Tilapia, Cheese Grits and Sauteed Greens

I bought a new Giada cookbook this week - Weeknights with Giada - which is where the prior entry for Chicken and Tarragon came from as well as the tilapia dish we had last night.  Yes, I already have tons of cookbooks whose potential has not been fully realized, but after flipping through this one in the bookstore, I was struck by the ease of a number of recipes that looked more complex than they are.

Broiled Tilapia with Mustard-Chive Sauce was an extremely easy and satisfying fish dish.  The sauce is what makes this dish.  I simply seasoned the actual fish with salt and pepper as called for in the recipe.  I found the fish itself a little uninspired.  The yogurt and lemon in the sauce is tangy, and compliments the fish well.  This is definitely a light entree, and is great for an evening where you want want something healthy fast.  The fish itself takes less than 10 minutes to cook.

To prevent the meal from being too healthy, I made cheese grits.  I find cheese grits to be a great and easy side dish for many different dishes, whether fish or pork or beef.  The recipe is quite simple.

Recipe for Cheese Grits
4 cups water
1 cup Quick Grits
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium sauce pan.  Stir in the grits, and reduce to a simmer.  Stir frequently for 5 minutes to prevent the grits from lumping.  Add the cheese, butter and spices.  Transfer the grits to a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes at 350.

To offset the cheese grits, we did have a healthy vegetable, so at least two of the three things on the plate were healthy.  I sauteed spinach and salad savoy.  For those that don't know what salad savoy is (and I did not until last week), it is a lettuce from the kale family.  The head of savoy we received through our produce co-op was white with purple and green tips.  I believe it can also be purple with green tips.  The combination of the spinach with the savoy was a nice contrast.  The savoy remains crunchy as compared to the wilted spinach.  I sauteed with a little olive oil, minced garlic (1 clove) and seasoned with salt and pepper.  It took about 5 minutes.  Without the cheese grits, this dinner would have taken about 10 minutes.

Tilapia with the yogurt sauce, grits and greens

Chicken with Tarragon and White Wine

For those of you following my blog, it is time for a confession.  You will find me referencing recipes from Giada de Laurentiis often, and the truth is I love her recipes and how approachable she makes food that seems more complex seem.  At times her perky, effervescent personality really annoys me (sorry, Giada), but I keep coming back to her shows and I keep buying her cookbooks.  And good thing I do, as we had a delicious meal last night that I think you all will enjoy too.

Chicken with Tarragon and White Wine is a beautiful and comforting dish that could be a family favorite yet special enough for guests.  This is an easy recipe, but more time consuming than many of the dishes I have posted.  There are multiple steps, so make this on an evening when you have some time to prepare dinner and aren't in a rush.  I had a hungry group last night, so I kept getting "Is dinner ready yet, Mom?"

The sauce created by this dish is absolutely delicious.  I highly encourage you to have a starch like rice or pasta to serve with this.  I made couscous, but really think rice would have been better.  The sauce is gravy like, so you want something on the plate to be a vessel for the sauce because the chicken is not enough!  Also, I used bone-in chicken, and think boneless, as called for in the recipe, would be better.

With the chicken, we had a side of roasted squashes:  zucchini, yellow squash and butternut squash.  I baked the zucchini and squash medallions and butternut squash chunks at 425 degrees with olive oil and minced garlic drizzled over.  Add some salt and pepper to taste after the veggies have roasted (it takes 10-15 minutes turning once).  This was a flavorful vegetable side.

I need to work on my photography skills, as the picture I took does not the do the dish justice, so I am going to omit this time.  I'll try to do better in the future!

Baked Halibut & Orzo

We try to eat fish at least one night a week, and so I always have an eye out for new, yet easy, ways to prepare fish.  Last week, I revisited one of my favorite recipes for baked fish, which I originally found on Epicurious.

Baked Halibut with Cherry Tomato and Spinach Orzo is an extremely versatile recipe.  While it calls for halibut, any light flavored fish will work.  What is great about that is you can go to your seafood market or grocery seafood counter, and pick out what looks freshest.  I have used everything from grouper to tilapia to sea bass.  Last week our Whole Foods had fresh grouper, which reminded me of our annual summer trip to Seaside, Florida.  Grouper works extremely well with this recipe.

