Lobster Fest!!

Tonight was Lobster Fest Night!
Lobster is festive, and live lobster is for high energy adventures, but for the joy of lobster without the price of restaurants or the stamina of live critter interaction the best option is frozen lobster tails. They are lovely. This recipe is for 2 people, each gets two small lobster tails and 2 mini crab cakes, plus basmati ric, asparagus and a dipping bowl with drawn butter. It sounds mighty expensive but its not if you do it yourself, and it sounds hard but it cooks up in no time, its so good i'm obsessed :)

4 small frozen lobster tails
fresh rosemary
1/4 stick of butter
olive oil
parsley
salt and pepper
4 teasoons horseradish
dash of chili pepper
juice of half a lemon


Gently slowly defrost the lobster.
 Take the tails and use a strong kitchen scissor to trim the underside of the lobster tail shell. Remove the underside shell  entirely including the little flipper legs.  Next slice a line down the middle of the lobster meat not all the way though but the whole length of it. Do a final snip with the scissors of the first inch of the other side of the shell (the colored hard side). Give this a real good rinse.

I used my toaster oven, it came with a little pan that fits in it.  My oven doesn't have a broiler so the toaster oven was the way to go. On the little pan i layed out all four and put a tab of butter, a teaspoon of horseradish and and a swig of olive oil in each. Then i added the spices listed above and squeezed half a lemon over he whole thing.  So then they're ready. Let the toaster get good and hot before putting them in for about 15 minutes or until shell is red and fish is sizzling.

I served this with basmati rice, steamed asparagus, some lemon wedges, and a dipping dish of drawn butter

Drawn Butter
3/4 a stick of butter plus parsley, pepper, and a clove of garlic. when its simmered to clear add the juice of half a lemon

Dip everything in this, its the right thing to do.

And serve with 2 mini crab cakes; i bought these premade and cooked them in the oven

Oh and a side of cherry tomatos (cut in half) with fresh basil, top with pepper, parley, lemon, and very good olive oil.

Drink Prosecco with this - I like mionetto

Fresh Blueberries for dessert

Yum Enjoy!!

oreo pancake cake

so have you ever had to make a birthday cake and not have a box on hand? here's a great alternative. For those of you who have pancake mix and oreos in the cubboard try this:

1 cup pancake mix
3/4 cup half and half
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
about 2 rows or 20 cookies of oreos (when food processed into dust crumble its about a cup).

1/4bag of chocolate chips on top

mix all that together, in a cake pan, put the chocolate chips on top Preheat to 350 , cook about 20 - 30 mins

Serve warm with mint chocolate chip ice cream
:)
yum

Fancy Bay Gumbo :)

So gumbo is only loosely what i'm calling this, its a savory gumbo inspired stew. Served on top of plain cous cous, this dish has a combination of meats and beans a little heat a tomato based broth and some vegetables, but lacking hot peppers or ocra some sticklers might call this a cocktail sassafrass. The gumbo mixed meat approach is a great way to handle a myriad of leftovers, this time round I got lucky with the ingredients on hand and the dish came out super yummy so here is the ingredients as it went down.


1 1/2 cups frozen shrimp
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 cup frozen brussel sprouts

4 cloves garlic
1/2 an onion
dollup of olive oil
1 leftovered bbqd pork chop (deboned and cubed)
1/2 cup cubes of leftover bbq'd filet mignon
1/2 of a bbq'd sweet italian sausage link cubed


1 little can of tomato juice
2 peaches (peeled pitted cutup)
1/2 cup salsa
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of beer
3 teaspoons of horseradish
parsley

Ok so in a pot fry the garlic and onions, toss in the meats and brown them.  defrost all the frozen stuff. when meat is well sizzled toss in the liquids and the the beans and sprouts, let it all simmer together for 20 minutes then toss in the shrimp cover and take off the heat. let stand 20 minutes before rescalding to serve.

Lima Bean Pesto Encrusted Tilapia :)

 

Hi

Here's a new fish recipe I made tonight and loved. It is a kindof hummus pesto using some original ingredients, spread on a couple of pieces of fish. On the side there is a carrot dish that rocks and goes well with the fish. That plus some basmati rice and roasted tomato makes for a super yummy dinner. I use a bbq to make all of this though you could just as easily cook it inside.. soooo here's the recipe :)

Pesto:
The pesto I used is a mix of two kinds of pesto, some that i had on hand (made by G) and some that i made just then,  so i'm going to include the ingredients of both, to be true to what i made, but if you are low on ingredients you can use regular pesto..

mint, basil, gruyere, parmesian, pistachios, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic,

put all that in a food processor and grind it to a pesto paste.


