Baked Fish Sandwiches with Modern Coleslaw

Hi!!!  *waving*  Do you remember me?  Well I’m back with a whole bunch of recipes to be posted and some fun stuff about the all the cool things I have been doing.  I need to pace myself though.  It’s been a while and I need to inch back in slowly…
To start I am giving you a recipe that has become one of our favorites.  So much so that in the past 2 weeks I have made it 2 time with different fish just to see how I liked it!  This recipe can also be made in about 30 minutes making it a real winner in my books!!!
My sister first made this for me when I was up in Toronto mid April for the girls Spring Break.  She got it from the LCBO Food & Drink Magazine.  Unfortunately we don’t get the magazine here in the US but we can get the recipes online.

Baked Fish Sandwiches with Modern Coleslaw (adapted from LCBO Food & Drink Winter 2011)
Serves 4
1 lb haddock or red snapper fillets, cut into 3- to 4-inch pieces (I used the frozen cod and tilapia from Costco and just used 4 pieces thawed.)
½ cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper
1 large egg beaten with salt and pepper
½ cup dry plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
preheat oven to 425F

1.  Pat fish dry with paper towels. Dip fish in seasoned flour, shake off excess and dip fish in egg. Mix bread crumbs and parsley on a plate and coat fish. Reserve.

2.  Place fish on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake in oven until golden brown.  This should be about 10-20 minutes (I know that’s a huge range there but it will al depend on how thick you fish is).
3.  Serve the fish in a soft roll (I used the sandwich thins) with tartar sauce and modern coleslaw (recipe below) right on the roll.
Modern Coleslaw (adapted from LCBO Food & Drink Winter 2011)
2 cups slivered napa cabbage (I used regular cabbage)
1 cup julienned English cucumber (regular cucumber – English Cuke is about $2.50 here!!!)
1/2 cup slivered red onion
2 tbsp slivered basil (I used 1 tsp dried basil leaves) 
2 tbsp rice vinegar (I used seasoned rice vinegar) 
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine cabbage, cucumber, onion and basil in a large bowl. Sprinkle with rice vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve on top of fish sandwich.

Fish & Chips for #GoJunkFood

This month’s #GoJunkFood (a small twitter challenge) was chosen as Fish & Chips.  Truly this could not have come at a better time as I was craving me some beer battered and fried fish like you can’t even imagine and I was looking for an excuse, any excuse to make some.

Being from Canada which has a huge amount of British immigrants (my Mom being one!), we have a ton of Fish & Chip shops.  On of my fondest food memories from growing is the family going out and getting our Fish & Chips.  Usually we brought it home but we all went to the little shop and ordered our food and got it hot from the fryer wrapped up in unprinted newspaper.  I remember the smell of hot paper, grease (the good kind) and the fish in a very, very happy way…

Onto my Fish & Chips.  Now, I had to stay original with the fish because I really needed to satisfy my craving.  I did use cod this time.  Usually we use Grouper as it is a local fish but I wasn’t able to get any that I was happy with and there is no way I was paying for Halibut (my favorite fish for Fish & Chips) but I did put my own Southern spin on the chips.  I made Sweet Potato fries to highlight where I live now and the wonderful fall season!

Beer Battered Fish (this is the same batter I use for squash blossoms)

Heat 3 inches of oil in a heavy bottomed pot to at least 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 lbs of fish (thawed if frozen), I used cod but any firm white fish will do
2 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1 cup for dredging
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup beer (I stole T.'s Yeungling for this one)
Coarse salt for finishing

Directions:

• While the oil is heating mix the batter ingredients until just combined. This batter should be the consistency of pancake batter.
• Dredge each piece of fish lightly in the plain flour and then dip into the batter and place gently in the oil. Do not crowd the fish in the oil, you may have to cook in batches. Cook turning once until a nice golden brown.
• Drain on a rack or paper towels and serve immediately

Double Fried Sweet Potato Fries (Ceramic Canvas)

Ingredients:

2 pounds sweet potatoes
Salt, to taste

Directions:

• Pour oil in a deep fryer or heavy saucepan to reach halfway up the sides of the pan. Heat to 325 degrees F, use a deep fry thermometer to determine this.
• While the oil is heating, peel the potatoes (if you want to…I left the skin on) and cut into uniform sticks. Place the cut potatoes in a bowl of ice water to release some of the starch and to keep them from browning.
• Dry the potato strips thoroughly, this will keep the oil from splattering (very important step as the sweet potatoes seem to hold more water anyway). Fry them in batches so the pan isn’t crowded and the oil temperature doesn’t drop. Cook for 3 minutes until they are soft but not browned.
• Remove the potatoes with a long-handled metal strainer and drain on brown paper bags.
• Bring oil temperature up to 375 degrees F. Return the par-fried potatoes to the oil in batches and cook a second time for 4 minutes until golden and crispy. Drain on fresh brown paper bags then place in a serving bowl lined with paper towels. Salt and serve immediately.

