Cod Milanese with Chickpea and Artichoke Heart Salad

I bought Ina Garten's new cookbook the day it came out.  While I frequently buy used cookbooks for pennies on the dollar, I'm fine with buying Ina's cookbooks new.  Why?  They're so well done.  She obviously tests and retests her recipes because they just work.  And, they're so often relatively quick and easy.  Perfect for work nights.  That's how I felt about her Flounder Milanese.  After reading the book cover to cover and making a list of recipes to try, this one came to the top of the list.  I stopped at our favorite fishmongers and picked up some cod instead of the flounder. 

We left the office about 7:00 and headed home.  I still needed a salad.  My idea was celery.  A great recipe from the New York Times was on my radar.  But, it required a two hour marination.  Not happening at 7:00 in the evening!  So, on to eatyourbooks.com.  I typed in celery, pine nuts, feta, thinking I'd get a bunch of salad ideas.  Nope.  Just one, from Food 52.  So, I used the basic ingredients and made up my own salad dressing. 

What did we think?  Both recipes were fives.  They were SO easy to make.  And, SO very good.  This is exactly what we like on a late evening.  Quick, flavorful and pretty darned good for us. 

Cod Milanese

Ingredients:

1 pound cod fillet
1 c all purpose flour
salt and pepper
1 extra large egg
1 c seasoned dry bread crumbs
unsalted butter
good olive oil
1 T drained capers
lime juice

Directions:

Put the flour in a shallow bowl.  Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water in another shallow bowl.  And, the seasoned bread crumbs in another.  Since I didn't have seasoned bread crumbs, I put in a good bit of Italian seasoning.  Cut the fish into pieces.  I cut it based on the thickness of the fish.  Pat the fish pieces dry.  Melt a tablespoon of butter in a large skillet.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil.  Dip the fillets first in flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.  When the butter is sizzling, put the thicker fillets in.  When they are brown on the first side, flip them and add the balance of the fillets to the skillet.  You may need to add more butter and/or oil.  The thick fillets (1") took about 8 minutes and the thinner ones took about 4 minutes.  Serve topped with capers and a squeeze of lime or lemon.  Ina also added salad greens with a lemon vinaigrette.

adapted from Cook Like a Pro by Ina Garten



Celery, Artichoke and Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

3 celery ribs with leaves, finely diced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and diced
1 jar hearts of palm, drained and sliced thinly
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 c crumbled feta cheese
2 T toasted pine nuts
mustard vinaigrette

Directions:

Mix the celery, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, chickpeas and vinaigrette together and allow them to marinate while you prep the fish.  For the vinaigrette, I had about 3 T of Dijon mustard left in a jar.  I added some red wine vinegar, a pinch of sugar, about 2 t of Italian seasoning and then a good bit of EVOO.  Serve the salad topped with crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts. 

adapted from Food 52

Fried Food Extravaganza!

My goal is to clean out the OLD small freezer and get rid of it.  It's an energy hog and we really don't need the extra freezer.  Of course, if you looked at what we have frozen, you'd say we do.  An entire shelf of stock.  Chicken, turkey, shrimp, lobster and corn.  An entire shelf of soups.  And, the list goes on...  I've been reaching my hand into the freezer and grabbing different proteins.  Then, I design the week's menus around them.  Some time ago I grabbed the bag of cod.  Fish and chips went on the menu.  And, got moved from week to week.  Finally I'd had enough of the moving it and declared it was time to have fish and chips for dinner.  Except that Connie didn't want potatoes.  And, he's not fond of corn meal.  Really, he's not terribly picky.  Except of course when it comes to soup, fruit and potatoes.  LOL.  He eats them because I fix them and that's what's for dinner.  He does like a lot of the weird stuff I like.  Anchovies, escargot, oysters, smoked oysters, capers...

I headed to the computer to look at recipes for beer batter.  That'd make him happy.  No corn meal.  Now, when it comes to catfish he's not going to have a choice.  That's a corn meal kinda fish!  But, cod we could beer batter.  As I looked at Epicurious I saw an onion ring recipe.  It was a beer tempura batter.  Sounded fabulous.  Then and there I decided to do onion rings and beer battered fish.  And, a raw cauliflower salad with anchovies, capers, parsley, red wine vinegar and EVOO.  Gotta have something healthy with the fried food!

