Tonights menu - Fish Tacos

You will need:

1 1/2 pounds white fish (such as Cod) fillets
1/2 cup store bought fish coating mix
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 tablespoon cayenne powder
Pinch of black pepper
Whole wheat soft taco shells

Slaw

Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon mined peeled fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
3 chopped green onions
2 cups packed coleslaw mix.

Wash and pat fish dry.  Mix chili powder, black pepper and cayenne powder and coating mix together.  Dredge fish in coating mixture.  Fry fish in 10 inch sauté pan with 3 tablespoons olive oil.  In separate bowl mix all slaw ingredients and let sit 7 to 10 minutes.  Heat taco shells at 200 in oven for about 10 minutes.  When shells warm layer with fish and slaw mix.  We also served with a Spanish rice mix. 

Serves 3 

A few weeks ago a friend gave us some flash frozen cod fillets.  I am not a big fan of frozen fish, but hey - it was free.  So I was racking my brain to think of a great way to fix frozen fish so it would not taste fishy or frozen.  Dave, came up with a great reciepe for the cod - Fish Tacos.  I have made fish tacos in the past and was not found of them. This time they were different and very good.

Tonight on the menu - Tomato-Cream Stuffed Chicken

You will need:

1/4 cup light or low fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup low fat or skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sauce:
1/2 cup low fat-chicken stock
1/4 cup oil packed sun dried tomato, chopped
3 teaspoons chopped shallots
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 fresh bail leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (this is a must; I know it is not low fat)
2 tablespoons butter

1. In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients.  Careful cut a slit along the edge of the chicken breast to form a pocket.  Spoon the cheese mixture into the pocket.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2.  In a large fry pan brown chicken on both sides in 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil.  Preheat oven at 400.  Bake chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. 
3.  Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine the chicken stock tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and basil.  Bring to boil over medium heat, cooking until reduced by half.  Add cream and butter bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until thick stirring occasionally.  Serve over chicken

Did you miss me!!!

I have not posted anything for a while.  I guess I have not been inspired by anything I have been cooking lately.  Well, I am changing that right now!  I found a recipe in  Best Holiday Recipes Taste of Home magazine,but I don't think it is a holiday dish.  I do think that it was a little high in fat so I tweeked it a bit.  I really don't think that it changed it much in taste.  You be the judge.  The recipe is called Tomato-Cream Stuffed Chicken.

New recipes

Sorry I have not had a posting for awhile.  I am working on some new seasonal dishes.  Stay tuned for apple pear cake, maple butternut squash, sweet potato casserole and herb-butter baby carrots.  Also, I have some great new kitchen gadgets to share

Tonight on the menu - Cod cakes with lemon aioli

We had a friend give us some cod.  I was not sure what to do with it so I got online.  I found a recipe for a crab cake. I tweaked it a bit and came up with a cod cake with lemon aioli.

You need:

1 lb fresh or frozen cod, bones removed
1/2 medium onion chopped
1/2 red pepper chopped
1 shallot chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup mayo
14/ cup Dijon mustard
1 cup  panko bread crumbs
Franks hot sauce to taste
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Saute chopped onion, red pepper and shallot in small fry pan in 1 tablespoon olive oil until tender, about 3 minutes.  After cooled, transfer to small bowl.  In large mixing bowl add mayo, Dijon, 1/2 bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper, hot sauce, cooled onion mixture, Old Bay, parsley and cod.   Cod is a flaky fish so I pulsed mine in the food processor for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Form the cod mixture into patties.  Coat patties with remaining 1/2 panko bread crumbs.  In a large fry pan place 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Add cod cakes to pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. 

Lemon Aioli

Mix together 1/3 cup mayo, 1 clove minced garlic, 1 tablespoon chopped chives, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons horseradish, salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle aioli over the cod cakes just before serving

Tonight on the menu - Low Country Boil

I always think it is fun to have a group effort when you cook with friends.  It is great to get everyone involved.  This past weekend we had several friends over so for dinner on Friday night we did a Low Country Boil.  It was so fun and soooooo good!

Here's the scoop... the Low Country Boil purist do it all in a single pot, but ours was not big enough so we had to split things up a bit.

