Vaguely Mexican Fish Cakes

As I have said before, I am originally from New England.  We ate fish sticks, fish cakes, fish patties, fried fish, etc, etc.  Usually cod.  And always with tartar sauce. 

Today I went to use some cod my husband had bought and found myself without white bread to use as filler.  (I know, I know, traditional cod cakes use potato as filler, but traditional cod cakes are made with salt cod, too.)  I did, however have some leftover corn tortillas.  My original recipe used thyme, but we had cilantro, and cilantro goes with tortillas, so.  . . .

[Update:  the original recipe had 4slices homestyle white bread (no milk) instead of the tortillas, 1 Tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried instead of the cilantro, and 1/4 cup minced celery.  You could put some fresh parsley, too.]

Vaguely Mexian Fish Cakes

4 corn tortillas, ripped up
1/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup green onions, cut in 1/2" pieces, white and some green
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, packed
1 egg
1 - 1 1/2 lbs cod or other white fish, cut into about 8 pieces
1 tsp ground cumin
salt
pepper

1. Put the torn tortillas in the bowl of a food processor and let sit a few minutes. 

2. Add the green onion pieces and cilantro and pulse until the tortillas are in crumbs. 

3. Add the egg, fish, cumin, about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and pulse until egg is combined with fish, but not until the fish is pureed. 

4. Divide the fish mixture into 8 portions and roughly shape into balls.

5.  Heat about 1/4 cup canola oil in a 12-inch skillet on medium high until it just begins to shimmer.  One by one, place the cod mixture in the skillet and press flat with the bottom of a pancake turner. 

6.  Cook until brown on one side, flip, and brown again.

7.  Serve with some kind of salad, and of course tartar sauce.  You might put some chopped cilantro in the tartar sauce and a couple of shots of lime juice.

8.  Serves 4, two cakes apiece.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
Check the tortilla ingredients for soy, but this is generally not a problem with corn tortillas.

Say Hello to GirlEat

A great post from GirlEat, a relatively new blog from someone with a relatively new soy allergy:

http://girleat.com/2012/01/01/thank-you-restaurant/

Vanilla Chai Spice Cupcakes

One of my colleagues' birthday is tomorrow, so I am making cupcakes.  If I don't make them, I don't get any because if you don't know all the ingredients, you can't eat it if you have food allergies. 
It's a new job (since August), and the cupcakes have made me somewhat popular because we generally have 1-2 birthdays a month.  So far we have had Banana Nut with Vanilla Frosting (recipes from Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook), Orange with Chocolate Frosting (a request, also from Betty Crocker) Pumpkin with Sour Cream Frosting (same recipe as Banana, with canned pumpkin substituted for the mashed banana), Individual Cheesecakes, Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (also a request, from Betty Crocker), and some Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls (original--coming soon). 

The Vanilla Chai Spice Cupcake recipe comes from the website The Novice Chef, whose food choices are rather sophisticated and don't seem "novice" at all.  I substituted Stoneyfield vanilla yogurt for the buttermilk because we never have buttermilk around.  I did make a little goof--I made 18 cupcakes instead of 12 and sort of forgot to increase the amounts of spices. They still taste wonderful.

Note about the cake recipes in Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook:  It was originally published in 1950.  My mom got one as a wedding present and I grew up on those cake recipes.  But I find they work just as well or better if I cut the amount of salt in half.

Note 2 about the cake recipes in Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook:  If the recipe calls for shortening, sometimes I use Spectrum brand palm-oil shortening and sometimes I use butter.  No rhyme or reason as to the choice.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
none

Cliche Onion Dip for New Year's

Once in a while you want to go back to your food roots--what you ate when you were a kid.  Onion Dip made with Lipton Onion's Soup Mix is out (I check the ingredients every time I see it).  Try this instead:

2 cups sour cream or light sour cream
2 tsp soy-free beef bouillon powder, or 2 soy-free bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1/2 tsp grain-based coffee substitute, for color (optional)

Crumble the bouillon cubes, if using.  Stir all ingredients together.  Let sit 5 minutes and stir again.

SOY-FREE CONSIDERATIONS:
Soy-free beef bouillon: I used Knorr, but their "cubes" are the same as 2 normal cubes.  Also, check the ingredients because sometimes they are soy-free, and sometimes not.

NOTE:  For grain-based coffee substitute, I use Postum, but they don't make it anymore.  There are other brands, like Pero, but I haven't tried them.

ANOTHER NOTE: as of this posting, Lay's Ruffles and Lay's Light Ruffles potato chips are soy-free.