Fish is something I wish I could get my family to eat more often. It cooks really fast and can be quite savory if done correctly. I always have frozen fish in my house, but love to have fresh when I can get it locally.
This recipe even got my most picky eater to at least try and got a 'not bad'. The best thing about this recipe is that it has very few ingredients, most of which I have already in my house, and prepares/cooks in 20 minutes.
From Busy Woman's Quick & Easy Recipes:
Crispy Fish and Cheese Filet's
2lb fish fillets
1/2 C creamy ranch salad dressing
1 1/2 C crushed cheese crackers (goldfish work great!)
2 T butter, melted
Preheat oven 425 degrees. Cut fish into serving portion (or strips), dip into dressing and roll in cracker crumbs. Place in a sprayed shallow pan and drizzle butter over fish. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until fish flakes.
Family Rating: A good meal for even my little eaters.
Stomach Rating: Very mild.
Time Factor: Quick and easy
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Feelin' like a little shrimp
I remember having fresh steamed shrimp, usually spiced, as a teenage for a week day dinner. My mom would have one of us (my sister or I) go down to Cameron's Seafood to get a pound to bring home. It would still be hot and smell wonderful.
While I cannot get fresh shrimp very often, I do crave the steamed flavor quite often. I found this recipe in a cookbook from my mom's church in North Carolina. It had way too much butter for my taste, but I substituted chicken broth for half of the butter and it turned out very yummy. Not the same as Cameron's, but good comparison!
From Food for the Journey :
Boca Grande Sauteed Shrimp
2 sticks of butter (of 1 stick and 1/2 C chicken broth)
4 doz shrimp shelled, deveined
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t paprika
3 t garlic salt
1/3 C good cooking sherry (I just used the white wine that's always in my refrig!)
Melt butter/chicken broth in a sauce pan. Saute the shrimp and seasonings until almost done; add the wine. Simmer until shrimp are done. Serve over rice, pasta, or toast points. This does make 6 serving so it can be scaled down if needed.
I would recommend using 16-20 count shrimp...makes for good flavor.
Family Rating: I was the only one who likes steamed shrimp, so I say it's GREAT!
Stomach Rating: mild, though with the butter it may be a bit much oil
Time Factor: less than 20 minutes (minus the peeling/deveining the shrimp)
While I cannot get fresh shrimp very often, I do crave the steamed flavor quite often. I found this recipe in a cookbook from my mom's church in North Carolina. It had way too much butter for my taste, but I substituted chicken broth for half of the butter and it turned out very yummy. Not the same as Cameron's, but good comparison!
From Food for the Journey :
Boca Grande Sauteed Shrimp
2 sticks of butter (of 1 stick and 1/2 C chicken broth)
4 doz shrimp shelled, deveined
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 t paprika
3 t garlic salt
1/3 C good cooking sherry (I just used the white wine that's always in my refrig!)
Melt butter/chicken broth in a sauce pan. Saute the shrimp and seasonings until almost done; add the wine. Simmer until shrimp are done. Serve over rice, pasta, or toast points. This does make 6 serving so it can be scaled down if needed.
I would recommend using 16-20 count shrimp...makes for good flavor.
Family Rating: I was the only one who likes steamed shrimp, so I say it's GREAT!
Stomach Rating: mild, though with the butter it may be a bit much oil
Time Factor: less than 20 minutes (minus the peeling/deveining the shrimp)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Quick Night In
I'm always looking for something to make that's quick and of course homemade. I probably have more cookbooks on making meals in less than 30 minutes than any other topic. It's not my favorite way to cook, but does come in handy during the week or deciding at the last minute what to serve.
From Food for the Journey (Saint Peter Lutheran Church in Southport, NC):
Quick Chicken Enchiladas
1 small onion, chopped
1 T butter
1 1/2 C shredded chicken, cooked
1 C Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
5-6 flour tortillas, 7-8 inch
1/2 C Picante sauce
1/2 t ground cumin
Cook onion in butter until tender and stir in chicken, 1/4 cup of Picante sauce and cumin; heat through. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of cheese and all of the sour cream. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Top with remaining Picante sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minute until cheese melts. Top with favorite toppings.
Family Rating: too much onion, but good texture and flavor otherwise; maybe add some rice to it
Stomach Rating: watch how much Picante sauce you use, can over do it
Time Factor: on the table in 20 minutes...great for a weekday
There was no amount of sour cream in the ingredient section so I added 2 T to start and it worked out well. I also added a few other spices to bring out some flavor: 1 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, and 1 t grill seasoning. If you put the spices in while the onions are cooking it smells great.
Definitely keep this one filed away!
From Food for the Journey (Saint Peter Lutheran Church in Southport, NC):
Quick Chicken Enchiladas
1 small onion, chopped
1 T butter
1 1/2 C shredded chicken, cooked
1 C Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
5-6 flour tortillas, 7-8 inch
1/2 C Picante sauce
1/2 t ground cumin
Cook onion in butter until tender and stir in chicken, 1/4 cup of Picante sauce and cumin; heat through. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of cheese and all of the sour cream. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Top with remaining Picante sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minute until cheese melts. Top with favorite toppings.
Family Rating: too much onion, but good texture and flavor otherwise; maybe add some rice to it
Stomach Rating: watch how much Picante sauce you use, can over do it
Time Factor: on the table in 20 minutes...great for a weekday
There was no amount of sour cream in the ingredient section so I added 2 T to start and it worked out well. I also added a few other spices to bring out some flavor: 1 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, and 1 t grill seasoning. If you put the spices in while the onions are cooking it smells great.
