Bacon-Fried Avocado Tacos

I’ve long thought of the fried avocado taco as “the vegetarian option” when dining out at local taquerias, but I’ve since ruined that idea into perfection. The inspiration for this dish came to me the other evening after running into a friend at my local HEB. I really didn’t know what to cook for dinner, but the cartful of groceries made me insist that she come over to eat. We started with two crab legs in the steamer; which is always a nice treat you and buys some time.

We started discussing tacos, but I wasn’t really inspired by any of the meat I had in the house. I mentioned the avocado, and the chopping began. When I started, my plan was to sauté onions and peppers, make some pico, and try desperately not to demolish the avocado while frying it. I guess I was still in a meaty mood, and so I ended up frying up some bacon bits to top the taco as well. Here’s the story, in recipe form:

FRY four strips of bacon in a pan. 

In a separate pan, sauté onion slices, red pepper slices, and green pepper slices in a little bit of oil. 

SLICE a firm, but not hard, avocado into about 6 pieces.

BEAT an egg, and MIX some about ½ cup of flour with 3 tbsp. breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper to taste.

COAT the avocado first with the egg, and then with the flour mixture. REPEAT the coating process.

FRY a large, firm avocado in the bacon grease.

OK, this part warrants some explanation. Right after dropping the avocado in on the long side, shake the pan slightly to make sure the avocado doesn’t stick. Fry to a golden-brown color, then insert a fork diagonally into the avocado to lift and flip to the other long side. The avocado softens during cooking, so use care to flip without tearing it apart. Fry on the other long side, and then the round edge if the pieces are thick enough.

WRAP it up in a tortilla and TOP with bacon bits, cilantro, sautéed peppers and onions, sour cream, and pico de gallo. 

Potato Crusted Lemon–Pistacio Fish

After a long hiatus, I have been inspired to begin blogging again by the hunt for the best potato crusted fish I can make in my kitchen. My first two tries have led me to the conclusion that potato crusted fish is pretty delicious and easy to pull off, so I’ll share both recipes. From what I’ve seen online, potato flakes are the way to go. Admittedly, it is easier, but I pulled off a baked dish using a real live potato ☺

First Try: Baked Potato Crusted Fish

After a few minutes of perusing the internet, I realized I was missing what seemed a key ingredient: potato flakes. Bound and determined, I boiled up and mashed a potato. After putting it back on the burner for a bit to dry it out, I added about a third cup of breadcrumbs. This made the base for amazingness. Mix together:

Potato mixture and 1/3 c breadcrumbs (as described above)
Half a lemon peel of finely chopped zest
Finely chopped pistachios to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 ºF. Place 3 thick filets of white fish in a small baking dish and squeeze the lemon juice from the zested side of the lemon over the fish. Slice the other side up for garnish. Using your hand, top the fish with the potato mixture; thicker is better. Immediately before baking, brush the top of the fish with olive oil. Bake 20 min, or until fish flakes.

Second Try: Pan Fried Potato Crusted Fish

1 packet of potato flakes
Half a lemon peel of finely chopped zest
Finely chopped pistachios to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Beat an egg with the juice from the zested side of the lemon. Toss the fish in the egg/lemon mixture, and then coat on all sides with the potato mixture. Repeat if desired. Cook fish until browned on one side in the skillet, add a little more oil, flip, and brown on the other side.

Simple and delicious.