Almond Crusted Sea Trout

I guess it's not coming as a surprise to anyone that lately, Ben and I have both been trying to eat a little healthier.  Have you noticed an absence of sweet treat posts?  This doesn't please me, but I know it's a blessing to be able to maintain health by eating right, so I'm trying to have a good (or accepting) attitude! 

Sometimes though, eating healthy can be a pleasure and this was one of those times!  Our friend and neighbor brought over his latest catch of the day, Texas Gulf sea trout.  Really fresh fish is one of those lovely things that tastes great AND is good for us, so I was happy to come up with a recipe that showcased this local delicacy!

Of course, around here, FRIED fish is the cooking method of choice, but baking, broiling, and grilling are wonderful!  I wanted to do something different and I LOVE trout almondine, but somehow, pan sauteeing the fish in browned butter with loads of almonds and MORE butter just didn't seem the way to go under the circumstances.  Still, I knew almonds, in moderation, were very good for us, so what could I do....?

Here's a recipe I came up with that uses a small amount of almonds, and a TINY bit of butter to make a delicious, nut crusted fish that's tasty, light, and healthy!  Hope you like it!  It will work with any type of mild filet.  Happy and healthy eating!

Almond Crusted Sea Trout (serves 2)

2 filets of sea trout, about 1 inch at the thickest end, each cut in two cross-wise

1/4 cup sliced almonds, chopped up and put on a piece of waxed paper or a dish

1 egg white

salt and pepper

celery salt

cayenne

powdered or granulated garlic

a baking sheet and baking rack

1 T. butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Dry the filets well with paper towels.  Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, celery salt, cayenne and garlic to taste.  Press the seasonings into the fish.  

Put the egg white in a shallow bowl, add just a few drops of water and beat with a fork until foamy.

Put just the fleshy side of the fish down into the egg white.  Allow the excess to drip back into the dish and press the filet down into the almonds.  The egg white will cause the almonds to stick well.  Put the filet on the baking rack and repeat with the other ones.  Drizzle each filet with the melted butter.  It will be just a few drops, but it will help the almonds to brown and they will taste great!

Bake the fish for 10 minutes, or until the almonds are slightly browned and the fish is cooked through.  Serve immediately.  Yum!

ASB

Perfect Poached Eggs / Smoked Avocados

Hi!  This title might seem a little random...and it is!  But I thought you might enjoy a few tips on making poached eggs (there actually are some tricks!) and I had to let you in on the most delicious, easy, new (to me!) way to eat avocados!
While we were in Park City, we enjoyed a delicious guacamole made with smoked avocados.  This sounded very exotic and difficult to me, but I asked the waitress about it and she made it sound very simple!  And guess what?  She was right!  It literally is a 5 minute process and the result is scrumptious!  The next time you're grilling, be sure to try this because it is SO worth it.  You can make guacamole, or you can just serve the smoked avocado slices-- either way, they are definitely yummy!
Now, about poached eggs........do you like them?  I do!  There is something elegant about a beautiful poached egg, but at the same time, they are simple and just tasty!  If you've ever tried making them and they ended up being a ragged mess, please try again using this method!  I think you'll be successful and your family will be SO impressed at your next brunch! :)  In the photo, I've placed them atop a grilled veggie ratatouille.  Along with the smoked avocado, this made a tasty, healthy lunch!  Poached eggs are very healthy by themselves, but of course, there's delicious hollandaise, buttery English muffins, fried Canadian bacon.........well, you get the idea! :)

Smoked Avocados
2 (or more) ripe (but not over-ripe) avocados, room temperature
lemon juice
olive oil
salt and pepper

Cut the avocados in half length-wise and remove the seed.  Brush the cut sides with lemon juice and olive oil.  Place cut-side down on a hot grill for 2-3 minutes (just until there are definite grill marks).  Remove the avocados and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Serve sliced or mash up with your favorite guacamole fixings!  Really good!

Perfect Poached Eggs (makes 2)
*2 super fresh, large eggs (Like from the Farmer's Market if you can get them.)
1 T. white vinegar, depending on the size of your saucepan
a medium saucepan (2-qt is good) filled about 1/2 way with water
salt and pepper

First, the eggs must be room temperature, so if they're straight from the fridge, microwave them (yes, in the shell is okay!) for 10 seconds on high, or until they don't feel cold.
Heat the water and vinegar until the water is almost boiling.  Crack one egg in a small cup like a custard cup or tea cup.  
Hold the cup close to the surface of the water and pour the egg in quickly.  It will set almost immediately into an oval shape.  Keep the water just below the boiling point.  Repeat with the other egg, slipping it in far enough from the other egg to not crowd them.  Poach the eggs for 3 minutes if you want a runny yolk.
Use a slotted spoon to lift an egg out of the water.  Hold a folded piece of paper toweling under the spoon to blot the excess water, then touch it lightly on the egg surface to remove the moisture there.  Put the egg on whatever you're serving.  Repeat with the other one.  Serve immediately!