The link above also has a bonus recipe for a great side dish for orzo with tomato and spinach.  This is a colorful pasta dish, and is a nice complement to the lemony sauce that the fish bakes in.  I find I use this side for other meals as well.

Apple and Blackberry Crumble

I love a good fruit cobbler, but have been pretty conventional in my thinking.  I tend to isolate cobbler and crumble making to spring and summer when berries and peaches are abundant.  When I received a ton of Granny Smith apples in this week's produce co-op basket, a light bulb went off.  Why not cobbler in January?

A few years ago, my sister-in-law Kelley gave me a cookbook called  Cobblers and Crumbles.  I guess that should have been my first clue that cobblers should not be deprived of apples and other non-summer fruits.

Apples and blackberries ready for crumble

RECIPE:  Apple & Blackberry Crumble

Filling:
4-6 medium cooking apples
1/2 lb. fresh or frozen blackberries
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

Crumble Topping:
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and set a baking sheet on the middle shelf to heat.

Peel, core and slice the apples, and put them in a mixing bowl.  Add the blackberries, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice.  Toss well to mix.  Turn into an ovenproof baking dish.

To make the crumble, mix the flour and butter in a food processor until it resembles rough crumbs.  Lightly scatter the topping mixture over the fruit mixture.  Bake on the baking sheet for 50-60 minutes or until the top is light brown.

Recipe courtesy of "Cobblers & Crumbles" by Maxine Clark (2006)

I have a couple of notes to share on this dessert.  I was a little lazy, and used my Kitchen Aid mixer to combine the flour and butter.  My result was more like a thick batter than a crumble.  Also, in tasting the "crumble" (or crust in my case), I was concerned it needed a little more sugar, so I added pinches of brown sugar on top of the batter after the batter was over the fruit.

This recipe was extremely easy to make, and would be a nice light dessert especially if you were having a dinner party with a heavier entree.   Make a little fresh whipped cream, and it would be even better.   My family was lucky, and they didn't have to share this one with anyone.  I had promised to share some with my mom, but unfortunately the cobbler was gone.  (Sorry, Mom.)

Hot out of the oven!

Winter Minestrone - My New Favorite Soup

A hearty vegetable soup is a wonderful thing on a cool winter night.  Last night I tried a new recipe from Ina Garten's latest cookbook Barefoot Contessa Foolproof - Recipes You Can Trust.  A blend of delicious vegetables like butternut squash, carrots, onion, spinach and tomatoes makes this a satisfying and creamy soup.  Trust me (and Ina) - this is a great soup!

Historically, I have not used a lot of butternut squash in vegetable soups, and will now reconsider this.  The squash helps thicken the broth, and gives it a creamy richness you would not have otherwise.

Sautéing beautiful winter vegetables 

WINTER MINESTRONE  (courtesy of Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Foolproof, p.53)

Ingredients
Good olive oil
4 ounces pancetta, 1/2 inch diced
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
2 cups diced carrots (3 carrots)
2 cups diced celery (3 stalks)
2 1/2 cups peeled and diced butternut squash
4 minced garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme leaves
26 ounces canned or boxed chopped tomatoes
6 to 8 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 15 ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked small pasta, such as tubetti (1 cup uncooked pasta)
8 to 10 ounces of fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons store-bought pesto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese - for serving

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or dutch oven.  Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften.

Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot.   Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

Discard the bay leaf.  Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through.  The soup should be quite thick, but if it's too thick, add more chicken stock.  Just before serving, add the spinach and toss with two spoons (like tossing a salad).  Cook until the leaves are just wilted.  Stir in the white wine and pesto.  As needed, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste.  Serve large shallow bowls of soup.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil and serve hot.


When making a recipe for the first time, I generally stick with the recipe as is so I can taste the food as the author intended.  I made one slight modification to this recipe.  I had Canadian bacon from the corn chowder I made last week, and substituted that for the pancetta.  I am sure the pancetta would have been a little more flavorful, but the Canadian bacon worked well and is more calorie friendly.  After making this, I believe you could omit the pork entirely and use vegetable stock in place of chicken stock to keep this a strictly vegetarian dish.