We loved this meal so much that the next evening I did it again - more or less.  This time I cut the fish into pieces and tucked them into toasted hot dog buns.  The sandwiches were topped with shredded lettuce that'd been drizzled with some malt vinegar.  We used Stonewall Kitchen Down East Tartar Sauce because I'd bought a jar on sale and wanted to use it up.  It was very good but not very economical. 

I've got to say these were about the best onion rings I've ever had.  They were crispy and crunchy.  They shattered as a good tempura batter should.  I sliced the sweet onions about a quarter of an inch thick.

With thanks to Epicurious, here's the recipe I adapted from their site:

Tempura Batter for Onion Rings and Fish

Ingredients:

2 c all purpose flour
1 c cornstarch
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t onion powder
1 t cayenne
1 1/2 t sugar
1 T kosher salt
12 oz beer (I used Heineken)
5 oz club soda

Directions:

Mix the batter ingredients.  Heat your oil in a wide skillet to 350.  Dredge the onion rings in the batter and put them in the hot oil.  Do not crowd them or they will stick together.  Fry on both sides until golden brown.  Remove them from the skillet to a half sheet covered with paper towels. Dust with salt.  Add the fish to the hot oil.  Again, cook until it's golden brown.  Remove to the half sheet.  Serve with tartar sauce.  Either plain or in a sandwich...

Asian Halibut with Bok Choy and Eggplant with Peanut Sauce

My 99 cents find is managing to leave all the other cookbooks in the dust!  The Frugal Foodie Cookbook was published in 1999 by a couple who had a blog of the same name.  At one point they moved from BlogSpot to WordPress.  Now, all I can find is the old BlogSpot blog.  So, I'm hoping it's because they found themselves with wonderful, busy careers and a couple of kids and they just don't have time to blog anymore.  We've made two more dishes from the cookbook and both were clearly a five.  And, we've got a couple dozen more that I've listed to try.  Actually, I'm blogging instead of doing my grocery list for the week.  I like to have my menus and grocery list done by Friday but that wasn't happening this week.  A very dear friend had a house fire.  She's in the burn ICU and her house is going to need a lot of help.  Her brother is down in Louisville so we'll be the point people for heading there every day and checking out the progress.  She's doing better and may actually have her breathing tube out by today so she can talk.  It's going to be a long and rocky road!

Well, let's get back to happier news.  Like good recipes.  The most recent recipe was for a dinner party.  I managed to snap a photo as I was cooking the halibut but not as I plated it.  The goal was to get dinner on the table while warm :-)  Along with the halibut I made our new favorite salad - Endive with Blackberries and Blue Cheese.  For dessert - super simple angel food cake with frozen berries, whipped cream and toasted almonds.  I whirred the berries with a bit of liqueur in the food processor and added a bit of the same liqueur to the whipped cream.  But, the star of the show was the halibut.  This was a restaurant quality recipe.  And, shockingly, I made it almost as written.  I know, that never happens.  LOL  I'd not had the recipe handy when I made the grocery list for Connie.  So, I had him get a head of bok choy.  I used four big leaves instead of the baby bok choys.  And, we were out of lime juice so I subbed in lemon juice.  The recipe said four servings would run $27.  Wrong.  The halibut alone was $56.82.  But, it was worth every bite.

Halibut with Warm Mushroom Salad

Ingredients

6 head baby bok choy, leaves separated and washed
1/2 c water
4 T soy sauce
4 T white wine
2 t fresh ginger, minced
2 lbs halibut, divided into four pieces

for the mushroom salad:

4 T olive oil
6 c mixed mushrooms, coarsely chopped
4 T white wine
1/2 c soy sauce
6 T rice wine vinegar
1 T fresh ginger, minced
2 T chives, chopped very finely
juice of one lime

Directions:

In a large skillet - preferably one that has a lid - lay the bok choy.  Let it steam uncovered for a few minutes until it's softened just a bit.  While it's steaming, make the sauce with the soy sauce, white wine and ginger.  Then, lay a piece of fish on each leaf or piece of bok choy.  Pour the sauce over, cover and steam until the fish is flaky - about 6 minutes.  In another skillet, heat the olive oil then sauté the mushrooms.  Make the dressing and set it aside.  To plate the dish, put a fish filet with it's bok choy in the center of the plate.  Scatter some warm mushroom salad over then pour on some of the mushroom salad dressing.


