then sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, and tangerine zest.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown along the edges. Cut into 8 wedges and serve warm.

Note:

I ended up baking this for about 15 minutes, then cutting into wedges and baking a few more minutes because they weren’t cooking well in the center.

Question of the Day: When do you break out the seasonal treats, music, & decorations? I’m usually a strict Thanksgiving weekend purist… but now, we will see!