I have a confession to make. Seafood intimidates me. I love to eat it but when it comes to cooking my resume goes about as far as frozen fish sticks. If that even counts. Several years ago I decided to dip my toe in the ocean and try my hand at cooking something that once swam. Since I don't really cook seafood, my kids haven't really eaten it much. I wanted to start them out with something that wouldn't be too strong and "fishy". After asking my experienced seafood chef friends for some advice, I decided to go with tilapia. I scoured allrecipes.com for a good recipe. (This was back in the olden days, before pinterest was even invented.) I found one. Tried it. Hated it. I wasn't going to give up after just one try though. Valentine's Day was coming up and I decided to have another go around with the tilapia for our family Valentine's dinner. After more searching, I found a recipe that looked even more promising. It was easy, even for a beginner. It smelled so good and looked beautiful when I pulled it out of the oven. Then it was time for the big test. I put it on the table and let the real critics have at it. One bite and they were all giving it rave reviews. As soon as I tasted it, I was hooked too. (fish...hook...okay, that was too much.) The only regret I had was that I hadn't made more. Now I always hear "you're the best mom ever" at least once or twice when I say "we're having tilapia for dinner". This has most definitely become a family favorite. It has become our traditional family Valentine's dinner, though we eat it often throughout the year as well. Now that I've got this tilapia mastered, one of my goals for this year is to dive a little deeper into the world of seafood. So stay tuned!
Ingredients
2 lbs tilapia fillets
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened (not melted)
3 TBS mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 black pepper
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic salt
Directions
Turn oven on to broil. Place tilapia fillets on a greased cookie sheet, red side up. Broil for 4 minutes. While fish is cooking, mix other ingredients together in a bowl. After 4 minutes of cooking, remove fish from oven and turn each fillet over. Broil for 4 more minutes. Remove from oven and top each fillet with parmesan mixture until all of the mixture has been used. Broil for 4 more minutes. Serve hot.
2 comments:
I've been getting a little more brave in the sea food department since we've been here, I'll have to give these a try!
You're so lucky to have grandma Judy there to personally teach you the ways of seafood cooking! Not to mention all the fresh seafood!
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