Shrimp Marinara

The recipe I made was actually called Shrimp Diablo from Robin Miller's Fast Fix Meals, but I can't find that recipe online. Here is a similar recipe, but I just added more crushed red pepper.

I really liked this recipe. It was very easy, but still impressive. I think I prefer good old spagetti and meatballs, but I can see making this on the fly. I usually buy frozen shrimp BOGO and this would be perfect for using it up. The kids didn't touch the shrimp, but liked the pasta.

James also wanted me to take a picture of his plate. It is funny, he is starting to do this with all our dinners.

Shrimp Quesadillas

Last week, my 4 year old son had to bring something that started with "Q" for show and tell. If he had it his way, he would have taken cheese quesadillas. As it was, he took a Quilt with a bunch of trains on it.

I made these after I spontaneously bought some shrimp with the peel on while getting the cod. We went with these quesadillas as a weekend lunch. My husband had to peel the shrimp because my fingers get all swollen when I handle raw shrimp. I tossed them with some Tony C's and then sauteed them in some butter. Cut them in half and put them on top of the cheese inside of a cheese quesadilla.

They were pretty good. I was trying to recreate a shrimp flameado that I get at our local tex-mex restaurant.

Balsamic-Glazed Scallops

This recipe is easy and yummy. I served it with some balsamic sauteed mushrooms:

Balsamic-Glazed Scallops

The only thing I didn't do so great was get the pan hot enough to sear the scallops well. Oh well, still tasted great.

Pecan Crusted Cod Fish

Wow! This was GREAT!! Pretty easy too. I found Emeril's Pecan Crusted Cod Fish after doing a search on Google. I didn't use all the butter it called for in the sauce. AND, my husband could not find the "shoestring" chippy things at the store, so those were omitted and it still tasted good! My husband and I were both impressed with this. I recommend it. He said the red peppers definitely added something so don't leave 'em out:)

Herbed Tuna Steaks

I wanted to make a really nice dinner, so I tried to cook tuna for the first time. It turned out really good, and DH thought it was awesome. Next time I need to cook the tuna less time to get that meaty red center.

2 tuna steaks (6 oz each)
3 Tb dijon mustard
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 Tb fresh chopped thyme
2 Tb fresh chopped rosemary
2 Tb canola oil
3 Tb Cabernet wine
1 Tb butter

Combine the parsley, thyme and rosemary and set aside. Rub one side of the tuna steaks with the dijon mustard and sprinkle with the herb mixture. Turn and repeat for other side.

Heat a nonstick skillet over med-high heat for 1 minute (unless you have an electric top like I do that takes 15 minutes!!). Add the oil and coat. Add the tuna steaks for 2 minutes per side. (I had a REALLY hard time flipping these things as the coating was glued to the pan. Maybe more oil?)

Add the wine and butter and simmer until evaporated (1 min). Remove the tuna steaks from the pan and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. (oops, just read the part about letting it rest)

I served it with some red potatoes and green beans. It was a hit and I'll definitely make it again. The herbs were an added expense, which is why I put them on potatoes and will continue to use them on absolutely everything I make for the next week.

As a side, be sure to finish off the bottle of cabernet after you use the 3 Tb. It's just a good excuse for wine. Enjoy!

Hominy Grill Fish

I am going ahead and speak for both Mark and I when I say the Hominy Grill is our favorite restaurant. We had the opportunity to go there this past weekend. Instead of talking about the fish that I made, I am going to talk about the fish that they made.

Mark got the sheepshead. Yes, that is right, cornmeal crusted sheepshead. I thought the same thing. I had to ask, because really, at this place, you can never be sure if it is sheepshead or sheep's head. It was a fish. And delicious:



His sides were chower peas (aka black eyed peas) and greens.

I picked shrimp creole:



I am not sure why. I was flustered because I had just sent back wine (which I have never done), they were out of the deep fried cheese grits, and Mark had just picked the sheepshead. I panicked. It was good none the less. My favorite part was the ham, and I usually hate ham!

