Tilapia Milanese

My son has turned into a big fan of Tilapia. I had another recipe I made a few weeks ago that was quick and easy, and basically just consisted of a sauce that got drizzled over pan-fried Tilapia. He liked it so much, we had it twice that week and a couple times since. I didn't put that one on the blog, but next time I make it, I will. :-)

So tonight I wanted to have Tilapia, but have a different recipe from the one I'd made before. My son was NOT happy--he wanted the one he already knew he liked. So I enlisted his help in making the Tilapia Milanese because I knew if I did that, he'd be more invested in the meal. So I had him running the food processor while I was peeling potatoes for mashed potatoes.

This one was in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine. I love that magazine--nearly every issue has a dozen or more recipes I can't wait to make.

Tilapia Milanese

4 6-ounce tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cups milk (I used fat-free/lactose-free)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
3 large eggs
6 slices white bread, torn into pieces (I used whole grain white)
1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves
grated zest of 1/2 lemon (reserve the wedgest for serving)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place the fish in a bowl with the milk and 2 cups of ice. Let marinate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 F.

In a shallow bowl (I always use pie plates for dredging), mix flour with salt and pepper. In pie plate #2, beat the eggs lightly. Reserve a third pie plate for breading.

In a food processor, pulse the bread, parsley, lemon zest and salt, until crumbs form. Pour into pie plate #3. Remove the fillets from the milk, dredge in flour (shaking off excess), then into eggs, then into bread crumbs. Press bread crumbs onto fish to coat it well. Put the fillets on a large plate.

In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add two fillets, and cook, 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet. Add another tablespoon or two each of butter and olive oil (I only needed one more of each) and cook remaining two fillets. Transfer to the baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 8 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges.

My son had seconds--an entire fillet and then half of another. For a pre-teen, that's a whole lot of fish ;-). It was a great dinner, and definitely on the list to make again.

Shirley

Spicy Tomato Crab Bisque-ish

I'm calling this soup a "bisque-ish" because I did add some cream to it, but not enough to push it into the bisque category. More to give it a bit of depth, without pushing it into the heavy-on-your-thighs department. I made this for lunch today (as part of my New Year's commitment to eating healthier after a LOT of cookies over the past month, LOL).

Anyway, I LOVED this soup. I had come across another recipe for it, and then read a few reviewer's comments on the soup, and decided on a few changes of my own.

Spicy Tomato Crab Bisque-ish

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 fennel bulb, fronds removed, bulb diced
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 6 ounce can crab meat (or fresh if you can get it)

1/4 cup half and half
chili oil, for drizzling

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Add onions, fennel (reserve the fronds for later) and garlic. Saute 10-15 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes (do not drain them; add the sauce too) and broth. Season with salt and pepper, then add cumin and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, then simmer for 15 minutes. Add more broth if the soup is too thick.

I pureed the soup a bit at this point; just to make it smoother but not to totally mush up the vegetables. Then I added the crab meat, cooked it for a couple minutes, then stirred in the half and half (and FWIW, I used reduced fat half and half). Taste and season again wtih salt and pepper, if needed.

Serve with minced fennel fronds and if you like it spicy, a light drizzle of chili oil. (LIGHT, because that chili oil is spicy stuff :-)

Shirley

Beer Battered Fish and Onion Rings with Low-Fat Tartar Sauce

My son pronounced this my "best dinner ever." I think it's because I put Red Robin seasoning on the fries and onion rings, LOL (I baked up some fries too, but they weren't on my plate, hence, not in the photo). And yes, I made a vegetable, too, but it was just broccoli, so I didn't put it in the picture.

I was going to make baked fish. Then realized I had all the ingredients for beer batter, and a hankering for some fried food. So I made this, and made the low-fat tartar sauce to kinda offset the calories (it's the Big Mac and Diet Coke theory ;-).

Beer Battered Fish

1 pound of cod or other whitefish
1 12-ounce bottle of beer
2 cups of flour, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
more salt and pepper

Canola oil

Heat about an inch of the oil in a thick bottomed pan to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Also preheat the oven to 200 degrees and put a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Cut the cod into two-inch pieces. Mix the beer and 1 1/2 cups of flour in a bowl. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup flour with some salt and pepper to season it.

