Tequila with Ricky-5/11/10


When I lived in Phoenix, I was only 5 hours away from San Diego and from there, it was only a quick drive into Mexico. One year a friend from Michigan, Eric Seelye, came to visit me and we hopped in the car and drove to the Baja. I laugh a bit now at how blase we were about the trip. So blase that Eric left his wallet on the top of a pay phone, we drove away, realized he left it and it was still there when we went back. That night we stopped for dinner in the town of Rosarito, below Tijuana. Our waiter, Ricky, was delightful and when we mentioned we had no idea where we were spending that night (I told you we were blase!), he offered to let us pitch our tent behind the restaurant. When we woke up to the ocean crashing below us and a beautiful view of Rosarito Beach, we felt like we'd spent the night in a five-star hotel. The next year, I took Richard back to Baja and just down the road from the restaurant we'd eaten at the year before was a little place called Ricky's. Sure enough, Ricky remembered me and treated us to lots of free tequila and a wonderful meal of fish tacos.
Actually, I'm not sure we had fish tacos. Remember the part about the free tequila... But either way, fish tacos are the dish that in my mind conjures up images of the Baja. Tonight's dinner was Crispy Fried Fish Tacos from the Taco World article in this month's Food and Wine. I think I might be able to give Ricky a run for his pesos. These were really good fish tacos. The recipe used some Asian ingredients like hoisin sauce and panko but the flavor was authentic. The hoisin sauce gave the dressing for the tacos a wonderful tang and the panko was the crunchy base for the fried coating. I used frozen bagged tilipia fillets and they worked beautifully. This dish sure made me miss the stark beauty of the Baja peninsula and the warm welcome of Ricky.
A playful main like fish tacos called for a simple fun dessert. The Espresso-Shortbread Brownie Bars were a good fit. Combining shortbread cookies with brownies is a fun twist on both. The espresso in the shortbread cuts some of the sweetness of the brownie. I'm not a huge chocolate person, nor a real cookie lover, but if this describes you, make these. I also thought milk was an absolute requirement to the enjoyment of these bars. They are a smidge dry without it.

Crispy Fried-Fish Tacos-A
Espresso-Shortbread Brownie Bars-A-

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