Cornmeal Halibut with Corn Salsa

Last year for Christmas I gave Steve a cookbook that is spin off product from the Men's Health magazine called "Cook This, Not That" and since he unwrapped it we have been cooking our way through the book. Some of the notable dishes we have made from it are:

• Pesto Gnocchi with Green Beans & Tomatoes - May 29, 2012
• Grilled Steak with Red Wine Butter - May 21, 2012
  
• Chicken Parm on a Monday Night - March 19, 2012
• A New Twist on Classic Mac & Cheese - Feb. 22, 2012
• Valentine's Dinner - Part 2 (Ravioli) - Feb. 12, 2012

One of the recipes that we had been eying up for some time now was that 'Cornmeal Catfish with Corn Salsa'. And as you can see from the title of this post, we chose to use halibut instead of catfish.

Here are all of the ingredients that you will need for this recipe:

• 4 tsp canola oil
• 1 ear corn, kernels removed from the cob (we just used a can of corn kernels)
• 1 can (16oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 avocado, pitted and cut into cubes
• juice of one lime (plus wedges for garnish - optional)
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• salt and black pepper
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 catfish fillets (we just used 2 halibut fillets) 6oz each

And here is how we brought it all together:

1.  Heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the corn kernels and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and warm through. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the avocado, lime juice, and jalapeno; season with salt and pepper.
2. Pour the cornmeal onto a large plate; season with the cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dredge the fillets in the cornmeal until evenly coated.
3. Heat the remaining 3 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet or saute pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the catfish (or in our case the halibut) and cook for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the coating is golden and crispy and the fish flakes easily. Serve the fish topped with the salsa along with additional lime wedges, if you like.

This dish was very tasty! It was our fish time using cornmeal as a coating and we loved the texture and added flavor it gave to the recipe. The salsa made a lot more than we had imagined but luckily it was so good and was used in many other dishes over the next few days.

Give this recipe a try when you are looking for a good crunchy fish dish with a Mexican flare!

Bon appetite & enjoy!

This recipe is from:
Cook This, Not That! - Kitchen Survival Guide
The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution
David Zinczenko & Matt Goulding
Rodale Inc. 2010
Page 244

Homestyle Chicken & Rice Soup

Over the past few months I have been trying out various soup and stew recipes. One that I have been keen to try to a chicken soup. So the other week I was looking through our cupboards and trying to decide what to make for supper. I noticed that we had lots of rice and chicken and decided that I would finally try to make my own chicken soup (with rice!).

I needed a recipe fast so I went straight to the Ben's website and looked for a chicken and rice soup recipe - and luckily they had one. I quickly scanned through the recipe and confirmed that I would be able to make this dish (looking back I wish I would have looked a little closer at how much the recipe would make - Steve and I ended up eating the leftovers for days!).

To view all of the ingredients for the recipe and how to bring it all together, visit the Uncle Ben's website and if the recipe does not instantly come up just search for 'Homestyle Chicken & Rice Soup'.

The soup was great when I ate it right away; however, when I came back to it a little while later to put the leftovers in the fridge I noticed that all of the broth was gone and I basically just had rice with chicken and vegetables (and lots of it!). So to counteract this, anytime Steve and I wanted to eat some of the leftovers we would just add a little bit of water and chicken broth and turn it back into soup.

I'll need to find another recipe (or some kitchen tricks) to help make a soup with rice in it better for the next time. If you have suggestions on how to avoid this kitchen flaw please let me know!

Creamy Chicken Florentine

If you haven't noticed yet, many of our weeknight recipes are chicken (and many are in creamy sauces!). So keeping with that trend Steve and I tried our hands at a new creamy chicken recipe - this time a Florentine.

Steve found the recipe on the Kraft Foods / Kraft Canada website. When Steve first looked over the recipe he thought that we would not need to adjust it at all, but when I took a look at it I suggested we swap out the spinach for broccoli (I am not a big spinach fan). And I was happy to see that even the website recommends that as a possible substitute!

Here are the ingredients that you will need for this recipe:

•  3 cups penne pasta, uncooked 
•  1 Tbsp. oil
•  1 lb. (450 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips 
•  1 orange pepper, cut into strips 
•  4 cups tightly packed baby spinach leaves 
•  1 tub (270 g) Philadelphia Herb & Garlic Cooking Creme
•   2 Tbsp. toasted pine nuts

And if you want to do the same thing we did (swap the spinach for brocolli) the website recommends this variation:

• Substitute 2 cups small broccoli florets for the peppers and spinach, adding the broccoli to the cooking water for the last 2 min. of the pasta cooking time.

We chose to keep the peppers in though - we both love peppers!

