Blackened Tilapia

I really do like fish. Sometimes though, it gets a little cumbersome to just prep the fish you are planning to cook. Luckily, like most of the posts I like to cook what I make on Sunday along with other meals for the week. MC really did like the fish (as is rather finicky with spices). This is a really good fish recipe.

Ingredients

4 tilapia filets
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp tumeric
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp adobo seasoning
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

When working with frozen tilapia, make sure you rinse them.

 Next, mix all of the spices in a small bowl.

 

 

After you have mixed the spices, rub the spice on each side of the tilapia filets. Make sure that the spice lightly covers each filet.

 

When I cook fish, I like to use both olive oil and a pat of butter. Start by adding the olive oil first. While the oil is heating up, add the butter. Swish around the pat of butter with the olive oil. When the butter is melted, add the fish to the hot olive oil/butter mixture.

 

After adding the fish onto the pan, cook the fish. Once you notice the edges of the fish start to get slightly cooked, flip the filets. Allow the filets to continue to cook. Take off the heat once you notice the fish is slightly cooked on both sides. Cover with a lid. This will allow the fish to finish cooking. You can blacken the fish as dark as you want, but keep in mind that the more time you cook the fish, the less moist it will be.

 

As you can tell, I had some leftover shrimp with coconut curry sauce. I drizzled the leftover sauce and shrimp over the fish. Remember, I cooked this on Sunday, so I just now had it tonight. The spices on the fish went so well with the rice (rice with onions and diced spinach). What a treat!

Shrimp with Curried Coconut Sauce

So I was watching the Cooking Channel with MC's parents this morning and came across Emeril's recent cooking show. He decided to cook a series of dishes that were inspired by Indian cuisine. As you know, I have a tendency to just come up with my own version. For this dish, I did not add any jalapeños. Most of us don't have the luxury of purchasing fresh ginger or garlic, so I wanted to make sure I cooked a dish that didn't require me buy that much in groceries.

 

WARNING: If you don't have cardamom, then try to make do without it. I went to the local grocery store and found the spice for over 10 bucks! That was crazy, but I am a purist (or at least I try to be) when cooking authentic ethnic dishes such as this.

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp salt
1 12 oz can coconut milk
1 lb shrimp
Additional salt and pepper to taste

Start with cleaning the shrimp. I like to use fresh shrimp. MC's parents took me to a place in Matagorda Bay and so I thawed out some shrimp that I purchased there. I cleaned up the shrimp by taking off the exoskeleton. I also slice the back of the shrimp to take out the inner vein.

Chop up the veggies. Make sure they are long strips.

Once you have chopped the veggies, add them to a pan. This will have the olive oil. Place the veggies into the pan, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook until the veggies start to get somewhat translucent.

 

As the veggies are continuing to cook, start to add the spices to the mixture. Emeril had fresh ginger, jalapenos, and garlic. He chose to cook the spices with plenty of oil. I am reversing the order by cooking the spices while the veggies are in the pan.

 

After you cook the veggies and spices, add the coconut milk. Allow to continue to cook. Taste the sauce. You might need to add salt and/or some more spice. Remember, BYOC (be your own chef). If you want it more spicy, then add what you want to it. In my case, MC can't have anything that is too spicy, but wants it flavorful. While the mixture is thickening, add the shrimp. Stir on occasion.

 

 

The last thing that needs to be added after adding the shrimp would be your cilantro. Try to take the leaves from the stems. Stir in the leaves to the shrimp mixture.

Well, I am having this with some pita bread (didn't have a chance to buy naan). We ate this with some spiced rice (another post for this one at a later date). This was nice and light. Bon Appetit!

Prime Rib anyone?

The New Year has started and we all seem to be wanting to get into keeping resolutions one of those being staying on a diet. I am one that used to do that every year, but what's the point? I mean when you get to the middle of the year, you have tend to fall off the wagon. That's why every year, I continue to indulge in what I like whenever I want. I go to the gym at least 5 days out of the week. I'm a "big boned guy" even when I have been my skinniest. So, just going to gym...watching what I eat is ok...I still have what I want and I don't have to worry about what I can or can't eat.

Well one of those items that people tend to steer clear from is beef. I don't know about you, but I do love a good slice of beef. If you go to the gym and lift weights, then you need some protein...what better item then beef. 

For this post, I wanted to show how you can cook a good large rack of beef. We obtained a large rack of prime rib and it was enough for leftovers, but its great when you have family or friends who would appreciate something totally different. For my family, its a special treat because they never had prime rib.

Ingredients:


3 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
1 sprigs tarragon
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup peppercorn medley (red and black peppercorns)
7 - 14 lb Prime Rib
1 tbsp olive oil
meat thermometer

Start with mixing all of the spices. Take the herbs from the sprigs. Lightly chop the herbs. Mix with the salt. With the peppercorns, place into a plastic bag. Crush them with either a mallet or a rolling pin. You want the peppercorns coarsely. Mix with the salt/herb mixture. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to broil. While that is preheating, get the meat ready. In a separate pan, place the olive oil and heat the pan. This is where you sear the pan.

 

After you have seared the meat, add the salt/pepper/herb mixture atop of the meat. Place into the preheated oven that is in a broil. Allow to broil for 30 minutes. After that, bring the temperature back down to 375 degrees. Allow to continue to cook, checking the temperature periodically.

 Check your prime rib every 30 minutes. Insert a meat thermometer. You are looking for an internal temperature reading of 180 degrees.  Once it's ready, take out of the oven. Allow the meat to rest for an additional 20 to 30 minutes. This allows the meat to rest and really is juicy.

Slice the meat to your selected thickness. Before you slice though, make sure you take the salt mixture off of the meat. The flavors will seep through the meat, but you don't want to have too much salt while eating your slice.

To go with the prime rib, I used the drippings, mushroom, red wine, butter and some of the spices. I created a gravy for the prime rib.

Well, for little ones, they might not like it rare. To solve that, we had to place certain pieces back in the broiler. Needless to say, my niece really liked the prime rib. I strongly suggest you try making it yourself!

Crab Cakes...with a little help

Another day, another cooking post. This time around I wanted to wait on putting a post that involved some special help. Sometimes, its a little hard to get kids to like food because they aren't part of the cooking process. It's a treat to get my little niece Z to come and help.

This recipe will yield a large amount, so you can use this especially when you are planning a party or other like minded event. As for little Z, she loved making the little crab cakes into little balls. She was so enthralled with the whole process and getting messy was fun for her.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of butter
3 stalks of celery
1 red bell bepper
1 green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp garlic
1 tbsp worchestershire
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 eggs
2 cup Panko
2 lb crab meat
1 large lemon

First, get a large pot that will be able to cook the vegetables that you need for the

While the butter is melting start dicing the celery, bell pepper and onion.  Remember, this is going to be a large amount of veggies, but they will cook down until all semi translucent. As you can see, I have my little Z wanting to help. It was great having her helping because she really wanted to. It was funny because we were singing the Helping Song for a little bit. Too cute!

 

While the veggies are cooking down, add the spices, mayo, mustard, and worchestershire into a large bowl. Mix well. Add the eggs as well to the spice mayo mixture.

 

Fold in the vegetables. After you have added the vegetables add the panko before you add the crab meat. Mix all of this together very minimally. You don't want to break the crab meat. Once you have mixed, then you can start making your crab cakes.

Now keep in mind that with this recipe I used the crab mixture to stuff them into mushrooms. You can really make crab cakes, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed shrimp and stuffed crab. With the stuffed mushrooms, place into the preheated oven at 350 degrees. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake this for about 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and the mushrooms are tender.