Dinner Fail

So, people think I'm a marvelous cook.

I tell them I don't advertise my failures.

Well here you go:

The salmon was good.
It was an asian kind of thing.
The problem was in the salad.
I had an abundance of cucumbers
along with a couple of avocados.
I really and truly found a recipe that used both
ingredients.
As the main ingredients.
To be served with salmon.
No.
The textures were wrong.
The flavors were wrong.
It was a bust.

There may or may not be a trip to
Dairy Queen in my near future.

Grilled Tilapia with Peach Guacamole

 I like a to have a 

photo to go with a food post.

I have made this dish twice and although it

tastes great, it has a bit of a problem.

The guacamole turns brown VERY quickly.

I grill the tilapia outside

and then make up a very basic

guacamole with the addition

of a fresh peach.

I put the tilapia on a bed of quinoa

and then top with the guac.

It's delicious.

The problem is, no amount of lime

juice keeps the concoction  

from turning brown.

Fast.

I suspect it's the fault of the peach.

But I'd like confirmation.

Mark?

Basic Guacamole:

one mashed avocado

a few slices of jalapeno, diced small

small amount of red onion, finely diced

salt

lime juice

one peach, chopped

Mexicanish Quinoa:

cooked quinoa

corn

black beans

jalapeno

olive oil drizzle on top

Pretty Food

Paella 

Just try looking up this word when you

don't even know where to begin.

Viki's mom was in from Florida.

She didn't start out in Florida.

She started out in Spain.

Score!

Cannellini Couscous Salad

In an effort to reduce my cholesterol
and come up with dinners that don't involve the oven,
I have *created* this.
I say *created* because I did start with a
recipe but I think I've changed enough
ingredients that it has become a new thing.

It's:
pearl couscous
red onion
cucumber
grape tomatoes
cannellini beans
tuna fish
fresh corn
jicama
sweet peppers
basil
all tossed together
and dressed with
1 T. olive oil
2T. balsamic
1 T. lime juice.

It was better after it sat for a while.

Also, when chopping multiple ingredients
I think it's always a good idea to make
everything about the same size.
So for this everything was between
 the size of a grain of couscous and a bean.

It will be lunch today.
Along with this:

It's Margarita Friday!

Oh, and I asked the doc about Margaritas.
He says they won't impact my cholesterol numbers.
Besides, he said, you need some vices in order
to give something up.
I told him, more like to have
something to lie to him about.

Fish Tacos

In keeping with my fish theme

I offer this for your consideration:

Fish Tacos.

Let me begin by saying I have had a fish taco

once.

Last week.

Let me also state that I have had no desire to eat a fish taco

until last week.

I have no idea what they are supposed to contain

except fish.

I am not entirely certain the fish taco I had

was a fair representation of what one should be

so I set out to give it a try myself. 

So, flying by the seat of my pants, I brushed some

olive oil on a couple of tilapia filets, sprinkled them with 

homemade taco seasoning mix

and broiled them.

I made a kind of avocado/black bean/corn salad

and put that with the flaked fish and some sour cream 

on top on a flour tortilla.

It was good. 

 I don't think I get the attraction.

Is the point just that it's *fish* and not *meat*?

I'm perplexed. 

But I'll probably make them again :o)

Here's my taco seasoning mix:

1 Tbsp. Onion Powder

1 Tbsp. Cumin

4 tsp. Chili Powder

2 tsp. Garlic Powder

2 tsp. Paprika

2 tsp. Oregano

1 tsp. Sugar

1/2 tsp. Salt

Sherried Sardine Toast

I feel compelled to share.

This was my darlings lunch today.

I love him very much. 

That is the only reason I would EVER touch 

these things. 

*****shiver*****

And, I might add, this was the second

time I have prepared this plate of,

um, words fail me.

This was actually featured on one of Alton's shows.

(I'm on a first name basis with him)

He went into all the reasons why it matters what kind of sardine

to use. I know, right?, there is more than one kind?

Well, there is and the kind you should get is "brisling."

But I don't remember why.

Just trust me for it.

I cut the recipe in half because I only serve one.

I also used a baguette so that each little fishy had it's

own little nest of avocado. 

They do look kind of good in a strange way. 

