Jamaican Jerk Fish Tacos with Scotch Bonnet Pineapple Salsa

 

Last month I had the chance to check off a bucket list location when I visited Jamaica. I'm hoping to find time to share more about that trip in the near future, but I have to share about the food we ate there, especially the jerk chicken. I still dream about the jerk chicken we had there and crave it constantly. In order to fulfill these cravings, I've learned how to make jerk seasoning and have been making an air-fried version of jerk chicken. Absolutely delicious!

So when Gorton's Seafood reached out and asked me to create a recipe using their frozen fish, I already knew where my inspiration would come from. And let me tell you, this recipe is a new favorite of mine and I've made it twice since I first created it a few days ago!

The recipe is also so simple and quick. I hope you give it a try!

Jamaican Jerk Fish Tacos with Scotch Bonnet Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

-1 bag of Gorton's Seafood beer battered frozen fish

-Cooking oil spray

-Tortillas

Scotch bonnet pineapple salsa: 

-1 red bell peppers, diced

-1-2 scotch bonnet peppers, diced

-1/2 red onion, diced

-1/3 cup pineapple, diced

-1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

-3 Tsbp lime juice

-pinch of fine sea salt

Jamaican Jerk Seasoning:

-1 tsp onion powder

-1 tsp garlic powder

-1 tsp five spice

-1 tsp allspice

-1 tsp black pepper

-1/2 tsp thyme

-1/2 tsp nutmeg

-A pinch of salt

1. Mix all salsa ingredients together in a medium bowl

2. Mix all Jamaican Jerk seasoning together in a small bowl

3. Lightly spray both sides of frozen fish with cooking oil

4. Lightly season fish with Jerk seasoning

5. Air fry fish at 425°F for 15 minutes - flip fish halfway through.

6. Lightly warm tortillas, layer with shredded lettuce, fish & salsa.

Enjoy!

Vietnamese-Style Beer Battered Shrimp

 

Some of my favorite meals include two staple ingredients: Fish sauce and garlic. Anyone else with me?

I used to be scared of cooking with fish sauce because of the initial whiff you get when you open the bottle. But it tastes incredible and lends the most amazing umami flavor to dishes, and I've learned to love cooking with it. 

The other day, I was craving some Thai or Vietnamese food. I didn't have any protein ready to cook in my fridge, but I always have some Gorton's seafood in my freezer. So I made a quick sauce using only 4 ingredients and cooked up crispy, sticky and delicious shrimp using Gorton's Beer Battered Shrimp in under 20 minutes! 

I had some lettuce, carrots, leftover mung bean noodles and snap peas, cilantro and mint from my garden. So I created a salad to top with the shrimp for a full meal. But you can also eat the shrimp with rice and cooked veggies, or on its own!

Please let me know if you try this recipe and what you think!

Vietnamese-Style Beer Battered Shrimp

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients:

• 1 package of frozen Gorton's Beer Battered Shrimp
• 2 Tbsp Fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F
2. In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic and black pepper
3. Lay out frozen shrimp in a single layer on baking sheet and cook for 12 minutes
4. Place shrimp one by one in sauce and gently toss
5. Place shrimp back on baking sheet and cook for 4-5 minutes
6. Remove and enjoy!

Fish Po' Boy Sandwich

With the coming of Spring, I'm already dreaming of dining al fresco and seafood dinners. Unfortunately, in the Midwest there's likely still months before patios and rooftops open up (sans heaters), so I am still ordering takeout quite a bit. However, there are dishes that taste much better fresh than delivery or pickup. And since many are staying home more, it's a great opportunity for us to learn how to make recipes we usually just order from restaurants.

One dish I've recently made at home for the first time is a po' boy sandwich. I love a good po' boy, with its crunchy bread, crispy seafood, and delicious sauce, it never lets me down. And it's actually really simple to make at home as long as you have the right ingredients. The most important ingredient being the seafood!

I'm partnering with Gorton's Seafood again to create this fish po' boy sandwich. As I've shared before, I love their products and always keep them in my freezer. Their fish is wild caught and their whole fillet fish are flash-frozen at the peak of freshness. I love fish because it's a great source of protein and natural omega-3s. 

This po' boy sandwich is super simple to make! It is a new dish on rotation for mealtimes. The recipe I'm sharing is adapted from Serious Eats' recipe. And I hope you try it out for you and your family and let me know what you think!