Dredge the fish in the beer batter, then shake gently to remove the big bits of batter. Dredge in the flour. Fry, a few pieces at a time, about 4 minutes per side, turning once. Remove and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt while it's still hot. While other pieces are cooking, put the first pieces on the cookie sheet and into the oven, to keep them warm.

When the cod is done, if you happen to have a sweet white onion (like a Vidalia), cut into 1/2 inch rings, dredge in the batter (skip the flour), then fry, about 3 minutes per side. You might need to add more oil and reheat the oil to 375 before cooking the onions. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

For the low-fat Tartar Sauce, mix 1 small container plain yogurt with 3 tablespoons relish (I used my zucchini relish :-), a dash of hot sauce, a little lemon juice, and a tablespoon or so of lite mayonnaise to thicken it.

Shirley

OMG Good Spicy Shrimp Salad

You know how you make some things and you're actually sad, knowing that you will finish the plate and it'll be all gone? That's how I felt about this salad I made for lunch. OMG, so good, and definitely worth the little bit of prep work.

A tip--don't skimp. Fresh herbs are super cheap at farmer's markets right now (as are shallots and garlic). Once you start cooking from fresh, you'll notice a huge difference. This is one of those dishes that demands fresh because it creats a flavor explosion in your mouth.

This is from an Emeril recipe. The original made 4 servings, but it was just me today, so I edited it to fit one full plate.

Spicy Thai Shrimp Salad

1 cup mixed greens (I hate iceberg lettuce and used mixed greens)

1/4 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 mango, peeled, seeded and sliced (the recipe called for one mango total but I love mangos so I used a whole one for one serving)
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (about half a lime)
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon fish sauce
4 teaspoons Palm sugar, or light brown sugar (and here's where I diverted...I put half in the dressing, half on the shrimp. I also didn't have Palm sugar so I used light brown)
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1/2 teaspoon minced Serrano chilies
2-3 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
1/4 pound medium shrimp, peeled
1/2 teaspoon Emeril's Essence
dash salt
1 tablespoon chiffonade fresh mint, garnish

Lay the lettuce leaves across a large platter. Arrange the cucumber, mango slices and shallots over the lettuce.

In a blender, combine the lime juice, 2 teaspoons of the brown/Palm sugar, shallots, fish sauce, garlic, 1/2 of the minced cilantro, chiles. (Emeril called for adding the oil here; I didn't. I kept the dressing low fat). Blend on high speed until well combined and the sugar is dissolved.

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the Essence, salt, and remaining sugar to coat. Heat a wok or large, heavy, skillet over high heat. Add the oil and when very hot, add the shrimp and sear until cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan.

Arrange the shrimp decoratively over the greens and mango and drizzle with the dressing. Garnish with the mint and reserved cilantro and serve.

SOOOOOOO good. Very fresh and very yummy. I only used a 1/2 teaspoon of Essence...I don't like it highly spicy.

Shirley

Hot Crab Bites: The Result of Experimenting

Last night, I was the fill-in at cards, which meant I had to come up with a tasty snack to bring along, one that hopefully no one else would have (I had heard the horror stories about the nights virtually everyone showed up with cookies) and that if no one liked I wouldn't mind having as a leftover :-)

In the mail, I had received my Kraft Food and Family recipe magazine (if you don't already get this; it's free. You can sign up on the website. There's coupons in some of the issues, not all, and a lot of fast and easy recipes in every issue. This holiday one had at least six recipes I bookmarked for trying). Anyway, they had a cold crab bite recipe. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm a hot food kind of gal unless it's 90+ degrees out. Call me a food wimp, but I like my meals to make my belly warm :-). So I started fiddling with the recipe, trying out different ways of making it to get one that would be hot, easy to eat, and easy to make.

And it was a hit. So, I'm posting it here. For one, because my blog has become my virtual recipe book. I no longer go looking for recipes in my cabinet if I know I've posted them here. I just search the blog, LOL. For another, the ladies raved, and all asked for the recipe. I figured posting it here was the easiest way to spread the crab bite love.


