Lemony Fish

Yikes! Due to my superb fish fillet flipping skills this dish looked like one hot mess. Instead of fillets I ended up with nuggets. It tasted completely fine. Mr. Lawyer really liked the in your face lemon flavor. I liked the thin crispy bits of fish, they had the best flavor.

Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon-Peppercorn Sauce

(From Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons drained brine-packed green peppercorns, lightly crushed (or capers)

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

2 (6-ounce) tilapia or sole fillets

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons butter

Lemon wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine first 3 ingredients.

2. Melt 1 teaspoon of butter with oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.

3. While butter melts, sprinkle fish fillets with salt and black pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour; shake off excess flour.

4. Increase heat to medium-high; heat 2 minutes or until butter turns golden brown. Add fillets to pan; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fillets from pan. Add broth mixture to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in two teaspoons of butter with a whisk. Serve sauce over fillets. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

Tilapia Scampi

Mr. Lawyer made dinner tonight! He said he wouldn't make it again. It was decent but very mild, no real flavors. We served it up with some broccoli rabe from DiBruno Brothers which overpowered the dish. The gorgonzola cheese spread on bread was amazing!

Tilapia Scampi

(Adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 (6 ounce) tilapia fillets
1 tablespoon dried parsley
Directions:
1. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees
2. Combine the butter, lemon juice, and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl; heat in microwave in 10-second increments until the butter is completely melted and the garlic has softened, stirring between each session, about 1 minute total.
3. Arrange the tilapia in the bottom of baking dish; pour the butter mixture over the fillets assuring they are all evenly covered. Sprinkle the parsley over the tilapia.
4. Bake in the preheated oven, turning the fillets every 10-15 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve on top of pasta.

HOBOS!

Tonight I made a hobo packet and I was super excited about it. In reality I really just like using the word "hobo." Hobo packets are easy: just throw everything together, seal, and bake! Hobo packets are clean: nothing stuck on your baking sheets and our plates were as clean as a whistle! Hobo packets are delicious: yum!
I was using left over beans and corn so my measurements are not exact. I'm sure you could be a tad healthier and get away with only 2 tablespoons of butter (and adjust the spices accordingly).

Hobo Packet Tilapia with Black Beans and Corn

(from my kitchen!)

Ingredients:
2 tilapia fillets
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup black beans
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub (or whatever you fancy)
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place two sheets of aluminum foil (about 8-12 inches) on a baking sheet. Divide up the corn and beans between the two pieces.
3. Dry fillets and season with salt and pepper (to taste)
4. Mix together butter, garlic and spice rub. Divide the compound butter in half and slather it on your fillets. Place fillets on top of veggies and roll up the foil, sealing it well.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked (depending on the size of your fillets, mine were skinny)

My hobo packet!

I used the word "hobo" 9 times in this post. Woo!

Homemade Fish Sticks!

Tonight I had the palate of a five year, a slightly fancy five year old but not by much. I also haven't been real grocery shopping in forever and a half. I was going to declare a "fend for yourself" night but then I remembered we still had a big bag of frozen tilapia (and some ground turkey, that's it! I should really take advantage of this and clean the freezer). So homemade fish sticks and mac & cheese it was! (Long live Wegman's Spiral Mac & Cheese!!) I went with lemon pepper seasoning because we just had Old Bay Fish Tacos the other week. It was yummy. I saw one recipe that added some parm cheese into the breading, that might be even better! I whipped up some tartar sauce and cocktail sauce for dipping.

Panko-Crusted Fish Sticks

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

1 large egg, lightly beaten
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup panko
1 tablespoon Lemon-Pepper Seasoning or Old Bay Seasoning
1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into wide strips
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line baking sheet(s) with aluminum foil; set aside.
2. Place egg in a wide shallow bowl; season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine panko, Lemon-Pepper Seasoning or Old Bay, and oil. Dip tilapia into egg, shaking off excess, then into panko mixture, pressing to adhere. Place on prepared baking sheets.
3. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes

Caper Fish!

I needed a recipe for capers since I had half a bottle just chilling in the fridge (leftover from the Tuna Fried Caper Pasta). I had marked this recipe in a magazine ages ago while I still lived in Syracuse. Too many recipes, not enough time!

I'm torn on this recipe. I liked the fish with lemon-wine-butter sauce but I was unimpressed with the pasta and spinach. I thought that part lacked flavor and was just eh. I'm also not sure how much the capers actually added to this dish. In the Tuna Fried Caper Pasta they were essential, in this one they were just there. So I will be keeping the fish/sauce part of this recipe but ditching the pasta and spinach.

I reduced the amount of butter: one tablespoon for the fish, one tablespoon for the sauce. You could probably forgo the fish butter and just lightly fry it in olive oil. It's also important to really season the fish with the Old Bay. I was a little stingy but when you got a bite that had a fair amount on it bam! I also have the reduced sodium Old Bay which does lack some of the flavor punch that the original has.

Piccata-Style Fish Fillets with Thin Pasta and Wilted Spinach

(adapted from Rachael Ray's Magazine)

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1/2 pound thin egg pasta or angel hair pasta
4 thin tilapia or snapper fillets
Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
4 tablespoons butter, divided
2 large cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
2 lemons
1/4 cup drained capers
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3/4 pound fresh spinach, cleaned and trimmed
A little freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
2. Pat the fish dry and season with salt, pepper and a little Old Bay. On a plate, mix the flour and cornstarch. Coat the fish in the flour mixture.
3. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter (I only did one) and let it foam up, then add the fish fillets and cook, turning once, until golden-brown and firm, 4-6 minutes. Transfer the fillets to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Wipe out the pan and return to the heat. 

4. Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to melt. Stir in the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the wine for another minute. Add 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel and the juice of 1 lemon. Thinly slice the remaining lemon and stir the slices into the sauce, along with the capers and parsley. Spoon the sliced lemons and half of the butter sauce over the fish.
5. Add the reserved pasta water and the pasta to the skillet. Add the remaining butter sauce and season with salt and pepper; toss. Transfer the pasta to a platter. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add the spinach, season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg and cook to wilt. Serve the fish with a little pasta and spinach alongside.

Fast Fish!

This dish was fast and good. It was a light dish and loaded with veggies. Perfect for detoxing after a week long eating fest! I ended up using my Hendrickson's Sweet Vinegar and Olive Oil salad dressing because we didn't have any Italian (and the last thing I need is another bottle in my fridge!). It added a nice sweetness to it but it would have been interesting to have the zestiness from Italian. I think I'm finally getting the hang of cooking fish and knowing when it's done. This batch was perfectly moist and only semi-mangled.

Fast Fish Skillet

(adapted from Kraft Food & Family)

Ingredients:
4 tilapia fillets (1 lb.)
1/4 cup Italian Vinaigrette Dressing made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
1 tablespoon pesto
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, cut lengthwise, then crosswise into slices
1 cup grape tomatoes
3 Tbsp. thinly sliced fresh basil
Directions:
1. Brush fish with 2 tablespoons of dressing. Cook in skillet on medium heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with fork. Transfer to plate; cover to keep warm.
2. Add remaining dressing, pesto, vegetables and tomatoes to skillet; cook 5 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently. Spoon over fish.
3. Top with basil.

There were a ton of veggies! I just dumped everything on one big platter.

Fishy Friday!

I always feel a little giddy when the first thing I hear after the first bite of dinner is "You done good" said in some weird hickish accent. Sometimes it varies and it's "You done it again". That is what this recipe received. Even more amazing is that I actually like it with no major issues (and I am my worst critic!). This fish had a nice light flavor and it was super easy. When I opened the bag the marinade smelled heavenly (I set it up before work this morning). The lime flavor was perfect and reminded me of the many gin and tonics of the summer. The only substitution I made was using agave nectar instead of honey because I accidentally used up my last little bit of honey making that homemade honey mustard sauce. I'm excited to try it again with honey. Normally I don't like the brown or dark bits but that was my favorite part because it resulted in a nice little limey-burst. Served up with some not so healthy carrots and home-made tartar sauce.

Honey Lime Tilapia

(from a lovely life blog)

Ingredients:
4 tilapia fillets, thawed
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Directions:
1. Mix marinade by combining lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Add fish and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
2. Combine flour with salt and pepper on a plate. Remove each fish fillet from the marinade and dredge lightly with the flour on both sides.
3. Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook fillets 3-4 minutes per side or until opaque and browned.

Homemade tartar sauce: light mayo, relish, and a splash of lemon juice.

Buttered Toast Crispy Fishwiches

This post is for my dear Guenevere who requested a fish recipe! The Valentine's salmon that the lawyer made was quick and yummy but salmon is not for everyone so this recipe uses a more mild fish. Recipe Rant: Oh Rachael Ray how I despise you and your tv personality. Not to mention your abbreviations and measurement system. But oh how I love your recipes!

Buttered Toast Crispy Fishwiches

(Rachael Ray Magazine)

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons melted butter, plus some for toast
1 1/2 cups Panko crumbs
1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning, a palmful
1 tablespoon onion powder, a palmful
1 tablespoon garlic powder, a palmful
Zest of 1 lemon
A couple of tablespoons thyme, freshly chopped
A couple of tablespoons chives, finely chopped
4 pieces cod filet, 6-ounces each (or other firm white fish, such as tilapia)
Salt and pepper
2 egg whites, beaten
4 sandwich-size English muffins, toasted and buttered or some other yummy crusty bread
Garnishes:
Lemon juice or malt vinegar, oil and vinegar-dressed slaw salador shredded iceberg lettuce, bread-and-butter pickle slices, finely chopped red onion
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425˚F.
2. Pour melted butter over Panko crumbs and work into the crumbs to evenly distribute. Season the crumbs with Old Bay, onion and garlic powders, lemon zest, thyme and chives.
3. Season the fish with salt and pepper, and coat in egg whites, then crumbs and arrange on slotted broiler pan or cooling rack arranged over baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes or until deeply golden and crispy, and dress with lemon juice or malt vinegar.
4. Serve on toasted muffin or muffin bread with slaw or shredded lettuce. Top with pickles and onions, and muffin top or toasted muffin bread.

I've made this recipe three times and it's great. It's easy, quick, and baked not fried! I've always used tilapia. One time I omitted the fresh thyme and chives and another I subbed a splash of lemon juice for the zest. Every time it was yummy! The first time I made it into a sandwich but it's so delicious and filling you don't really need the bread (plus it's less carbs!). The Old Bay and Panko crumbs are pretty clutch so I wouldn't recommend changing them. Fresh herbs are way better than dry but if you do decide to use dry herbs make sure to reduce the amount! (a 1:3 ratio, if it's 1 tablespoon fresh, use 1 teaspoon dried) Oh! And I added some shredded parmesan to mine because I'm a cheese fiend.

Look at those fresh herbs from my garden!