Fish Sticks!

I remember as a kid loving those boxed fish sticks.  They were easy and delicious and even an 8 year old could make them.  We dipped them in ketchup.  I don't think, to this day, I've ever bought tartar sauce.  Not that I'm against it, but when you're eating a meal like this, it's to remember the awesomeness of your childhood. I know that if I ate a boxed fish stick these days, I would be extremely disappointed because I remember them being delicious and amazing, but I was 8.

My goal, when I have kids, is to make everything homemade and not have processed foods in the house. (Yes mothers, I hear you snickering already) So I wanted to make these fish sticks so I could box them and freeze them myself.  They were quite delicious.   I definitely think kid worthy.  And pretty easy too!

Homemade Fish Sticks

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 fillets of white fish (we made these in Hawaii so we used some amazing fish, but Cod will work)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup flour

2 tbs olive oil

Directions:

Slice the fish into strips.  On 3 plates, assort the flour, egg, and panko into an assembly line. Dredge the fish in flour, dip in egg, and coat in panko bread crumbs.  Set aside until all the fish are breaded.  Lightly fry in a little oil until crispy.  I actually think I baked these, cause I don't see myself sitting over a hot pan of oil frying fish.  So to bake, place breaded on a well oiled baking sheet, spray the tops with olive oil and bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until fish sticks are crispy. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers

Found this photo while going through my Hawaii pics.  I remember these being quite amazing.  Anything with orzo, feta, and artichokes has to be amazing right?

Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

3 red bell peppers

1/2 cup orzo (should be in the pasta aisle)

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

1 tbs olive oil

1 medium red onion

3 cups baby spinach

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tomato, chopped (can also use sun dried tomatos, but I didn't want to stop at the store)

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided (I'm sure I just used the whole tub)

1 tbs white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise and pull out the seeds, leaving the stem attached. Place cut side down in a large oiled baking dish.  Place in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes until peppers are softened.  

Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add the orzo, cook until tender about 8-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. 

Heat oil in a large skillet and add onion.  Cook about 4 minutes, then add the spinach and oregano and cook until spinach is wilted. Add artichokes and tomatoes and cook for about another minutes. Stir in the cooked orzo, 1/2 cup of feta, vinegar, salt and pepper. 

Add filling to the red peppers and top with remaining cheese. I put the peppers back into the oven to soften the cheese, but you can really just serve them like this.  Enjoy!

Potato Tacos!

I have been really slacking lately and I'm going to try and get better about it.  First off, I have a whole strew of photos on my camera of food that I haven't blogged and when I go to blog it, I can't remember how I made it!  Second, by the time I take my photos, I am just so ready to eat that I don't really spend much time on them.  But they don't need to look amazing, they just need to taste amazing... like these potato tacos!

Tacos are one of my favorite foods ever.  And I don't mean fast food tacos... I mean the real deal.  We don't eat much meat anymore so I've been trying to make different kinds of meatless tacos.  Actually, the meatless crumbles are really good in tacos too.  These potato tacos are just something different and delicious!  I was eating the leftovers at work for lunch and the ladies at work were drooling.

Potato Tacos!

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

5-6 baby red potatoes cut into about 1 inch cubes

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp chipotle chili powder

2 tbs olive oil (or oil of your choice)

1 cup refried beans (I cook pinto beans, smash them with some veggie broth, add cheese and call them refried beans... or you could just get canned)

2 cups finely chopped romaine lettuce

1 tomato, diced

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1 cup salsa 

8 corn tortillas (we used hard shell this time)

Directions:

Place the cubed potatoes in a large bowl and toss with spices and oil until coated.  Transfer them to an oiled baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes or until soft. 

To assemble:

Place a scoop of the refried beans in the bottom of the shell, top with potatoes, tomatoes, onion, lettuce, yogurt, and salsa.  You can also add toppings that you prefer.  The yogurt goes so well with the potatoes, it's just ridiculous.  Enjoy!

Cherry, Mint & Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Mushroom Pasta

Oh man, when I found this photo, I was taken back to a wonderful place.  I remember making this in Hawaii.  I remember my mom loving this dish despite her hatred towards mushrooms.  I can't believe how easy it is to get awesome ingredients there!  You seriously have to go to about 10 different stores here to find the awesome mushrooms in this dish. 

Enough about the pasta, this bruschetta is awesome.  It sounds kinda funky, but I made it for my grandma, who is strictly all about meat and potatoes, and she even liked it!  I think it's because you use taste buds that you've never used before and they are very grateful.  I think I'm going to have to go mushroom shopping this weekend and recreate this amazing dish.  Enjoy!

Cherry, mint & goat cheese bruschetta

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Roughly 15-20 fresh cherries, pitted and chopped

2 oz creamy goat cheese

10-15 leaves of fresh mint, chopped

1 baguette

Directions:

Remember, I don't really measure or follow a recipe so adjust the ingredients to your liking. 

Slice the baguette and place in a 350 oven for a few minutes to warm up.  Remove from oven and spread with goat cheese.

Mix together the mint and cherries in a small bowl and spoon on top of the bread. 

Bake in the 350 oven for about 3-5 more minutes, until bread is crispy.  I like to top with some more fresh mint too.  Yum!

