This Fish is a Flake!

I am feeling a bit spicy and found some fish in the freezer, and what could be better than a spicy, easy to make, fish dinner?

Ingredients
4 Tilapia filets
2 TBS butter
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. each of onion and garlic powders
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves

Wash the fish and dry with paper towel. Set aside. Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the olive oil until blended. Set aside.

Gather your spices

In a bowl mix the remaining ingredients until combined.

Spice Mixture

Brush the fish with the butter mixture and then dredge in the spice mix covering evenly.

Fish coated in butter oil mixture and then dredged in spices

Lay the fish on a foil lined baking sheet. You will have some of the butter mixture left over and will be using this shortly.

Now take out your cast iron pan and heat it up until a drop of water sizzles. Pour 1/2 the remaining butter mixture over the fish,

Drizzle the butter oil mixture on the fish

and place this side down in the cast iron pan. Cook this over high heat until the fish is browned. Pour the remaining butter mixture on the side of the fish that is facing up in the pan and turn the fish.

The fish has been flipped!

Cook until the fish is browned and begins to flake. Total cooking time is approximately 10 minutes.

I like to serve this with fresh broccoli mixed with fresh carrots and Jasmine rice.

Dinner is served!

Serve this with a Pinot Grigio!

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Barb’s Salad

We needed to lighten things up a bit here as we had that marvelous bacon wrapped pork loin last night. So tonight I tried to lighten this up with a salad. I like lots of veges in a salad, and tonight’s salad was really good, plus I have enough left over for lunch tomorrow! Always looking forward!

Ingredients
3/4 of a good size head of Romaine lettuce
1 large tomato, cut into chunks
3 large crimini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, sliced
1 thick slice of ham, cut into 1/4″ cubes
1 thick slice of turkey, cut into 1/4″ cubes
3 pieces of hearts of palm, sliced thinly
2 stalks of celery, sliced thinly
1 – 4″ piece of cucumber, cut into quarters then sliced
4 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced
1 avacado, sliced
4 radishes, cut into sections for decoration, and eating of course!
1/8 cup of raw sunflower seeds
1 cup of cheddar cheese, grated

Start with the Romaine. Wash this well, and use a salad spinner to remove excess water.

Romaine lettuce cleaned and torn for the salad

Then lay out in sections the rest of the ingredients. I did a section of each of the ingredients, and placed the bacon in the center, leaving an open area for the radishes. After placing the eggs on the salad, I then sprinkled it with the sunflower seeds, and cheddar.

Finished salad!

Toss the salad with your favorite dressing and serve!

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What’s Up Doc? Carrots!

I have to wonder who the first person was that dug up a carrot and decided to try it. Brave soul! This gem of a vegetable comes in a number of colors, can be beneficial to your vegetable garden, and can be used in a number of ways, some of which give added benefits!

Carrots- USDA photo

One story in the carrots history is that the Dutch, by crossing the carrot with other plants changed the original color of the carrot from purple to orange. This was done to symbolize the struggle for independence and became the emblem of the Dutch Royal House of Orange. Selective breeding of this vegetable over the years has removed the woodiness of the vegetable and has refined the flavors.

Planting the carrots in your garden between tomato plants actually is beneficial to the extent that it causes the tomatoes to produce more. And, letting the carrots flower attracts a variety of predatory wasps that actually helps to get rid of pests in the garden. Pick your garden carrots early in the morning when the sugars are at their highest levels.

Carrots are loaded with beta carotene. Eating a raw carrot only releases about 3% of the beta carotene in the vegetable. However, if you pulp or cook the carrots you can improve the amount of beta carotene by 39%! The beta carotene gets converted to Vitamin A in your body as it passes through the digestive tract. Historically, this vegetable has been used in treating digestive problems, tonsillitis, and intestinal parasites.

