Pan-Fried Tilapia with Creamy Lemon Sauce

Do you ever get excited about a recipe and run out and buy the necessary ingredients and rush back home to start cooking?  I don't!  I get excited when I find a new recipe that I want to try, but I don't usually rush out grocery shopping.  I didn't with this one, but I was looking forward to making this simple recipe from Kraft.  I actually followed the recipe exactly this time, minus using my preferred brand of dressing, broth and cream cheese.

The feed back I received from hubby was that it looked great and I managed to get it to the table at the proper temperature.  The latter has occasionally been a problem since the food often cools off quickly while I'm attempting to get an acceptable photograph.  The feed back went downhill when he commented on the flavor.  He was unimpressed.  An exact quote is, "it's nothing special".  How disappointing.  A creamy lemon sauce over fish.  What's not to like?  I guess a lack of flavor.  Can't win them all.  If someone thinks they could tinker with the recipe and make it a home run, please let me know how to do it.  I might try it again just to make sure it's a real "miss".

Ingredients
  

2  tilapia fillets (1/2 lb.)

1 Tbsp. flour

4 Tbsp. Light House Italian Dressing

1/2 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

2  Tbsp. lemon juice

2 oz. Fat Free Cream Cheese, cubed

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Directions

 1.  Cost fish with flour.
2.  Heat dressing in medium skillet on medium heat. Add fish; cook 4 to 5 min. on each side or until fish flakes easily with fork. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.
3.  Add broth and lemon juice to skillet; cook 3 min. or until reduced by half, stirring frequently with whisk. Add cream cheese; cook 1 min. or until melted, stirring constantly. Pour over fish. Sprinkle with parsley.

 http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/pan-fried-fish-creamy-lemon-118572.aspx

Panko Tilapia with Black Bean Salsa

I must start this entry with the words that rushed out of my husband's mouth when he came up for air as he was inhaling this meal. "Awesome". He said it three times. Then he called it "superb"! He said it was the second best part of the weekend. The first being our 20-week old daughter took a 3-hour nap today! I couldn't be happier!

I adapted this recipe from Kraft.com. Since it's a Kraft recipe, they call for lots Kraft products. I choose to use whatever I prefer. My husband loves seasoned Panko breadcrumbs like it's God's gift to the culinary world, so I chose to use it instead of Ritz crackers. He love that the fish was flaky on inside and slightly crunchy on the outside. A friend of mine highly recommended Duke's mayonnaise, so I used that instead of Kraft Real Mayo. I also used "spicy" black beans from Whole Foods.

Although the use of mayonnaise makes this a less than healthy dinner, it is simple to make and full of flavor! You could use light mayo or dredge the fish in egg instead of mayo. I will definitely be making this often.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups seasoned Panko breadcrumbs

2 tilapia fillets

1/3 cup real mayonnaise, divided

1/3 cup pickled jalapeño slices, chopped

2-4 tbs olive oil

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed

5 cherry tomatoes, quartered

3 green onions, sliced (optional)

Juice from 1 lime

Directions

1. Brush fish with mayo. Dip fish in crumbs, turning to evenly coat both sides of each fillet or toss in a plastic bag with panko. Mix remaining mayo and jalapeños.

2. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add fish; cook 3 min. on each side or until fish is golden brown on both sides and flakes easily with fork. Remove from skillet. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients.

3. Top fish with mayo mixture. Serve with bean mixture.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/breaded-tilapia-black-bean-114985.aspx

Golden Lemon Panko Tilapia Sticks

I buy my son breaded fish sticks. I've tried to be a "good" Mom and bread my own fish sticks, but he has yet to give a recipe the thumbs up. I always use tilapia because of the mild flavor. How do I, being a vegetarian, know that the flavor is mild? Because my husband tells me so...and since he's eating it and I'm not, I'll trust him. So I use a mild flavored fish to try and win my son over. I found this recipe in Bon Appetit Magazine (November 2008). The fish sticks are pan-fried so I thought my little one would be more open to giving Mommy a "happy plate". Ya know...I didn't even attempt to get him to try one. Why not? Because I started dinner too late in the evening and I just quickly tossed something together for him. "Bad" Mommy.

My husband gladly ate it and he actually raved. I had the biggest smile on my face after hearing him describe the flavors and texture. At first he said it was really good (even though it wasn't hot because I took photos of it for 8 minutes). Then after a few more bites he said it was fantastic! He loved the panko coating and the lemon zest in the breading. He squeezed a little more lemon on it too. The batter is made with dark beer but it seems as though that flavor might have gotten lost as it competed with the lemon and cayenne pepper. When he went on to describe all of the effort it must take to pull off my dinners, I got the sense that he really appreciated the work that went into this meal, which to be honest wasn't any big deal. Overall, hubby gave it two thumbs up and asked me to make it again. Yay!

