Today I want to talk about a fish recipe.  When you think of fish recipes I bet you any money that Fish Tacos do not come to your mind.  Or at least it isn’t one of the top 10.  I kept hearing about fish tacos and I am always up for a new fish recipe.  Now cooking fish has to be one of the fastest proteins to cook.  Not to mention one of the healthiest.

So I went to one of my favorite sites the Food Network to look for a good Fish Taco recipe.  Well I came across one by Rachael Ray from her 30-minute meals show.  Well I think I have mentioned before that I love Rachael Ray for her simplicity.  Plus she makes meals very fast. 

So the recipe looked great.  The only ingredient that I was going to change was the type of fish.  She used Halibut Fish and I was going to use fillets of Sole fish.  Well I thought that was all that I was going to change.  Because my avocados were not ripe except for one.  I ended up changing the whole recipe.  You know how I say make any recipe to suit yourself.  Or in my case change the recipe to accommodate the ingredients you do have.

Well I have to say my Fish Tacos turned out great.  So thank you Rachael Ray for the outline.  I am sure her recipe is great and I will try it one day soon.

But for now here is my Fish Taco Recipe and I believe you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Sole Fish Tacos with Avocado and Salsa Sauce

6 Sole Fish Fillets

Salt and Lemon Pepper

1 lime juiced

1 avocado chopped

1 lemon juiced

½ tsp Ancho chili powder

1-cup plain yogurt (low fat is fine)

3Tbsp sour cream (low fat is fine)

½ cup salsa

2Tbsp fresh cilantro finely chopped

Salt to taste

2 tomatoes seeded and chopped

3 green onions sliced

Lettuce shredded

12 soft tortilla (6 inch)

Turn on Broiler

Line a sheet pan with foil.  Place the Sole fillets on pan.  Pour lime juice over top.  Let fish sit for about 20 minutes. Drain off lime juice. Salt and lemon pepper the fish.

Cook under the broiler for about 8 minutes.

While the fish is marinating in lime juice.  In a blender combine avocado, lemon juice, ancho chili powder, yogurt, sour cream and salsa.  Blend until smooth. Remove from blender and add cilantro.  Taste and add salt to taste.

While fish is cooking, heat up tortillas.  To assemble, break up fish. On each tortilla spread some of the sauce.  Then on one half pile some of the fish, lettuce, tomatoes and green onions.  Then I put one more dollop of sauce on top.  Fold over tortilla and voila you have a great meal.  Serve it with some salad and maybe a rice pilaf and your tummy will love you.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

When you pour lemon or lime juice over your fish and let it sit a while.  This actually starts the cooking process.  Which means your fish will not take as long to cook.

Today I want to talk about a fish recipe.  When you think of fish recipes I bet you any money that Fish Tacos do not come to your mind.  Or at least it isn’t one of the top 10.  I kept hearing about fish tacos and I am always up for a new fish recipe.  Now cooking fish has to be one of the fastest proteins to cook.  Not to mention one of the healthiest.

So I went to one of my favorite sites the Food Network to look for a good Fish Taco recipe.  Well I came across one by Rachael Ray from her 30-minute meals show.  Well I think I have mentioned before that I love Rachael Ray for her simplicity.  Plus she makes meals very fast. 

So the recipe looked great.  The only ingredient that I was going to change was the type of fish.  She used Halibut Fish and I was going to use fillets of Sole fish.  Well I thought that was all that I was going to change.  Because my avocados were not ripe except for one.  I ended up changing the whole recipe.  You know how I say make any recipe to suit yourself.  Or in my case change the recipe to accommodate the ingredients you do have.

Well I have to say my Fish Tacos turned out great.  So thank you Rachael Ray for the outline.  I am sure her recipe is great and I will try it one day soon.

But for now here is my Fish Taco Recipe and I believe you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Sole Fish Tacos with Avocado and Salsa Sauce

6 Sole Fish Fillets

Salt and Lemon Pepper

1 lime juiced

1 avocado chopped

1 lemon juiced

½ tsp Ancho chili powder

1-cup plain yogurt (low fat is fine)

3Tbsp sour cream (low fat is fine)

½ cup salsa

2Tbsp fresh cilantro finely chopped

Salt to taste

2 tomatoes seeded and chopped

3 green onions sliced

Lettuce shredded

12 soft tortilla (6 inch)

Turn on Broiler

Line a sheet pan with foil.  Place the Sole fillets on pan.  Pour lime juice over top.  Let fish sit for about 20 minutes. Drain off lime juice. Salt and lemon pepper the fish.

Cook under the broiler for about 8 minutes.