Mushroom Pasta

Seriously, I don't even remember exactly how I made this, but I think I just bought a bunch of different variety of mushrooms, (Oyster, Bella, Shitake, Enoki, etc.) and sauteed them with some garlic and onion and tossed with some pasta and olive oil.  Go to your local Asian Market and buy up a couple of every mushroom they have.  It'll be amazing!

Stuffed Strawberries

I've been looking through some old photos and I must have snapped one of these strawberries during a party last year.  They are always a hit at get-togethers because they aren't deep fried and a good palette cleanser in between chicken wings.  They are also so versatile.  You can bring them to football parties, brunches, picnics... they are perfect, delicious and super easy!  I highly recommend them if you don't know what to bring to a party. Enjoy!! :)

Stuffed Strawberries

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

2 pints of fresh strawberries (The photo is actually strawberries from Hawaii, which are like gold because they rarely have delicious big red strawberries in season!)

1 jar marshmallow cream

1 pkg cream cheese

Directions:

Cream together the cream cheese and marshmallow cream until smooth and not lumpy.  Place in a piping bag or a plastic zip-lock bag with one corner tip cut slightly.  Set aside.

Remove the stems of the strawberries and with a paring knife, remove the middle of the strawberry.  

Take the cream mixture and pipe into the middle of the strawberry. 

Sit back and watch them fly off the platter!

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Nick keeps telling me how amazing Gnocchi is and how he loves when I make it.  I swore to him that I've never made Gnocchi before in my life... and I would know.  But he insists that I have so I'm convinced I bought a premade package from the store along with a jar of Ragu back in our college days and thinks he loved it.  Anywho... he ordered it several times on our honeymoon so I came back willing to try and create what Italy had to offer.  The first time I made it, I didn't mash my potatoes enough, resulting in chunky Gnocchi.  It was pretty inedible. You're supposed to use a ricer to get the potatoes really fine, but that's just another object in the kitchen that'll take up space, so I'm determined to make my 1970's potato masher work. 

The second time I tried to make Gnocchi, I wanted to add a little more depth of flavor, so I made it with butternut squash.  It was very yummy!  I will definitely make this again.  It's a perfect fall dish with awesome flavors.  I must say though that I didn't really like the sauce I made beside it.  It was a cream sauce and I think this dish needs something lighter like a white wine butter sauce would be perfect! 

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 cups pureed butternut squash (you want your squash to be very dry so try roasting it with no additions)

1/2 baked potato, smashed (again, bake the potato. If you boil it, it'll retain water ending in mush)

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 - 2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

Mix the mashed squash and potato together.  Add the egg yolk into the squash mixture.  Mix together the flour, nutmeg, and salt.  Slowly stir the flour mixture into the squash mixture until it forms a soft dough.  Gently knead the dough for about a minute (don't over knead) and roll out into 4 long thin ropes, about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut the ropes into 1/2 inch pieces and roll the pieces in flour, lightly shaking off any excess.  If you have a fancy Gnocchi board, roll the pieces over your board to create ridges.  Or just use a fork if you have a tiny kitchen and no space, like me!

Bring a pot of water to a gentle boil and add the Gnocchi a little bit at a time, not to crowd the pan.  Cook the Gnocchi until it floats to the top about 2-3 minutes and then remove with a slotted spoon.  Serve with white wine sauce (recipe below) and a pinch of nutmeg. 

White Wine Sauce

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour, whisking until pasty.  Slowly add the white wine and keep whisking to prevent clumps.  Whisk until slightly thickened and add the cheese.  Keep whisking until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened. 

Red Curry Noodles

Here I go talking about Hawaii again.  I miss it.  One of the things that I miss the most is the amazing food.  I'm so glad that I've sort of mastered the art of Thai cooking so at least one of our cravings are satisfied.  Our absolute favorite dish at our favorite Thai Place was this red curry noodle that is totally amazing and I'm literally drooling just thinking about it.  After leaving Hawaii, I absolutely had to mimic this dish or I wouldn't survive.   Well, one night I was trying to make a Vietnamese brothy dish, and it turned into something very close to my favorite Thai dish.  So I had to experiment a few times and I think I've gotten very close to the actual amazing dish in Hawaii.  I'm so excited to share this and I think I'll have to put it on the menu this week. yum!

Red Curry Noodles

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons of red curry paste (more or less depending on your preference)

1 can coconut milk

1-2 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon Braggs (or soy sauce)

1 tablespoon fish sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 cup of chopped broccoli

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 pkg extra firm tofu

1 handful of thai basil

1 handful cilantro

1 cup chopped, toasted peanuts

1 lime

1 pkg small rice noodles

grapeseed oil

Directions:

Soak tofu in hot salt water for 15 minutes.  Drain and pat dry.  Slice in thin slices and pat dry again.  Fry the tofu in a little grapeseed oil until crispy. Set aside.

In a large wok, bring the garlic and about a tablespoon of grapeseed oil to medium heat, add the curry paste and stir with the garlic and oil for about 2 minutes or until foamy.  Add the onion and saute until translucent. Add the coconut milk, broth, Braggs, and fish sauce and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and add the broccoli, red pepper, and rice noodles.  Cook until the noodles are tender, about 3 minutes. Add the tofu towards the end and serve up in bowls with a little bit of broth over the top.  Finish off with thai basil, cilantro, peanuts, and a lime wedge. Enjoy! And p.s., it's okay to lick your bowl clean!