OR:  You can make the eggs ahead and keep them in a warm water bath for a short time (30 minutes).  I've heard you can even put them in cold water and keep in the fridge for longer (re-warming carefully when needed), but I haven't tried that yet!  Be sure to blot them well before serving.

*Using the freshest eggs you can find is very important.  A really fresh egg stays together in the water a LOT better than a not-so-fresh one.  The vinegar helps to coagulate the white also.

Easy Shrimp Creole with Garlic-Chive White Beans

We're back from a lovely long weekend in Park City, Utah!  It was a great way to enjoy the Fourth of July and to celebrate my son-in-law, Miles', and Ben's birthdays!  We had some very tasty meals in the charming restaurants in Park City, but now we're home and it's back to thinking about what to make for dinner!!

Usually, I look forward to getting back to my own kitchen and this time was no different.  The weekdays don't leave a lot of time to spend making dinner, but this is a good, short-cut recipe for shrimp Creole.  It's usually served with rice, but since Ben needs to watch the carbs, I made a bed of white beans, garlic, and chives.  It was a pretty tasty substitute!

Easy Shrimp Creole with Garlic-Chive White Beans (serves 2-3)

1/2 lb. shrimp, cleaned, deveined, and cut into bite-sized pieces

1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 Tbl. olive oil

1/2 large onion, diced

1 medium green pepper, diced

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

1 Tbl. fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried

1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions and green pepper in the olive oil in a medium pot until they are limp.  Add all the other ingredients except the shrimp and lemon.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add the shrimp and simmer 5 minutes more.  Add the lemon juice.  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.   Serve with rice or........

Garlic-Chive White Beans 

1 1-lb. can white cannelini beans

1 small clove garlic, minced

2 Tbl. chives, chopped

salt and pepper

Rinse the beans in a colander, then place in a small saucepan with about 1/2 cup water.  Add the garlic and simmer slowly while the shrimp Creole is cooking.  When the beans are nice and super soft and the water is almost evaporated, add the chives.  Cook a few minutes more.  Use a fork to coarsely mash the beans (leave some texture).  Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.  

Kale with red jalapenos from the garden!

Hoisin Turkey Tenders with Spicy Asian Slaw

Sometimes it's Tuesday, and it's hot, and everyone's hungry, and everyone's on a diet (egads!),  and nothing sounds that tasty, and well, you get the idea:)

This is a dish for one of those days.  It's simple, healthy, attractive, and GOOD!  I've included the recipe for a quick dressing for the Asian slaw, but a bottled soy-ginger dressing would be delicious!  The turkey tenders are baked with a brush of hoisin sauce (bottled-- in the Asian foods aisle) and the Asian slaw can be put together in minutes.  Of course, just about any veggie would go well in the slaw, substitutions are a necessity when it's one of those days! :)  

Hoisin Turkey Tenders with Spicy Asian Slaw (makes 3 generous servings)

3 turkey tenders

1 Tbl. olive oil

salt and pepper

3 Tbl. bottled hoisin sauce

1/2 small Napa cabbage, sliced thinly (throw away the core)

2 carrots, shredded

1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 cup sliced snow peas or snap peas

3 green onions, sliced 

Dressing

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. Sriracha sauce

1 small garlic clove, minced (or 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic)

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger 

Heat the oven to 350F.  Use a knife to split the tenders lengthwise, but not all the way through.  Open them out and push to flatten them.  Place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 20 minutes.  

In the meantime, prepare the dressing by mixing everything up in a jar and shaking.  Set aside.

Toss the cabbage, carrots, cilantro, snap peas, and green onions in a large bowl.

Turn the turkey tenders over and brush with some hoisin sauce.  Bake another 5 minutes.  Turn the turkey over again and brush with the remaining sauce.  Turn the oven to 400F.  Bake another 5 minutes, until the turkey is cooked through and the hoisin has formed a glaze.  

Slice each tender into about 1/4-inch slices.  Toss the slaw with the dressing.  Divide the slaw among bowls.  Top with the sliced turkey and serve!

Summer Pasta!

