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Tilapia with Veggies and Garlic Rice

February 19, 2009 · Filed under Dinner, Fish, Main dish, Sides

The tilapia with veggies is one of my favorite and easiest recipes to make. It takes less than thirty minutes to prepare and it’s super delicious! If you’ve noticed, I tend to not make things that take more than an hour to prepare or cook because I really don’t like standing in the kitchen checking on stuff. Okay, the real reason is that I really like to eat and once my kitchen starts smelling like food, I need to have it right then and there. Patience is not a virtue in my kitchen…The garlic rice was something I decided to experiment with recently. I adore rice but I’ve gotten tired of throwing in the same old veggies or making pilafs, I want something new, exciting, delicious! I was a little nervous about it because usually when I experiment in the kitchen, it, um, okay, it’s gross. Sort of like the time I decided to marinate pork ribs with a bottle of mead. I figured that the honey would give the pork a distinct taste and it was definitely distinct, distinctly ass. Eh, you live and you learn.

Your ingredients for the tilapia

Tilapia ingredients

One pound of tilapia, pepper, salt, cumin, one red pepper (I ran out of bell peppers and used these itty bitty sweet peppers instead, same result), half a purple onion, and one tomatillo, one bottle of Mexican beer or one cup of veggie broth.

I really like tomatillos and wish I had more recipes that called for them. When James saw it on the counter, he asked “Um, what’s wrong with that tomato?” Oh, that James! If you aren’t very familiar with tomatillos, make sure you buy ones that are firm and bright green. Usually part of the husk has fallen off so you can see the color. On to the cooking.

Heat up your skillet with some EVOO and while waiting for that to heat up, chop up your veggies. When the skillet and oil are nice and hot, add the peppers, then the onion, and then the tomatillo. Normally I add a bottle of Dos Equis Mexican Lager to the veggies and let them boil but oddly, we didn’t have any beer in the house. I ended up substituting the beer with veggie broth and I think it came out just as good. While the veggies are boiling, cover each side of the tilapia with salt, pepper, and cumin and then add to the veggies. I typically make room on the skillet, add the tilapia, and then cover the tilapia with all of the veggies so that all the flavor can get sucked in to the fish.

Your ingredients for the garlic rice (I didn’t take a picture of it, sorries!)

Half a cup of white rice, a two teaspoons of EVOO, two garlic cloves, and pepper, a drizzle of truffle oil.

I first smashed the garlic cloves and put them and a teaspoon of EVOO in foil, made a little envelope, and threw it in the oven at 350 degrees for about ten minutes. When the garlic was ready, I took it out and mashed it into a paste. I then heated up a pan with some oil and added the rice and about a tablespoon of pepper. I fried the rice for a bit, maybe about five minutes, and then added the garlic and a cup of water. After the rice was ready, about thirty minutes later, I drizzled a little bit of truffle oil on top and fluffed it wit a fork. If you’ve never used truffle oil, I demand you go out and buy yourself a bottle. It’s a little expensive but totally worth it because it adds an amazingly rich flavor to everything you use it with and it never takes more than a drizzle to make a difference.

Tilapia with Veggies and Garlic Rice

I also made some squash with this meal but it was nothing more than sauteeing it in butter so I didn’t feel the need to add the how to in here. The rice was yum-tacular and I was really pleased with how it turned out. This was actually our Valentine’s Day dinner and it was a great success because I totally fell in love with that rice.

How to Make a Roast in Ten Easy Steps

November 24, 2008 · Filed under Beginner Recipe, Main dish, Meat, Quick and Easy, Sides

Get a casserole dish

Put meat in casserole dish

Pick up knife, make slits in meat

Grab a clove of garlic and slice it up

Put slices of garlic into slits in meat

Pour broth over meat

Put in oven at 375 degrees

Chop up two potatoes and carrots

After fifteen minutes, add potatoes and carrots to roast

After forty-five minutes, take out of oven and serve

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Meat Free Meatloaf

November 24, 2008 · Filed under Main dish, Quick and Easy, Vegan

Meat free meatloaf?! Yeah, I know, I know. I already got grief from AF about this and he refused to eat it because he might “go along with all of my other crazy ideas but meatloaf should have real meat in it and that’s that.” The crazy ideas he’s referring to are bathing regularly and using this amazing contraption called a “trash can” to dispose of his junk. Seriously, I’m so forward thinking…

Your ingredients

2 cups veggie broth (I used chicken boullioun because I ran out of veggie broth), 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 cups TVP, 1 cup oats (I used two packets of my microwaveable breakfast oatmeal), 1/4 cup flaxseed, 1 tablespoon yeast, half an onion diced, one garlic clove dice, basil.

