Fish

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, minced
2-4 red chilies, finely chopped
2 cans coconut milk
2 teaspoons turmeric
4 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons fish sauce
6 tablespoons tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (4 to 6 ounces each) tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. 

2. Add shallots, garlic, ginger, and red chilies.  Saute 3 to 4 minutes, or until softened. 
Spray a frying pan over a medium high heat with some Frylight or Pam spray.

3. Stir tomato paste and turmeric into skillet to evenly coat then slowly pour in coconut milk, stirring until combined.  Add in fish sauce, salt and pepper, then bring to a low boil. 

4. Place tilapia in sauce, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until tilapia is cooked through.  Top with cilantro before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Slimming Eats.  It’s the first time I’ve made curry with fish and it was delicious.  We might have fought over the leftovers, I’m glad I doubled the original recipe to make four servings!

Ingredients
1 pound pasta
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 pounds asparagus, cut into bit size pieces
²⁄₃ cup shallots, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
Juice from 1 lemon
Zest from 1 lemon
2 cups cream or half and half
12 to 14 ounces smoked salmon, cut into pieces

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta as instructed by packaging.  Drain well. 

2. Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Once butter has melted, add asparagus and shallots and cook until asparagus is starting to get tender.  Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Stir in lemon zest and juice then pour in cream and mix well.  Cook until heated through. 

3. Add salmon and continue cooking until salmon is heated through.  Toss with pasta then taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. 

Comments
This recipe is from The Missing Lokness.  I love smoked salmon and this was a great way to use some up.  I enjoyed the way the flavor of the salmon permeated the rest of the dish.  Leftovers were quite tasty as well.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ranch seasoning
¹⁄₄ teaspoon dried rosemary
4 (4 to 6 ounces each) pieces cod
1 small shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons panko
¹⁄₂ teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₂ cup fresh parsley, minced
1-2 fresh thyme leaves, minced

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F. 

2. Mix 3 tablespoons oil with ranch seasoning and rosemary.  Brush marinade over fish pieces and place in baking dish. 

3. Heat remaining oil in large skillet and sauté shallot for 2 minutes.  Add garlic and tomatoes and sauté 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon tomato mixture over cod. 

4. Mix panko with kosher salt, parsley, and thyme.  Divide panko mixture over fish pieces and press gently to adhere.  Drizzle with a little oil. 

5. Bake fish for 15 to 20 minutes until topping is nicely browned and fish is cooked through and flakey. 

Comments
This recipe is from Kayotic Kitchen.  I love her (recipes!  This cod was lovely and flavorful, the tomatoes were a nice burst of brightness alongside the fish. 

Shown here with Ranch Roasted Potatoes.

Ingredients
For the salmon cakes
1 (15 ounces) can boneless skinless pink salmon, drained, or equivalent pouch
1 large egg, beaten
¹⁄₃ cup fresh chives, chopped
26 saltine crackers, crushed
¹⁄₂ cup frozen corn, thawed
¹⁄₄ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the sauce
¹⁄₂ cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 ¹⁄₂ tablespoon capers, rinsed, drained, and chopped
¹⁄₂ teaspoon kosher salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Spinach, for serving

Instructions
1. Using a fork, flake the salmon into ¹⁄₂-inch pieces into a medium bowl. Add the egg, chives, ¹⁄₂ cup of the crushed crackers, the corn, mayonnaise, mustard, capers, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix gently until just combined. Form into 10 patties, each about ³⁄₄” thick (if the mixture is too dry to form into patties, add extra mayonnaise, 1 tbsp at a time). Carefully coat the patties in the remaining crushed crackers and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil and butter together over medium heat. Add the salmon patties and cook for 7-8 minutes on each side, until golden and crispy. Drain the patties on paper towels.

3. For the sauce, mix the yogurt, capers, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Arrange the salmon cakes on top of spinach and top with sauce. 

Comments
This recipe is from House and Home.  The salmon cakes were super flavorful thanks to the many ingredients called for in the recipe.  I opted to serve the cakes on top of spinach and Lance and I thought this worked well.  These made for a quick and tasty dinner!