It's definitely summer in South Texas!  Temperatures are in the high 90's (at least), the days are long, and the tomatoes are ripe and red!  
I've mentioned before that one of my hobbies is collecting and reading old cookbooks.  Sometimes there are the most intriguing recipes that I'd never heard of before.  This recipe is definitely one of them.  It's from a book titled, "Cook Until Done" and is written by a man that had learned to cook during his travels throughout the world.  Every chapter begins with a girl, so I think he might have been some kind of "international playboy" back when they said that sort of thing :)  The names of all his dishes don't ignite much inspiration.  For example, this refreshing, interesting, delicious pasta dish was simply titled, "Cold Sauce".  While it is a "cold sauce", that title no more describes this wonderful summer dish than "puffed eggs" describes a souffle!  The sauce is a combination of vine-ripened tomatoes, other veggies, fresh herbs, and olive oil.  It is refrigerated until very cold, then served on the hottest (as in temperature) whole-wheat pasta you can manage.  The combination of hot and cold with the savory sauce and nutty pasta-- well, it IS inspirational, despite the mundane title!  
This dish has all the summer essentials:  simple, bright, seasonal, healthy, and SO GOOD!!
Note:  This recipe uses a food processor.  If you don't have one, just mince everything up.
Cold Sauce (serves 4)
12 oz. whole wheat spaghetti (use 16 oz. if you have big eaters)
2 medium, vine ripened tomatoes, *peeled cut into large pieces
3 medium sized stalks celery, cut up into small chunks
1 Tbl. capers
1/2 large green pepper, or 1 small one, seeded, and cut into chunks (can also use an Anaheim chile if you like spicy!)
2 Tbl. fresh oregano leaves
2 Tbl. fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbl. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

* To peel tomatoes, submerge into boiling water for about 30 seconds.  Run under cold water briefly to cool.  The skin will peel off easily.
Add the tomatoes, celery, capers, green pepper, oregano, and basil to the food processor.  Pulse until everything is minced, but don't let it get smooth or pureed.  Pour into a bowl.  Sprinkle with the vinegar.  Add the salt and pepper.  Stir everything gently, then pour the olive oil over.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours-- longer is great!
Cook the spaghetti according to package directions and put your pasta bowls in the oven to warm them.  When the pasta is done to your liking, drain it and divide among the warm bowls.  Stir the sauce well, then spoon over the hot pasta.  Serve immediately.  Mmmmmm!!!
ASB

Dad's Day!

What did you do for Father's Day?  If you are like most of us, you celebrated Dad with a cookout-- with Dad doing the cooking!  Isn't that funny about Dad's Day?  On Mother's Day, a concerted effort is made (usually) to give Mom a break from cooking, but on Father's Day, well, we just assume Dad will be grilling his own steak and wouldn't want it any other way!
This is probably a true assumption for most Dads and the other's are probably just being good sports, but nevertheless, Father's Day demands an outdoor meal!
This year was no different at our house.  Ben was at the grill and in fact, did most every part of the meal on the grill because MY STOVE AND OVEN are broken!!! :(  I made the dessert ahead, but by Sunday, that appliance had completely died.  I had planned to try to make a healthier menu this year: bison burgers (one of Ben's favorites and discussed on a previous post), a light dessert-- blackberry parfait, and grilled corn.  BUT, I was also planning to make fried green tomatoes, another one of Ben's favorite summer treats.  With no stove, we had to improvise, but guess what?  Grilled green tomatoes are delicious, and I think they actually are better than the fried ones!  Heresy!  But really, they are a LOT easier, healthier, AND tastier!  Why not give them a try?

Grilled corn is easy enough, but if you haven't done it, there are a lot of recipes online that are very complicated and hard to "get right".  I cook the fresh corn in the microwave until it's almost done, then just finish it off on the grill to get the good, roasted flavor and yummy looking grill marks without any of the hassles.

Of course, you can doctor the corn up all you want with butter, roll it in shredded cheese, sprinkle with hot pepper, etc., but since we were going for a lighter meal, I skipped all that this time!  This was super fresh, local corn anyway.  It didn't really need "help" to taste fantastic!

The dessert, pictured above, was a combination of fresh blackberries from the Farmer's Market, a very few crushed vanilla wafers and pecans, and a super simple, old fashioned "pudding" that is made without eggs.  It is fairly low in sugar, too, so completely fit the bill for my Healthy Dad's Day Dinner without tasting like "no fun" :)  These types of puddings are called "blancmange" in the old cookbooks and are thickened with cornstarch.

All in all, the menu was super tasty and Ben really liked it even though he pretty much cooked it himself! :)  Super Dad!

Lighter Blackberry Parfait (serves four generously)

3 cups 2% milk (or even skim will work)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1.5 tsp. vanilla extract

1 pint blackberries, reserve 4 for garnish

8 vanilla wafers, crushed coarsely

2 Tbl. pecans, chopped finely

In a heavy saucepan, mix the sugar, salt, and cornstarch.  Add the milk and blend well with a whisk.  Over medium high heat, cook and stir the mixture until it thickens.  Allow it to simmer gently, stirring, for about 3 minutes.  Off the heat, stir in the vanilla.  Let the pudding cool and refrigerate until cold.