Pot meals are great, as we usually have enough left for another dinner during the week.  Tonight we plan to enjoy the leftovers coupled with either a salad or grilled cheese sandwich.  Yum!

Dinner is served!

Fast Dinner: Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops

Each week my goal is to share a "fast dinner" that can be made during the week and hopefully gives you some other options for your weekly dinner rotations.  Last night I revisited one of my favorite Giada recipes out of her cookbook Giada's Family Dinners.  This is a delicious pork chop recipe - Parmesan-Crusted Pork Chops - and it is easy.   This dish takes less than 30 minutes from preparation to serving.

The trick with this recipe is not overcooking your pork as it will become dry and tough.   Last night I used bone-in loin rib chops that were relatively thin.  With this type of cut, you need to watch the pan temperature to prevent overcooking and potentially burning your crust.   The recipe suggests 5 minutes per side, and this would have been too long with the cut I used last night.  The crust should be golden brown.  The breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese form a crunchy crust, which is so yummy with the pork.  If you turn the pork more than once, the crust may pull away from the chop, which would be sad.

It is important to serve with lemon slices as a little squeeze of the fresh juice brightens up the dish.  My son Jake came up with a great idea, and drizzled a little basil pesto over the chop.  Serving this over a bed of pesto pasta would be tasty.

Instead of pasta last night, I tried an experiment, and failed.  We had left over mashed potatoes from earlier in the week, which I thought would make into potato cakes.  I have always wanted to try to make potato cakes.  I thought the starchiness of the potatoes would hold them together when I pan-fried them.  Well, I was wrong.  Unfortunately, my potato cakes turned into a blob of mashed potatoes with a little bit of crust.  Does anyone have a great recipe for potato cakes that I should try or have suggestions on how to hold the cake together?

Delicious Corn and Vegetable Chowder for a Cold Winter Night

Soup is one of my family's favorite meals, and my son Will especially loves corn chowder.  When you hear "chowder" you think heavy cream and therefore, calories.  I have a recipe, which is modified from some different corn chowder recipes, that gives you the creaminess of a chowder but with less calories.  The delicious vegetables also give some contrast to the creamy corn.

RECIPE:
Creamy Corn and Vegetable Chowder
16 oz frozen corn (completely thawed) or fresh corn
2 cups nonfat or low-fat milk
1 Tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves (sliced thinly or minced)
1 bell pepper (red adds some beautiful color)
1 yellow onion, diced
1 zucchini, diced
4 slices Canadian bacon, diced (can be omitted to keep as a vegetarian soup)
1/4 fresh jalapeno, diced with seeds removed (Optional -- depending on how much spice you like)
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 can cream style corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Splash of Worcester sauce
1/2 cup of basil cut into ribbons
Shredded cheese (optional)

From the frozen corn that has been thawed, measure 1 cup of corn, and set aside.  Put the remaining frozen corn and milk in a blender and blend until smooth.  Reserve this mixture for later in the recipe.

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large soup pot or dutch oven.  Once the oil is heated, add the garlic, bell pepper, onion, zucchini, Canadian bacon, and jalapeno.  Sautee the vegetables and bacon until they are tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the reserved 1 cup of frozen corn, the can of cream style corn, thyme and 2 cups of broth.  Bring the soup to a boil.  Reduce heat, and add the pureed corn/milk mixture.  Season with the basil, Worcester sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Allow to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.   Serve with warm bread and  sprinkle with shredded cheese on top.

What I love about this recipe is the creaminess of the corn, the crunch of the veggies, and the little kick from the jalapeno.  As a note, last night I didn't anticipate such a spicy pepper, and found my soup slightly too hot for my kids.  I added 2 Tbs of sugar and another splash of milk, and that cut down some of the spiciness.

I am looking forward to trying a new twist in the summer, when fresh corn is plentiful, as I think grilled corn in place of the frozen corn could be delicious.  Also, other vegetables could be added like carrots, tomatoes, or potatoes.  You can definitely make this your own.

