Taco Tuesday Night Part Two

One of my favorite Christmas presents that I received this year is the Southern Living Annual Cookbook that my mom gave me.  I had requested it after seeing quite a few recipes that I liked on myrecipes.com from the magazine.  Back in the 90s, my mom had given me two of these cookbooks, but she had stopped doing it since she also gets them every year.  As soon as I opened the present, I began flipping through it.  I came across a taco recipe that looked like something that Rick and I would enjoy.  It was for Tempura Shrimp Tacos.  I was also excited about it because it would also be a nice break from the leftovers that I've been eating since I returned from NC.  Like other Southern Living recipes, it can be found on here on myrecipes.com.  It was originally published in the September 2009 issue.  

I had never played with Tempura batter before, but it sure was messy!  I accidentally followed the directions on the box instead of the recipe so I used the whole box instead of just a cup.  I upped the amount of fajita seasoning.  We still thought that the end product was rather bland.  The Mexi-Cole Slaw was pretty good, but in Rick's opinion, nothing can top the Asian slaw. I don't know that we'll be having it again because while it wasn't bad, there are so many other recipes that we like better!


Tempura Shrimp Tacos
Ingredients
1 pound unpeeled, large raw shrimp (31/35 count)
1 cup tempura batter mix (I used McCormick's)
3/4 cup cold light beer
2 teaspoons fajita seasoning mix (I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of Old El Paso)

Vegetable oil
12 (6-inch) fajita-size flour tortillas, warmed
Mexi-Coleslaw Mix (see below for recipe)

Directions
Peel shrimp; devein, if desired.

Whisk together tempura batter mix, beer, and fajita seasoning in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes.

Pour oil to depth of 2 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 325°. Dip shrimp in tempura batter, shaking off excess. Fry shrimp, in batches, 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden; drain on a wire rack over paper towels.

Serve in warm tortillas with Mexi-Coleslaw Mix and desired toppings (We used cilantro, salsa, and sour cream)



Mexi-Coleslaw Mix
Ingredients
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon fajita seasoning (I used a tablespoon)

1/2 (16-oz.) package shredded coleslaw mix
Salt to taste

Directions
Stir together cilantro, mayonnaise, lime juice, and fajita seasoning in a large bowl; add coleslaw mix, stirring to coat. Season with salt to taste. Cover and chill 30 minutes to 24 hours.

Taco Tuesday Night!

This weekend, I was craving tacos.  I didn't want anything fancy, just straight out of the Old El Paso Box type of taco.  I don't think that I've ever made them myself as an adult, but I do have fond memories of them from my childhood.  When I mentioned it to Rick on Saturday night, he surprised me with baby back ribs so tacos got postponed until last night.  Even though I had told him about my box taco plan, Rick said that he knew that I'd probably end up doing something different.  Of course, he was right...well, sort of.

When I stopped by Publix on my way home from work yesterday, I picked up an onion to cook with the ground beef that Rick was bring over and pre-shredded lettuce.  As I was headed toward the aisle with the Mexican food products, I passed the seafood counter and noticed that snow crab legs were on sale.  An idea popped into my head!  What about crab tacos???  Sounded yummy to me!  I ended up getting just one cluster so that we could have one "special" taco and the rest would be the normal ones.  Obviously, Rick knows me very well!  I decided to grab a lime to go with the crab legs and opted for the half hard tacos and half soft taco combo box. 

I didn't tell Rick about my surprise special tacos until he came over for dinner.  I had also gotten some of that evil cheese dip that is like the dip they serve in Mexican restaurants so that we could have a pre-meal snack while I made dinner.

We were pleasantly surprised by the results of my crab tacos and I am including the recipe here.  I got 2 small, soft tacos out of one cluster so if you are wanting to do more, I'd use that as the guide (or dosage calculation for those nursing students out there ;) ).  I used dried cilantro instead of fresh because I was afraid that it would go bad over the holidays.  I'm not including the box taco recipe since they come on the box!  Enjoy!

Crab Soft Tacos
Ingredients
1 cluster snow crab legs (1 cluster makes 2 small soft tacos)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 teaspooon dried cilantro
Garlic powder
Shredded lettuce
Salsa of your choice
Soft taco shells
Light sour cream

Directions
Cook crab legs in boiling water until cooked.  Remove crab meat from shells and place in bowl.  Add a dash of garlic powder, lime juice, and cilantro.  Mix together and drain excess lime juice.

Place desired amount of lettuce in the middle of the soft taco shell.  Top with half of crab mixture, salsa and sour cream.  Fold taco and enjoy!