Yummy Baked Fish Tacos

  

One of our new years resolutions was to eat healthier,  not that we didn't before but you know how it goes.... So tonight was fish but I wasn't sure what to make, instead of doing the usual Baked Cod or Cod in Parchment Paper I decided to make some Fish Tacos.  I love the freshness of these, and the flavor combo’s. Of course you can add or sub in what ever condiments you want, we used a Pineapple Salsa and of course some Guacamole. I bake instead of fry the fish to make them healthier, turning this into one of our favorite meals. 

Baked Fish Tacos

Items Needed:

Baking Sheet

Cooling rack placed inside baking sheet

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• 1 lb or roughly 3 Pieces Cod Loin
• Progresso Lemon Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• soft taco shells
• salsa
  
• guacamole
• shredded lettuce, tomato, optional

                                                          

• Cut each piece of cod into about 3-4 piece, 
• Dip the fish into the eggs than bread each piece with the panko breadcrumbs lightly on each side and place on the cooling rack that has been placed in the baking sheet, don't they look so good....
• Bake the fish 5-6 mins then flip each piece and bake an additional 4 mins
• Warm taco shells in a skillet or microwave, then add the fish and toppings of your choice.

Eat and Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Risotto with Pan seared Scallops

We love Scallops but find them on the pricey side so whenever they go on sale we snatch some up. Lucky for us that was the case a few weeks ago. My method of cooking them is usually the same, pan seared and this night was no different. There is just something about the crusty outside and the soft pillowy inside when you pan sear them.  YUM!! The last time we had them I made Scallops with Couscous, this time around I was looking for something a little richer. So while going thru my cabinets I noticed some leftover cans of pumpkin, and the wheels they were a  turnin… It took me a while to get up the courage to make risotto, creamy but not mushy, al dente but not hard… But a few years ago after once again watching my mother I got the hang of it. I hadn't made it in a while though so I was excited to make it with the pumpkin.  For this recipe I cooked the scallops right after I finished the risotto since they only take 5-7 minutes tops. I adapted this recipe from Charlie Palmer not that it needed any changing but I just didn't have fresh pumpkin so I went with the canned and it was delish!!

Pumpkin Risotto

Items needed:

Non stick skillet

Skillet ( not non stick ) 

• 12 Scallops*****
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp butter
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 c pureed pumpkin
• 1 medium onions, finely diced
• 3/4 c dry Riesling
• 1 1/2 tsp  freshly grated nutmeg
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c Arborio rice
• salt/pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly shaved Parmesan Cheese and more for serving

• In a  medium saucepan bring the chicken stock to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce the heat to low and keep the stock hot.
• In a medium saucepan, heat 2 1/2 tablespoons of the butter until it begins to sizzle. Add onions and cook over moderately high heat, about 3  minutes than add the rice and continue to cook until the onions are just translucent about 4 more minutes. Stirring frequently. 

• Immediately stir in 1 cup of the hot stock and cook, stirring constantly, until all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to medium low and add 2 more cups of the hot stock,  one at a time until each one is absorbed about 10-12 minutes remember to keep stirring, add half of the Parmesan cheese

• Add the pumpkin puree add the rest of the Parmesan cheese and then add the remaining 3 cups of hot stock one cup at a time stirring constantly until the rice is tender,  cook  about another 10 minutes than add the remaining butter and take off the heat
• Meanwhile season scallops with salt, and pepper generously. In skillet, heat a mixture of 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter until a nice foam forms, add scallops in batches if needed so as not to over crowd pan
• Sear on each side until a nice crust forms then flip and sear on other side until crust forms, quickly remove from pan so as not to over cook scallops.

***** Removing the muscle from the scallop. This small piece of flesh can be found near the edge of the scallop; carefully remove it from the main section before preparing this dish.*****

*****Another important tip: Once you've placed the scallops in the pan, don't touch them! If you give in to the temptation to move the scallops around the pan, all you'll be doing is preventing them from forming the nice brown crust that you want. Be strong!*****

Eat and Enjoy!!!

Holidays, Travel and Holidays again….

With Hanukkah coming early this year.. i.e.: right after Thanksgiving.. we have been quite busy. Add into the mix that we were leaving on a road trip to Florida on December 13th for 10 days to go to Disney World, I felt like I had no time to do anything certainly not cook. So here is what we have been up to instead.. 