There you have it. 

Do with it what you will.

My work here is done.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sherried-sardine-toast-recipe/index.html

Tilapia with Butternut Squash And Pasta

I have been having much fun turning any roasted 

vegetable into soup.

Well guess what?

That soup thinned with a bit of pasta water becomes 

a sauce!

I give you roasted butternut squash for your consideration.

I just caramelized some cubed squash along with some

onion in a pan, added some garlic and thyme, chicken broth

and a splash of white wine, simmered it, pureed it,

thinned it with a hit of pasta water and

presto,

change-o, 

pasta sauce!

The tilapia is my standard, olive oil, salt, pepper,

broiler on low for 10 minutes. 

It just adapts itself to whatever sauce I plop on top.

The pasta is Campanelle. 

Mike and I both thought it was great for "capturing"

the sauce.

The reason for this little experiment was a recipe

I had a while back that called for less than one whole

butternut squash. I had taken the remainder of the squash, pealed it, 

cubed it, laid it out on a cookie sheet

and froze it then stored it in a ziploc bag

until inspiration could hit.

And it did! 

Leftover Lalapolooza!

I made dinner last weekend that involved

a "stew" of chuck roast that I slow

cooked in a Cincinnati sort of sauce, shredded, and the served

in hollowed out baked potatoes.

I roasted off a bunch of vegetables,

butternut squash,

sweet potatoes,

carrots,

onions,

broccoli

and cauliflower.

And served them on a platter on the side. My thinking that you then 

"construct" your own stew at the table.

It was pretty good and kind of fun.

Sorry, no pics. 

I blame Shanna.

Thing is, I was left with the insides of the aforementioned

potato boats and quite a few roasted veges. 

Note to self, 

when given the choice all people revert back to

12 year olds and won't pile on the veges quite like they should.

So, here you have my solutions:

Ken and Lory turned me on to this little nugget,
mashed potatoes with Boursin cheese.
The fish and broccoli are just excuses to eat the potatoes.
And all those roasted vegetables?

Um, helllooooo?, I've been so into making soup these
days I'm not sure why it didn't come to me sooner.
I just heated some vegetable broth with the leftover vegetables
added some garlic, red pepper flakes (I know, Big)
and some fresh nutmeg.
 Gave it a good turn in the Vitamixer and
WaLa!
YUM!

PS, it's fun to mess with Shanna in these.
Lets me know when she's paying attention :o)

WaLa!

She's Really Pretty And Has Too Many Teeth

Quick, name that Food Network star!

And, unfortunately, she can cook.

Honey and I spent the weekend vegetating in front of the 

television due to his horrific man cold.

Food Network was doing a "Healthy Eating"

 weekend in honor of the new year. 

I am not a fan of fish, yogurt or lemon

 but for some reason this looked appealing.

Maybe all those drugs in the air were affecting me.

I've run out of new vegetables to try. 

It was a loooong weekend. 

Well, Yum!

I'll say it again, YUM!!!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/broiled-tilapia-with-mustard-chive-sauce-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/carrot-and-yam-puree-recipe/index.html

Oh, and yea, it was Giada. 

How much you wanna bet she's nice too. 

Salmon Dinner

You will all find out my Bestie Foodie Buddy (but not in a creepy stalker way) Is Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen. She held my hand through my catering Michael and Michelle's wedding and that makes her good people in my book. We seem to have the same attitude towards cooking and food in general. But don't ask me to explain, can't verbalize it, just feel it.

Hmmm, me + blog = good idea?

But, I digress. K, she adapted this from Alton (cut back on the sugar a bit) and posted it along with a great salad recipe. It looked so good that I just made the whole thing. She used a citrus balsamic vinaigrette in the dressing which I didn't have so I substituted black cherry balsamic. Also, I didn't have water cress and arugula so I used the butter lettuce I had and tossed in some toasted pecans for good measure. I guess my point is, check out some of these great recipes you see and don't be intimidated. Substitute things you have (you probably like those flavors profiles if they're in your pantry) and go for it! Worse comes to worse, call Dominos.

Oh, and then she told me to serve the leftovers in a sandwich with wasabi aioli.

So I did.

Next I learn how to make aioli AND how to make the underlining that just appeared to go away.