Celebrations: Fish Tacos for a New Job

To celebrate my new job at Saveur, Stevie invited me over for some lovely fish tacos. Josiah, her bf, had caught a 22-lb. striped bass a few nights before out on Long Island, so she had obviously been brainstorming delicious and creative ways to use up all that goodness filling up her freezer. Enter tacos – fresh, tasty, and easy.

the necessary fixings: radishes, avocado,
cilantro, onion, and lime

Stevie was busy julienning her radishes when I arrived, so I took over fish duties. I gently massage the flesh until it began to flake and fall apart. In a separate bowl, I threw together some whole wheat flour, salt, pepper, and paprika, then heated some olive oil in a pan (we had decided to fry in olive oil based on the recent Saveur article that focused on olive oil’s frying capabilities). Each batch was cooked for about a minute and a half each, then set to drain on some paper towel, sprinkling them with lemon juice while they rested momentarily.

the fish, resting

Then, assembly time. Stevie heated oil in a separate pan to fry up the tortillas, which resulted in crispy, half-moon taco shells. We filled our individual tacos with fish, avocado, radishes for some kick, white onion, and cilantro, then drizzled lime juice over each one. Stevie had brought a Chinon rose for us to sip on – 100% Cabernet Franc and delicious. What a way to celebrate!

‘ze tacos, before they were devoured