Honey Glazed Salmon

Last year I made a goal to try cooking seafood a little more.  I love seafood but the idea of cooking it really intimidates me.  I'm not ready to cook a fresh lobster but I've tried a few new things and have found this fantastic salmon recipe that I'm over the moon in love with!  We've had it a few times now and the family totally loves it too.  The salmon is so tender and the honey glaze is spot on.  And the browned butter limes sauce is to die for!  This has got to be the easiest, most flavorful salmon recipe ever.  Definitely a keeper!

4 salmon fillets

salt and pepper, to taste

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

Zest of 1 lime

For the browned butter lime sauce

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon honey

Juice of 1 lime

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  To make the browned butter lime sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the foam subsides and the butter begins to turn a golden brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, honey and lime juice, salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.  Season salmon with salt and pepper, to taste. Coat each salmon filet with a think layer of flour and drizzle with 1 tablespoon honey.  Heat olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, add salmon to the skillet and sear both sides until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.  I like to add a little more honey to each side before flipping it over.  Place into oven and bake at 400 degrees until completely cooked through, about 8-10 minutes.  Serve immediately with browned butter lime sauce and lime zest, if desired.

Source:  Damn Delicious

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos with Roasted Corn Slaw

Did you get enough Mexican food at your Cinco de Mayo fiesta?  I was going to post this recipe for the event but we were out of town the week before and then I got sick when we got home and it didn't get posted.  For anyone having fiesta withdrawals, here you go.  For years I was pretty plain and simple when it came to tacos.  In my mind it was, as my sister says, strictly a beef and bean zone.  There's an awesome little taco place in Fort Worth called Fuzzy's Tacos.  Could they have picked a grosser name?!  It's kind of an iconic place though and has a band of loyal followers.  You'll see fans around town with bumper stickers and t-shirts.  They have the BEST queso ever.  Anyway, it was there that I was first introduced to the idea of a fish taco.  After hearing rave reviews from my husband, I decided to give the fish taco a try.  I was pretty skeptical but after one bite, I was hooked like a fish and there was no turning back.  Now if I see fish tacos on a menu, I usually go for it.  They are one of my favorites!  And because it's always super awesome to find a great homemade version of your favorite take out, this recipe right here is a gem.  It's not necessarily like the Fuzzy's Tacos version but it's a dang good fish taco that keeps me coming back for more.  Now if I could just figure out their queso!

Roasted Corn Slaw
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cups finely shredded cabbage

Directions:
Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat.  Add frozen corn, spread to a single layer.  Cook without stirring for 3 minutes, stir.  Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring occassionaly.  Transfer to a bowl to cool completely.  While corn is cooking, in a separate bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, lime juice, salt, cilantro and cabbage.  Add cooled corn and gently stir in.  Place slaw in refrigerator and prepare the fish tacos.

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small white or yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced (optional)
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 pound tilapia
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 5-inch white corn tortillas
1-2 ripe avocados, sliced
Lime wedges and cilantro for garnish

Directions:
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Saute, stirring often, until translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add jalapenos, tomatoes and lime juice. Cook until heated through, 1-2 minutes. Add the fish and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, gently breaking up the fish into bite-sized pieces, until the fish is cooked through and the liquid in the skillet is somewhat reduced. Be careful not to stir too much or the fish will break into mushy bits. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the cilantro.  Heat the tortillas.  Scoop the fish mixture into the corn tortillas and top with the Roasted Corn Slaw and avocado slices.

Source:  Tacos - Mel's Kitchen Cafe; Slaw - Lady Behind the Curtain

California Roll

I know there are mixed feelings out there when it comes to sushi, but personally, I'm a huge fan!  As long as there is nothing raw involved.  Most of our kids love it too.  One of our kids had to make sushi for a school project several years ago.  I didn't have any sushi making friends, so turned to the internet.  We did our best to make some presentable sushi rolls.  They were half falling apart and didn't exactly taste authentic, but they were good enough for a third grade culture project.  Since then, I've wanted to learn how to make sushi from somebody that really knows.  One of my new friends here in Michigan, the beautiful Mai, is an amazing cook.  Everything I've had of hers is fabulous!  I was so excited when one day we were talking food and she offered to teach me how to make sushi!  She is Japanese and grew up making this stuff so I knew I would be learning from one of the best.  I loved watching her cook and learning about this beautiful food from her.  She is so talented and I appreciate her taking time to share her talent with me!  We started with a basic California roll and they turned out amazing!  I could eat this stuff for three meals, everyday!

Sushi Rice

2 cups short grain rice (called sushi rice or Calrose rice), cooked

1/4 cup rice vinegar

3 TBS sugar

1 tsp salt

In a saucepan, mix vinegar, sugar and salt.  Warm and stir until granules are dissolved.  Pour over cooked rice and mix well.  

California Roll

You can use what ever veggie and protein combination you'd like for the filling, but here's what we used:

4 sun dried shitake mushrooms

Imitation crab meat

4 oz Cream cheese

1 Cucumber

1/2 Avocado

1 large Carrot

3 Cooked egg

4 nori seaweed sheets

Optional condiments:  wasabi, pickled ginger, soy sauce

Slice crab meat and cream cheese into long thin sticks.  Peel cucumber, avocado and carrot and slice into small strips.   Steam Carrots until slightly soft.  Soak sun dried mushrooms in a saucepan with water until soft (about 30 minutes).  Drain water except for 1/4 cup.  Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon white sugar.  Cook until water is evaporated.  Slice cooked mushrooms.  Next, crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk.  Spray frying pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Heat over high heat.  Pour half of the whisked eggs into a hot pan.  Fry for a minute or two until cooked, do not stir.

Roll cooked egg up into a roll and leave along the side of the pan.  Pour the remaining egg into the pan.  Make sure it runs up under the rolled up egg.

When the additional egg is cooked, starting with the rolled up end, roll up the newly cooked egg to form one egg roll.  Remove from pan.  Cut egg in half and then cut into small strips.

Place one seaweed sheet on a bamboo sushi mat.  Spread 1/4 cup of sushi rice evenly onto seaweed, do not spread to the edge.  Pick 4-5 different items for the filling.  Place in a line towards one end of the rice.

Lift up the mat and roll up around the ingredients, pressing gently as you roll.

Roll forward to finish roll.  Repeat with additional ingredients.

Cut roll into six slices.  Serve with any optional condiments that you'd like.



To make an inside out roll, start by covering your bamboo mat with plastic wrap.  Place seaweed on mat and 1/4 cup rice on seaweed, spreading the rice to the edge of the seaweed sheet.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Gently flip the seaweed sheet over so the rice side is touching the plastic wrap.  Pick your filling of choice and proceed as you do with the regular sushi roll.

Cut roll into six slices and serve with any optional condiments you'd like



Source:  Mai Swapp

{Broiled} Parmesan Tilapia

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.