FISH PO' BOY SANDWICH

Makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients:

For the Fish:

• 4 Gorton's Seafood frozen fish fillets (I used the Fish Sandwich Fillets)
• 2 Tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder

For the Sauce:

• 3/4 cup Kewpie mayonnaise (You can use any mayo)
• 2 Tbsp drained prepared horseradish
• 2 Tbsp Cholula hot sauce 
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Sandwich:

• 4 sub-style French rolls
• 4 Gorton's Seafood frozen fish fillets (I used the Fish Sandwich Fillets)
• 4 Lettuce leaves (I used Romaine lettuce)
• 2 tomatoes sliced
• 16 dill pickle chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, ground black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder.
3. Lay out frozen fish fillets on half of baking sheet. Sprinkle above seasoning mixture over both sides of fish fillets.
4. In a medium bowl, combine all sauce ingredients together.
5. Open French rolls and place them on other half of baking sheet so they are open faced up.
6. Place rolls and fillets in over. Set timer for 16-18 minutes. Flip fish fillets and remove rolls from oven halfway through.
7. While fish finishes baking, start assembling sandwiches by placing a generous amount of sauce on open faced side of rolls.
8. Layer lettuce, tomato slices and pickles on each sandwich. Once fish is done cooking, add one piece to each sandwich. (I cut each fillet in half to fit in the sandwich.)
9. Enjoy!

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn Shrimp Dinner

 

Meal prep. Anyone consider themselves adept at meal prepping? If you do, please send me your tips my way! I wish I was good at planning my meals for the week, then grocery shop with those specific meals in mind and never having to feel the panic of not knowing what meal I was going to make for work the next day. But, I've learned to make sure I shop for a variety of vegetables and protein. Some fresh and some frozen or canned, so I have a variety of food to work with when I cook last minute.

My go-to last minute meals are sheet pan meals. I love that they require very little prep, leave only a few dishes and utensils to wash and are simple and quick. 

I'm excited to partner with Gorton's Seafood again to share a sheet pan meal using their delicious popcorn shrimp! As I mentioned in my Shrimp Tacos recipe post, Gorton's Popcorn Shrimp is preserved for freshness, non-GMO and full of good protein, vitamins and minerals. I try to always have their popcorn shrimp in my freezer since it's so easy to create a variety of delicious snack or mealtime recipes with it!

This sweet and spicy popcorn shrimp sheet pan meal is simple and full of flavor! I love serving it over rice, but you can serve it over plain noodles or by itself. It's a great recipe for dinner parties or for everyday meals. And leftovers can be packed up for work the next couple days! You can swap out the vegetables for anything else too (snap peas, asparagus, etc). Let me know what you think of the recipe if you give it a try!

SWEET & SPICY POPCORN SHRIMP

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• Gorton's Popcorn Shrimp (I used about 3/4 of a package)
• 1 head of broccoli cut into florets
• 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
• 2 Tbsp Sriracha
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (or spray cooking oil)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425F
2. In a small bowl, mix garlic, sweet Thai chili sauce, Sriracha and honey until well combined.
3. Spread out vegetables on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables. Toss to coat.
4. Add Gorton's Popcorn Shrimp to baking sheet. Drizzle sweet and spicy sauce over shrimp and vegetables. Toss to coat.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Tips of florets should be browned.
6. Enjoy!

SHRIMP TACOS

Happy August! It's wild to think that we are about to face month SIX of quarantine. If I had to quickly sum up each month, this is what I'd say.

Month one - two: As I'm sure was the case for everyone, the start of quarantine was rough. I thought time would pass by really slowly. 

Month three: I felt like I was getting into a rhythm. But then everything kept changing as we stepped through each phase.

Month four - five: Life got crazy as people were adjusting to the "new normal" and cases of COVID kept climbing.

We will see what month six brings! But one thing that remained the same throughout quarantine life was how much more cooking I was able to do. And my love for tacos and seafood never waned.

I've made many variations of tacos throughout this season, and the newest variation is one of my favorites because it incorporates shrimp. I'm excited to collaborate with Gorton's Shrimp since their products are delicious. Plus, they are often a freezer staple in my house because they make food prep super simple!*

Gorton's shrimp is great to keep in your freezer since it's preserved for freshness. I can easily cook up a smaller portion of the package for a snack or a larger portion for a shared meal. Lately I've also been focusing on eating foods that are filled with goodness. Gorton's Shrimp is filled with protein, vitamins and minerals for immunity boosting. Plus, it's non-GMO!

This shrimp taco recipe is perfect on a summer day! It's topped with mango salsa and sriracha sauce for a sweet and spicy kick.

SHRIMP TACOS:

Serves 2 people

Ingredients:

• Flour/Corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cabbage/lettuce
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup diced mango
• 1/4 small red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeño, diced into small pieces
• Lime juice
• Small bunch of cilantro, minced
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced/diced
• Gorton's Popcorn Shrimp
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 Tbsp Sriracha

Directions:

1. Prepare Gorton's Popcorn Shrimp as directed on package.
2. In a small bowl, make salsa by combining tomatoes, mango, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime juice.
3. In another small bowl, make Sriracha sauce by combining sour cream and Sriracha.
4. Warm tortillas over the stove until browned.
5. Top tortillas with cabbage/lettuce, salsa, avocados, as much shrimp as desired, then drizzle on Sriracha sauce. 
6. Add a squeeze of lime and enjoy!

Let me know what you think of this recipe if you try it!

*Sponsored by: Gorton's Shrimp