The Beauty in the Madness

Something that calms our married spirit is cooking together. Good food, in my belief system, is almost a religious experience. The bounty and beauty of what God has provided for us in the earth is remarkable. Only a loving God could provide us with such a vast array of amazing tastes, flavors, combinations, and beauty - good food is oh-so-beautiful. We aren't always fancy eaters in the Archer house (although we are generally much fancier than most households) but sometimes, on days off, we get really wild. We generally make just about everything from scratch, but for those take-a-long-time meals we wait for times when we have time. Rushed food is generally not good food. It doesn't feel nourishing, it feels scarfed down and ugly.

Good food takes time. Time to cook and time to eat.

Here in the north, we have an abundance of fish. So much fish. I am thankful for the fish, in terms of my health, but sometimes I curse the fish. I look in my freezer and see that I still have a HUGE drawer of salmon. Even after we took some with us to Iowa at Christmas. Even after I set some aside to bring to Iowa with us in May.

So. much. fish.

One of the most beautiful fish dishes I have ever had is fish tacos. A good fish taco is divine. It is an experience of flavorful beauty.

The first time we made fish tacos they were gross. Rubbery and disgusting. This was over a year ago, I think. I just now had the resolve to try again. Here are the photographic results of our experience.

Here in the Archer house we make our own tortillas. Why, you ask? Because I can't pronounce the ingredients in store bought tortillas, even whole grain ones. I don't like paying out the nose for something that can be made with flour, salt, and water. I'm still mastering them to see if they can be frozen. If we could make a whole heap of them at once it would really help. At this point in our lives, the time is worth it. Someday, that will probably change.

We chose, this time, to make corn tortillas because those are the typical authentic fish taco thing to do. The recipe is real tricky. 2 cups corn flour, 1/4 tsp salt (K thought we needed more salt), and 2 cups of warm water or enough water that the dough looks like cookie dough. The water is variable based on altitude and humidity levels. Alaska is DRY. So we used a little over 2 cups. Which then became 13 golf ball sized tortillas.

We're really fancy here, so we have no tortilla press and we use a cut in half ziploc to keep the tortillas from sticking to things. Real top of the line.

Here is the beginning: the tortilla balls in the background, one on the ziploc bag, and one cooking on the stove. You cook them for 50 seconds per side on medium-high and keep them wrapped in a towel so they stay moist and pliable until you are ready to serve.

Here is the ziploc bag, placed on both sides. Fancy, right?
And here is my fancy tortilla press, otherwise known as husband of almost 7 years:
In case you were wondering, that Lodge skillet does leave a mark on the tortilla, and those are organic mangoes in the background that I got on sale and will soon be frozen for smoothies.
And, a little bit of rolling to take out the Lodge stamp and to make the tortilla slightly bigger:
This stuff was like the centerpiece of our beautiful meal. It doesn't photograph well, but here we have southwest slaw and avocado cream. The slaw is a coleslaw made with lime and spicy sauce instead of your regular coleslaw sauce. The avocado cream is avocado, sour cream, garlic, and some spice. Seriously yum.
These are the refried beans. So good. They started as dry pinto beans the day before soaking in the crockpot, then they were cooked in the crockpot, drained, mashed, had spices and lime goodness added, along with some cheese, and here they are. They were GOOD. I love homemade refried beans. They are exponentially better than those cans.
And here, the halibut, the star. It was marinaded and then slathered with hot sauce and grilled. K is getting good at this grilling fish thing.
The meal. So good. I am not the best photographer, but we have here spicy fish tacos with slaw and cream on homemade tortillas with more slaw and beans in the background.
And margaritas, because it has been a helluva couple weeks.
If you are at all interested, the recipes were Spicy Fish Tacos (including Avocado Cream) and Southwest Slaw from Pioneer Woman's website Tasty Kitchen. The refried beans are from The Everything Beans Book by Katie Kimball which can be purchased at Kitchen Stewardship. There are links there is anyone is interested. The only things we had to buy for this feast were limes, cabbage, and a can of chipotle chiles. Everything else was either in the pantry or in our veggie box. While it looks fancy, it was actually pretty cheap. Time consuming, but worth every second.

At the end of the day, a good and beauty-filled meal is often the thing that can bring me back to a state of thankfulness. I look at the bounty before me and remember that God has provided. I look at the face of my beloved and I remember that there is love in this apartment and someone to share my feast with. I eat the fish that I often curse and recall the journey to get it, out on the ocean with my family last summer. I remember the trial it was to pull it up from the depths of the sea and I am thankful for this feast of goodness.

Time consuming food helps me to remember that food isn't supposed to be processed or packaged or chemically laden. Food is supposed to be real and whole and shared.

The gifts of God, for the people of the world. Taste and see that the Lord is good.