Adapted

Ingredients

2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into rectangular sticks
3 ounces panko breadcrumbs
1 tbs finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 tsp coarse kosher salt
2 tsp finely grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup dark ale
3 tbs EVOO

Directions

1. Sprinkle fish with salt & pepper. In a large bowl, combine fish sticks with next 5 ingredients.
2. Whisk egg whites and ale in a medium bowl. Add fish to ale mixture and toss to coat. Shake off excess, then toss fish in panko mixture to coat all sides.
3. Heat 3 tbs EVOO in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the fish sticks. Cook until golden and just opaque in center; about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining fish. Adding more oil as necessary.
4. Transfer fish to paper towels on a plate. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Serve immediately (don't take 8 minutes to take photos of it!).

Serve with lemon slices on the side and sweet potato fries.

Tilapia with Balsamic Butter Sauce, Thyme Mashed Potatoes and Hericot Vert

Fish is on the dinner menu once a week and the hubby likes Tilapia for it's light texture and flavor. I found a tilapia recipe that seemed easy enough to make in Bon Appetit magazine back in January 2007. If you've been following my blog here and there then you know I've been trying to plan a dinner menu a month at a time and I'm trying recipes that I've been saving for years that I've never prepared before. Here's one of those recipes. I wish I hadn't waited so long because the feedback was possibly the best I've received from my husband in the 9-10 years we've known each other.

I had a few problems making this dinner...well, three. The third problem involves FIRE, but I'll get to that in a minute. Oh wait! Four problems come to mind. I can't believe this meal made it to the table and the feedback I got. I should've thrown in the towel over and over again.

So I gathered up all the ingredients that I needed to successfully prepare a wonderful meal. I started by boiling the potatoes for the Thyme Mashed Potatoes. I've cooked boiled potatoes hundreds of times. It's not hard and 20 minutes is all you need. 20 minutes is all the recipe called for. 20 minutes is all I cooked the potatoes for. But, wouldn't you know it? I messed them up, kind of. If I had been making anything other than mashed potatoes I would've needed to head back out to the grocery store.

When I went to drain the potatoes, they were a mushy mess. They practically mashed themselves as they boiled away. I guess it made my job easier, but they looked rough. To mess up the THYME mashed potato recipe further, as I was mincing the thyme I noticed something seemed off. No, I didn't buy the wrong herb. It looked like thyme, but it smelt so good - like flowers or lemons. I checked the container it came in and sure enough, it was lemon thyme. Okay - not a total disaster, but not what the recipe called for. What ever - a hint of lemon sounded nice with a fish dish.

So with two disasters down and two more to go, including the one with FIRE, it was time to get the Balsamic Butter Sauce going. In a small sauce pan I put in the 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and the minced garlic. The recipe calls for this to simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. I needed to start on the fish so I turned the heat down and let it simmer away...until I smelt, nope, not FIRE, but a burning smell. My sauce was turning into charcoal in the pan. Crap! Again, not a complete disaster because I had plenty of balsamic vinegar and garlic left and I just needed to dump it and scrub the pot clean.

So, with three disasters dealt with I moved on to preparing the fish. The fish was not frozen. The instructions called for the pan to be heated on HIGH with a TBS of oil. Not a problem, but when the oil was starting to smoke I felt that the temperature was up too high. I turned it down a bit and added the fish. Well, I guess the pan didn't cool down enough and the fish was cooking very fast. I added some more oil to keep the fish from sticking but the kick back from the oil was crazy. It was although I was cooking something frozen in the pan. Oil was shooting everywhere. I was gentle shaking the pan back and forth to prevent the fish from sticking when all of a sudden, you guessed it, FIRE! Flames were circling around my electric flat top stove. This isn't a gas stove so I was a little freaked out. I called out to my husband, who had no idea I wanted a new kitchen remodel this badly! By the time he got to the kitchen, everything was under control again and no damage was done. I have a handy fire extinguisher, but luckily I didn't need to use it.

I shewed my husband back out of the kitchen and finished cooking the meal. I presented it after all of my near-secret disasters and heard nothing but great feedback. The fish was cooked perfectly, the potatoes were seasoned perfectly and were so smooth, and the sauce was incredible. The meal was truly restaurant quality. Hearing all of this made the whole effort worth it!