Mix broth, ketchup, soy sauce, and TVP in a bowl and let sit until all the liquid is absorbed. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Pack mixture into a casserole dish or loaf pan (I used a loaf pan) and bake for 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees.

For the topping I just used my regular meatloaf sauce which is a 1/4 cup of ketchup, 1/4 cup of mustard, and three tablespoons of Worceshtire Sauce. I doubt I spelled that correctly. Anyway, mix and pour on top of the meatloaf after it’s been in the oven for about fifteen minutes. This time I also added sliced mushrooms to the sauce just to give the meal a bit more texture.

Willie says “Gimme some damn meat!”

This was filling and it was pretty yummy but, next time I want meatloaf, I’m totally buying some ground up cow. It just ain’t right without some ground up cow.

Beef Enchiladas

March 31, 2008 · Filed under Main dish, Mexican

Okay, so maybe by now you’re thinking “Ugh, does me she make anything other than Mexican food?” And the answer is “I actually really suck at Mexican food but shut up and make this stuff anyway and smile!” Alright, the sucking part isn’t true but the rest is

This is kind of a two part recipe: the sauce and the filling.

For the sauce you will need: 2 cups water, 3 tbsp chili powder, 3 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp cumin, half a cup of cornmeal, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tbsp flour, and an 1/8 cup of tomato sauce.

Combine all the ingredients in a pot and boil. Make sure to stir it occasionally to prevent the cornmeal and flour from lumping.

For the filling you will need: a pound of lean ground meat (for you veggies, TVP works just as well), a fourth of a poblano pepper, and a fourth of an onion.

Dice the pepper and onion up and saute in olive oil until the onion is clear. Don’t forget to remove the seeds from the pepper, unless you want your mouth be to be aflame. Hey, different strokes for different folks…

While you’re sauteing the veggies, grab about eight corn tortillas and dip them in water. Arrange them on a cooking sheet (I use pizza sheets because they have holes in them so the heat is thoroughly distributed) and put them in a 250 degree oven for about five minutes. Check on them every couple of minutes to make sure they haven’t dried out.

When the veggies are ready, add your meat and brown it.

When the meat is done, make sure to drain the grease, unless you want a heart attack, then by all means, drink it up. Oh man, that is so gross. Anyway, ugh, I’m still so grossed out. Add a few spoonfuls of the sauce to the meat. You want it to be creamy, not liquidy. Is that a word? It is now.

Here’s the fun, quick finger part: filling the tortillas. Warning: this will be very hot so you could let the meat sit for a few minutes and cool down or you could put your big girl/boy underwear on and just do it. I’d go with the latter but I’m kind of a badass so yeah, you know.

I don’t know why that first one is all wonky but I’m leaving it cause it’s itty bitty and cute. Itty bitty tortilla! Moving on, get your tortilla, spoon some filling in and roll. I know, que hard. Continue this will all eight tortillas. You’ll probably have some meat left so just spoon it over all of the enchiladas. Then pour all of the sauce over them and cover it with cheese, any kind you want. Put them in the oven until the cheese melts and then serve.

There is an alternative to making your sauce: you could just buy McCormick’s Enchilada Sauce mix and make that. I actually normally use the mix and this was the first time I ever made the sauce myself. I honestly don’t know of anyone who makes their own sauce, everyone I know uses the mix, so don’t feel bad if you resort to that. My own Grandma Lupe never even made her own sauce and if she were here right now, she’d probably scold me for making my own sauce by saying “Ay, guerca mocosa, porque necesitas ser tan dificil.” Which roughly translates to “Booger faced girl, why do you have to be so difficult?” She loved me.