While the fish is marinating in lime juice.  In a blender combine avocado, lemon juice, ancho chili powder, yogurt, sour cream and salsa.  Blend until smooth. Remove from blender and add cilantro.  Taste and add salt to taste.

While fish is cooking, heat up tortillas.  To assemble, break up fish. On each tortilla spread some of the sauce.  Then on one half pile some of the fish, lettuce, tomatoes and green onions.  Then I put one more dollop of sauce on top.  Fold over tortilla and voila you have a great meal.  Serve it with some salad and maybe a rice pilaf and your tummy will love you.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

When you pour lemon or lime juice over your fish and let it sit a while.  This actually starts the cooking process.  Which means your fish will not take as long to cook.

Ok, so today my mother kind of kicked me in the butt.  She asked why I had not done a blog in awhile.  I really didn’t have an excuse.  So I thought well I best get my butt in gear and make her happy.  Then I thought I better talk or write about something very good.  The first thing that came to my mind was cooking vegetarian.  You all know I am anything but a vegetarian.  But at that same time I love a lot of vegetarian recipes. 

So then what came to my mind was Quinoa.  This is one of my favorite grains.  I absolutely love it.  Now I will be honest.  The reason I was attracted to Quinoa was that it is very high in protein.  It is like 12% -18% protein.  Now I am not exactly a person that counts her carbs but I always like something higher in protein.  But after the first time I tried it I fell in love.  Now the other great thing about Quinoa is that it is an ancient grain. No that does not mean that it is old and stale.  It is just a grain that has been around for more that 6000 years and not been altered.  Unlike other grains such as wheat.  Now another great aspect about Quinoa is that it is gluten free.  I have mentioned before that we have our oldest son on a gluten free diets.  So for anyone that is Celiac or has to be on gluten free diet Quinoa is an excellent alternative.

So I thought well I best give out my favorite recipe for Quinoa.  Now I am sure most of you have heard of Tabouleh salad.  It is a Middle Eastern salad usually made with Bulgur Wheat.  But I make mine with Quinoa.  I think I could eat this salad about 4-5 times a week.  My husband loves it in his lunch. It is so refreshing it is unbelievable.  It just wakes up your taste buds.

I must mention that cooking Quinoa is just like cooking rice it is 1 portion Quinoa to 2 portions water. Then cook for about 18 minutes or until water is absorbed.

You can have this on it’s own or pair it up like I do with chicken or fish and you will be a happy, happy person.

Quinoa Tabouleh Salad

1 ½ bunches of parsley finely chopped (I prefer Italian Flat leaf Parsley)

4 sprigs of fresh mint stems removed and chopped

4 green onions finely chopped

6 tomatoes seeded and diced

1 English cucumber seeded and diced

1-½ cups of cooked quinoa

Juice of 2 lemons

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the above ingredients together, if possible let sit for an hour for flavors to marry.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

Be sure to seed your tomatoes and cucumbers.  Just take a small spoon and scrap out the seeds.  This way you prevent a water logged salad.

Lets talk soup. Ok I know it is March and spring is just around the corner.  But that doesn’t really matter to me.  I have told you before that it doesn’t matter what time of year it is.  I love soup.  Yesterday I made soup mainly because I knew my husband was not going to make it home until late and I wanted something that was easy to reheat when he got home.  Plus the soup that I was making is basically a meal in itself. 

You know there are those soups that are basically a broth base with very little else and then there are the chunky ones.  I love both but if I want something to fill up everyone it better be chunky.

You know I have said it before but a recipe for soup should be easy.  Soups can be created within minutes.  You don’t need to have a recipe that takes hours.  Now the soup I am going to share with you is a combination of a bean soup, a vegetable soup and a sausage soup.  Have I peaked your interest?  Do you see why I said it is basically a meal in itself?  Plus I have reconfigured this soup to the point that it is cooking on the stove within 20minutes.  I let it simmer for another 20 minutes and voila a perfect bowl of soup.

 Yesterday I had the biggest compliment in regards to this soup. My friend’s 8-year-old daughter came over and tried some.  She loved it so much that she took some home so she could have it for lunch today.  You know you are doing something right if the 8 year olds like it.

I like to call it my Kitchen Soup.

