Super Easy Fish

Here is a meal that I just made...it was super easy, and super tasty....just thought ya'll should know!

~Herbed crusted Flounder~

1 pkg. flounder (about 4-5 fillets)

1 1/2 c. panko bread crums

2 tbsp. parsley

2 tbsp. dill

6 tbsp. melted butter

Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking pan with foil and spray with no-stick spray. Place the flounder on the baking sheet and salt and pepper each side. Combine the panko, parsley, and dill in a small bowl. Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Pat the panko-butter mixture onto the flounder. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 20 min or so, until the fish is light and flakey. Remove and let cool. Serve with a wedge of lemon. 

ENJOY!

Couscous Experiments

I tried cooking a new grain! COUSCOUS. It is made from semolina wheat and wheat flour. The flour is moistened and rolled into small spherical shapes.

There are different varieties of couscous and the specific one that I used in this recipe was Israeli Couscous, which is a larger, baked wheat couscous-like product similar to the Italian orzo. So it ends up being more like a pasta versus a rice in texture and taste.

Anywhos....on the the recipe!

~Israeli Couscous w/ Dried Fruit~

(adapted from Food Network Magazine)

2 c. Israeli couscous

2 1/2 c. boiling water + 2 tbsp.

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. cranberries*

1/2 c. sliced almonds

1 tsp. chopped parsley

salt

pepper

In a med stock pan, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over med. heat. Add couscous and toast, until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Once toasted, add boiling water (I heated mine in the microwave). Stir to combine. Simmer, covered for 5-7 min. or until a majority of the water is absorbed. Turn off heat, cover and let sit for 5 min. Meanwhile, in a med. skillet heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over med-high heat. Sauté onion with cinnamon until golden. Add the cranberries* and 2 tbsp. water and cook for 2 min. Once the sautee and the couscous are both done, combine them together and add the almonds, parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

*Feel free to use whatever fruit you have on hand. The original recipe called for raisins, but since I did not have them, I used cranberries. I have heard that apricots are also good in this dish.

Something that I really liked about this one was that they used cinnamon when sauteeing the onions! I think I am going to try and incorporate that into some other dishes that I like, just to give them a little bit of flair!!

I served this with some shrimp that I just baked in the oven at 375 F. and seasoned with some classic Old Bay to give them a kick. Of course, some lemon juice was squeezed over the top before eating!

ENJOY!!

Simple Fish Dinner

Dinner from Monday of this week. Red Snapper fillets and brown rice with peas and tomatoes. Simple, easy, tasty.

~Baked Snapper w/ Crumb Topping~

2 lg. Red Snapper fillets, thawed

1/2 c. bread crumbs

Various Herbs*

Salt 

Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a small bowl combine the bread crumbs, herbs (*I used italian seasoning, onion powder, and garlic powder). Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and place snapper fillets on it, skin-side down. Season each fillet generously with salt and pepper. Coat each fillet generously with the bread crumb mixture. Place in oven and bake for 15-30 min. depending on the thickness of the fillets (mine were really thick), or until fish flakes and is no longer translucent. Remove from oven and serve with sliced lemons. 

For the rice I just cooked up some instant brown rice, added some butter, salt, pepper, and some cooked peas. I also baked some tomatoes along side the fish in the oven for a few min, until they popped, and then served them with the rice. (Trying to get rid of them, we have a lot.)

The fish was good, it tasted like fish. The bread crumbs were a little crumb-y if ya know what I mean. I think next time I am going to put a little less bread crumbs, pan sear it before hand, then finish it off in the oven. Now I know what to do for next time!

ENJOY!

Tilapia on Thursday

I love fish, I really do! I would have to say that my favorite would be shrimp, in its many forms, followed by a close second of raw or slightly seared Tuna steaks. Yummy in my tummy!

Well, I tried to make some tilapia fillets last night. I think they turned out okay, again they can be better, but than again, everything can always be better! I believe the recipe that I used was from either the Food Network magazine, or a Rachel Ray magazine. This meal was served with steamed asparagus with mushrooms and onions.

~Pan Seared Tilapia~

2 tbsp. AP flour

2 tsp. chopped, fresh oregano*

2 tbsp. chopped, fresh parsley

Salt

Pepper

4 6oz. tilapia fillets

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

Combine the flour, oregano and parsley in a shallow dish or pie pan. Season with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over med-high heat. Dredge the fish in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess. Melt 3 tbsp. butter in the skillet, then add 2 fillets and cook until golden brown on the bottom, about 4 min. Flip and cook through, 1-2 more min. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Repeat with remaining 2 fillets. Serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over top of fish. 