Smile

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Chicken Tarhonya

March 12, 2008 · Filed under Beginner Recipe, Hungarian, Main dish

This is The Boyfriend’s absolute favorite meal. It’s a Hungarian recipe that his grandmother used to make for him and actually still does when he visits. She showed me how to make it a few years ago and I now use it as bait when I want something done. “I’ll make you chicken tarhonya if you do the laundry” “Guess who gets chicken tarhonya if he takes out the trash with a smile on his face!” It’s also one of the easiest things to make but of course I don’t let him know this, I sit in the kitchen and rub my head in frustration every few minutes so he can truly appreciate the whole thirty minutes I spend in the kitchen, half of which are spent text messaging about the newest Britney Spears saga.

Your ingredients:

Salt, Paprika (this is necessary! no substituting!), pepper, tarhonya noodles (more on this in a sec), butter, chicken broth, sour cream, half a yellow or white onion, two chicken breasts, a skillet, and a pot.

So of course one of the main ingredients in chicken tarhonya is, yeah, you guessed it: the tarhonya noodles. They are essentially itty bitty drops of egg pasta. The problem with tarhonya is that it’s nearly impossible to find in a regular grocery store. The only time I’ve ever had actual tarhonya noodles has been when The Boyfriend’s grandmother bought them at the Hungarian grocery store in Seattle and shipped them to us. At one point I had over ten bags of tarhonya noodles so I was never in need but then the day came that we ate all the tarhonya noodles and darkness fell upon us. We were really in the mood for chicken tarhonya but there were no tarhonya noodles. GOOD GOD, WHAT WERE WE GOING TO DO?!!! Improvise, of course I went to the grocery store and scoured the pasta section until I came upon these little beauties

Acini di pepe

Still itty bitty, still pasta. The texture is somewhat different from tarhonya but if you can’t get to a Hungarian grocer, these will work just as well. On to some cookin’!

You wanna heat up both your skillet and pot. I normally start slicing the onions while waiting for them to heat up because waiting for an iron skillet to heat up is like watching paint dry on a wall, minus the fun buzz from inhaling all the fumes, so yeah, boring. Then, when they’re all nice and hot, you want to throw in two tablespoons of butter into each.

This is your heart having a heart attack, kids. Trust me, it’s totally worth it.

You then want to put in a cup of the tarhonya/acini di pepe noodles in the skillet and your onion slices in the pot and saute them until they’re clear. Here’s the fun part and what’s so great about this recipe: it’s totally for the novice. See, in order to get the full flavor of chicken tarhonya you have to basically burn the noodles. You want to fry them until they are a good mixture of a deep gold, chestnut, and straight up chocolate color. If you happen to burn a few into black, you’re good, it just makes it so much more diverse. Make sure you keep checking them and stir (!) because, um, yeah, sometimes you get so distracted with, oh, I don’t know, air, and you forget you’re frying pasta and you look at your skillet and it’s black with a few specks of gold. I mean, it’s never happened to me, per se, but I’m just warning you so that it doesn’t happen to you. So check your noodles! They should look something like this after about ten minutes

Now you want to pour an entire can of chicken broth, lower the heat, and let it boil.

Your onions should be pretty clear by now so you want to add your pepper, salt, and paprika. The salt and pepper are really up to you and they don’t really make much of a difference because the fried noodles, paprika, and sour cream make the recipe so you can put as much or as little as you like. The paprika? Oh yeah, you want A LOT of that.

Next you want to put in about eight ounces of sour cream. If you want to feel better about yourself, use light sour cream. While you’re waiting for the sour cream to liquefy, you want to cut up your chicken breasts into six pieces.

You then want to add a can of chicken broth to your sour cream/onion mixture, stir that a bit, and then add your chicken. You’ve been watching your noodles, right?

Put a lid on the chicken and let it boil for a bit, maybe about ten minutes or so.

Make sure you keep checking your noodles. You want all of the chicken broth to be completely evaporated. So at this point you might be asking yourself, “Hmm, why did she have four cans of chicken broth in the ingredients picture but only use four?” Mostly because I’m an idiot but partially because sometimes the chicken broth evaporates before the noodles are done so you have to add more broth as needed. I’m like a Boy Scout, always prepared.

