Tilapia with a Leek Cilantro Salad

This is just a yummy dish!   Oven baked tilapia is a good staple.  I breaded mine with panko for a really light and crunchy texture.  But what sets this recipe apart is the leek and cilantro salad on top.   Served over a bed of jasmine rice, this is the perfect summertime meal.

Oven Baked Tilapia with Leek Cilantro Salad

Ingredients:

• Jasmine Rice, cooked per the package to serve 4
• 4 Tilapia fillets, rinsed and dried
• 2 T olive oil
• 12 oz panko bread crumbs
• salt and pepper

Directions:   Preheat oven to 350 degrees.   Prepare Jasmine Rice per the package to make 4 servings.   Rinse and dry tilapia fillets and rub each one with olive oil.   Dredge through the panko break crumbs, pushing with your fingers so it sticks.   Add a little extra olive oil onto your pan and place the breaded tilapia on it.   Season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until done.

Leek and Cilantro Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks, green tops discarded, sliced in half, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 bunches cilantro, rinsed and dried
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 1 T butter
• 2 T olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Directions:   Chop off the green tops of the leeks and slice in half, which makes cleaning easier.   Remove all sand and pat dry.   Slice the leeks and add to a saute pan with the 1 T of butter.   Saute until tender, remove from heat and cool.   Meanwhile, pick the clean cilantro leaves off the stems and add to a bowl.   Add the cooled sauted leeks, rice vinegar, olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To assemble: Start with a bed of jasmine rice, then the baked tilapia and topped with the delicious leek and cilantro salad.   Serves 4.

Faux Fillet Mignon - fantastic!

In trying to please every pallet in our home, I pondered a faux Fillet Mignon.   Trey and I adore the "real deal" while daughter #1 wants to "keep it healthy" and youngest daughter #3 is the pickiest of them all.   This is my effort and I'm sure there are many variations to this - what are yours???

Faux Fillet Mignon

Ingredients:

• 1 lb organic lean ground beef
• 1 lb ground lean turkey
• 6 slices jalapeno bacon
• 1 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 T Montreal Steak Seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:   Combine the ground beef and ground turkey using your hands.  Add the minced shallots and garlic to the meat mixture.  Add 1 T of the Montreal Steak Seasoning to the meat mixture and combine well.   Make patties with your hands and wrap with bacon.  I secured with a toothpick that I removed after grilling.   Season both sides with salt and pepper and the additional 1 T of Montreal Steak Seasoning.

Heat your grill, and I always use a little bit of Pam Grill Spray so things don't stick.   Grill on medium high heat until cooked to your preference.  Me, I'm a medium rare kind of girl.   The jalapeno bacon adds just the right bit of added flavor to the Faux Fillet and I love the Montreal Steak Seasoning!   It's a great combination.   I served this on top of a cloud of mashed potatoes and a side salad!   For the health conscious, discard the bacon, but for the rest of us... yummmmm!

Grilled and skewered Shrimp with Pappardelle

Shrimp is an all time favorite in our home!   This recipe takes marinated shrimp threaded on individual skewers and grilled, then placed atop simple pappardelle that's been lightly seasoned for a simple summertime dinner.

Grilled Shrimp with Pappardelle

Ingredients:

• 1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined, tails on or off - your choice
• 1 C olive oil
• 1/2 C red wine vinegar
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 2 shallots, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 sprigs rosemary, rough chopped
• 4 springs oregano, minced
• 8 basil leaves, cut into ribbons
• 1 t red pepper flakes
• salt and course ground pepper to taste
• wooden skewers, soaked in water
• 1 pkg pappardelle pasta
• 1/4 C butter

Directions:

Shell and devein the shrimp, leaving tails on or off - your choice, setting aside in a bowl. Mince the shallots and garlic and place into a small bowl. Remove leaves of rosemary and oregano from stem and rough chop, then add to garlic. Lay 8 basil leaves on top of one another and roll up, then slice through, creating ribbons and add to garlic. Add red pepper flakes and salt and course ground pepper and stir the herb mixture. To the shrimp, add olive oil, red wine vinegar and lemon juice then add all but 1 T of herb mixture to shrimp and marinate.   Thread each shrimp onto its own water soaked skewer as pictures so it looks like a 'J' and grill over medium heat until pink and with a bit of char, but not over-cooked.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt and cook the Pappardelle according to the package.  Once al dente, drain well and return to pot.   Add 1/4 C butter and remaining herbs and toss to coat.

To plate, start with a helping of the herb infused Pappardelle and top with several skewers of the grilled shrimp.  So delicious!

