Lime Butter Garlic Tilapia

Let's start this off with a picture.

Hubby and I have recently decided to add more fish to our diet. We previously ate zero fish and are going up to at least one fish meal per week.  I was a scaredy cat at first and only bought frozen prepared fish,  but decided to confront my fish-fear and buy fresh fish.

I made a meal tonight which was absolutely beautiful and delicious. Here is the recipe.

I lied. I must post about cookies.

I'm such a liar.  The reason I started blogging today is so I could show off these cookies:

Nick helped me put all his toys away today so I told him we could make cookies. We decided on apple cinnamon raisin cookies with glaze.

He was actually a very, very good helper.  He helped me out by adding the measured ingredients to the bowl, whisking the dry ingredients together by himself, and operating my Kitchenaid stand mixer.

Here's my little sous chef at work!

One more, since I'm on a roll.

Random food porn:

Same meal, two angles.

Pan grilled pork tenderloin seasoned with Lawry's, rosemary, sage, and thyme, served with a bed of white rice and a salad.

The salad is as follows:

Spring greens
1 mcintosh apple
6 strawberries
1/4 cup roasted pecans
1/4 cup red onion
1 tsp garlic fiesta seasoning

With balsamic dressing on top.

I would've added feta to it. Feta would have made it ultimate. Still, hubby ate it. So, it was a win.

Stew!

Awhile back I made an awesome beef stew using this recipe and a couple modifications.

First modification is I browned the beef in a pan with some olive oil before I added it to the slow cooker.  Second modification is I added more veggies than it called for. Third modification is I waited until halfway through the cooking time before I added the vegetables so it wouldn't be mushy.

Here are some pictures of the process, and at the end, the final product.

We ate our stew with a loaf of rapid-bake cheddar onion bread. So good together.

Turkey, Wine, and the Original Social Networking Tool!

For New Years Day I decided we should roast a turkey.  The supermarket had a huge sale on utility turkeys -- only 79 cents per pound.   We brined that sucker (recipe to follow at the end) and noticed, when we were about to throw it on the barbecue rotisserie, that there were no wings.  We got a flightless bird.  Our neighbours, Rob and Cindy, hit the same sale. Their utility turkey had no legs! A lame bird! Still. For 79 cents per pound? No complaints.

Swag!

My husband and his aunt are saints.

First off, hubby got me a Kitchenaid stand mixer. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I haven't used it yet but I think the first thing I'll make in it will be butter tart dough. A neat little way of thanking him ;)

I think I really want the pasta attachment. My breadmaker makes pasta dough and I've always wanted to make my own pasta.


As I mentioned, hubby's aunt Lucy is awesome.  She gave me a mandoline. I've always wanted a mandoline.  Here is the mandoline she bought me. 

I used it on Giftmas day to make salads for my family. Works like a charm.  Here are a couple pictures.

First salad is a spring greens salad with cherry tomatoes, rainbow peppers, cucumbers, and red onion.

Second salad is baby spinach with strawberry, craisins, red onion, cherry tomatoes, and cashews.   I forgot the feta at home. BAD JUPE. But still, tasted good.  I now have a sweet block of feta in my fridge to enjoy in my salads so it's not all for naught.

Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts

Chicken Breast. Slice. Salt, pepper, ground chili, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder. Roll. Wrap in bacon.

Roasting tray. Preheat oven. 200C. Middle shelf. 20 minutes.

Rest 10 mins.

Spicy bacon wrapped chicken breasts... served.

Raisin Bread French Toast

This was a good idea, in theory.

In fact, this would have been an amazing idea in practice if I hadn't ruined my loaf of raisin bread.  I think my breadmaker hates me;  it over-rises white bread and under-rises raisin bread. 

It wasn't raisin bread; it was raisin cube that weighs 2 lbs.

But, being the trooper I am, I decided to try, anyway.

