Fast Fish and Rice Pilaf (couple's cooking class pt 2)

Crisptity-Crunchy-Yum on the outside.



Flaky, tender, meaty on the inside.

It is Saturday morning, and what can I say? I need my weekend time more than ever right now. Work has been picking up lately which is great, but the weekend has got to be spent away from the computer! As a result, I am going to get straight to it...



This is the kind of thing that got me into seafood in the first place. This is a great light late-summer meal that will still leave you feeling satisfied. Paired with crisp asparagus and a rich rice pilaf, this rustic-style red snapper is an easy four-star meal for a weeknight dinner. Did I say easy?



This rich rice pilaf is another dish we picked up on at the couples' cooking class Zach took me to a couple months ago. It is nice because once you set up all the ingredients, you don't have to worry about it. You just transfer the pot to the oven to finish cooking, and it turns out beautifully and flavorful.



Rustic-Style Red Snapper

(makes 4 filets)

4 red snapper filets
1 egg
1 lemon
panko bread crumbs (about 1/2 cup)
1/8 c oil
salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Season fish filets with salt and pepper
Whisk the egg and add a little salt and pepper
Brush the egg over the top side of each filet.
Spread out the bread crumbs in a shallow dish.
Press the side of the fish filet that has been brushed with egg into the bread crumbs.
Place a large skillet over high heat, and add oil (swirl around to coat the pan)
Once the oil is piping hot, place the fish (bred-side down) into the skillet and do not move. - Make sure each filet has its own space; do not crowd.
After about 1 minute, move the skillet into the pre-heated oven and bake for about 10 minutes (10 minutes per inch of thickness of the filets).
Serve the fish bred-side up, and garnish fish with lemon slices.


Chef Eric's Rice Pilaf

(recipe from Chef Eric's Culinary Classroom - makes 4 to 6 servings)



2 tbsp minced shallot
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp butter or oil
1 C long grain white rice
1 3/4 hot stock (I used chicken stock)
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
In a heavy pot, heat butter and sweat the shallots and garlic (about 5 min on med-low heat)
Add the rice to the pot and stir until rice is coated with butter/garlic/shallot
Add the hot stock, and bring to a boil.
Cover the pot and transfer to the oven for 16-18 minutes or until rice in tender and liquid is absorbed.

Day of Fresh

My dad is one of my absolute favorite people in the world.



He is a generous, hard working and sensitive man. He and my mom sacrificed so much for my brother and me. Growing up, I have so many great memories from being a part of several sports teams to going on trips to other countries. I used to have big slumber parties at my house in middle school and high school with all my friends, and my dad would always have bagels and orange juice waiting for all of us by the time we made it out of our sleeping bags. My parents made all those memories possible, and I will always be so grateful for all they have provided.



Here I am, living in LA as an adult, and my dad never stops giving. I was fortunate enough to have him in town all weekend. He spent his Sunday afternoon teaching me to start my own vegetable garden. He works in the plant business so I knew he would know what to do. I have always wanted to start a vegetable garden, something simple. But I didn't know how to start a successful one. My dad showed me how to turn up the soil, get rid of the weeds, fertilize and plant stakes to tie the vegetable to as they grow. Here is the short version:

Here is what you will need:
3 big bags of soil
1 cup fertilizer (to get started)
1 roll of gardening sheet (resembles a black plastic bag material) which is for keeping the weeds from growing
long wooden stakes
a shovel and a hook rake
vegetables and herbs!

Let's start with the before shot:



Pull all those weeds out from the root, and churn up the dirt to loosen it; go as deep as you can. Then put about 1/2 of your fresh soil on top.

Roll out the black material (it looks like a black garbage bag but is breathable so the water will go through, but the weeds cannot grow through it.

Place the other half of the fresh soil on top of the black material:



Toss the cup of fertilizer all over the surface of the soil (you will need to repeat this every month).

Stick a long knife into the ground and cut a "T" into the material where you want to plant a vegetable. Clear a space for it by moving some soil out, and place the plant into the ground. The base of the plant should be below the black material, and the stem should come out of it:





Spread the dirt back around the base of the plant, and press down gently.

Don't plant the vegetables too close together. The herbs can be a little tighter.