Combine the pecans and the crushed wafers. In 4 small parfait glasses or regular drink glasses, put a bit of the wafer mixture in the bottom of each glass.  Add some blackberries, then spoon a generous amount of pudding into the glass.  Add more blackberries, then more pudding.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining wafers.  Add a berry and a mint leaf, if you have it, to garnish the top.  Refrigerate.  These will keep in the fridge all day, but might get mushy if made the night before.  

You might not use up all the pudding, but that's okay!  It's great over cake, fruit, just about anything!

Grilled Green Tomatoes

Green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick (not thicker-- they have to cook somewhat on the grill, so it's easier if they are on the thin side)

olive oil

salt, pepper

Drizzle the tomato slices with olive oil and turn them so they are coated on both sides.  Put on the grill and cook, turning once.  They're done when they get a bit softer and have the pretty grill markings.  Put on a platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  That's it, and they are delicious!

Easiest Grilled Corn

Fresh corn, shucked

olive oil

salt, pepper

Place the corn in a microwave safe dish that is big enough to hold them in one layer.  Add a splash of water and cover with waxed paper.  Microwave on high, turning them over once during cooking, until they are cooked through.  It takes about 10 minutes to do a 13x9 glass dish full of corn with my microwave, but you have to just see how yours works.  

Drizzle the corn with olive oil, place on the grill and cook until they get their yummy roasted look.  It doesn't take long at all.  Place on a platter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

These are hardly "recipes", but I hope you try them because they make the most of these wonderful summer treats!

And Happy Father's Day all you wonderful Dads!

Anniversary Dinner!

Tuesday was our anniversary!  What a blessing to be married a LONG time :) and to still enjoy each other's company across the dinner table!  As with most holidays around here, I wanted to cook at home, but in the morning, Ben took me to a very nice restaurant that serves the best, most elegant breakfasts!  That was a treat!  

For dinner, I wanted to make something seasonal, but Ben had purchased a nice bottle of wine that was going to probably go very well with duck.  Duck is usually a fall / winter meal, but I found this recipe from a BBC website that was made for summer!  The crispy-skinned duck breasts are paired with the most delicious medley of new potatoes, peas, and baby lima beans.  Of course, it's best if all these things can be obtained fresh, but the fresh peas have come and gone in south Texas and it's the same with baby limas ("summer" here isn't the same as summer in England!).  I substituted a good brand of frozen veggies and the result was wonderful!  A little bacon and a teaspoon or two of duck fat really work their magic :) !  If you've never had duck, please give it a try!  It's so easy to make and the flavor of domestically raised birds is mild and tasty!

I also made a super old-school shrimp cocktail as our appetizer.  I wanted to use these dishes I got at an estate sale.  They have one purpose only-- to serve shrimp cocktail, but they were so '60's cool!  A shaved fennel and mixed greens salad and Key lime pie for dessert rounded out the menu deliciously!  

By the way, the pie was the winner of the 2013 National Pie Baking Contest and is officially called "Sittin' On a Sandbar Key Lime Pie".  It was really good and a fun twist on the traditional pie.  The crust is made with crushed vanilla wafers and that was a definite inspiration!  If you want to make it, here's the link.

http://www.piecouncil.org/2013Amateur?entry=2306

Kind of a fuzzy pic, but it was tasty!

Duck with Peas and Baby Lima Beans (adapted from BBC Good Food)

2 duck breasts, skin on

coarse cracked black pepper

Kosher or sea salt

1/2 lb. red new potatoes, scrubbed and halved

1 cup peas 

1 cup baby lima beans

1-2 slices bacon, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1.5 Tbl. red wine vinegar

1 Tbl. chopped parsley

Heat the oven to 425F.  

Boil the new potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes.  Add the baby limas and continue boiling 5 minutes or until the potatoes and beans are tender.  Drain and set aside.

With a very sharp knife, score the skin only of the duck breasts.  Try not to pierce the meat.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.  Heat a heavy skillet until hot and sear the duck skin side down for 5-6 minutes, until the skin is browned and crisp.  Turn them over and cook another 2 minutes, then place the breasts in a small baking pan. Pour out the duck fat into a small bowl and wipe out the skillet.  Put the duck into the oven and roast 8-10 minutes, depending on the degree of doneness you like.  We like ours medium-well.  Remove the duck and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.

While the duck is resting, add 1 tsp. of the reserved duck fat to the skillet and cook the bacon in it until crisp.  Add the potatoes, peas, and lima beans to the skillet.  Stir and cook until everything is hot.  Add the vinegar and parsley.  Cook and stir as it bubbles up.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the duck breasts with the veggie mixture alongside.  Yum!

My mom and dad used to get shrimp cocktails like these at restaurants in the '60's!

Fennel and mixed greens salad was just the right refreshing touch with a simple lime and olive oil vinaigrette.