Incredible Fettuccine with Italian Sausage and Leeks

This is one of my new favorites and a testament as to it's yumminess - there were no leftovers.   Note to self, make more and more often.

Fettuccine with Italian Sausage and Leeks

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg fresh Fettuccine (I like Bertolli's)
• 3 T olive oil
• 1 lb. Italian Sausage
• 3 T butter
• 5 leeks, white parts only, rinsed well and thinly sliced
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 t fresh nutmeg
• 1 C chicken stock
• 8 oz mascarpone cheese
• Zest of 1 large lemon
• 1 C fresh basil, julienned into ribbons
• 1/2 C Parmesan Cheese, shaved

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.   Meanwhile, in large frying pan, add olive oil.   Remove skins from Italian Sausage and crumble into pan.   Cooks over medium heat until cooked through, remove from pan into a bowl and hold.   Remove all but 1 T fat and add 3 T butter.   Add the leeks and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.   Add salt and pepper to taste, and fresh nutmeg.   Add stock and simmer for a few minutes.

Salt the boiling water, add the pasta and cook until tender per the package.

Remove the fry pan from heat and add the cooked Italian Sausage, the mascarpone cheese and the lemon zest, stirring well.

Drain the pasta and add it to the fry pan mixture, tossing to coat.   To plate, add pasta making sure to scoop up the Italian Sausage.   Top with the julienned basil and Parmesan and serve.   Delicious!

Fall Off the Bone Tender Babyback Ribs

These are easy, extremely tender and we usually serve them on a Sunday due to the long cooking time.   I had to negotiate with my husband to post this recipe, because he considers them to be one of HIS signature recipes (though it's my BBQ sauce recipe).   Enjoy!


BBQ Babyback Ribs with sweet BBQ sauce.

Ingredients:

• 3 pack of Babyback Ribs, rinsed and patted dry (we buy them at Costco)
• salt and pepper 

We use a charcoal grill/smoker with traditional charcoal and some added mesquite wood.   Start your grill and when the coals turn white, spread them out, add the wood.   In the mean time, rinse and pat dry the ribs and season generously with salt and pepper.   Place on the grill NOT under the coals directly, fat side down and cook for 3 1/2 hours, watching the temperature (keeping it at 250 degrees).   Turn the ribs to fat side up and baste with my delicious BBQ sauce.   Allow to cook an additional 30-45 minutes until the meat is tender and almost falls off the bone.   Remove from grill and baste again with the sauce.   To serve, cut into individual pieces and serve with a side of BBQ sauce for dipping.

Homemade Sweet BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 C packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 C ketchup
• 1/2 C molasses
• 1/4 C cider vinegar
• 1/4 C chopped yellow onion
• 3 T olive oil
• 3 T grainy mustard
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 t liquid smoke
• 1 t cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth.   Pour into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until reduced and at the desired thickness (usually an hour).

Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Game Hens

With spring finally here, I knew I wanted to use fruit when roasting the Cornish Game Hens.   I also thought that fire roasted jalapenos and garlic would add more depth to the flavors... so here it is!

Apricot and Jalapeno Glazed Cornish Game Hens

Ingredients:

• 4 Cornish Game Hens, rinsed and patted dry
• 6 jalapenos, fire roasted and steamed, peeled and seeded
• 1 C. apricot nectar
• 1 C. apricot preserves
• 2 heads of garlic, smashed
• 2 T. olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:


Rinse and pat dry the Cornish Game Hens, set aside.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.   Add 1 T. olive oil to roasting pan.


I fire roast my own jalapeno's over one of my gas burners of my cook top.  Char them black and place them in a paper sack to steam.   Once cooled, the skin comes right off.  Slice and remove seeds and put them in the apricot nectar for 10 minutes.   Pour the nectar and jalapeno's into a blender and process until pureed.


Rub each Cornish Game Hen with the remaining 1 T olive oil.   Then brush the apricot/jalapeno puree inside and out of each bird.   Add 2 - 3 T of puree to pan and set aside remainder.   Stuff each bird cavity with 3 -4 smashed cloves of garlic.    Brush each bird with apricot preserves, salt and pepper to taste.   Add remaining smashed cloves of garlic to pan.


Roast, uncovered, for an hour and baste again with both apricot/jalapeno puree followed by apricot preserves.   The birds should have a yummy caramel color.   Remove from the oven and transfer the birds to a serving plate to rest.   For the sauce, remove garlic from pan, add remaining apricot/jalapeno puree and simmer until reduced and thick.


To plate - I started with a bed of fresh baby spinach, topped with a whole Cornish Game Hen and a side of mixed grain rice.   Add the sauce and you have an incredibly tasty meal!