In our house we celebrate Chrismukkah a mixture of both holidays, we did Hanukkah before we left and Christmas when we got back. But in between we have all our friends and family over for a big Yankee swap party..and this year we threw in a twist…The ugliest sweater would receive not only an extra prize but have an advantage in the swap. Here’s some of our silliness

Chrismukkah 2010 

Me (l) and my bff Karen 

 Bff and her matching hubby before the change.... 

and after......

                                                                                                
                                                                    My sister and Brother-in-law before he changed…

and after….. 

                                                  

And the winner of the Ugliest Sweater is…. Well…. After a diplomatic vote.. it was a tie.. So how to break a tie.. Rock.. Paper.. Scissors of course!!

ohhh look a tie again…                           
        and again……

and finally we have a winner!!!!!!


So that's what we were up to before we left… and now it’s already January 2nd. I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and here’s to a Happy and Healthy New Year!!  Stay tuned for some reviews from Disney and of course back to some good ole home cooking!!

Buttermilk Soaked Onion Rings

So after ohhh 2 years we have finally opened our deep fryer that we received for our wedding. Sorry to whoever sent it to us… I can’t remember who you are but trust me we’re grateful…  Is it bad that we haven’t put it away since the unveiling a few weeks ago, but seriously if my hubby had his way we would make something in it every night!! He has become the4 official fry cook and has made some yummy eats recently. It was of course Sunday Football, and we love to make fun foods to nibble on so we went with chicken wings and these delicious onion rings. There wasn’t one recipe in particular that I went with, there are different methods and techniques, one is a light crunchy coating and the other a puffy batter type. I also noticed that most of the recipes only called for you to just dip the onions in the buttermilk and then the flour, I let mine marinate in the buttermilk for a few hours in the refrigerator, and you could tell the difference!! We went with the crunchy version slightly tweaked and wow they were better than I’ve had a quite a few restaurants.

Buttermilk Onion Rings

Items Needed

Deep Fryer/Dutch Oven

Cookie sheet

• 2 large Vidalia Onions
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1-2 tbsp hot Sauce
• salt/pepper
• 2 c all purpose flour

• Peel the onions and slice them crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices. Separate each slice into individual rings and then remove the papery thin membrane covering the inside of each ring. ***Ok so I know this sounds like a weird thing to do but you know when you bite into an onion ring and the whole onion comes out at the same time it is because this step wasn't done.
• In a Tupperware container add the buttermilk, hot sauce and a liberal amount of salt and pepper toss in the onions and give a good stir with a spoon than pop the top on a give a good shake then place in the fridge for about 2-3 hours, put mine on a plate and flipped it every 1/2 hour or so
• When ready heat the oil to 375 degrees in a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed stock pot, or a deep fryer like we used, line a cookie sheet with paper towels and set aside also take a shallow dish and pour in the flour
• You will need to do this next step in batches, take the onions out of the fridge and before dipping in the flour allow the excess to drain off and then dredge the rings in the second dish of flour, making sure to coat the rings evenly. Tap off the excess and transfer the batch of coated rings to the hot oil/basket we put about 5-7 rings in each drop of the basket. Fry the rings until golden brown and tender, about 2 1/2 minutes.
• Remove each batch to the paper towel lined cookie sheet and salt right away and try to not to eat to many right out of the fryer… Cook the rest of the onions in batches and eat right away!! They are so yummy you will be lucky if they make it to the table…

 

 

Eat and Enjoy!!

Toasted Ravioli

Sunday football is my favorite day of the week, both me and my hubby have fantasy football teams and are glued to the our TV and computers checking our scores and rooting for our teams. We love to have people over to watch the games and of course eat. I love to make snacks for us to nibble on all day and for some reason I have had a hankering for toasted ravioli, and thought why not… It also happens to be THE food of St Louis, being served at every bar and of course the stadium in St Louis.  I think its fun to make dishes from the different teams! Here is my version of Toasted Ravioli....

