Crispy Baja Fish Tacos

 Crispy Baja Fish Tacos

Ingredients

Fish Tacos

• 1 1/2 lbs. halibut, mahi mahi or other firm white fish like cod
• 15 corn tortillas, 6-inch (or street taco size)
• Vegetable oil

Fish Taco Batter

• 24 Ritz crackers, crushed (3/4 of a sleeve)
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups sprite

Garnish

• shredded cabbage
• Avocados
• salsa
• lime juice
• hot sauce

Pic de Gallo

• 4 Roma tomatoes diced
• 1/2 large white or red onion, diced
• 1 cup cilantro leaves, minced
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• salt to taste

White Sauce

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Hot sauce to taste

Instructions

White Sauce

Whisk the White Sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate. Combine the Pico de Gallo ingredients together in a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate. Mix all the batter ingredients together in a large bowl. Slice fish into strips approximately 3/4” wide x 4" long (they don't have to be exact - error on the side of thinner). Pat fish very dry and add all of the fish to the batter and gently stir to coat. Fill a 12-inch pan with about 1 inch deep oil and heat to 375 degrees F.Working in batches, fry fish until golden, flipping halfway through. Place on paper towels.

Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a seasoned skillet over medium heat. Add tortillas and cook until golden and starts to brown in spots, about 20 seconds, then flip and cook until other side is golden. The tortilla should still be soft and pliable, not crispy. Place warmed tortillas on a plate with a paper towel in between and cover with a towel. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, adding additional oil as needed after every couple tortillas.

Add fish to tortillas (I use 2 strips per taco) and top with shredded cabbage, Pico de Gallo, freshly squeezed lime juice and White Sauce. Drizzle with hot sauce/salsa to taste and garnish with avocados if desired.

 

Orange Cookies with Sweet Orange Glaze

 Orange Cookies with Sweet Orange Glaze

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• 2½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 egg

For the Sweet Orange Glaze:

• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• Fresh orange juice

Instructions

1.                   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats; set aside.

2. Make the Cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the the sugar and orange zest, rubbing them together with your fingers until the zest is completely incorporated into the sugar.
4. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and the orange zest-infused sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and orange and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. If the dough seems a little on the soft side, refrigerate it for up to 30 minutes.
5. Using a medium cookie scoop (or 2 tablespoonfuls), scoop out the dough and roll them into balls, placing them 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges, but still pale in the middle. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
6. Make the Sweet Orange Glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, orange zest, and enough orange juice to achieve the desired consistency (less juice for a thicker glaze, more for a thinner one). Spread glaze over top of the cooled cookies, and allow to set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Store at room temperature in an airtight container (divide layers with wax paper so the cookies don't stick together).

 https://www.browneyedbaker.com/orange-cookies-recipe/#recipe

Cherry Sweet Rolls

 Cherry Sweet Rolls

Ingredients

• ¼ ounce active dry yeast (1 package)
• 1 cup milk warm
• ½ cup sugar granulated
• ⅓ cup butter unsalted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 21 ounce cherry pie filling (1 can), blended up so there aren’t huge cherry chunks

Cream Cheese Icing

• 6 tablespoons butter unsalted, softened, or margarine
• 1½ cups powdered sugar also known as icing sugar, or confectioners sugar
• ¼ cup cream cheese at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1.                   Bloom the yeast. Pour the lukewarm milk into a small bowl and mix in a teaspoon of the sugar from the dough. Then sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let it set for about 20 seconds before gently stirring it once or twice to fully dissolve. Now, leave it alone to sit for about 5 to 10 minutes until it gets foamy and begins to smell yeasty.

2.                   Make the dough. Add the remaining sugar, unsalted butter, salt, eggs, and all-purpose flour to the bowl of your stand mixer and then mix until well combined. Now, pour the bloomed yeast milk mixture over the flour mixture and fully incorporate all the ingredients together using the dough hook.

3.                   Let the dough rise. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Then put it in a warm place to let it rise for about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

4.                   Assemble the rolls. Once the dough has doubled in size, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it is about 16 inches long by 12 inches wide.

5.                   Spread with pie filling. Then spread your favorite cherry pie filling evenly over the dough making sure to cover the entire surface. Now, working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom of the other edge. It should look like a long swirled log when you are done rolling. Then cut the rolled dough into 1¾-inch slices and place them on a lightly greased baking pan.

6.                   Let the rolls rise. Cover the rolls on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper with a clean kitchen towel and leave them to rise for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

7.                   Bake the cherry rolls. Bake the rolls in a preheated 350℉ oven for 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Baking time can vary, so be sure to check them at 15 minutes and it could take up to 25 minutes. Every oven is different.

8.                   Make the icing. While the cherry rolls are baking in the oven make the cream cheese frosting by adding all the icing ingredients to a large bowl and beating them together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.

9.                   Top the cherry rolls with icing. When the cherry buns are done baking, generously spread them with the prepared icing and enjoy.

Vanilla Cheesecake - Cheesecake Factory Copycat

 Vanilla Cheesecake - Cheesecake Factory Copycat

Ready in: 12 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

Crust

·         1 2/3 cup (216g) crushed graham cracker crumbs (about 13 full sheets)

·         2 Tbsp (30g) granulated sugar

·         6 Tbsp (3 oz) unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake

·         3 pkgs. (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

·         1  ½ cups granulated sugar

·         1 Tbsp vanilla extract

·         3 large eggs

·         3/4 cup (180g) sour cream

·         1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream

Mousse

·         3.5 oz white chocolate, roughly chopped

·         ¾  cups (355ml) heavy cream

·         3 oz cream cheese, nearly at room temperature

·         1/ 1/2 Tbsp (22g) granulated sugar

·         2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1.             For the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with a sheet of 18 by 18 heavy duty aluminum foil (make sure the foil has no holes, you don't want any water to leak in). 

2.             Add graham crackers and sugar to a mixing bowl and stir to combine, then pour in butter and mix with a fork until evenly moistened. Pour into prepared springform pan and press evenly into bottom. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack.

3.             For the filling: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Have a large roasting pan ready and boil about 4 quarts of water (you may not need all of it).

4.             In a mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer blend together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined after each addition. Add sour cream and heavy cream and mix just until combined.

5.             Tap bowl forcefully against countertop about 30 times to release any large air bubbles. Pour over cooled graham cracker crust and smooth into an even layer. Place cheesecake in roasting pan then place roasting pan in oven and carefully pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. 

6.             Bake in preheated oven until cheesecake is set but still jiggly in the center, about 65 to 75 minutes, then leave in oven and leaved door closed and let rest 10 minutes. Then remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Tent with foil and chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight.

7.             For the mousse: Melt white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl on 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring between intervals, until melted and smooth (or alternately melt in a double boiler). Set aside and let cool until just lukewarm. 

8.             In a mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer whip heavy cream until soft peaks form then add sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (the cream should get to the point where it's starting to lose that wet sheen and it should become quite thick. Tap excess cream of beater blades), set aside.

9.             In a separate mixing bowl whip cream cheese with seeds of vanilla bean until smooth. Mix in white chocolate (it may appear slightly gritty, that's fine). Add in half of the whipped cream mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until nearly combined, then add remaining half of the whipped cream mixture and fold until combined and no streaks remain. 

10.           Pour over cold cheesecake and spread into an even layer. Tent pan with foil then return to refrigerator and chill 1 1/2 hours.

11.           To serve remove foil from pan, pull latch and remove springform pan ring. Garnish with raspberries and mint if desired, cut into slices.