Kitchen Soup

3 Italian Sausage (I use 2 spicy and 1 mild)

Olive Oil

5-7 cloves garlic crushed

¼ tsp – ½ tsp crushed dried red pepper flakes

2 heaping handfuls of fresh spinach

2 heaping handfuls of fresh arugula

2 – 15oz cans of Navy Beans undrained

4 cups chicken broth

¼ cup unsalted butter

1- 28 oz can diced tomatoes

½ cup Parmesan cheese

Remove sausage from casing.  In a large soup pot heat up olive oil over medium heat.  Brown sausage until no longer pink.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes.  Sauté for about 2 minutes.  Stir in spinach and arugula. Add beans, chicken broth and tomatoes.  Bring up to a boil.  Then lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Turn the heat off and stir in butter and Parmesan cheese.

Serve with some crusty bread and a nice glass of wine.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

I know I have given this tip before, but I don’t think I can say it enough.  Be sure to wash all your greens well.  It doesn’t matter if it says pre-washed.  Wash it anyways.

What a wonderful mistake.  Do I have you thinking?  Well I thought I would tell you about my cooking experience from last night.  I wanted to try out a new recipe I found the other day.  It was suppose to be a real easy, fast cooking recipe.  Ok for the most part it was.  But I have to say thank god I tasted this recipe at a certain point or other wise I would have been one very upset cook.  Now there was no fault in this recipe, it just wasn’t to my liking.  I’ll tell you something it tasted like dirt to me.  I was disappointed but relieved at the same time.  See this recipe was a chicken recipe had a sauce over it.  Now you cooked the chicken off first and then made the sauce.  Then you plated the chicken and poured the sauce on top.  Well the sauce was the part that tasted like dirt.  Now again it was me, more than the ingredients.  My mom made the recipe a few days before and she really liked it.

Why am I telling you all of this?  So I can give you the best advice possible when cooking.  Always taste your recipe while you are cooking it.  Especially when it is in 2 parts or more.  You may be like me and not like one part.

So the good part of this blog is that now I get to write a blog telling you of my new recipe.  The recipe I made up out of desperation. This is a chicken recipe that has a wonderful, delicate cream sauce.  But at the same time the sauce and the chicken took me about 20 minutes to make.  My husband thought he was in heaven.  Now the good thing is that you will probably have all the ingredients in your pantry and fridge.

Chicken Scallopine with Creamy White Wine Sauce

1-pound chicken breast cutlets

2 shallots

2 cloves garlic minced

½ cup white wine

1-½ cups chicken broth

½ cup heavy cream

¼ chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Cover the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil.  Heat over medium-high heat.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Cook chicken until golden and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Remove chicken to a plate.  Tent it with foil to keep warm.

Turn heat down to medium add the shallots and garlic.  Cook for about 2 minutes until tender.  Pour in white wine to deglaze the pan.  Cook wine until almost evaporated.  Add chicken broth.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  Add the cream and parsley. . Salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for another minute.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Mmm mmm good.

Serve this with rice pilaf or pasta.  Add a toss salad and you are very happy.  Remember to pour yourself a glass of that wine you used as well.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

Instead of buying cutlets you can do what I do.  I buy chicken breast and I just slice them in half so I have 2 really thin pieces. Just place the breast on a cutting board and press down with one hand and slide your knife through the breast.  Voila nice thin pieces.

Baby shower or bridal shower it is the season.  It seems that from now until the end of October it not only is a busy time for bridal showers it also happens to be a busy time for baby showers.  After all a lot of couples had to do something to keep warm through the winter months.  The one thing I love about either a baby shower or a bridal shower (no it is not the games) is the food.  They always have the tasty little finger foods.  I have to be honest I love all those little sandwiches, the little desserts the whole bit.  I am quite happy just stuffing my face and believe me that is what I am usually doing. 

In the past when someone was putting on a bridal shower or baby shower they were the ones cooking for the bridal shower or baby shower.  But things have changed a bit.  Now if you are putting on a shower it is quite ok to be asking that other people help with the cooking or food preparation.  Everyone has bridal shower recipe or a baby shower recipe.  Not that there is a difference in my world. A lot of times the recipes are more traditional with an added twist.  That twist is making these recipes faster and easier.

Well today I have one of those more traditional Bridal shower or Baby Shower recipes.  I had not made it in ages and the other day my mom needed a recipe for a baby shower she was going to.  This recipe popped into my mind right away.  It is very easy and looks great for presentation.

Ham – Spinach Baguette

1 baguette

2 cups fresh spinach finely chopped

¼ cup fresh dill finely chopped

125 grams (1/2 block) cream cheese

1 Tbsp milk or cream

4 cups minced ham

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/3 cup mayonnaise

In a food processor blend cream cheese, milk until spreadable.  Stir in spinach and dill.  Incorporate quite well.  Now you can do this in the food processor as well I just find then the mixture turns all green and it doesn’t look as appealing to the eye.