Mmmmmmm

Toasted Ravioli

Items Needed:

Frying Pan

Sauce Pan 

• 1 package of small Cheese Ravioli, I used Buitoni ( the light version)
• 2-3 cups, seasoned Panko bread crumbs
• Marinara sauce, I used Rao’s
• Parmesan cheese, finely shredded
• 2 eggs
• water
• pepper
• peanut oil
  
   

• Place 2 cups bread crumbs in a shallow dish and set aside, in a separate shallow dish mix eggs and a few tsp of water to make an egg wash, season with pepper
• Heat about a 1/4 inch of peanut oil to medium high heat
• Dip the ravioli in the egg mixture and then in the bread crumbs making sure to lightly press the bread crumbs to the ravioli 
• Than carefully add them to the hot oil in batches about 5-7 at a time so that you don’t over crowd the pan, cook about a minute or two on each side until nicely browned keeping a watchful eye on them
• Meanwhile warm up the marinara in a sauce pan
• Remove ravioli to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with Parmesan ann serve immediately with the warmed marinara 

*** Notes: I use skewers to flip the raviolis, they are less cumbersome than a spoon or spatula and do a great job of flipping!  

Eat and Enjoy!!!!

Fabulous Roasted Chicken and an Anniversary

My husband and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary a few weeks ago,wow I can’t believe it two years, seems like just yesterday. I know how cliched that sounds but really it does, and my bff Karen  is getting married in a few days, so all this planning has brought it all back. It was a beautiful fall day in the Berkshires and I would do all over again in a heartbeat!!! Here’s a little peek:

  

The amazing view overlooking the Berkshires… 

 

  Me in my mothers 40 year old dress that my grandmother took great lengths to preserve!! 

.

Our amazing cake by Something Sweet by Michelle

We usually go out to dinner to celebrate milestones like birthdays and anniversaries, but I thought instead it would be nice to invite my parents and my hubby’s mom over to our house for a nice family dinner. The only time we could all manage to get together before my parents jetted off to Vegas ( lucky devils) was on a Tuesday and of course I had to work. I thought I was going to get out a bit earlier than I did and so that threw off my whole menu or so I thought. I had my heart set on making “my version” of my mothers Roasted Chicken. I used to be scared to make Roasted chicken, burnt skin, pale skin, undercooked, overcooked the possibilities were endless. If I hadn't watched mom all those years and paid careful attention to her technique I could never do it on my own. Well since I was so crunched for time, when I got to the supermarket I decided to get chicken pieces instead, really a win win situation because some people like dark meat some, people like white meat, some both, and guess what unless you get a ginormous chicken there is never enough of each to go around.  So I grabbed some thighs, legs and some split chicken breasts. I prepared the chicken pieces as I would a whole chicken and holy smokes did it come out good. You know those times when you say why didn’t I make this sooner , yay this was one of those times.

Roasted Chicken

Items Needed:

Large Skillet

2 Baking dishes

Blender 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Bake time: 45 –55 minutes

• 4 split Chicken Breasts
• 4 Thighs
• 4 Legs
• 12 fresh thyme sprigs
• 12 fresh sage leaves
• 6-8 rosemary sprigs, cut each in half
• butter, 12 tbsp + 2 tbsp
• medium onion, quartered
• orange, halved and quartered
• salt
• pepper
• chicken broth
• maple syrup
• olive oil

• Rinse chicken and pat dry, carefully pull up skin than place a small sprig each of rosemary, thyme, and sage than season generously with salt and pepper all over
• Heat skillet over medium high heat and brown chicken, skin side first in batches until nicely browned removing to the baking dishes

• Place 1/2 the onions and oranges around the chicken, and six tbsp butter into each baking dish, and drizzle everything with a little bit of olive oil

  

• At the 30 minutes mark check the chicken to make sure not getting to browned
• After 45 minutes, check temperature of each piece to make sure cooked thru, remove chicken to platter and tent with foil and let rest while making gravy
• Squeeze cooked orange wedges into baking dish to get out remaining juice then discard the oranges wedges, pour the remaining onions, juices, and 1/2 c chicken broth into the blender, pour some maple syrup into a measuring cup up to 1/4 c ( use as much or as little as you like ) we used almost all of it, blend everything until smooth, than pour into small sauce pan and bring to a boil adding last 2 tbsp of butter**** Optional, depending on how rich you want the gravy!!
• Slice up chicken breasts before serving

Look at how juicy the chicken is Yummy!!!

Eat and Enjoy!!!