The other recipe we made was for Japanese eggplant with a peanut butter sauce.  Connie got kind of a funny look on his face when he started eating it.  I said, "What's up?"  He said, "This is turd sauce."  I'm thinking ooops, he really doesn't like this stuff.  Then, he goes on to say, "You could put this on a turd and it'd taste good."  Ok then, we have turd sauce.  I'm still laughing at that one!!!

Japanese Eggplant with Peanut Soy Sauce

Ingredients:

2 eggplants, cut lengthwise into 1 1/2" thick slices
2 T peanut butter (I used crunchy since that's what we have on hand)
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 T sake (or dry white wine)
1/2 t sugar
1/4 t chipotle chili powder

Directions:

The recipe called for steaming the eggplant slices in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, then rinsing under cold water to stop the cooking.  Then, it called for mixing the sauce in a small saucepan on medium heat for five minutes.  I first tried grilling the eggplant and when that didn't work, I sautéed it.  Next time I'll steam it! 

Homerun Dinner

When an eight year old requests herb crepes with ham and cheese and hollandaise sauce, Grammie makes the dish.  We had headed over to Columbus, OH to celebrate grandson Bradley's 8th birthday.  Because we were going to get there late on Saturday and then spend all day Sunday at various sporting events, the only cooking I'd done was a worm cake.  More on that later...  Saturday evening went as planned.  Dinner at the Dublin Village Tavern.  Home of the incredible Village Chowder that I've semi-successfully duplicated.  And, the Irish eggrolls with corned beef.  That I can only wish I could duplicate!  Sunday morning was a hockey game.  Fortunately that was inside since the weather was more than a little nippy.  Said weather meant that part of Sunday's activities were cancelled.  That also meant that we'd be at the house for long enough for me to fix lunch.  Bradley confessed to Grampie that what he really wanted was the crepe dish I'd fixed when we visited for Rosie's birthday.  That morning I'd made the crepes for the adults and strawberry pancakes with cake sprinkles for the kids.  Bradley and his mama traded plates and both were VERY happy.  Herb crepes necessitated a trip to the grocery.  Thin sliced ham, Dubliner cheese (gruyere works,) butter and eggs for the hollandaise, and five packages of fresh herbs: oregano, thyme, basil, chives and rosemary.  I made Mom's blender hollandaise to nap them.  And, on the side a salad with baby kale, spinach, chard and beets topped with tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, mushrooms and a Greek vinaigrette.  Dessert was the worm cake. 

Here's the short version of how to make the crepes...  Assemble your herb batter.  I've used two different recipes and the first was the best.  That's the one I can't put my hands on...  The second was Bobby Flay's recipe.  It was good.  Just not as good.  Put the batter in the fridge to rest for an hour.  Grate a good pile of sharp cheese.  I used Dubliner this time because I didn't see Gruyere.  Lay the thin sliced ham in a skillet.  Make the blender hollandaise and set it aside. Once you start making the crepes, turn the heat on the skillet to VERY low.  You just want to warm the ham, not cook it.  As the crepes come off the heat, sprinkle each with about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese and top the cheese with a slice of ham or two.  Roll the crepe up and set aside.  As you serve them, nap each crepe with hollandaise.  Photos were scarce thanks to a tight timeline and lack of sous chef :-)

So, I promised I'd tell you about the worm cake.  I made a pound cake in a tube pan.  Once it was turned out and cooled, I cut it in half and arranged it on a foil-lined platter.  Then, I frosted it with a butterscotch ganache.  For the ganache I used butterscotch morsels and made the ganache stiffer than the chocolate ganache on the mounds bars.  Then, I made some buttercream frosting, dyed it green and drizzled it over the cake.  Gumdrops went on as did some licorice stings and M and M's for eyes. 