Then mix ham, Dijon and mayonnaise.

Slice the baguette in half lengthwise.  Hollow it out so the shell is about ½” thick. On the bottom half spread the cheese mixture.  Pack ham mixture on top mounding it slightly.  Top with the top piece of the baguette.  Wrap tightly with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 2-8 hours.  When ready to serve slice into 2” slices.

Note:  You can make both mixtures the night before and then the next day stuff the baguette.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

Instead of fresh spinach use frozen just make sure you drain it well.  I place the frozen spinach in a tea towel and twist it up to squeeze out all the excess water.

Lets talk about cookies.  I know I have mentioned before I could be a cousin to the cookie monster.  I absolutely love cookies.  I should say soft and chewy cookies.  There is something about a soft and chewy cookie that just brings me back to my childhood.  We didn’t get a lot of store bought cookies when I was growing up.  My mom made most of them from scratch and then when I was old enough I started to make cookies from scratch as well.  I must say thank you to my mom for this because there is nothing better than homemade cookies.  Now don’t get me wrong I will eat store bought cookies, remember I just said I think I am a cousin to the cookie monster.  But it is nice to have homemade.

You know cookies for the most part can be whipped up quite fast.  In no time at all you have a couple of dozen cookies cooling on your counter and your house smells wonderful.  Make yourself a cup of tea or pour yourself a glass of milk and you are happy, happy.  Or at least I am

Well one of my favorite cookies is a Molasses cookie.  I was fortunate enough when I was a little girl to have a grandmother that made the best Molasses cookies in the world.  The only down side of these cookies is that she didn’t have a recipe written down.  It was all in her head.  Well my mom and my aunts tried desperately to reproduce these little gems.  None of them succeeded.  Well my grandmother past away when I was going into grade four and there were no more Molasses cookies.  There was always talk of them but no actual cookies. 

I have tried and tried to find a recipe or tweak a recipe over the years and I believe I have succeeded.  I believe my grandmother would approve. They are soft, chewy and full of spice.  I can’t say they are exactly the same but I can say they are darn good.  They are perfect for a winter’s day.  Whenever I make them, I always hear in my head how delicious my grandmothers Molasses cookies were. 

Try them and I hope I create a memory for you as good as the one I have.

Mims Molasses Cookies

5 cups flour

2 tbsp ginger

4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cornstarch

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

1 ½ cups softened butter

½ cup sugar

2 cups black strap molasses

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cornstarch, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In a separate large bowl beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add molasses and beat for a moment.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  On low speed gradually add flour mixture.  Beat just until blended. 

Chill the dough until just firm.  I do this in the freezer for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Shape dough into balls.  I use a couple of Tbsp per cookie. Press down slightly on cookie.  Bake for 15-17 minutes.  The top of the cookie will just be cracking.

Once out of the oven let stand for a couple of minutes, then remove and cool on a rack.

Pour the tea or milk and enjoy.

 COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

Before putting into oven roll in some sugar crystals it just give the cookie a bit more sweetness.

Guess what I was doing today??  I was watching cooking shows.  I had some time while I had a bowl of soup and my youngest was down for a nap.  I was watching the cooking shows because I wanted ideas for supper.  Well I was lucky enough to catch The Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten.  I just love this woman.  One reason I enjoy Ina Garten is that she doesn’

t really have any formal background in cooking; she just had a passion to cook. 

Well today on The Barefoot Contessa they were doing pasta and side dishes.  But one of the dishes that caught my attention was a Red Lettuce salad with Balsamic onions.  Now I had seen this show before and had made this recipe before.  So I was pleased that I caught it again because I knew I liked this salad.  For one thing I absolutely love Balsamic vinegar.  The second reason is I loved roasted onions.  I am not a fan of to many raw onions but any type of cooked onion I love.  As soon as you cook an onion you bring out the sweetness.  They become silky, smooth and sweet. Who wouldn’

t love that? Another factor I love about this recipe is how simple and quick it is. 

I am sure this salad would be great with pasta especially cheesy pasta or creamy pasta.  But I simply served it with some chicken breast I cooked off and it was great.  I am telling you, you will impress any one with this recipe and it is not your usual salad.

Red Lettuce with Balsamic Onions

3 small red onions

¼ cup plus 2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar

1-cup good olive oil

1 ½ tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

6 tbsp minced shallots (2 large)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

¼ cup red wine vinegar

2 heads red leaf lettuce, washed, and torn into pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Cut onions in ½ and slice ¼ inch thick, place on a baking sheet and toss with ¼ cup balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until onions are tender.

Remove from oven and toss with 2 more tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.  Cool to room temperature.