Plus Lima Bean Puree:

Add in lima beans.
I used fresh lima beans from shells, I shucked them, and unshelled there was about 1 cup of them which i boiled til they were vegetable soft. *Drain them. And add them to the food processor (that has the pesto in it). The result should be a  flavorful paste :)

- Last thing to add to the pesto paste is 1 egg yolk. Toss that in the processor right before you are ready to use it and  give it a spin



*I strained the lima bean water onto the already cleaned and cut up carrot slices to blanch them. (using the bean water adds some vitamins. )


Carrots:
I took four pretty carrots and sliced them at an angle so they are long ovals almost penne shaped,  and put them in a bbq friendly pan (no plastic handles!) Drop on the lima bean water, should be about a cup or two, then add 1/ 3rd a stick of butter, parsley, fresh rosemary, a cup of wine, and a dash of salt and pepper. (its ready for the bbq)

Next!
Take 4 tilapia filets:
In a round cake pan put four pieces of tilapia, first put down two. Add the *paste as a center layer then put ontop the other two like 2 fish sandwiches. Add some fresh basil leaves.

 Put the two top fish pieces on and cover them with a thick paste. Top with a dash of parmesian and a couple basil leaves. The thick coating locks in the steam so the fish cooks to be very tender.

Important: In the same pan as the fish take a medium / large tomato and cut it in half, put the two halves face down in the pan


To Grill:
Put the carrots in first on the bottom with the heat on pretty low, put the fish on the top to cook slower. cook for about 20 mins, when the carrots sizzle and most of their water has gone, raise the heat to medium and cook til ready, the carrots are ready when they are tender, the fish is ready when the tomato on the pan is stewy, if you can poke into it with your finger then the fish is likely done.

serve carrots with a tab of butter on top and serve with a side of basmati rice







:)
Soo Yum :)

Pictures to come

Fancy Potatos Au Gratin

Hi Again

Time for another recipe :) this time a side dish, but a hearty one which is a good thing to have around in case any relatives or friends surprise ya by being a vegetarian :)

 Soo Potato Au gratin is a pretty standard recipe, but i like to put my own spin on traditional dishes, so without any further ado, fancy's potatos au gratin


6 or 7 med / large red potatos, clean peeled and blinded (eyes removed) then slice them in 3mm round slices, like the thinner the better, make like you are doing potato chips ( use a big knife so you keep yer fingers)

Then get a small casserole dish (mines shallow an oval about 7by12

mix together:
1cup half and half
3 tbsp thick greek plain yogurt
toss the potato circles in the cream and put in casserole dish making sure the potatos are all layed flat so it looks like layers

put ontop 1/4 a stick of butter,
ground pepper
parsley
dash of salt

then make a topping crust out of:
about 1/4 cup fine chopped gruyere
about 1/4 cup fine chopped white sharp cheddar
2 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs,
3 tbsp finely chopped walnuts
a bit of olive oil

stick in the oven for about an hour at 375

totally easy
(you may want to put a cookie tray under so that nothing drips in your oven)

:) & eat yum!!

hearty, vegetarian and soomething different to do with your potatos

I served this as a side dish for baked salmon seared scallops (in a lemon garlic butter) and steamed fresh spinach,

for side salad just a few cut up vine ripened fresh tomatos (with oregano, parsley, olive oil, salt, balsamic vinegar)

I wrote my congressman!! (Try it its fun!!)

Hello,

I have never contacted my representative before but I feel compelled to do so regarding a very important piece of legislation which is coming up. I am concerned about the way the government's policies effect farming in our country. The restructuring of the 2012 farm bill has the potential to make our food, soil, economy, animals and humans much healthier. All this talk on the news about obesity as an epidemic rarely discusses the government's role in food prices, the corrupt agricultural subsidies favor corporate farmers and big companies like monsanto and make unhealthy food less expensive than vegetables, fruits, humanely treated livestock and organically grown varieties of crops. The consumer, especially the economically disadvantaged americans, are the victims in this situation. With diabetes and heart disease rates soaring I think it is time we finally made government funding and farm aid available to the farmers who are making quality products.

As my representative I hope that you will fight for my health, and the health of the population and the planet. When the 2012 farm bill is restructured please make sure you speak up and fight for the farm money to be distributed wisely to the people who need it. Organic farmers, small and medium farm owners, diverse crops, grassfed cattle, and ecologically beneficial farming practices.

It is the right thing to do.


Here are some links regarding the upcoming bill and the importance of restructuring it to protect farmers and thereby our own health:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/farm-bill-2012-innovative-farming_n_860069.html

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/slow_food/blog_post/2012_farm_bill_up_date

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fopinionator.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2011%2F03%2F01%2Fdont-end-agricultural-subsidies-fix-them%2F&h=YAQBKHz8EAQDqdEBJaf0unRKV3SLN2WMF6aWvKQQLFmje6g

Also read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen for a more thorough introduction to this vital issue

Thank you for your time
Nancy Lozupone