Now, the moral of the story is that I had five packages of leftover herbs.  Herbs are expensive.  I hate to waste them.  That meant figuring out a way to use them up.  My first thought was an herb salad I'd made a couple of years ago.  It was fabulous.  But, it called for mint which I didn't have.  Then, I started thinking about herb pasta.  Then, inspiration struck in the form of a cookbook I'd picked up at Goodwill.  On Thursday three appointments rescheduled.  One fellow had to drive to Huntsville, AL.  Another had a mother-in-law who was on the verge of being hospitalized.  And, the third works PRN and got a gig.  All of the sudden I was free to run three errands on the west side of town.  So, I headed west.  As I was heading from Mom's to The Garden Center I spied the Goodwill.  And, I couldn't resist.  Among several cookbooks was one titled The Frugal Foodie Cookbook.  It was a paperback so it was 99 cents.  Sold.  Friday morning I started leafing thru that one on the way to the office.  Connie drives.  I read cookbooks.  Nice deal, huh?   One of the first recipes I saw was garden salad with lemon herb dressing.  Friday we actually escaped the office for lunch.  Turns out we needed to deliver something to Mom's CPA and they're a hop, skip and a jump from Caplingers Fish Market.  Our go-to for anything fish or seafood.  We stopped and got cod sandwiches for lunch and a flounder fillet for dinner.  And, smoked tuna salad for Saturday's lunch. 

We got home Friday evening and debated.  Yard or house?  We'd worked our fingers to the bone in the yard on Thursday evening.  Our neighbor, Christina, had (totally tongue in cheek) come over and said, "I thought you guys were going to plant some bulbs?"  Here's what she was looking at when she said that.  LOL. 

Connie wanted to get the gladiolas planted.  I wanted to get the house straightened.  So, since we'd done yard the day before, we worked on straightening the house and fixing dinner.  I pulled out Mark Bittman's FISH cookbook and hunted for something simple for the flounder.  Broiled flatfish with mustard and thyme sounded perfect.  The rosemary would be perfect with red potatoes.  And, the rest of the herbs would go into a salad dressing.  But, I wanted to use hearts of palm and not bell peppers, carrots and the like.  What would complement the hearts of palm and the herb dressing?????  Ah, yes, beets.  Connie found a can of julienne beets.  We were in business.  I started the potatoes, then made the dressing and tossed the vegetables in to marinate.  Then, I made the sauce for the fish and worked on cleaning up the kitchen while the potatoes got happy.  As soon as the fish went under the broiler, I shredded, rinsed and dried some romaine lettuce.  That was topped with the marinated vegetables. 

What did we think?  We loved the fish.  The sauce was the perfect complement.  Not so much that it overpowered the fish but enough that it added some pizzazz.  The dressing, too, was perfect.  The Dijon and sugar took the edge off the citrus but still allowed the herbs to shine.  I will say that the original recipe called for dill, tarragon, cilantro, parsley and green onion.  I used oregano, thyme, basil and shallot.  Connie was a bit scandalized at my wanton substitution but it worked just fine. 


Lemon Herb Dressing

Ingredients:
4 T fresh herbs (I used basil, oregano and thyme and because they're so strong used 3T instead)
1 T green onion or shallot
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
3 T lemon juice
1 t sugar
1 t Dijon mustard

Directions:

Mince the herbs and shallot.  Mix with the other ingredients.


Broiled Flatfish with Mustard and Thyme

Ingredients:

2 lbs flatfish fillets (flounder, plaice, dab, sole)
1 T oil or melted butter ( I omitted this)
1/3 c Dijon mustard
1 T sugar (sounds like a lot, trust me, it works)
1 t minced fresh thyme
1 T fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your broiler.  Mix the mustard, sugar, thyme and lemon juice.  Put the fish on a broiling pan.  (I couldn't find the rack so mine went in sans rack...)  Slather the fish with the oil or butter or omit that if you'd like.  Slather the fish with the mustard sauce.  Broil for about 6 minutes or until the fish flakes.  The recipe says you can also bake it at 450.  I loved the little bit of caramelization that the broiling caused so would recommend that over baking...

adapted from FISH by Mark Bittmann

Monkfish with Caper Brown Butter Sauce

Happy 4th of July!  It's undoubtedly much better weather here in Indianapolis than it was in Philadelphia on 7/4/1776.  The weather, in fact, is why I'm so late with this post.  We decided to work on the garage today.  After several hours in the office, we dug in.  Now, both cars are out in the driveway instead of one.  But, in the event of a hail storm we could have both in the garage in about 15 minutes.  A couple of hours tomorrow and we'll pretty much have it done.  One more thing off our list!!!