Ingredients
2 lemons
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced, plus 8 to 12 stems
2 small shallots, minced
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
¹⁄₂ cup water
4 pieces (6 ounces each) salmon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Cut one lemon into 8 slices.  Cut other lemon into 8 wedges.  Arrange lemon slices across bottom of 12-inch skillet.  Scatter dill stems and 2 tablespoons shallot evenly over lemon slices.  Add wine and water. 

2. Place salmon in skillet, skin side down, on top of lemon slices.  Set pan over high heat and bring liquid to simmer.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until sides are opaque but center of thickest part is still translucent, or until 125*F on thermometer, about 11 to 16 minutes.  Remove pan from heat and carefully transfer salmon and lemon slices to paper towel-lined plate.  Tent plate loosely with foil. 

3.  Return pan to high heat and simmer cooking liquid until slightly thickened and reduced to 2 tablespoons, 4 to 5 minutes.  Strain cooking liquid through mesh strainer into medium bowl; discard solids.  Return strained liquid to skillet and stir in mustard and remaining shallot.  Simmer over high heat until thickened and reduced to 2 tablespoons, 4 to 5 minutes.  Stir in sour cream and juice from 1 lemon wedge; simmer 1 minute.  Remove from heat and whish in butter and minced dill.  Season with salt and pepper. 

4. Carefully separate lemon slices from salmon and serve salmon with pan sauce, pass remaining lemon wedges at the table if desired. 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2008 Cook’s Illustrated Annual.  It’s a fairly basic salmon preparation and the fish was certainly tasty.  I didn’t think it was anything spectacular, though, and I don’t think it will come to mind when I’m trying to think of a salmon recipe to try out.  This is surprising since Cook’s Illustrated normally doesn’t do me any wrong.  The sauce also went well with the chicken I sautéed for Art. 

Shown here with Salt Potatoes with Butter and Herbs.

Ingredients
4 pieces (6 ounces each) cod
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 ¹⁄₄ cup white wine
¹⁄₂ cup capers, drained and rinsed
¹⁄₄ tablespoon green onions, chopped
1 ¹⁄₃ cup half and half or heavy cream
Juice of 2 lemons

Instructions
1. Season fish with salt and pepper.  Melt butter in large skillet and cook fish for 4 to 5 minutes per side.  Remove from pan. 

2. Reduce heat to medium and whisk in flour.  Add wine and continue stirring until sauce thickens.  Slowly pour in half and half and continue to stir.  Remove sauce from heat and stir in lemon juice, capers, green onions, and salt to taste.  Pour sauce over fish and serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from The Village Cook.  I made it with cod, although any similar fish would work just as well.  I thought it was super tasty and also very simple.  The sauce makes probably twice as much as you actually need, but I served it with rice which sopped up the sauce quite well.  Super tasty and a recipe I hope I’ll remember to make in the future.

Ingredients
4 (6 ounces each) tilapia fillets
2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¹⁄₂ teaspoon garlic powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
2 teaspoons bread crumbs

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F.  Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray. 

2. Place tilapia in baking dish and bake for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, stir together mustard, Worcestershire, lemon juice, garlic powder, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. 

3. Remove fish from oven and brush with mustard paste.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs and continue baking another 5 minutes or until the topping is bubbly and golden.

Comments
This recipe is from [all(recipes.com](http://all(recipes.com/recipe/mustard-crusted-tilapia/detail.aspx) and, well, it wasn’t that great.  The recipe called for “fine Italian bread crumbs” so that’s what I used but, if I make this again, I suggest either making fresh bread crumbs yourself (by processing a slice of white bread) or using panko.  The dry, powdery bread crumbs just made the entire dish unappealing.

I made chicken for Art using the same preparation and had the same complaints, although it was passable. 

Shown here with Chard Gratin.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic
1 cup cilantro, packed
2 limes zested then cut into wedges
2 teaspoons cumin, toasted in a dry skillet and ground
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
¹⁄₄ cup tequila
1 pound tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 flour tortillas
Crema
Red cabbage, sliced

Instructions
1. Put the garlic, cilantro, lime zest, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small food processor and pulse until combined, about 20 seconds. With the processor running, add the tequila. Put the tilapia in a 1-gallon zip-top bag, add the cilantro mixture, seal the bad, and gently squeeze to fully coat fish. Set aside at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Heat skillet over medium heat.  