French toast mix recipe:

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 6 slices raisin bread

The flavour was there but the consistency was like... spackle. Too bad.  If the bread was fluffy and had properly risen, then it would definitely have been delicious.  Here are some pictures:

It's only natural I made this

Well, last weekend was Thanksgiving and there were very few leftovers... only turkey, really, and not a whole hell of a lot of it.  We had a full second Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbours across the street and to ensure we had enough food, I made more baby fingerling potatoes and boiled and pan fried a batch of chedder broccoli perogies.

And so, with full bellies, we slept well, but in the morning I found myself with a turkey carcass and a logical idea.

What else could I do? I boiled the bitch and made a fantastic soup.

Ingredients:

Stock:

1 Thanskgiving turkey carcass with meat still on it
8 (I think I used around 8) litres of water. (I filled half my huge soup pot with water)
salt, pepper, dried sage, thyme (to taste)
1 cube chicken stock
1 cube veggie stock
1 turnip, peeled and quartered
2 small onions, peeled and quarters
2 stalks celery broken in half

Soup content

1 cup long grain and wild rice mixture (uncooked)
1/2 cup barley
1 quart baby fingerling potatoes (or as much as you want in the soup) cut into medallions
2 carrots, chopped
1 large stalk celery, chopped
Any other veggies, really. Just chop them up and throw them in. Green beans, cauliflower, peas, corn, zucchini, whatever you fancy. The more you add, the healthier it gets. Aim for solid, firm veggies that would hold up well in a soup.

Directions:

Throw all the stock ingredients into the pot and bring it to a boil.  Lower the heat to medium and allow it to simmer for three hours.
Remove everything except the stock and add the rice and barley for 45 minutes
Add the potato medallions and all your other veggies
Strip the meat off of the turkey carcass, being careful not to strip off any bones, and add it to the soup.
Allow to simmer for another hour
Taste the broth, and taste a bit of  salt or other spices if you feel it's too bland.

Enjoy a nice hot bowl of thanksgiving turkey and wild rice soup.

Prepped Potatoes

Most households prefer mashed potatoes with Thanksgiving dinner but we prefer baby fingerling potatoes.

Behold:

Baby fingerling potatoes
2 onions, quartered
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 spring rosemary (I might add another)
several small sprigs thyme
2 stalks celery, quartered
olive oil
salt and pepper

Throw everything in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper (a pinch of each) and toss to combine.

Roast at 435 for 30 minutes. The potatoes are done when you can easily pierce a large potato with a knife.

Pies

Thanksgiving is today and what better way to spend the day before Thanksgiving than by baking pies?

I made some dough from scratch -- a deep dish pate brisee dough, and then made a deep dish apple pie which was flambeed in brandy. When it was finished, I cut pieces of dough out with the cookie cutter and glazed it all in egg yolk.  Sadly, the braid around the border of the crust fell off because I was stupid and didn't glaze before placing. Herp derp. At least it still looks nice.

After the pie was done I had dinner to make. There were three adults and only three tiny pork tenderloins.  I decided the best course of action was to use the rest of my pie dough and made three pork pot pies. It was actually super easy.

Ingredients:

Pie dough

Filling:
3 small pork tenderloin medallions, chopped into tiny pieces
A sprig of fresh thyme and a sprig of fresh chopped rosemary
1 clove of garlic
1 egg, beaten

Glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp water
salt and pepper - a pinch of each

Make the dough an hour earlier and cut circles about four inches bigger than the pie plate you're using. I used creme brulee dishes.
Cut a second circle of dough per creme brulee dish about an inch around the actual size and place to the side.
Centre the dough on the creme brulee dish and trim the edges
Combine the filling in a bowl and spoon the filling into each bowl.
Mix the egg yolk with the water and brush the rim of the dough
Place the smaller circles of dough over top of the creme brulee dishes and pinch until sealed
Brush the tops of the pies with the egg/water mixture
Poke a small hole in the middle of each pie to allow heat to escape
Put in the oven for 35 mins  at 350 degrees.