We started with a large (very large) pot - we used a gas turkey deep fryer.  Our good friends Lee & Penny brought 3 really big Dungeness crabs and 3 lbs. fresh clams.  I had 2 lbs Kelisba, 6 ears of fresh corn, 6 medium red potatoes and 2 lbs of 16 to 21 count shrimp

In the backyard we filled the fryer pot about 3/4 of the way with water (about 6 gals).  After about 20 to 25 minutes the water was boiling.  We then added 2 pks of crab boil season packets, 4 bay leaves, a handful of whole pepper corns and 1 lemon cut into quarters.  The trick to this is timing when you add the various ingredients because some things cook quickly and others take a bit more time.

Now that the water was boiling and the spices had been added it was time to add the live crabs.  They take about 20 minutes so after 15 to 17 minutes in a separate pot in the kitchen (because the turkey pot was not big enough) we put the potatoes and kelisba into low boiling water.  After 20 minutes the crab came out and we placed the clams and corn in the crab pat.  I broke the corn in thirds.  In the meantime Lee let the crab cool for a few minutes then began cleaning it.  After having the corn and clams in for 3 to 5 minutes we added the shrimp to the pot.  These all cooked together for the last 2 or 3 minutes.   I served crusty bread with this feast.  It was great fun and very, very tasty.

Enjoy

Tonight on the menu - Pumpkin pound cake with buttermilk glaze

When I first thought of making this for our guests, I was going to serve it for breakfast with some fruit or yogurt.  I made it last Saturday morning and served it to a group of 7.  It was a big hit.



After making it and serving it I have decided that it would work equally well for a dessert.

You will need:

Cooking spray
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (softened)
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk

Glaze:
1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly coat a 10 inch tube pan (I used a bundt pan) with cooking spray and 1 tablespoon flour. I use Pam baking spray and skipped the flour.  Set the pan aside for later

Next spread pumpkin over 2 layers of paper towels and then cover with 2 more paper towels.  Let it stand for about 10 minutes.  This will drain extra liquid off the pumpkin.  I was surprise how much I got out of the pumpkin.  In a mixing bowl add 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter.  Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes or until well mixed. Add eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each egg.  Now beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine 3 cups flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Now add the flour mixture you just made, alternating with 3/4 cup buttermilk, into the pumpkin mixture.

Spoon the batter into prepared pan.  Bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Place the pan on a wire rack and cool for at least a half hour.  If its too warm the cake may fall apart when you try to remove it.


For the glaze, combine 1/3 cup buttermilk and the remaining ingredients in small sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring it to an "almost" boil (I boiled it and the buttermilk curdled so I had to start over).  Cook 1 minute or until thick.  I found the glaze did not really thicken, but it was still good.

Tonight on the menu-wake up breakfast casserole

Dinner casseroles are great, but so is a good breakfast casserole.  How about one that works for either dinner or breakfast?  
I made this for my guests this last weekend.  Everyone loved it.  It was a bit spicy.  Next time I will lower the amount of cayenne to 1 tsp.  To make it a bit more diet friendly you could also change the milk to 1% and use Turkey sausage rather than chorizo.  Serves 10 to 12.

You will need:

1 lb uncooked chorizo
9 eggs
2-1/2 cups 2 % milk
1 Tbsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 pkg (28 oz) frozen O'Brien potatoes
2 cups shredded jack cheese
1 jar (16oz) black bean and corn salsa

Crumble chorizo into a large skillet; cook over medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes or until fully cooked.  Drain. In a large bowl whisk eggs, milk, mustard and cayenne. Stir in the potatoes, cheese salsa and cooked chorizo.  Transfer to a greased 13 in. x 9 in baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking.  Bake uncovered at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
This recipe is courtesy of Taste of home August/September 2010

New recipes coming

This weekend we had a house full.  Great fun!!!  They say you should not try new dishes on friends.  I say who else would you want to try them out on?  This week I will be adding all the new recipes I tried out on our friends.  Here is a sample of them.

• Friday night we did a low country boil.
• Saturday morning I made a delicious pumpkin pound cake
• Sunday morning we had a new breakfast casserole. 

Everyone raved about all of it. With the leftovers from the low country boil I will be making a seafood chowder.  Should be a fun week for foodies.