This dish turned out really good and it was really easy and quick! My only critique is that the fish could have used a bit more flavor in the flour coating. Maybe some garlic or salt or something. But it was yummy, light and fresh!

ENJOY!

Salmon on Wednesday

I had bought some smoked salmon at the grocery store over the weekend with the idea of making some "salmon toasts" or something equivalent. Well, I decided to make them tonight as an appitizer of sorts. Along with the Salmon Crackers, as I am now calling them, I served curried potatoes, and a large spinach salad. There was no real recipe used for any of the dished served for this dinner, just kind of tasted and seasoned as I saw fit.

Here are the "recipes" 

~Curried Potatoes~

8-10 small fingerling potatoes

1/3 c. olive oil

1-2 tbsp. curry powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic salt

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a baking sheet with not stick spray. Combine the olive oil and spices into a med bowl and mix to incorporate. Wash the potatoes and cut them into med uniform pieces. Mix with the olive oil and spice mixture until well coated. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30-40 min. or until fork tender and cooked through. 

~Salmon Toasts~

1 pkg. cream cheese, room temp

1-2 green onions, chopped

1 tsp. salt 

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 pkg. smoked salmon

Ritz Crackers

In a med. bowl combine the cream cheese, onions, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread a tsp. amount of cream cheese mixture onto a Ritz crackers. Top with small slice of salmon. Serve!

The salad that I made was pretty basic. Just spinach, feta cheese, red onion, celery, sunflower seeds, sweet peppers, leftover turkey burger, and dressing. 

I liked the potatoes! The flavor was good, but they were a bit oily, maybe less olive oil next time, but I do like the curry spice. The Salmon Crackers were okay. I thought the salmon would taste a little different. I found myself liking the cream cheese mixture better. Oh well, maybe salmon is better paired with something else. Its an experimentation! 

ENJOY!!!

Shrimp on Monday

Yesterday I made some shrimp! I am starting this new integration into my cooking repertoire by cooking at least 2 or 3 new recipes each week. We'll see how it goes, but so far so good!

The recipe I used was from Redbook Magazine. I had clipped it out and put it into my recipe scrap book (I now have 3 going on 4 of these "recipe books") a while ago and I asked my Hubby to look through it and find a recipe he wanted me to make. This was the one that he chose.

~Scampi Gratin~

24 extra large peeled, deveined shrimp, thawed

4 slices white bread, crusts torn into pieces

1/4 c. marinated sun-dried tomatoes, drained, minced

1/4 c. chopped basil

6 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. capers, drained, chopped

1 tsp. garlic paste

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 c. olive oil 

Lemon wedges

Arrange oven rack in middle of oven; preheat to 400 F. To butterfly the shrimp, lay shrimp on a work surface. Make a deep slice with the tip of a knife into shrimp, following the curve where the vein was removed and cutting about 3/4 of the way through the meat. Spread incision open and flatten slightly with fingertips. Move to baking pan brushed with 1 tbsp. of the olive oil. 

Pulse bread in a food processor until corse crumbs form; transfer to a bowl. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, basil, 4 tbsp. parmesan, capers, garlic paste, and pepper until combined. Stuff each shrimp with breadcrumb mixture, slightly pressing stuffing down to adhere. Drizzle remaining olive oil over shrimp, then sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Bake 5 min. Shut off oven and turn broiler to hight. Broil shrimp  until stuffing is browned, about 2 min. Serve with lemon wedges.

NOTE: I made a lot of changes to this recipe. Nothing to grand, just some swaps here and there.

1. I used plain bread crumbs (no food processor, yet)

2. I used minced garlic

3. I used dried basil

4. I added some olive oil to the bread crumb mixture before putting it on top of the shrimp

5. I did not use capers

Hubby and I both thought that this recipe was good, or at least it had the potential to be even better! It's an experimentation process right? Next time I am going to used a little less stuffing mixture on each shrimp, add more salt (capers?), more cheese...basically make the amount on top of the shrimp less, but amp up the flavor.

I served this meal with a simple spinach salad. On top of the spinach I added sweet salad pepper, roasted red peppers, feta cheese, sunflower seeds and a simple olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper dressing. Twas tasty!

ENJOY!

On another note, here are some bands that ya'll should totally check out!

1. Alpha Rev

2. She & Him

3. Neon Trees

4. Beach House

5. Delta Spirit