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to join a group called Weekend in a French Kitchen.  You can do recipes from two different cookbooks each week.  Or from one.  Or from none.  I chose to do both for this weekend.  Except we couldn't find skate.  The manager of the fish market told us monkfish was a great substitute.  It may have been because they had a surfeit of it or it may have been what he thought.  At any rate, it was an excellent choice.  The recipe we were to use was Skate with Brown Butter and Capers from the Café Boulud cookbook.  Now, the interesting part is that we're not to post the actual recipe.  That's a first for me. 

We really loved this dish.  It's in two parts. One, you poach the fish.  And, two, you make a brown butter caper sauce.  Then, you plate the fish with the sauce and fresh parsley and some boiled potatoes.  Simple and delicious. 

Tomatoes, Baked, Gazpacho, Pesto BLT's...

Me behind on things to do at the house?  To the best of my knowledge I've never gotten to the point of having three loads of scrunchies to wash.  There must've been eight full loads of wash.  When you're talking about two people that's a lot of clothes, folks.  My excuse?  Well, we're still dealing with the tsunami of paperwork in the office.  AND, we've been fringing and going to Indians baseball games and going to wine tastings and various sundry fun things. 

Fringing, you say?  Yup.  Indianapolis is lucky enough to have our own Fringe Festival.  It runs for eleven days in several venues on or near Mass Ave downtown.  The first evening we saw Phil Van Hest's new show, "What Biscuits."  When he first started doing Fringe, Phil lived in LA.  Then, he met a lovely lady named Noelle and moved to Indy.  This time his nine month old son, Gray, came to his show for his first time.  And, his last until he's old enough to not do the monkey hear, monkey say thing.  Just saying.  Phil does know a few four letter words, ya know.  And, they do show up in his show.  We ran into Phil on the Avenue later and he confirmed that Gray will not be attending in the near future.  After that we saw a show that's played to rave reviews at other Fringe Festivals - "Under the Lintel."  It was very good but a bit deep for us.  We prefer the straight comedy shows.  Along the way we saw five more shows.  Our favorite this year was Act of Foo.  Those guys were an amazing improv troupe.  We laughed until our sides hurt.  Our second favorite was a fellow we loved a couple of years ago.  Paul Strickland was back with a new show - Ain't True and Uncle False.  Again, we laughed until our sides hurt.  There we ran into my friend, Dave Andrichick who owns the Chatterbox Tavern.  Dave said he'd been to a dozen shows.  We had at least that many we wanted to see but just didn't have the time to spend.  At 50 minutes and $10 a person per show, it's bargain entertainment!  Finally, last night we went to a Fringe reprise at the Fringe Theatre.  A parody of Walt Disney shows and one about an auction called Going, Going, Gone.  Two more side-splitters!

We've been existing on tomatoes.  Tomatoes and cottage cheese.  Caprese salads

Baked stuffed tomatoes.  BLT's, plain and with pesto. 

Tomatoes sautéed with other veggies.  I am going to turn into a tomato.  We've got easily a dozen varieties in our garden.  Two different cherries.  One red and one gold.  Two yellow tomatoes.  Three kinds of romas.  Three different Brandywines.  And, three or four other heirlooms.  I totally forgot to take a photo of the finished dish of one of my favorites - gazpacho.

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

Large tomatoes
Olive oil
Panko bread crumbs
Garlic, minced
Fresh herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley and basil)
Freshly grated romano cheese

Brown the panko and garlic in the olive oil. 

While they're browning, core the tomatoes and scoop out some of the interior. 

Chop the tomato interiors and add those plus the cheese and herbs to the panko. 

Gently stuff the tomatoes and bake or grill on a grill pan.