3. Brush the skillet with the oil. Cook the fillets for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until just cooked through and opaque. Cut into strips, or flake, and serve in warm flour tortillas with the crema, cabbage, and lime wedges.

Comments
This recipe is from Good Eats 3: The Later Years.  I doubled the recipe and used the extra to marinate boneless skinless chicken breasts in a separate bag that I cooked up for Art.  I was very pleased with how these tacos turned out, the cabbage added great crunch and flavor, and the crema was lovely and spicy.  This is a keeper of a recipe. 

Shown here with Crema.

Ingredients
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups potato chips, crushed
2 slices white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
6 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
15 ounces white tuna packed, drained if necessary
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
12 ounces egg noodles
16 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 ¹⁄₂ cups half and half
1 ¹⁄₂ cups chicken broth
1 ¹⁄₂ cups frozen peas

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 425*F. Combine Monterey Jack and cheddar in bowl. Pulse potato chips, bread, ¹⁄₄ cup cheese mixture, 2 tablespoons butter, ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper in food processor until coarsely ground; set aside.

2. Place tuna in large bowl and flake into coarse pieces with fork. Microwave oil, lemon juice, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper in small bowl until bubbling around edges, about 30 seconds. Stir oil mixture into tuna and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Bring water to boil in Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook until just al dente. Drain pasta and rinse with cold water until cool, about 2 minutes. Drain again and set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in now-empty pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt and cook until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to bowl with tuna mixture. Add 1 tablespoon butter, onion, and bell pepper to now-empty pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl with tuna-mushroom mixture; set aside.

4. In now-empty pot, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly, until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in half and half and broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Off heat, whisk in remaining cheese mixture until smooth. Stir in pasta, tuna-vegetable mixture, peas, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt, and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon pepper.

5. Top with bread-crumb mixture. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let casserole cool 10 minutes before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Cook’s Country 2012.  (At the time of this posting, the annual wasn’t available so I can’t link to it.)  I grew up eating a much less… refined version of Tuna Casserole, so I thought it would be nice to try out this version that included noodles and vegetables! 

For the most part, I enjoyed this.  Lance felt that it needed more topping and I think that could have been fixed in two ways.  First – more potato chips.  Second – actually transfer the casserole to a 13x9-inch pan like the original recipe says to in order to increase surface area. 

I’m not 100% sold on the bell peppers in this, but, otherwise, I thought it was super tasty and delicious.  I’ll definitely give this a go in the future.

Cook’s Country 2012

Ingredients
8 ounces orzo
³⁄₄ cup grape tomatoes, halved
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
¹⁄₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 (6 ounces each) tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons butter
¹⁄₄ cup white wine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and drained

Instructions
1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.  Cook pasta as directed on packaging. Drain well.  Return to pot and stir in tomatoes, ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt, parsley, and ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper.  Set aside and keep warm. 

2. Combine flour and remaining salt and pepper in shallow dish.  Dredge fish in flour mixture. 

3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fish to pan and cook 2 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily when tested with fork.  Remove fish from pan and keep warm. 

4. Add wine, lemon juice, and capers to pan; cook 30 seconds.  Remove pan from heat.  Add remaining butter and stir until melted.  Serve fish with sauce and pasta. 

Note: If you’re feeling a bit lazy, you can just mix the sauce into the rice at the end instead.  Yum.  

Comments
This recipe is from the 2007 Cooking Light Annual or myrecipes.com.  It’s nice that these recipes are online so that I don’t need to type them up!  This recipe was so good that I emailed my mom the night I made it to tell her that she should make it too.  Normally I wait to share recipes until I have them posted to my blog but, since I didn’t change a thing, it seemed safe enough this time.  She made it about 4 days later and loved it as well! 

Many of the reviews suggested doubling the sauce, but Lance and I both felt it was perfect.  It’s pretty flavorful stuff, so a little goes a long way.  The pasta really makes the dish thanks to the bursts of sweetness from the tomatoes.  Everything just goes very well together. 

This recipe took fewer than 30 minutes from the moment I got into the kitchen until it was on the table making it a perfect weekday meal.  Leftovers were great too!

Cooking Light 2007