I will let you know how this all progresses, but I think we are off to a great start.



Water heavily at first:



This is about a 4'X3' area, and I have heirloom tomatoes (green and red), red, yellow and green bell peppers, zucchini, mint, cilantro and scallions. We put a little fence around the area as to keep the cats and dogs out of the patch.



I decided to make a nice light meal with vegetables (mixed potatoes and asparagus) and fresh ground almond from the Santa Monica Farmers' Market.



Besides, we had to save room for our inevitable trip to yogurtland. I just really had a great day with my dad, and I couldn't be happier.



One Fantastic Day Almond Crusted Tilapia:

4 Tilapia filets (this can be any comparable white fish)
1/4 C canola or vegetable oil
3/4 C ground almond (this can work with ground pecans as well)
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Put he beaten eggs in one shallow bowl and the ground almond in another.
Pat fish to dry.
Dip a filet in the egg.
Allow excess to drip off before placing it into the dish with the almond. Coat the entire surface with the ground almond by flipping it over a couple times.
Repeat this with all 4 filets.
Heat oil in a large heavy pan over med-high heat.
Place the filets in the pan, and cook on each side for 30 seconds.
Move pan (if oven safe) to the oven. (If pan is not oven safe, you can place filets on a baking sheet instead).
Bake at 400 degrees F for about 3 minutes for small filets and 4-5 minutes for large ones. The fish should flake apart easily.
Sprinkle some fresh ground almond on top!

Under the Sea

Have I ever mentioned my baton-twirling days? Maybe I have not because they lasted about a minute, and I do not mean a minute; I mean a minute. I was in the third grade, and my best friend Michelle and I decided it would be a great idea to twirl some batons to the song, "Under the Sea" from the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid for the elementary school talent show. We literally knew how to do the following:

*twirl the baton vertically
*twirl the baton horizontally
*pass the baton in a figure eight motion between my legs

If it is hard to imagine the combination of the above three "tricks" being entertaining for the length of an entire song, that is probably because it would never have been considered entertaining by any stretch of the imagination ....at the time at least.

A video of this exists. I believe it is in the form of a VHS tape in my friend Meagan's collection of insanely horrible and embarrassing videos from our childhoods. It is probably somewhere between the 4th grade solo I sang in a jean jumper of "The Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler and the lip sync I did with some gal pals of "Say You'll Be There" by the Spice Girls in 6th Grade (I was Scary Spice).

I don't know if my struggle with enjoying seafood began with the great "Under the Sea" fiasco of 1994 or not, but for as long as I can remember I have never been a fan. While I would enjoy the occasional fish stick, I never grew up liking salmon, shrimp, scallops, trout, sea bass, crab, lobster...none of it. I am just now beginning to slowly explore the world under the surface of the sea. Here is where I am at:

Shrimp ...yes please
Salmon ...eh, no thanks
Sea bass ...wonderful
Tuna ...never!
Scallops ...okay
Crab ...sometimes
Crab Cakes ...of course!
Sushi ...yes please
Tilapia ...okay
Calamari ...eh
Halibut...YES YES YES (thanks to the recipe below)

Under the Mediterranean Sea:

(recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, Everybody Likes Sandwiches)

2 large potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 small onion, quartered
4 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 t dried rosemary (plus additional sprinkle for fish)
2 T olive oil
1 t coarse salt
pepper to taste
1/4 c green olives
1 T capers
2 filets of fish (I used halibut)
juice of half a lemon

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a foil-lined walled cookie sheet, evenly line the pan with the cubed potatoes and large onion chunks. Drizzle with half of the olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper and toss everything around with your hands to coat. Bake in oven for about 25 minutes until starting to brown.



On a plate, season the fish and the cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper and a bit of rosemary and coat with the remaining olive oil. Use your hands to make sure everything is covered with the oil and spice.



Push the potatoes to one side of the cookie sheet and place the fish and the tomatoes on the other side. Fill in remaining gaps with olives and capers. Squeeze lemon juice onto the fish and tomatoes.



Return tray to oven for another 20 minutes or so, until fish is cooked and tomatoes are roasted and wrinkled. Transfer onto plates and serve.