Gazpacho

Ingredients:

6 c tomato juice (I typically use V8 instead)
2 T olive oil
2-3 T lemon juice
1 c beef broth
1/2 c minced onion
4-5 tomatoes, finely minced
2 c finely minced celery
1/2 green pepper, finely minced
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and finely minced
1 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
1/4 t Tabasco

Directions:

Divide each of the veggies in half.  Put half of each in a food processor.  Process until liquefied.  Pour them into a bowl.  Add the V8 and beef broth and mix well.  Add the other ingredients.  Chill overnight before serving. 

adapted from Indianapolis Collects and Cooks



We've also got about two dozen basil plants.  So, I've been fixing a LOT of pesto (my friend Monica's is the BEST.)  Like the recipe I made up last night.  Pesto fish with pesto rice.  The pesto coating kept the fish really moist.  And, the bit of pesto in the rice really carried the flavor through.

Parmesan Tilapia

It's been so crazy this summer that I almost opted out of this month's Secret Recipe Club.  I'd marked "no" then thought, you know what, there's ALWAYS time to make one recipe.  And, I'm very glad I did.  This month I got introduced to Chelsy at Mangiablog.com (http://mangiablog.com/.)  She's a Texan of Italian heritage so she loves a great mix of food.  Her enthusiasm is downright contagious. 

A couple days after I got assigned her blog we were set to have fish for dinner.  So, I started hunting for fish recipes.  Way back in 2010 she made a tilapia recipe.  It'd be perfect!  I'm always hunting for a great, quick fish recipe.  And, best of all, I'd be using Chelsy's favorite ingredient - parmesan cheese.  Don't know that I've mentioned it to you all but Connie says that was one of the things that he loved most about me when he first met me - my meat and cheese drawer in the fridge was packed with every kind of cheese imaginable.

So, what did we think?  We really enjoyed this.  It's super easy to make and delightful to eat.  I did wind up adding some mayo as the Greek yogurt alone was just a bit too tangy for our taste.  We particularly enjoyed the crushed pistachios in this recipe.  They just go perfectly with tilapia.  Here's where you go to see the recipe on Chelsy's blog:  Parmesan Tilapia.  Now, let me mention while you're still here - Chelsy LOVES to bake so you'll find some scrumptious baked goods here.

And, if you want to see a bunch of great recipes from other bloggers, hop over to the Secret Recipe Club and take a look. 

Parmesan Tilapia

Ingredients:
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan, divided (1/4 + 1/4)
1/2 c Greek yogurt
1 T butter, melted
juice and zest of one lemon
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t dried tarragon
1/2 t onion powder
2 T crushed pistachios
salt and pepper
2 6-8 oz tilapia filets


Directions:

Toast then crush the pistachios.

Mix all of the coating ingredients. 

Be sure to set aside the 2nd 1/4 c of grated parm.  Coat the fish the sprinkle with the last 1/4 c of parmesan.  Chelsy calls for baking these at 350F for 20-25 minutes.  I chose to put them in a grill basket and pop them on the grill since everything else for dinner was getting grilled...

adapted from Mangia Blog

Swordfish a la Red Lion Inn

This is one of those recipes I just cannot believe I've not shared with all of you before.  You see, back in 2006, Connie did a bunch of traveling up to Buffalo, NY.  One evening he coordinated a trip with all of his coworkers to Niagara Falls.  They all had dinner at a place called the Red Lion Inn.  He had the best swordfish he'd ever had.  It was so good that he raved about it to me - all the time afraid he'd hurt my feelings by telling me what an incredible dish he'd had.  As you might have guessed, it didn't hurt my feelings, it piqued my interest.  I looked them up on the internet and wrote a note to the chef telling him what a fabulous meal my then-fiancé had had and asked him for the recipe.  I got REALLY lucky and he responded.

A couple of years ago we decided to drive to Cape Cod instead of flying.  The north route was to be a stay at the Red Lion Inn and a trip to Niagara Falls.  The only hitch to the get-along was that the chef was at his own wedding and the sous chef was really happy with the salt shaker.  So, happy that I sent my dinner back once and would've sent it back twice if my hubby hadn't been tsk'ing.  Breakfast the next morning was much better. And, it turned out the place was a lovely B and B.