In the picture above, you see one of the best gifts I have received in the last several years:  my Le Creuset cast iron enamel dutch oven.  Many batches of soups and chili have been made as well as oven meals like roasted chicken and pot roast.  If you don't have one, it would be a great investment for your kitchen.

Lemon, Rosemary and Balsamic Grilled Chicken

Tonight in an effort to use ingredients I already had in my fridge and pantry, I tried a recipe from Emeril for Lemon, Rosemary and Balsamic Grilled Chicken Thighs.  It is a simple marinade and luckily had everything on hand.

For the record, it is January 15th, and it has been very cold in Dallas.  (And very cold is less than 40 degrees in my book, and today the high was in the low 30s.)  I planned to grill these on our gas grill, but being a native Texan, I am a wimp when it comes to cold.   So instead of braving the elements, I pulled out my stove top grill pan.  I invested in a grill pan last year after seeing countless TV chefs cook amazing looking food on their grill pans.  My experience has been hit and miss.

The upside on using the grill pan, the house had a great rosemary aroma as the chicken grilled.  However, next time I would use the outside grill and throw on a coat.  The grill pan did not conduct heat the same way as a grill, and it took well over 20 minutes to cook the chicken through.  I ended up placing a cookie sheet on top of the grill pan to do this.

Grilling on the stove top grill pan

From a recipe standpoint, I really liked the marinade.  Next time,  I would make some slight modifications.  I used bone-in chicken thighs, and next time would use boneless thighs. You could also easily use chicken breast if you are not a dark meat lover.   When you make the marinade, reserve some on the side for basting the chicken during grilling to keep it moist.  In the recipe it states to pat the chicken dry, I did this and would not do that again.  I lost some of the rosemary and seasoning.

This is a recipe with some definite potential. I'll revisit it when we are back in grilling season.

Birthday Walnut-Sour Cream Cake

We celebrated my mom's birthday this past weekend, so one of my challenges in planning her birthday dinner was finding a cake recipe that was a little different.  Historically I have not done much baking, which makes this a bit more of an adventure.

After thumbing through a number of cookbooks, I landed on a recipe for Walnut-Sour Cream Cake from Dean Fearing's The Mansion on Turtle Creek Cookbook (recipe below).  This is an extremely versatile recipe -- its a tasty dessert but could also be used as a breakfast coffee cake.  Not sure if its being a child of the 70's, but I love recipes where I can use a Bundt cake pan.

The cake came out moist, and the cardamom, cinnamon and walnuts gave it a warm flavor.  When making the glaze, I used a combination of fresh lemon and orange juice since citrus is so plentiful right now.  In the future, I would poke some holes in the cake before drizzling the glaze so the glaze could be absorbed by the cake.

Visually, the cake is very pretty when cut.  The dollops of the brown sugar mixture create a fancy swirl in the body of the cake.

Recipe:  Walnut-Sour Cream Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups unsalted butter
3 cups packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
4 extra large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups sour cream
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts
Lemon Glaze (recipe to follow)
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
   Cream butter and 2 1/2 cups brown sugar in a large bowl until fluffy.  Continue beating while adding molasses, eggs and vanilla.
   Sift together flour, baking powder, cardamom, salt and baking soda.  Alternately add sour cream and flour mixture to batter, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Do not overmix.
   Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and 3/4 cup walnuts and set aside.
   Spoon enough batter into prepared pan to cover the bottom.  Dot with dollops of reserved brown sugar mixture.  Add a layer of batter and top with additional dollops of brown sugar mixture.  Cover with a final layer of batter.
   Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick near the center comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool in pan and on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes.  While still warm, turn onto a serving platter.
   Spread Lemon Glaze over the top of warm cake and sprinkle with additional chopped nuts.  When cake has cooled, sift confectioners' sugar over top.

Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh orange juice may be substituted)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine confectioners' sugar with lemon (orange) juice and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Use immediately.

