Tilapia Piccata

My niece Liz passed this recipe on to me.  She is the busy mother of Anna (age 3) and Jake (age 5) so dinner has to be quick and easy. Little Anna enjoys this as much as mommy.  Jake is sticking to his dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.

I included Liz' helpful comments and  tips.

1/4 cup flour                                         1 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt                                           2 tbs. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. pepper                                     1 tbs. butter

1 pound tilapia fillets                          1 tbl. chopped parsley

4 tsp. canola oil                                    2 tbl. capers (optional)

1 cup chicken broth 

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.  Dredge fish in flour mixture, coating well.

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium high.  Add fish and cook until brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook another minute. (Liz always cooks the fish a little bit longer on the first side.  She waits until the fish is pretty brown so that it is almost cooked through and then cooks it for only a couple of minutes on the other side.)

Transfer the fish to a warm platter and keep warm (Liz usually tents it with foil until everything is ready).

Increase heat to high, add broth to skillet, and bring to a boil.  Cook until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes).  Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tbl. of water and whisk into broth.  Cook another minute, then stir in lemon juice, butter, parsley, and capers (if using).  Spoon sauce over the fish. 

Makes 4 servings

Says Liz "This is one of my favorite dishes.  It's so quick, easy and yummy." 

Chocolate Nut Wedges

It was Valentine's Day and I had insisted on bringing dessert to Lee's house that evening. Time was short and shopping for ingredients not an option. Luckily, a few hours earlier I had treated myself to a new cookbook- The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge. It was Saturday and I was going to bake, so the fit was perfect.  The following recipe, adapted from the cookbook, was EASY and everyone at Lee's loved it. There is a good chance that you, too, will have all the ingredients on hand for Chocolate Nut Wedges.

3/4 cup flour                                                         1/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup sugar                                                        1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips                  1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder,                 2 large eggs

sifted if lumpy                                                       1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Whisk until well blended. Mix together the oil and eggs with a fork until blended.(You can do this in a 2 cup measuring cup).  Pour the liquid over the flour mixture and mix with rubber spatula until blended.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pie plate and spread evenly.  Scatter the chopped nuts over the top.

Bake in center of the oven until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with only a few gooey pieces clinging to it, about 20 minutes.  Transfer baking dish to a rack and let cool.  Cut the pie into 8 wedges. Serve with your favorite ice cream.

Notes: I used pecans but walnuts or hazelnuts would also be fine. Lee had homemade chocolate sauce which was delicious over the ice cream and pie. 

To store, cover the cooled wedges in the pie plate with plastic wrap and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.  To freeze,  cool the uncut pie for about 20 minutes in the pie plate, then invert pie onto rack to cool completely.  Wrap tightly and freeze for up to one month.

Virtuous Chicken and Mushrooms

I've been feeling guilty about the large assortment of ingredients I have stuffed into my kitchen cabinets. What a great feeling to use something that's been hanging around for a while to make a satisfying dish. If you have a package of dried mushrooms squeezed into one of your cabinets, find it now and make Virtuous Chicken and Mushrooms. I served this with brown basmati rice and stir fried carrots.

1/2 cup dried mushrooms (porcini, shitake, whatever)

1 cup hot water

4 chicken cutlets (1 lb.)

1 1/2 tb. olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 tbl. unsalted butter

Put the mushrooms in a bowl of cold water, stir them around and then lift them out.  Repeat this two more times to remove any grit. Then cover the mushrooms with the hot water and soak about 30 minutes.

With a slotted spoon, remove the mushrooms from the water and chop them coarsely. Reserve the soaking liquid.

Pound the chicken breasts between pieces of plastic wrap until they are 1/2 inch thick.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken, cook about 30 seconds on each side and turn heat down to medium.  Cook chicken until done (about 5 minutes) turning once. Remove chicken to platter.

Increase the heat to medium-high, add the mushrooms and saute 1o seconds.  Strain 1/2 cup of the reserved mushroom liquid through a sieve into the skillet. Boil down until almost evaporated. Repeat the process with 1/4 cup of the wine. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of wine and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in the butter, stirring until it is just melted. Pour the sauce over the chicken, scraping up the browned bits, and serve immediately.

Serves 4

Note: To feel even more virtuous, save the remaining strained mushroom liquid and use it in a soup or stew.

Pumpkin Apple Bread- A Great Combination

Love pumpkin?  Love apple cake?  Why not combine these two great wintery flavors into a delectable cake, heady with spices?  Using vegetable oil instead of butter makes the batter easy to blend but the taste is just as yummy.  Pumpkin Apple Bread is not very sweet which makes it perfect for breakfast, brunch and afternoon coffee or tea breaks.  It can even be dressed up as dessert by topping it with your favorite ice cream.  (I recommend vanilla or dulce de leche.)  I located the basic recipe on Epicurious.com. but made some minor changes.

TOPPING

1 tb. flour 1 tsp. cinnamon

5 tb. sugar 1 tb. unsalted butter, softened

BATTER

3 cups flour 1/4 tsp. ground allspice

3/4 tsp. salt 16 oz. can pumkin

2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 1/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 4 large eggs , beaten lightly

1 tsp. ground cloves 2 tart apples, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)

Make TOPPING- In small bowl blend flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter until it resembles coarse meal. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter tube pan.  

Into large bowl sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. In another larger bowl whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar and eggs.  Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring until combined well.  Fold in apples and put batter into tube pan. 

Sprinkle topping on top of batter and bake in middle of oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Let cake cool in the pan on a rack for 45 minutes.  Remove from pan very carefully and let cool completely.

Wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil and chilled, the bread will keep for one week or it can be frozen for one month.

Variation- Add golden raisins, dried cranberries or chopped nuts after folding in the apples.