Fast forward to this past weekend and swordfish was 50% off at the grocery.  Not only do you rarely see swordfish at our grocery but it's usually a small fortune. We bought a swordfish steak.  Since we've been trying to decrease the amount of protein and increase the fruits and vegetables in our diet, I doubled the veggies that went along with this.  And, since we were out of roasted red bell peppers, I substituted peppadews.  Something I will probably do from now on. 

Swordfish a la Red Lion Inn

Ingredients:

1 swordfish steak
flour
1 T olive oil
4 T butter
1/4 c white wine
1 t lemon juice
1 T capers
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped (you can substitute peppadews)
2 C fresh spinach

Directions:

Remove the skin from the swordfish.  Butterfly the fish.  Lightly flour both sides. 

Heat the oil to shimmering so the pan is really hot.  Sear the fish on both sides.  Remove the fish from the pan, reduce the heat and melt the butter.  Swirl in the wine and lemon juice.  Add the other ingredients and cook until the spinach has wilted

and the butter sauce coats the back of a spoon.  Serve the fish on top of the sauce. 

adapted from the Red Lion Inn

Tilapia Pecan

After a few evenings of not being home for dinner, I just want to be HOME!  I'd never make it as one of those road-warriors.  I like to cook dinner at my house.  This past week was one of those weeks where we were out more than we were in.  By Thursday (which felt like Friday) I was ready to cook my own dinner and enjoy an evening at home with my hubby.  The weather looked like it was going to be cold and snowy.  All the more reason to stay home.

And, a great reason for a fire in the fireplace.  Here's Wee Mac checking out the fireplace then enjoying the fire:

With the big party coming up in a few weeks, we've got to start stocking up on wine and beer.  And, we needed to do a Sauvignon Blanc testing.  That meant I needed to make something that'd go well with a crisp white wine.  Out came my trusty list of recipes to try.  Top choice?  Catfish Pecan from Commander's Wild Side.  This cookbook is rapidly becoming the most used cookbook in my collection.  And, with one exception, everything has been fabulous.

Out to the freezer to collect catfish, peppers and pecans.  I had cod, flounder, tuna, shrimp, scallops and tilapia.  No catfish.  Hmmp!  Tilapia would have to do.  What to serve with it?  Quinoa would be perfect. A bit nutty but nothing that'd overwhelm the fish.  And, more of the fantastic asparagus we'd had the other evening.  From yet another bargain bin cookbook. 

What did we think?  Fabulous.  I'd make it again tonight.  Make sure your pan and oil are really hot so you get a great crust on the fish. That was the best part!  Since I was only making two small tilapia filets, I didn't make a whole recipe.  The recipe below is as I made it.

Tilapia Pecan

Ingredients:

for the fish:
1/4 c pecan halves
1/4 c flour
2 t Creole seasoning (we use Emerils)
1 egg
1/4 c milk
2 tilapia filets
1 t Creole seasoning
2 T olive oil

for the Olive Oil Meuniere Sauce:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c minced bell peppers (I used green and orange)
1 T minced shallot
1/2 c pecan halves
1 t thyme
1 lemon, halved
5 shakes Tabasco
1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t Creole seasoning

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the 1/4 c pecan halves, flour and 2 t of Creole seasoning.  Process until it's smooth. 

Put the pecan flour in a wide, shallow bowl.  Whisk the milk and egg together in another wide, shallow bowl. 

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil to shimmering.  Sprinkle the filets with the 1 t Creole seasoning.  Dip them in the milk/egg mixture then in the pecan flour.  Saute until they're nice and brown on both sides.  Remove the fish from the skillet and wipe the skillet clean.  Put in the extra virgin olive oil, bell peppers, shallots, pecan halves and thyme.  Cook for a couple of minutes then add in the leftover pecan flour.  There shouldn't be more than about a tablespoon of that left.  Cook that for a couple of minutes.  Finally, squeeze the lemon halves into the pecan mixture.  Add the Tabasco, Worcestershire and Creole seasoning. 

Serve the sauce over the fish.

adapted from Commanders Wild Side