Baked Tilapia Fillets in Lemon-Soy Vinaigrette

Posted in fish by

When I used to live in Brooklyn there was a great farmer’s market in my neighborhood on Saturday mornings.  I would get up early, hit the gym, and on the walk home pop into the market and pick up fresh produce and flowers.  There was also a family stand there that sold fresh caught fish which used to intimidate the heck out of me until I realized that fish is the easiest thing on earth to cook.  I found one stellar flounder recipe that I would make frequently back then and had completely forgotten about it until I found myself with tilapia in my freezer leftover from my fish taco experiment.  Tilapia is a white fish just like flounder so I figured it would work and it sure did.

Prep time takes all of 4 minutes and the fish only needs to bake for about 7 minutes and voila, there you have it.  Dinner in under 15 minutes.  Way better than takeout!

Baked Tilapia Fillets in Lemon-Soy Vinaigrette (adapted slightly from recipe found at www.epicurious.com)

  • 2 6-ounce tilapia fillets (can also use flounder as recipe originally intended)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Arrange fillets in a ceramic or other baking dish just large enough to hold them in one layer.  In a small bowl combine the garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.  Whisk in oil until emulsified and pour vinaigrette over fish.

Bake fish in middle of oven until just cooked through and no longer translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.

a dish that will keep the vampires at bay

Posted in gluten free, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian by

After discovering last year that I love kale I wanted to find another way to prepare it because even though I could eat kale chips until the cows come home I thought it might be nice to diversify my kale repertoire.

This preparation is equally as simple and slightly more flavorful with the addition of not one, but two different cuts of garlic (sliced and minced) and red pepper flakes.  You can go crazy with the garlic– the recipe suggests 5 to 6 cloves, it just depends on what your plans for the rest of the evening are.  You for sure will be breathing it all night if you go full on with the garlic but on the bright side you will be warding off colds and vampires in equal measure.  Not bad things to do.

The kale is so tender and well-flavored that I could eat a giant bowl of it, and in fact did.  It makes a great side along with fish or pork or chicken or really any old thing you want to pair it with.  Yeah kale!

Kale with Double Garlic (from “How to Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman)

  • 1 pound kale, collards, or broccoli raab, with stems under ¼” thick, well washed
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced garlic, about 5 or 6 cloves, plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic, or more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • ½ cup chicken, beef, or vegetable stock, or water
  • Lemon wedges

Coarsely chop the stems and leaves of the kale.

Place the olive oil in a large, deep saucepan.  Add the sliced garlic, pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper and cook over medium-high heat for about 1 minute.

Add the kale and the stock or water.  Cover and cook over medium-high heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until the greens are wilted and just tender but still a little firm.

Uncover the greens and continue to cook, stirring, over medium-high heat, until the liquid has all but evaporated and the greens are quite tender.  Taste for seasoning and add red or black pepper and salt as needed; add the remaining minced garlic, cook for 1 minute more, and serve, with lemon wedges.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in fruit, pie by

The lady on the left taught me how to bake pies, amongst many, many other things.  Thanks Mom.  You’re the best.  (Incidentally the lady on the right taught me how to bake some awesome banana bread.  Thanks Aunt Sarah, you’re awesome too.)

I’m the blonde child with the giant red Solo cup that is partially obscuring my cousin’s face in this image.  Sorry cuz.  Looks like I was way more into the grape Kool-Aid or whatever that dark liquid is in the background than I was into smiling for the photo.  Sorry about that Mom.  You and Aunt Sarah look great.  You make the 80’s look stylish.

I remember once when my mom was baking a pie (which she often did) and she had some leftover pie dough that she let my brother and I make our own mini pies with.  I don’t remember the exact details but I think we were either short on fruit in the house that day or she was letting my brother and I get creative with the filling as I recall that my brother filled his mini pie with strawberry jam (smart move, bro).  My choice?  Grapes.  Yeah.  Raw green grapes.  Not good.  Pretty sure the family dog was the only one who enjoyed my pie that day…

But I totally appreciate the fact that my mom let us experiment in the kitchen and also just that she was such an amazing baker and mom and still is.

Her standards are peach, blueberry, or apple pies, but she must have made strawberry rhubarb pies back in the day too.  I realized this today when I ate a bite of the strawberry rhubarb pie I made and it totally brought me back to my childhood and tasted like summer all at the same time.

Thanks for always being an inspiration Mom.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (adapted slightly from “Betty Crocker’s Cookbook”)

  • 3 cups 1/2″-thick slices of rhubarb
  • 3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup tapioca flour

Preheat oven to 425.  Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl.  Pour mixture into pie shell (see below for pie crust recipe).  Place top pie crust over filling and crimp around the edges to seal to bottom crust.  Slice vents into top pie crust.  Cover the crust with aluminum foil to prevent crust from burning.  Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes more or until crust is golden brown.  Let cool for 2 hours before consuming.

Two Crust Pie Pastry (from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)

  • 2 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons cold water

Mix flour and salt in medium bowl.  Cut in shortening, using pastry blender or crisscrossing 2 knives, until particles are size of small peas.  Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball.  Shape into two flattened rounds.  If desired, wrap flattened rounds of pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate about 30 minutes to firm up the shortening slightly, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky and lets the water absorb evenly throughout the dough.

