THE BAHAMAS

It has been a couple of weeks of much activity out of the ordinary; but, I am finally getting back on schedule. And the next stop on that schedule is the Bahamas! I decided to do a variation on a theme.

The dish I chose to represent The Bahamas is orange Fish. A lot of food is cut into bite sized pieces and grilled on the island, but I wanted to cook whole cuts of fish indoors, so I set the oven to 400 degrees, laid out four pieces of tilapia, and oranged it up. In a bowl, I mixed4 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, a quarter cup of orange juice, the rind of half an orange, and salt and pepper.

I then created a tent using aluminum foil. At the bottom of this tent went a bunch of whole parsley. I put the fish on top of this and poured the marinade on the fish. It only needs to set for half an hour. Deciding there was not enough orange, I squeezed the juice from the half of the orange I zested onto the fish. Still not enough...so I sliced the other half of the orange into thin wheels, and placed these on top of the fish, one layer deep. Now I was ready to cook the fish. I sealed the fish with another layer of foil, and baked the fish for half an hour. Because it was completely covered I didn't have to worry that the fish would get overcooked and dry. It was tender and moist. I layered the bottom of the plate with the cooked parsley, and carefully put the fish on top. I then spooned some of the juices onto the fish. Make sure you serve with the cooked orange wheels. These can be eaten whole, as i found out from my wife. They are tasty, and nutritious.

While not a Bahama recipe, I served the fish with a side of freshly made avocado salsa. The was made with avocados, tomatinas, jalapeno peppers, a tomato, cilantro, olive oil, and salt and pepper.