Carrots - Photo by Stephen Ausmus

There are two cultivars of this vegetable: Eastern and Western. The Eastern cultivar are typically purple or yellow. The Western cultivar is typically orange, but white, yellow and purple varieties can be found. These have different shapes. The Chantenay carrot has broad shoulders and taper to a blunt rounded tip. The Danvers is conical in shape and come to a pointed tip. Baby food is a product of this carrot! Imperator carrots are the ones that we typically find here in the U.S. grocery stores and this carrot has a longer length than all others. The Nantes are more cylindrical in shape and are the sweetest. I planted these one year and not only did I have a huge crop but was most impressed with their flavor!

Whatever color carrot that you choose, enjoy the benefits of Vitamin A, and the amazing flavor of this delectable vegetable!

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Dad’s Pot Roast

It is not very often that I come across a brisket of beef at the grocery store, but shortly before Thanksgiving I found one and stuck it in the freezer. With the recent cold temperatures, I wanted to make a comfort food dinner tonight, so I defrosted the brisket for dinner this evening. This is my Dad’s recipe, and it is wonderful! The aromas that fill the house are absolutely incredible! My Dad used to do this on the stove top but I do it in the crock pot.

Ingredients
Brisket of Beef, cut in half
Garlic powder
Hungarian paprika
Salt and pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Onion, chopped
Garlic, chopped
1 cup of a good hearty red wine
2 Potatoes, russets, peeled, cut into pieces
4 Carrots, peeled, cut into chunks
3 14.5 oz. cans of beef broth

Trim the fat off the brisket

Rub both sides of the meat with the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper.

Cut it in half, and rub with spices

Add the olive oil to a pan and heat. When the oil is hot, brown one piece of meat at a time.

Brown the meat

While the meat is browning, cut up the onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots.

Chop onions and garlic

Spray a crock pot with non-stick spray and layer the bottom with the potatoes and carrots.

Layer carrots and potatoes in crock pot

Once the meat is brown, lay it on top of the potatoes and carrots.

Lay meat over carrots and potatoes

Now take the onions and garlic and add it to the pan that you browned the meat in.

Add onions and garlic to pan

Cook these until they are tender and browned.

Brown the onions and garlic

Add in the wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to pick up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan.

Add the wine to the pan to deglaze

Bring to a boil, then take off the heat and pour this over the meat in the crock pot.

Pour onions, garlic and wine over the meat

Add the beef broth.

Add broth and set to cook

Set the crock pot to the low setting for 8 hours, and sit back and enjoy the aromas in the house! When the timer goes off on the crock pot, take the meat out and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Turn the crock pot to the warm setting. After the meat has rested, cut it into slices and return it to the broth.

Slice the beef and put back into the crock pot

Let the meat sit in the crock pot for 15 minutes to a half hour, then serve it up in bowls!

Serve it up!

Serve this with the hearty wine that you used to cook with. I used a really good Merlot for tonight’s dinner!

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Broccoli Slaw

Tired of the same old cabbage cole slaw? Here is a recipe that I created for a slaw that used broccoli as the main ingredient. This is a quick and easy recipe and it is a good accompaniment to BBQ, baked ham, or just a plain old sandwich…

Ingredients
1 large broccoli crown
2 green onions
5 red radishes
1 stalk of celery
1 large carrot
1 cup grated medium cheddar cheese
1 cup of mayonnaise
4 tbs sugar
2 tbs white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Starting with the broccoli, slice up the stem then chop. Cut individual florets from the crown. Use all the broccoli. Add this to a glass mixing bowl. Then chop the green onions, radishes, celery and carrots. Add to bowl and combine. Your mixture should resemble the one below:

Vegetable mixture of broccoli slaw

Next you want to add in the cheddar cheese.

Slaw with Cheddar added

Next, in a bowl add the mayonnaise, sugar, white wine vinegar and a couple of shakes of salt and pepper. Mix until mixture is smooth.

Slaw sauce mixture

Add this to the bowl of mixed vegetables, and combine to ensure that the dressing covers the vegetables.

The finished slaw

Let this sit for about a day. The juices from the vegetables will increase as they do in a regular cole slaw. This makes about 6 servings. Enjoy the flavors!

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