Definitely keep this one filed away!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
A bread among substitutions!
Bread is something I cannot live without. Homemade bread has so much depth compared to most store bought brands.
I found this recipe while trying to dig out some munchies for the Superbowl. I ended up not having all the ingredients after coming home from the grocery store (shame on me for not even checking!). So, let the substitutions begin! I was really surprised to find out that you can substitute corn starch for flour, 1/2 the portion or even corn meal for the full portion. Learning something new again!
From Holidays at Home (Gooseberry Patch)
Country Beer Bread (original recipe)
3 C flour
3 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
12oz beer at room temperature
Preheat oven at 375. Oil a loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add the beer all at once and stir with a wooden spoon, mixture will be very sticky. Put in loaf pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool on rack.
Substituted Country Beer Bread
1 C flour
1/2 C corn starch
1 C corn meal
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 T baking soda
1 t salt
12oz beer (used Sam Adams Summer Brew...sorry Sean!)
Follow the directions above.
I found this recipe while trying to dig out some munchies for the Superbowl. I ended up not having all the ingredients after coming home from the grocery store (shame on me for not even checking!). So, let the substitutions begin! I was really surprised to find out that you can substitute corn starch for flour, 1/2 the portion or even corn meal for the full portion. Learning something new again!
From Holidays at Home (Gooseberry Patch)
Country Beer Bread (original recipe)
3 C flour
3 T sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
12oz beer at room temperature
Preheat oven at 375. Oil a loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add the beer all at once and stir with a wooden spoon, mixture will be very sticky. Put in loaf pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. Cool on rack.
Substituted Country Beer Bread
1 C flour
1/2 C corn starch
1 C corn meal
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 T baking soda
1 t salt
12oz beer (used Sam Adams Summer Brew...sorry Sean!)
Follow the directions above.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Bring on the big game!
I learned at a very young age to love football season, college or pro, I don't care. The bowl games and Superbowl were always a time for good food and great friends. Well, since having kids, it's now a time to have little bites and send the kids off to bed. So, in honor of my 'little ones', I tried the 'little bites'!
From 'I'll Diet Tomorrow' (love the title of this book!)
Sausage Balls
1 lb sausage (hot preferred)
3 C Bisquick
10oz shredded cheddar cheese
Mix all together using your hands (great to have little hands to help!) and form into small balls. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 20 minutes.
Family Rating: Not bad, but a little dry.
Stomach Rating: Safe if you don't use hot sausage
Time Factor: Can be made in less than 10 minutes
The recipe appears to be missing a binder for all the ingredients. I added 2 T of water and one egg slightly beaten. This may have dried out the final product. A suggestion that these would be good from the freezer as a weekday breakfast on the run.
I'll file this one away for future use, with some more tweaking of course!
From 'I'll Diet Tomorrow' (love the title of this book!)
Sausage Balls
1 lb sausage (hot preferred)
3 C Bisquick
10oz shredded cheddar cheese
Mix all together using your hands (great to have little hands to help!) and form into small balls. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 20 minutes.
Family Rating: Not bad, but a little dry.
Stomach Rating: Safe if you don't use hot sausage
Time Factor: Can be made in less than 10 minutes
The recipe appears to be missing a binder for all the ingredients. I added 2 T of water and one egg slightly beaten. This may have dried out the final product. A suggestion that these would be good from the freezer as a weekday breakfast on the run.
I'll file this one away for future use, with some more tweaking of course!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
So, here it goes....
This week's recipe was my very first Risotto with diced chicken and leftover chopped broccoli. The idea was simple, but I had always shied away from these recipes since I figured it took too long to make. This was done on a week night and under an hour. While I'll say it wasn't exactly the creamy flavor that I was looking for, the recipe will be kept for tweaking.
Family Rating: Not so good (you have to understand I have some traditional American eaters in my family!)
Stomach Rating: Good
Time Factor: A little long for a week night, but good for weekends
From the Colorado Classique:
Risotto with Artichoke Hearts (obviously substituted here!)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
2 C Arborio rice
6 C chicken broth
2 14oz can artichoke hearts (replaced by 2 C chopped chicken)
2 C frozen peas (used leftover broccoli)
2 t fresh dill (omitted)
zest of one lemon (omitted)
1 C Parmesan cheese
Saute garlic and onions in oil and butter until soft. Add rice and saute until clear. Add 2 C broth (heated) to cover rice and simmer until liquid is almost gone. Repeat again with another 1 C of broth (heated again) until all 6 cups have been added and absorbed. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat through.
Family Rating: Not so good (you have to understand I have some traditional American eaters in my family!)
Stomach Rating: Good
Time Factor: A little long for a week night, but good for weekends
From the Colorado Classique:
Risotto with Artichoke Hearts (obviously substituted here!)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
2 C Arborio rice
6 C chicken broth
2 14oz can artichoke hearts (replaced by 2 C chopped chicken)
2 C frozen peas (used leftover broccoli)
2 t fresh dill (omitted)
zest of one lemon (omitted)
1 C Parmesan cheese
Saute garlic and onions in oil and butter until soft. Add rice and saute until clear. Add 2 C broth (heated) to cover rice and simmer until liquid is almost gone. Repeat again with another 1 C of broth (heated again) until all 6 cups have been added and absorbed. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat through.
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