Hopefully I will make my own fish dish this week!

Beer battered Fish and Chips...sans chips

So I love Food Network. After a day of truck shopping and buying, I made some Beer Battered Cod for my husband. He LOVED it!! I began by frying up some veggies...so much for a healthy month, Eh Kerri?
I had to light a bunch of candles after making this. Sincerely, I am not big on frying, but I am getting better at it...

Fish and Chips...no chips...
I recommend this recipe, but can you honestly dislike something fried, and dipped in ranch...GJ?

Shrimp and Feta Orzo

This is an old Cooking Light recipe that I can't seem to find online.

Ingredients:

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, partially drained

olive oil

1 c diced onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 c white wine

1 tsp Italian Seasoning

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 c cooked orzo (1 c uncooked)

1/2 c feta

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450

2. Heat oil and cook onion and garlic for about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook down 1 minute.

3. Add tomatoes and seasoning and cook 5 minutes.

4. Add shrimp and cook 2 minutes.

5. Stir in pasta and transfer to a greased baking dish.

6. Top with feta and bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

I really like this recipe, but I kinda use it as an excuse to eat copious amounts of feta cheese. The husband always adds red pepper for heat. Both my kids took one bite and spit it out. They made a dinner of bread and fruit.

Also, while deep into the de-veining of shrimp, I remembered why I don't like deveining shrimp. Seriously? Pulling out their waste? That's kinda awful.

Grilled Butterflied Trout with Lemon-Parsley Butter

SHOCKER! I found this recipe on Food Network. Trout was on sale :) Just farm raised. Midway through grilling, there was a DOWN POUR! Poor B was just standing out by the grill with an umbrella waiting for the fish to be done :(

The "butter" was suppose to be beautifully whipped atop the fish, but alas, I melted it. It was still tasty :)

Catfish topped with Deer Sausage and Hollandaise

So my husband was in charge of dinner when we started the fish challenge. Does your husband do this? He has a vision...and he makes it comes to fruition. He said this was what he envisioned.

1. 4 catfish fillets were baked in the oven with a pat of butter and some Essence of Emeril seasoning. These were thick and took a good 20 minutes to cook.

2. He browned up some precooked deer sausage from when he had gone hunting. Spoon on top of the fillets!

3. Top with Hollandaise Sauce

- Melt 4 T of butter and combine 1/4 of lemon juice and pinch of cayenne pepper with butter. Whisk like crazy two egg yolks in with the butter.

I was impressed!!

Parmesan Fish Sticks

Really in the last year, our fish consumption has gone way down. That is mainly because I have been trying to watch our grocery budget and fish usually doesn't make the cut. At any rate, a little bit now and then would be nice, plus it will be god to expose the kids to a new food, right?

This week I started off my search for salmon because it was on sale. Then I decided to just make some sort of homemade fish stick and found this recipe. After reading it more closely, I realized that it was a fish stick designed for salmon...perfect! Now, normally I wouldn't waste a perfectly good piece of salmon to make fish sticks, but the decision was made. Fish sticks it was.

Although it dirtied a lot of dishes, this was pretty easy to make. And I have to say, this was the best luck I have ever had with some sort of coating/breading recipe. I think it was the frothy egg whites!

Here is getting everything ready:


After putting it all together, but before the baking:


The dipping sauce. I really wasn't a fan. I wouldn't have thought so, but if you combine sour cream, yogurt, dijon mustard, and parsley it just tastes like a fishy fish sauce.


After the baking:


The finished product. I served it with a fruit salad:


The kids plates. You can actually see the red of the salmon.


They didn't really like it. I think the coating was a little too much for Andy and James, well, I didn't want to turn it into a power struggle. He cleaned out his fruit salad though.

I probably wouldn't make this again, well, actually, I may try it with chicken fingers...

It's time for a Tiny ditty

If I could wish
for just one dish
my greatest wish
would be more...

FISH.

I was going to embed a video, but couldn't find one to embed. Here is a link. But the challenge for February is FISH.