It wasn't perfect but it was still tasty. I'll try to make it a bit saucier next time and will post how it goes.  Still, the pastry was flaky and delicious and the meat was seasoned perfectly. A perfect dinner with mashed potatoes and garlic sauteed carrots and broccoli.

Viva Mexico! - Mojitos & Cilantro lime rice

This will be a brief post.

I made the cilantro lime rice as follows:

Cook four cups of long grain white rice
Put the rice in the fridge overnight or until it's cold. (If you're short on time, use the freezer)
Heat your wok with oil. When the oil is hot, dump in the rice
Separate the granules of rice with a spoon.
When the rice is separated, add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 lime
Sprinkle pepper over the rice to taste
Stir rice until everything is mixed uniformly and give it an extra minute to fry
Serve hot with your fajitas


~~

Best ever Mojito

Seriously, they were.  At least, the best you'll get outside of a Mexican resort.  I found this recipe at this website.

I've kind of sort of simplified it if you don't have a lot of the same things the original author has.

Tall Glass or Mojito Glass
White Rum
Mint
Lime
Crushed Ice
Sprite
Sugar

How to prepare your Mojito:

Wash and dry the limes and mint
Cut the ends off the lime and cut it into 8 wedges
Pull the leaves off of the mint

It's easy to put the lime and mint into their own respective bowls so you can prepare multiple mojitos quickly

Place 4 to 12 mint leaves into the glass. The amount of mint you use is relative to how large the mint leaves are. The larger the leaves, the fewer you need.

Add 1 tbsp sugar to the limes and mint, then mash them all together at the bottom of the glass. You can use a spoon to do that.  Just make sure you don't shred your mint leaves.

Add 2 oz of rum and stir everything together until the sugar is dissolved.

Fill the rest of your glass with crushed ice and top it off with the Sprite.

Give the drink one last little stir and, if you want, garnish it with a bit of mint and a lime.

Viva Mexico - Guacamole!

I found this recipe at this website but have made a few modifications.

Firstly, I prefer fresh to canned whenever possible. It just tastes better. Plus, I decided on lime instead of lemon.  I prefer the taste. Finally, I add more cilantro to mine.

Ingredients

4 avocados
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 medium tomato, chopped fine
1/2 sweet bell pepper, any colour, chopped fine
1 green onion, white and green parts, chopped fine
5 sprigs finely chopped cilantro, or to taste
1 freshly squeezed lime
1 tablespoon fresh Jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
Salt and pepper, to taste

Cut the avacados in half, remove the pits, and spoon out the soft flesh.  

Chop up the cilantro, jalapeno, green onion, garlic, and tomato.

Add to the bowl with the avacado. Add your salt and pepper.

Squeeze in the lime!

Mash everything together with a fork and give it a good stir with a spoon

  

Refrigerate your guacamole for at least an hour so that the flavours combine.   It goes well with chips or on a burrito or just alone if that's how you dig your guac.

Improve!

Chicken Dumpling Salad & Doctored Ramen

Lunch time!  I was going to make a bowl of soup or some perogies and be done with it, but I had purchased a fresh head of romaine lettuce and some Chinese dumplings yesterday. I figured I'd make some use of them.

For the ramen:
Standard instant package, cooked according to directions, added to chopped broccoli, garlic, green onion, and carrot

For the salad:
Pan fried the dumplings until they cooked and served with a bed of romaine, cucumber, green pepper, and farm fresh raspberries

For the dipping sauce:
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp sesame seed oil
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch of sesame seeds

Bon appetit!

Tuna pasta salad

I'm a big tuna sandwich fan, but it has to be done right.  I realised today that I had all the ingredients for great sandwiches but then spotted the fusili in the cupboard

And so, I decided to mix things up and make it in pasta salad form.

Pulled Pork

This has got to be the most retardedly easy recipe in the whole wide world.