Hot Crab Bites


2 8-ounce packages imitation crab meat (unless you have a big budget and want to use real crab meat. I'm in the Midwest. Real crab meat costs the equivalent of a Mercedes here ;-)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon hot sauce (Frank's is good; use as much or as little as you want to spice it up a bit)
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried dill (depends, IMO, on how fresh your spices are if you need more)
1 package wonton wrappers (I had 60 in my package)


lukewarm water
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons vegetable oil


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Chop crabmeat into small pieces. Mix crabmeat, mayo, cheese, hot sauce and dill. Dip one finger in the water and spread water around the edges of wonton (this will help it seal). Put one teaspoon of crab mixture into center of wonton. Bring edges up, twist together. They make like a little pouch (and you may ask why there is no picture...well, we ate them all pretty fast here :-).


Put the crab bites onto greased cookie sheets. Mix the butter and oil together and brush that over the outside of the wontons (this will keep them from burning, and will make them a bit crispy, as well as golden). Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes (check them by checking the bottoms at about 10 minutes. My stove is old, so it doesn't always like me at certain temperatures.


They were really quick and easy to make and I can already think of a dozen other fillings for the wontons.


Oh, for dinner, I made a Taste of Home recipe. I had leftover mini hotdogs from the Monster Toes the other day, so I mixed those with a large can of Bush's baked beans, some brown sugar , some mustard and some Worcestshire sauce. Then I topped it with some Jiffy corn bread mix (mixed according to the directions) that had 1 cup of cheddar cheese added into the mix. Baked at 350 for about 20 minutes. I'm not a huge bean fan (I was eating at the hostess's house, so this was the DH's dinner) but I thought this was really good. I just realized Taste of Home has a website and the recipe is there! So you can go there and download it if you want.


Shirley

Recipe: Seafood Dip

This is one of my OMG, company is coming and I have nothing to serve them dishes. I tend to keep these ingredients on hand, just so I can whip this together and look impressive ;-) I admit, I have to hide a box of "good" crackers (the Club crackers) in the back of the cabinet or the kids will eat them, so that there's always some available for guests.

Seafood Dip

1 8-ounce package imitation crab meat (unless you want to use fresh :-)
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 onion, minced
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
a few drops Tabasco sauce
salt and pepper
Paprika & chopped Parsley for garnish


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix all but the paprika and parsley together and spread in a pie plate. Bake for 20 minutes (enough time to clean the house, light a few candles and pretend you were ready for company ;-). Then garnish with paprika and parsley if you feel like getting fancy. Serve with the good crackers. :-)

That's it! Easy and quick!

Shirley

Bonus Holiday Recipe: Spicy Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

Can't remember if I posted this one before or not, but hey, here it is again :-)

And of course, as with all my recipes, there's a story behind this. Half my family is Laotian. Why, you ask...because my parents are giving people. My Dad, who served in Vietnam, always wanted to give back--and so, when I was 11, my family sponsored a Laotian family of three. Over the course of my life, my parents sponsored more than 30 Laotians into this country, and many of them have become part of my extended family. My brother's mother (long story :-) has been teaching me a few Laotian and Thai dishes. While I'm no chef, believe me, this is one of my favorites for the holidays, next to my mom's lobster stew (which is in THE ANGEL CRAVED LOBSTER).

Spicy Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup

2 cans coconut milk (in the Asian section of the grocery store; they now make a lite version, if you're counting calories)
1 can asparagus spears, cut up
1 cup frozen cut green beans, par-cooked
1-2 cups frozen shrimp, tails removed (I like a lot of shrimp, so I add a lot!)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red chili paste (here's the heat, so go easy on this; you can always add more if you like a lot of heat
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce or soy sauce (fish sauce is an Asian staple; find it in the Asian section of the store. If you don't like it, you can substitute soy sauce).

Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer until the shrimp is defrosted. Be sure that red chili paste is well mixed in, too ;-)

This happens to be my lunch today, BTW. And was yesterday, too. I'm in a soup kind of mood :-)

Shirley