Roll pastry on lightly floured surface, using floured rolling pin, into circle 2 inches larger than upside-down pie plate.  Fold pastry into fourths and place in pie plate; or roll pastry loosely around rolling pin and transfer to pie plate.  Unfold or unroll pastry and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side and being careful not to stretch pastry, which will cause it to shrink when baked.

when life gives you (Meyer) lemons…

Posted in cake by

A few weeks ago when I was scoping out produce at my food co-op I spotted some beautiful Meyer lemons and just had to pick a few up.  I had never used them before but knew that they were supposed to be sweeter and less acidic than traditional lemons and plus they were so small and pretty that I simply could not resist.

I found a wonderful recipe for lemon pudding cake in one of my cookbooks and substituted three Meyer lemons in place of two traditional ones and it turned out beautifully.  I was not sure what to expect of pudding cake, but it truly is like it sounds.  The top part is a light-as-air and spongy cake and the bottom is a moist and delicious pudding.  It’s one of those desserts where you don’t feel like a stuffed fatty afterwards which I am always grateful for.  And better yet it is so simple to make.  When I see recipes where you have to separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and fluff the whites and then fold them into the batter I get nervous, not gonna lie, but if you have a stand mixer the whole process is a piece o’ cake.  If you don’t have a stand mixer you can still make it work but you’re going to have to stand with a handmixer fluffing those whites for a good three minutes.  Well worth it.

Meyer Lemon Pudding Cake (adapted slightly from recipe found in “Gourmet Today” by Ruth Reichl)

  • 3 Meyer lemons (2 large traditional lemons)
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • Rounded ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs, separated, left at room temperature for 30 minutes
  • 1 1/3 cups whole milk

Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter gratin dish.

Finely grate 1 tablespoon zest from lemons, then squeeze 6 tablespoons juice.

Whisk together flour, salt, and ½ cup sugar in a large bowl.  Whisk together yolks, milk, zest, and juice in a small bowl and add to flour mixture, whisking until just combined.

Beat whites in another large bowl with an electric mixer (fitted with whisk attachment if using a stand mixer) until they hold soft peaks.  Beat in remaining ¼ cup sugar a little at a time and continue to beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks.  Whisk about one quarter of whites into batter to lighten it, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly (batter will be thin.)

Pour batter into gratin dish.  Put dish in a small roasting pan and put pan in oven.  Add enough boiling water to pan to reach halfway up sides of gratin dish.  Bake until cake is puffed and golden, 45 to 50 minutes.  Transfer to a rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cinco de Mayo fish tacos for you

Posted in fish, gluten free by

Yesterday I felt like I discovered a new world.  I knew I wanted to make fish tacos for Cinco de Mayo and needed to stop at a Mexican grocery store to pick up a few of the ingredients, namely “crema,” which is Mexican sour cream.  (It’s like traditional sour cream except it’s a little thinner and has more salt.)  I popped into a little Mexican mercado I had passed before and in the back of the store which was otherwise like any other small grocery store there was a team of people making fresh corn tortillas and serving up a variety of meats.  It smelled amazing.  You had the option to buy the tortillas and meats by the pound to take away or you could order food to stay and eat in.  Yes please!  So for lunch I had tacos carnitas y barbacoa with a tamarind soda for less than $5.  Gotta love that.  But I digress.

Last week a coworker passed me the following recipe for Baja Fish Tacos saying she thought I might like them, and boy was she right!  Don’t let the length of the recipe intimidate you– it was so simple and fast to prepare.  There are several components: the sour cream, the pico de gallo, the slaw, and of course the fish itself, and you could skip any of the first three, but I don’t recommend it.  The pico is a little spicy, the slaw a little sweet, and the crema the perfect salty cooling balance.  The recipe calls for mahi-mahi but you can use any flakey white fish.  I used tilapia based on my coworker’s suggestion and it was great (and less than half the price of mahi-mahi.)

And make sure to enjoy with a cerveza!

Baja Fish Tacos (adapted slightly from recipe found at www.epicurious.com)

  • 1 pound mahi-mahi, cod, tilapia or other white flakey fish (I used tilapia)
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¾ teaspoon minced garlic
  • Salt, to taste
  • 8 corn tortillas, 6 inches in diameter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place corn tortillas in aluminum foil and sprinkle with a few drops of water before sealing.  Place wrapped tortillas into oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Combine the oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, coriander, garlic, and salt. Coat the fish with the marinade.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Place fish, one fillet at a time in heated skillet.  Cook for 4 minutes on one side and then flip over and cook for 2 minutes more.  Flake fish and place in each tortilla, and top with the Southwestern Slaw and Chipotle Pico de Gallo. Add a dollop of Mexican Crema, fold in half, and serve immediately.  (See below for recipes.)

Southwestern Slaw (from recipe found at www.epicurious.com)

  • 2 cups fine-shredded green cabbage
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons minced red onion
  • 2 teaspoons minced jalapeños
  • 2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
  • Salt, to taste

Combine all the ingredients. Allow the mixture to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours before serving.

Chipotle Pico de Gallo (from recipe found at www.epicurious.com)

  • 1 cup medium-dice tomatoes (seeded before dicing)
  • 4 teaspoons minced red onion
  • ½ teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • ½ canned chipotle pepper, minced
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro chiffonade (cut into thin strips)

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. The pico de gallo is ready to use now or it can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Mexican Crema (from recipe found at www.epicurious.com)

  • ½ cup Mexican sour cream
  • ½ teaspoon finely grated lime zest
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. The cream is ready to use now or it can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.