Here is how Kraft Foods / Kraft Canada suggests you bring it all together:

1. Cook pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. 
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 to 7 min. or until done. Stir in peppers and spinach; cook 2 min., stirring frequently. Add Cooking Creme; cook and stir 2 to 3 min. or until heated through. 
3. Drain pasta, reserving 1/3 cup cooking water. Gradually add reserved water to sauce mixture until desired consistency is reached. Add pasta; mix lightly. Top with pine nuts. Serve immediately.

This was a very easy recipe and I loved the added crunch and flavor that the toasted pine nuts added. I am sure that we will be adding this to our regular recipe rotation.

Give this recipe a try when you need a mix up your regular weeknight chicken dish.

Bon appetite & enjoy!

 

Pomegranate Jewel Cake

Photo Credit: Lisa Buchanan

Almost every Tuesday at United Way the lovely ladies on our annual campaign team coordinate bringing a cake or a tasty bakery goody to the office for us all to enjoy. Sometimes they are homemade and sometimes they are store bought.

A few weeks ago one of the members of our team, Lisa, made a Pomegranate Jewel Cake and brought it in for all of us to enjoy. The recipe below was passed onto my from Lisa and the photos are hers as well. This was definitely a tasty treat! Bon appetite & enjoy!

Pomegranate Jewel Cake

(Nigella Lawson, Feast) [Comments in square brackets are Lisa’s]

For the cake:

• 8 eggs (separated)
• 300g ground almonds
• 1 pinch salt
• 300g caster sugar [1.5 cups] [Remember: this is a weight measure converted to volume, so it will be different if you use regular granulated sugar.  Caster sugar (not to be confused with icing sugar) is easy to find; Redpath calls it "Instant Dissolving Sugar"]
• zest 1 lemon
• zest 1 orange

To finish:

• 2 pomegranates [or 1 pomegranate + ½ cup pomegranate juice]

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180C [350F].  Grease and line a 23cm spring form pan.
2. Separate the eggs, putting the white into a large grease-free bowl, and the yolks into a separate bowl.  Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are stiff but not dry and then whisk in 100g of sugar before putting them to one side. 
3. Add the remaining 200g sugar and zest to the yolks and beat until the mixture is light and dry, then beat in the ground almonds.  This will be very thick and heavy, so lighten it with a good dollop of whisked egg whites before folding the rest of them into the mortar-thick, yellow almond mixture: it is easiest to fold in the remaining egg whites in thirds.  You need to work firmly, but gently, so everything is well combined without the mixture losing its air. 
4. Pour into the lined and greased tin and bake for about 40 minutes, though check at 30 as you don't want this to scorch.  If the cake is brown enough, while still gooey in the middle, loosely cover with a sheet of foil. 
5. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, juice one of the pomegranates [or use 1/2 cup bottled pomegranate juice; juicing those suckers is messy business] and pour the juice over the cake while it is still hot and in its tin.  Let the cake cool and absorb the pomegranate juice and leave until cold before unspringing from the tin.  Place the cake on a stand or plate, and then cut the other pomegranate in half and bash out the seeds over the cake [again, the bashing is messy, so I do my usual tidy seeding method and sprinkle the seeds over the cake.] 

Photo Credit: Lisa Buchanan

Fettuccine Alfredo

Now that we are into the colder fall months (and nearing the freezing winter months) I enjoy creamy comfort foods even more. And it is always a plus that Steve loves Fettuccine Alfredo!

In the beginning of November, Steve and I were looking through the Cook with Campbell's website and came across their recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo - so naturally we had to try it.

The recipe is very simple and only has a few ingredients - always a good thing for us when we are coming home late from work and have only a little bit of time to make a tasty supper.

Here are the ingredients that their website suggests:

• 9 oz (255 g) fettuccine
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) white wine
• 1/2 tsp (2mL) cracked black pepper
• 1 carton (480 mL) Cambell's Stock First Cream stock
• 1 tsp (5mL) fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup (60mL) grated Parmesan cheese

And here is how they suggest you bring it all together:

1. Cook fettuccine according to instructions on box, set aside.
2. Simmer wine and cracked black pepper in a medium size saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced by half.
3. Add stock and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
4. Add cooked and drain noodles, chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese and stir to coat noodles completely.
5. Serve in a warm serving bowl or on pasta plates.

This was a very tasty dish and did serve very well with white wine (given that you need wine for the recipe, you may as well have the rest while you're eating your labour of love!). We chose to use Avondale Sky's Bin 17 - a great Nova Scotian white wine!

To see this recipe online visit the Cook with Campell's site.

Bon appetite & enjoy!