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2007/01/tilapia_with_balsamic_butter_sauce_thyme_mashed_potatoes_and_sugar_snap_peas

Fish Tacos

My husband really likes Tilapia so I've been looking for recipes that I think he might enjoy. I came across this recipe in Parade Magazine back in late 2009. It looked easy enough to make so I've finally decided to give it a try. I decided to use regular tortillas instead of the whole grain tortillas we always use. I diced up roma tomatoes, fresh cilantro and red onion. I mixed the salsa and sour cream to make a zesty sauce and I completed the meal by brushing the fish with a little EVOO and S&P and tossing it in the pan. Wow! It's really just that easy. After the fish came out of the pan, I drizzled fresh lime juice on it, then let it rest for a few minutes before flaking. Does fish even have to rest?

The result, as reviewed by my husband, was fantastic...minus one thing...it wasn't very hot. I have found an issue with blogging. I plate up dinner and then spend time photographing it, then I serve it. Oops! After putting effort into making a nice tasting, visually appealing meal, the effort is practically wasted if it's not served at the ideal temperature. I won't make that mistake again! Thankfully it was good enough that he ate everything that I prepared. I even made a couple with no fish (being a vegetarian and all) and it was so good! Everything was fresh and the flavors worked so well together. I'll make it again and skip the camera work.

Ingredients:
8 - 6" flour tortillas
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
S&P
3 - 8oz fish fillets (tilapia, haddock, flounder)
2 tbs EVOO
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 ripe roma plum or beefsteak tomatoes, diced
2 cups red cabbage, finely shredded (optional)
fresh cilantro leaves

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 300F. Stack the tortillas on top of each other and wrap in foil. Place in oven while you prepare the fish.
2. Whisk together sour cream and salsa in a small bowl; season with S&P. Cover and refrigerate.
3. Heat a grill pan or nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Brush the fish on both sides with oil and season with S&P. Cook the fish until golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate; drizzle with lime juice. Let rest for 5 minutes. Using a fork, flake the fish into large pieces.
4. To serve: Put some fish in the center of the tortilla and top with onion, tomatoes, and cabbage, then drizzle with sou-cream sauce and cilantro leaves.

Caribbean Nut-Crusted Fish

I have hundreds of recipes that I've got saved on my computer. If I'm up late at night and can't sleep, I'll browse through food blogs and recipe web sites. If I see something that I'd like to prepare someday, I'll save it. Sometimes I get adventurous and try a recipe and other times I fall into a rut and make the same dishes over and over and over again.

This month I decided to take a blank calendar and come up with a plan for dinner for every night of the month. I've tried doing this a week at a time, but I'm really inconsistent about doing it and then I lose my coordination between the menu, my grocery list and the execution.

So, this month I took about 45 minutes and filled out the calendar with meals, including nights for left-overs and a night out (or 3). During this time I also put a week-by-week shopping list together. I took an extra minute to plan how not to waste some items, like cilantro. Using 2 tablespoons in a recipe and having the rest of the bunch left over usually means it'll go bad - at least at my house. So, I grouped certain recipes based on ingredients I knew I'd need to use before they went bad.

Now it's February15th. I've had to make quite a few adjustments to my dinner calendar. I didn't account for the Super Bowl and that menu. Then we went bowling one night so I moved that night's dinner to another night. And one night, even after so much careful planning, I forgot an essential ingredient and it was getting too late to go to the grocery store. I learned a lesson though...ALWAYS have a frozen back-up on hand! This came in handy for this occasion and it'll come in handy for the night that I really am not up for cooking.

On with the Caribbean Nut-Crusted Fish. This recipe comes from my ever faithful Kraft website. I know it's good to eat fish - for those that eat fish. So, to follow my dinner calendar I've got one fish meal a week.

After mixing together the chopped nuts, fresh cilantro, minced garlic, peanut oil and lime zest I was almost ready to eat the topping! It looked and smelled terrific. The recipe called for covering the fish (I used tilapia) in lime juice and then coating with the topping. Then, it called for baking it for 10-12 minutes at 350F. On the packaging for the fish however, the cooking instructions call for baking it at 400F for 30-35 minutes. My husband suggested I follow the packaging. I decided to jump online and read the recipe reviews. Out of 20 reviews, no one said that it needed more time or that it was undercooked. So, following the recipe I go, I go.

After 12 minutes I attempted to see if the fish was flaky by ever so slightly taking a fork to it. I was trying to be so careful so that testing it wouldn't mess up the subject of my photo..I mean, my husband's dinner. It looked good to go so I plated it and spent about 10-ish minutes trying to photograph it with my new camera. My house has such crappy lighting that I find the task frustrating. But I took a suitable photo and determined that the food was probably almost cold by then. I popped the whole thing back in the oven for about 5 minutes on low heat.

After all was said and done, my husband really liked it! He likes having saucy dishes and this one wasn't saucy, but he really enjoyed it and said he'd enjoy having it again. Success!

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/caribbean-nut-crusted-fish-90666.aspx