Whisk together the shallots, mustard, red wine vinegar, and ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper in a small bowl.  While whisking, add ¾ cup olive oil until emulsified.

To assemble, toss enough lettuce for 6 people with dressing, to taste.  Place the lettuce on 6 plates and arrange the onions on top.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24134,00.html

COOKING TIP

I make this is a large bowl and just place the onions on top of the lettuce and serve it family style.

Cooking fish.  If you want a quick and easy dish what better way to go than cooking fish.  Fish is one of the easiest things to cook.  So many people say that they just don’t know how to cook fish.  You can literally take a small rainbow trout dredge it in some seasoned flour.  Pan-fry it in some olive oil and voila you have a lovely main dish.  The thing about fish is that if you keep it simple you can’t lose.

So what better time to tell you about a new salmon dish that I have found.  Now I have to say I am a bit picky about salmon.  I find salmon for the most part to be pretty boring.  I think it needs a bit of a boost.  Not to much but a bit.  So the other day I was able to sneak some time in to watch a cooking show.  I was watching French Food At Home with Laura Calder. She of course does french cooking. What caught my attention was that she was making very simply but eloquent dishes.  One being the salmon dish. She took a beautiful salmon fillet, baked it off in the oven.  Then in the mean time she made a Tomato Basil Oil.  Just as the name suggests it is just olive oil, tomato, basil and some salt and pepper.  Well she had this dish done in less than 25 minutes and it was great.  It looks absolutely beautiful and taste great. 

She served it with some boiled new potatoes and other vegetables.  I prefer new roasted potatoes.  Basically because you can put them in the oven well you get the salmon ready. Then when you need to put the salmon in the oven you can just turn the oven down and cook your salmon.  But really you could serve it just with a basic salad or a nice rice pilaf.  It is very versatile in what you would serve it with.  Pour yourself a nice glass of Pinot Gris and you are set.

Salmon with Warm Tomato Basil Oil

Serves 6

Salmon

6 pieces of salmon about 5 ounces or 1 large fillet

salt and pepper

Olive oil

Tomato Basil Oil

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tomato, seeded and finely diced

1 handful shredded basil leaves

salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat oven to 325°F.  Pat salmon dry with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Put the fish on a baking sheet and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a saucepan.  Take it from the heat and stir in the tomato and basil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Take the fish from the oven and shift it onto a serving platter.  Spoon the warm tomato basil oil over and serve.

http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=8260

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

Line your baking sheet with some parchment paper for an easy clean up.

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Cooking pasta is easy right?  For the most part it is easy, you just have to make sure you get the pasta properly cooked and you’re fine.  The harder part is cooking or making the sauce for the pasta.  Or you think it is hard.  You know it literally takes me 30 – 40 minutes to make a tomato sauce for pasta.  This sauce is so good that I can not tell you how many times I have had request for my recipe.  Now I will tell you it did take me a bit to perfect this sauce.  I just had to tweak it here and there.  But it was well worth it. The thing I love about an Italian tomato sauce for pasta is that there is room for mistakes.  It is not like a cream sauce where sometimes a slight error becomes the end of your dish.

Another thing I love about this tomato sauce is it can become not just a pasta sauce but you can use it for chicken or veal Parmesan.   You can use it as your tomato sauce for any of your Italian cooking. If you love cooking with wine than you will love this recipe.

Please enjoy this sauce as much as we do.

Carolin’s Italian Tomato Sauce

Olive oil

½ tsp- 1 tsp of red pepper flakes

6 cloves of garlic finely minced

½ bottle of red wine

2- 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes (I puree in my blender for a quick second)

1-2 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp of butter

Cover the bottom of a heavy deep sauté pan with olive oil; don’t be shy with the olive oil.  Add garlic and pepper flakes.  Now turn burner on to low.  This is the only time I do not pre-heat my pan.  This way your garlic won’t burn.  Sauté garlic and pepper flakes for a few minutes.  Now pour in the red wine.  Turn heat up to a medium high.  Let the wine cook off for about 4 minutes.  Add tomatoes.  Bring up to boil.  Lower heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes.  Stirring occasional.

  Add a tsp of sugar.  Taste to make sure your sauce isn’t to acidic. Depending on your tomatoes you may need more.  Once the sauce taste fine.  Turn heat off or take off the burner and whisk in the butter.  The butter just gives it a creamier texture and a nice sheen.

Serve over pasta or use as your tomato sauce.  Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy.

COOKING TIP OF THE DAY

For a bit of a change chop up some fresh herbs such as basil or oregano and add to the sauce at the last five minutes.