The Fish & Chips are part of the #GoJunkFood quest to take your every day bar food and put your own spin on it. Be sure to visit all of the other bloggers involved…

Elle at Elle’s New England kitchen
Paula at The Dragons Kitchen
Chris at Blog Well Done
Renee at Flamingo Musings

Thanks for letting me play guys and I can’t wait to see what next month brings!

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets

I am always trying to feed my kids the healthiest things that I can.  Most week nights I have a ridiculously tigh schedule and sometimes we only have about 20 minutes for dinner.  On those nights they get leftover pizza or something but on the nights when I have a few more minutes I like to make these and they really love them.  Even if they do eat them with ranch dressing???

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets (inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Preheat oven to 450F

Ingredients:

1 lb of fish (cod, tilapia, halibut) filet, thawed if frozen
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
2 eggs, beaten with a splash of water
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

• Cut your fish fillet so it is about ½ inch thick.  Then cut it into 1 inch wide pieces.  Pat them dry with a paper towel and set aside.
• Get out three large bowls.  Add in your flour, garlic powder and paprika to the first, the eggs and water to the second, and the breadcrumbs to the third.  Mix to combine all the ingredients in each bowl. 
• Spray a baking sheet with spray olive oil to cover. 
• Dip each fish nugget into the flour mixture.  Shake off excess flour and dip into the egg bowl.  Then dip into the bread crumbs and lay onto your baking sheet in a single layer.  Continue with the rest of your nuggets.  Give the fish a light spray of the olive oil spray and put into the oven. 
• Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until nicely browned.  
• Serve with tartar sauce or ketchup for dipping.

***The kids love fish stick night.  I have tried these using cod and tilapia.  Just about any firm white fish would do!

Really fast Tilapia in Parchment…

Okay, I could have gotten really fancy there and told you that I made Tilapia en Papilotte, which I did but I really want you to try this and figure this title might not intimidate you and you could see how truly easy this recipe is!

I am submitting this recipe to Marye at The Restless Chipotle who is helping to change the way people think about fast food.  It DOES NOT need to come from a box to be fast food!  To see what she is trying to do and to check out all of the the wonderful entries from her last round of Real Food….. Real Quick up head to her site!

In total I think this took me about 5 minutes to pull together and that included going outside and cutting the herbs for it.

Tilapia in Parchment adapted from and inspired by Heart homecooked

4 Tilapia fillets
4 sprigs each of thyme, oregano (1 sprig of each for each pouch)
1/4 cup packed basil leaves, thinly sliced
8 slices of thinly sliced lemon, 2 for each pouch
4 tsp of butter, 1 tsp for each pouch
coarse salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425F.
• Wash fillets and pat dry with paper towels. Season well with salt and pepper.
• Place fillets on top of cut parchment paper (ehow.com and latimes.com have excellent "en papillote" step by step instructions) and top with butter, lemon wheel and herbs. Seal the pouch and cook for 10 minutes.

***you can skip the butter if you are watching your weight.  I added about 1 tsp of olive oil to mine instead of the butter and it is a 4 Point recipe based on a 6 oz. piece of fish.

 

Tilapia with Cilantro and Lime

Loved this fish dish and yes I do eat my peas raw…

Cilantro and lime has proven to be one of my favorite flavor combinations. Something about the crispness and freshness of the two flavors together and how they bring something new out in each of them. This quick and easy recipe highlights all of the things I love and just shines on the tilapia!

I stumbled across this recipe but it was used on salmon and seeing as I didn't have any salmon on hand I rummaged through my freezer and came up with 4 tilapia filets. I try to always keep some on hand for a quick and easy week night meal. It worked out perfect for us this time and the tilapia went perfect with the herb and citrus and was on the table in less than 30 minutes. Now that’s my kind of meal!!!

Tilapia with Cilantro and Lime...adapted from One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
4 (6 to 8-oz.) Tilapia fillets (thawed if frozen)
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Directions:
1) Combine cilantro, oil, garlic and salt(do not add the lime juice. It will toughen up the fish). Set 2 tablespoons aside.