When your noodles are done, they should look like this

So pretty right? Ha, not pretty enough to not devour!

Your chicken should be done by now so now it’s a matter of putting some tarhonya/acini di pepe on a plate and then pouring the chicken/sour cream/onion mixture on top. Oh yeah, and don’t forget to eat it. I mean, I know it’s pretty to look at but if you don’t eat it, well, I’m pretty sure a little bunny will cry. Don’t make the bunny cry!

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Fish Tacos with Mexican Rice

February 27, 2008 · Filed under Fish, Main dish, Mexican, Sides

Like K said before, we had an IM convo about fish tacos. While giving her my white-fish recipe, I started to crave fish tacos as well so I decided that I would go home and make some. The Boyfriend, having being raised in the Bay Area, was very pleased when I told him we’d be having fish tacos for dinner. You can take the boy out Cali… In addition to the tacos, we had Mexican rice. Yes you can easily buy a box in Mexican Rice flavoring but why would you do that? Don’t you want to spend a half hour prepping and then another thirty minutes making it? Of course you do and now you can!

You will need: cumin, garlic salt, half a can of tomato sauce, olive oil, a cup of white rice, salt, pepper, one garlic clove, half an onion (yellow or white but no purple), and a tomato. Quick note: if you just want enough to feed two people, use a half cup of white rice. A full cup will probably feed four people, with seconds!

While you heat up your pot/pan/anything you can cover with a lid, dice up your veggies.

Add what I would guess to be about three tablespoons of olive oil. Sorry, I no longer measure anything with this recipe. Anyway, here is the key to making Mexican rice: frying the rice. There are two reasons why you want to do this: 1. the color. Mexican rice is typically light to deep orange in color and this is primarily achieved by frying the rice beforehand. 2. the taste. I believe that the heat sort of opens up the flavoring, giving it a nutty taste. So fry, fry, fry! Okay, not really. I did time it and for a cup of rice, you want to fry for at least ten minutes. If a few grains turn black, eh, say you’re Cajun.

After you have sufficiently fried your rice, chunk in your onions and cook until translucent.

This is what it should look like after frying the rice and onions.

So here’s my problem with this next step (and where I will once again use colons): I’ve been making this stuff for so long that I no longer use measuring spoons. I just know! Even if I had tried to use measuring spoons, I don’t think I would have gotten it right because I measure by look with this recipe. Lucky you, I counted how many times I shook the bottles of spices. Yay for me! Okay, so you want about four shakes of pepper, and at least ten of cumin. I know, I know, but trust me, it makes it.

Then you chunk in your tomatoes with two shakes of salt and garlic salt each.

Then pour in your half can of tomato sauce. This I measured and it came out to a half cup. Why didn’t I just say half cup of tomato sauce? Cause I just remembered I measured it. So I’m sure that by now you know that for every cup of rice grains, you use double the water to boil it, right? So with that, add two cups of water. Cover with a lid, lower your burner, and simmer until done. I didn’t time it but I kept checking it and it was done, eventually.

Now for the fish tacos. I decided to bread my tilapia and for the breading I used: salt, garlic salt, plain breadcrumbs, chilli powder, cumin, and pepper.

This breading really depends on your own taste. Like spicy? Add a lot of chilli pepper. Earthy taste? Cumin. I say I used about two shakes of salt and garlic salt with an entire lid of the chilli pepper, and three shakes of cumin and pepper.

I cut my tilapia into sushi size pieces.

Dipped in eggs.

Dipped in the batter.

And fried it! Okay, so this isn’t the healthiest meal ever but hey, it’s good and yeah, that’s about it.

With prep time and actual cooking, this took me an hour. An hour of slaving in the kitchen and The Boyfriend devoured it in fifteen minutes. I’d say it was a success.

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We Be Cookin’

Archive for Main dish

Tilapia with Veggies and Garlic Rice

How to Make a Roast in Ten Easy Steps

Meat Free Meatloaf

Beef Enchiladas

Chicken Tarhonya

Fish Tacos with Mexican Rice

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