TOSTACOS - a World Premiere Creation

I would like to introduce you to a new taste sensation - the TOSTACO. It's my own cross between a tostada and a taco. It was discovered by accident, and if it shows up on one of those trendy foodie truck menus, I expect FULL CREDIT, and royalties. For you blog followers, however, I offer it here to you, gratis.

I wanted to make something quick for dinner and use items I had on hand - so I settled on tostadas. I also wanted to include a salad, but didn't really want to go to the bother of tossing a salad - and suddenly - VIOLA - the creation of the Tostaco!

Toast a flour tortilla in your toaster oven - watch it so it doesn't get too dark. Repeat for as many Tostacos as you want to make (we found that three total between two of us was sufficient, and left us wanting more, but not overly stuffed). Spread a thin layer of re fried beans on the "inside" half of the tortilla (that's the side that was folded over in the "pop up" toaster oven). Gently place the flat tortilla on a baking sheet (wasteful I know, but I use foil for easy clean up); then spread cheddar and cheddar jack cheese on top of the beans.

Next chop scallions and jalapenos (the slices in a jar or a can) and spread those over the tostadas - at this point in the process, these are still tostadas in the traditional sense.

Put the tray of tostadas in an oven, preheated to 350 or 375 degrees, and bake until the cheese melts and it looks all ooey gooey delicious.

While they're baking, halve your cherry tomatoes, and shred some lettuce - I used Romaine and just sliced it into thin strips, but you could certainly use Iceberg if that's your preference.

Now it's time to turn your "could-have-been-basic-tostadas" into the soon to be taste sensation "TOSTACOS!"

Sprinkle the lettuce and tomatoes over half of the tostadas; gently fold the tostada in half and remove to your serving plate.

It's a delicious tostada, that is folded and eaten like a taco, so what else would it be but a TOSTACO.

Enjoy.

Bunny's Secret Mormon Family Recipe™ Paninis

Once again I am turning to my dear Sister Bunny for a quick and easy recipe. This one, however, requires special cooking equipment - that I don't even have.

You'll need to buy, steal, or borrow a Panini Press - you may or may not be able to use your George Foreman Grill - test it out, and let me know.

Ingredients are what you want on your Panini. We used Focaccia Bread, Olive oil, Sliced Deli
Turkey and Roast Beef, Fresh Basil, and Cheese of choice (Provolone or Jalapeno Jack are both very nice options).

Heat up your Panini Grill per instructions (I'm just guessing on this one, since I don't have a Pannini Grill). Slice the Focaccia and lightly drizzle oil on both sides. Stack your desired sliced meat product, add a leaf or two of fresh basil, and top with a slice of cheese,

Put the other side of the Focaccia on top, and place onto your Panini Grill. As it heats, continue to put pressure on the grill to flatten the sandwiches - until done.

Voila, DELICIOUS.

And if you don't have a Panini Grill, leave a comment, with your email address, and I'll give you Bunny's address in Seattle so you can go hang out with the master Panini chef and see if you can't get her to make you a delicious pressed Italian sandwich.

Lemon Butter Baked Tilapia

I have read that we should be eating more fish to enhance our memory capabilities (or take fish supplement capsules, but then you have the side effect of fish burps - yuck). I like fish; Tilapia fillets were on sale at Ralphs; so, let's have fish - and keep it simple.

Pre-heat your convection oven to 350 degrees.

Wash and pat dry the fish fillets (you can use tilapia, dover sole, or any other thin, mellow white fish). Melt a couple pats of butter in your baking dish. Rub the fish fillets in the melted butter, turn and rub the other side in the butter. Using a cheesecloth or something similar to keep the seeds from falling onto the fillets, squeeze half a fresh lime (preferably one that you just picked from the lime tree in the front yard - or use a store bought lime, or even a lemon if you must) over the fish, turn the fillets again and squeezing second half of the lime. Lastly, salt and pepper each side of the fillets. Basically that's it!

During this process, you are just continually rubbing the fillets in the butter and lime mixture - not a bad thing at all.

Put the baking dish in the pre-heated oven and bake, uncovered, for about 3 - 4 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish). Turn, and bake for another 3 - 4 minutes. The fish should be flaky and when pushed, should ooze clear liquid. If the liquid is milky, the fish isn't quite done.
I suggest serving the fish over a scoop of rice, and drizzle the lemon butter over the fish and rice. And why not enjoy it with some asparagus?! And, I'm guessing this meal might even be healthy for you, unlike many of my suggestions.






YUMMY!