2) Pour remainder over fish in bowl. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Spray broiler rack with nonstick cooking spray. Place fish on rack. Brush with 1 tablespoon of marinade. Then broil 4 inches from heat for 7 to 8 minutes, or until fish is no longer translucent and flakes when touched with fork. Brush with remaining tablespoon marinade and top with the lime. Transfer to a serving platter.

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Am I ever lucky to be living here!

Yah, I know I bitch like crazy about the horribly oppressive heat here, but I have to say that after 16 years here it's not that you get used to it (no one gets "used" to 90+ degrees every day) it's that you just learn how to best deal with it. Before I had kids I spent all summer inside. Either my car, my house or my place of work. With kids it's a bit harder but at least we have the pool and plenty of out door water type things to do. This is really not what this post is about so I'll get on with why I am so lucky to be living here...

Check this out!!!

Steamed clams with a garlic, herb sauce...It really doesn't get much fresher or better than this!!!

Yep...more of that great tasting corn!!!

We got these incredible looking clams from my favorite fish market Andy's Island Seafood. Click here to read my post about them! The fish is always excellent and this was no exception. We originally went in to get some fish for T. and I for dinner. The girls were having some friends in to sleep over and we would be ordering pizza for them but we knew that wasn't what we here eating. For our dinner we got 2 Hogfish. But my youngest daughter wanted some clams in the worst way. We left with Hogfish and clams!!!

I didn't get any good pictures of our Hogfish meal as I had a houseful of screaming little girls watching Disney's Camp Rock...It was true chaos!!!

Remember the teeth on the Mangrove Snapper? These are even worse!!!
Now check out the way it's jaw hinges!!! That is one scary fish!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Tripletail!

A nice piece of Tripletail fresh off the grill!

My children are both huge fish lover's. It makes no difference what type of fish it seems. My oldest daughter's absolute favorite though is tripletail. This is a fairly common fish in our parts. It is most widely available at the fish market from April through October. To learn more click here.

To cook this really mild and moist fish we just use flat irons coated with butter. Apply a light seasoning of paprika, salt and pepper. Cook til no longer opaque. T. had his blackened and it was so good like that as well!

Speaking of blackening...

Think my toe is broken??? This was about an hour after the injury occurred and already purple!!! I think it's just jammed but it sure hurts like H***!

Now onto something completely different. I had bought a case of apricots from Costco thinking that the girls would eat them. This was not to be. After my 2 attempts at the Royal Foodie Joust this was what I had left. Instead of feeding them to Enorma I decided to pull out our food dehydrator and let them dry for a while. They were absolutely delicious and I can't wait to get some more from Costco!!!

Leftover apricots from my Royal Foodie Joust entry ready to dry on the dehydrator!

I guess you probably have noticed that my mind is a little scattered by the jumble of this post but having the girl's home this summer is cutting into my blogging time. I wouldn't trade it for the world but you are going to have to put up with me being a touch scattered. We are also preparing for vacation so that is making it a little more hectic then it should be!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Salmon and Pesto - a match made in heaven?

Wild Sockeye Salmon with organic basil pesto

Last night was a busy one again and further complicated by the girls being out of school earlier, 3 dogs, and T. having to work late. Usually I get the meal all ready to go and then take the girls to whatever we have going on that evening and T. can either finish the meal or just heat heat what I have made up. Until I get into some sort of routine (not very good with routines!) everything will be a little hectic. We made the most of it though and had dinner ready in under an hour so we were just about done by 7:30.

Last weekend when we on our weekly pilgrimage to Costco I saw that they had some IQF (indivifual quick frozen) wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. Yes it was expensive but seeing as I am not eating much meat now I thought it was totally worth it. I was right. This fish was delicious. I only cooked up one piece for the girls to split and I guess I should have done 2. They were done in no time! We topped ours with some basil pesto. Seeing as I have used up all of the pesto that I froze and I don't have nearly enough on my poor leggy plants outside I had to buy some. I am always so hesitant because it always tastes a little processed. This stuff was incredible though. I can't wait to use it on some pasta!

See it looks like homemade!

All I did with the fish was to place it on a foil lined baking sheet (we topped ours with pesto and the girls had olive oil and salt) and set the oven on broil in the highest setting. I left the rak about 2 places down from the top and let it cook for about 4 minutes. I then moved it to the rack closest to the elements to help toast the top up a bit. This was a really great meal served up with some quick zucchini fritters. I would have liked a salad but the kids needed to eat. Next time it is a salad!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com