(Recipe courtesy of The Mansion at Turtle Creek Cookbook by Dean Fearing, 1987)

Fast Dinner: Pasta with Garlic, Mushroom and Rosemary

During the week, its important to have some fast, go-to recipes that are more interesting than run of the mill spaghetti.  My family loves pasta, and it can be such an easy thing to throw together on a busy night.  Last night, we tried a new recipe I came across on the internet (from ABC's daytime show The Chew):  Pasta with Garlic, Mushroom and Rosemary

This recipe calls for cheese ravioli, but I used tri-colored cheese tortellini as I already had some on hand.  The sauce is delicious enough that it would be great with a non-stuffed pasta like a penne.  You can also get creative with this and add other ingredients such as grilled chicken, artichoke hearts or a little lemon zest.

It is important to slightly undercook your pasta (whatever type you use) as it will cook a little further when tossed in the sauce.   From start to finish, it took about 20 minutes to prepare and serve.  Those you are cooking for will never guess how easy it is because its visually appetizing and great tasting.  Easy and delicious?  What's not to try!

More Salmon, Please

It's January, and we all know what that means.  All those resolutions about being healthier, losing weight, saving money, etc.  One of my challenges is finding recipes that are both delicious and healthy.

Last night we tried a new salmon recipe that more than satisfies both requirements. From Giada de Laurentiis' Giada's Family Dinners, I found an incredibly easy salmon main dish that is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser -- Broiled Salmon with Garlic, Mustard and Herbs. The mustard topping bakes onto the salmon and creates a tangy and flavorful crust. This topping also keeps the fish moist and from drying out, which is always a fear of mine when broiling salmon.  As sides, I served garlic couscous and sauteed asparagus. This meal in total took about 20 minutes to prepare and cook. Its the perfect dish for a busy weekday night with the family, and is special enough to serve to guests.

Our dinner table was very quiet last night, and I knew we had a hit when the boys were racing for the last couple of pieces of salmon. This will definitely go into our family dinner rotation.

Apples to Applesauce

Being part of a produce co-op is a wonderful way to get great seasonal fruits and vegetables.  Recently we received a variety of apples in our basket.  With the holidays, apples were overlooked for Christmas cookies, fudge and other temptations.  So with a bowl full of apples that needed to be consumed post haste, I thought back to the times in my childhood when I'd come home from school to homemade applesauce.  Once you have homemade applesauce, you never will eat jarred again.

Applesauce is a very easy treat, and can make a great side for dinner (pork chops and applesauce, anyone?).  After reviewing cookbooks and internet recipes, I found a straightforward recipe that really lets the fruit be the star:  Autumn Applesauce from Epicurious.   I reduced the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup, and found it to be plenty sweet.  I also used a fresh apple cider made from honey crisp apples.

Yesterday it was my boys that came home from school to the smell of cinnamon and apples.  The toughest critics I know have given it an enthusiastic "thumbs up".  The empty container it was stored in is probably the best feedback of all.

Pot Roast to Rival All Pot Roasts

For Christmas I received Michael Symon's new cookbook Carnivore.   I can honestly say that I have never seriously contemplated adopting a vegetarian diet, and after thumbing through this cookbook, I am confident that will not be a consideration any time in the near future.  

I didn't make it very far into the book, before identifying the first recipe I had to try -- Pot Roast with Carrots, Shallots, Mint and Lemon.  (Yeah, its the first recipe in the book).  On a cold winter night, there is nothing more comforting than the smell of roast through the house, and more importantly, warm roast in your belly.  This is true comfort food.

What was intriguing about this recipe was the use of bacon and beer.  Prior roasts I have made have always been a little basic.  You know the ones with onion soup mix and beef broth.  The depth that the beer, apple cider and bacon added to the meat was outstanding.  The shallots and carrots also take on that rich beef flavor, and our family found we were fighting over the carrots -- even my husband, who claims they are the root of the devil.  You may want to have some bread on hand when you serve this, as it is delicious to have something to sop up the pan juice.

The recipe I have linked to above is slightly different than the version in the cookbook, but for the most part is consistent.  I used more like 20 shallots versus 10, and chose a wheat beer.  I will definitely make this again with some minor modifications.  Next time, I don't plan to add the chicken broth as  I had way too much pan juice when it was finished.  I might also add some new potatoes to the pot.

Be prepared to see future posts from Carnivore as there is so much I'd like to try!