Showing posts with label Sweet Potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweet Potatoes. Show all posts

Almond Crusted Tilapia

Sunday, February 19, 2012 - 
On Sundays, I make our menu. With the help of hubs, we determine what we are craving and work from there. We always have at least one vegetarian and one seafood meal on the menu though. I really like to stick to this to ensure our diet (and menu) isn't redundant. If I can get away with it, I'll try to have two vegetarian meals to be part of it as well. It just really depends on what is going on that week to be honest!

It is a little difficult to always get seafood in the menu due to being land locked and on a budget. Unfortunately, our grocer doesn't always have the highest quality, so it is a hit or miss.We had some good tilapia this time around, which made me pretty excited. I'm a fan of the mild fish, and was looking forward to a good dinner. I decided I was going to pan fry the fish. I marinated it in some milk for a bit as I prepped the other ingredients. A well seasoned flour mix, an egg wash, and then a breading. I had some leftovers from the previous week I had to use up, including bread and parsley. I ended up pulsing the almonds with these two ingredients and breading the fish lightly with them. The bread was a little soft and took on the green from the parsley which made the dinner a fun, unexpected color.

 

I was doing all of this while roasting some sweet potatoes, Brussel sprouts, red onions, and parsnips. All were cut to the same size and roasted well together with a simple toss of olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. As they were wrapping up (and giving the house a great smell), I pan fried the fish in a little bit of olive oil so all finished at the same time. The dinner was delicious with as the fish had good texture and a fantastic crust with a side of satisfying, roasted vegetables.


Funny thing, as much as I plan our menu, I don't always plan specifics. This menu item was listed as "fish with roasted vegetables". That night, as much as it was planned, it is always fun to continue to incorporate the unexpected into a meal.

Fall Harvest Dinner

Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - 
When you have friends who can cook, you eat.  That's the rule.  My friends can cook.  Every year, Rachel & Josh host a group of friends to enjoy the tastes of fall.  A quick history lesson - a group of friends get together on an annual basis to celebrate the flavors of fall.  Delicious - my kind of thing for sure.  I happily taste as much as I can while I'm there, and this year was no different.


I wanted to share with you a few photos and comment on some of the delicious food.


Wild Mushroom Risotto - creamy, delicious and oh so perfect.  I had not one, but two servings.  Maybe this is because of my recent risotto kick?  Or maybe it was because it was just plain delicious.  Kudos Unrue brothers!


Pumpkin soup - when I saw the cans and cans of pumpkin puree, I knew Rachel was serving up her pumpkin soup.  Creamy, bursting with pumpkin flavor.  And bleu cheese crumbles and bacon don't hurt either.

 
Sweet potatoes - I can't tell you how much I love these.  I was first introduced to this specific recipe a few years ago and ate loads of it.  I did so again this time around.  Thank you Rachel!


Pork wrapped in pork - you heard me right, pork loin wrapped in pork.  I haven't crunched on pork belly like this before.  It caramelized so well when it was cooked, that a knife and fork weren't going to cut it, literally.  And my dear friends, that is not a complaint by any means.  The pork was a little more than medium and extremely tender.  Seasoned to perfection, this was a pig I would eat over and over again.  My friend Steven, you are nothing less than extremely gifted when it comes to pig!


And to top it all off, hubs supplied some quality ESB and premium bitter beer for the event.  It was a different batch from our BrewMile, but same type.  Delicious for sure - I'm married to one talented man that is for sure!


Another great Harvest Dinner.  My stomach was full and my heart content - good friends, great food and happiness of the season!  Thanks dear ones!

Spiced Maple Pork with Sweet Potato Hash

Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 
When hubs and I buy pork, it is always a huge portion.  When there are only two of you, that means the pork roast can become six meals plus leftovers if you are lucky.  We had already made pork chops and pork fried rice, so I decided to make a basic roast this time around.

After allowing the pork to come to room temperature, I covered it in olive oil.  After seeing maple syrup in the pantry, I opted for a sweet and spicy pork.  I rubbed the pork with cayenne, thyme, salt and pepper and proceeded to bast it with maple syrup while it roasted in the oven.

On the side, I opted for sweet potatoes though hubs isn't a fan.  I'm determined to make him a fan due to my love affair with the root vegetable.  Plus, he likes potatoes, I don't understand.  I decided to make a hash out of them and add some spinach to really get that nutrition level up.  I began by seasoning up some sauteed onions with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  The shredded sweet potatoes were then added.  Unfortunately, I had the wrong attachment on my KitchenAid, so I got a very fine potato versus the thicker cut I was looking for.  So my hash ended up almost mashed, but it still cooked well and tasted delightful.


I added some nutmeg and let it continue to marinate in flavor.  I threw in the leftover spinach we had in the fridge for it to finish up as I took out the pork.  The pork was done to my liking (I love it a little pink, don't hate) after basting it in maple syrup for the last 40 minutes.  It was a big chunk of meat and I wasn't anticipating it taking so long, but it was worth the wait for sure.

The pork was extremely juicy and bursting with flavor.  It was a great cut of meat and the maple syrup not only left it subtly sweet, but gave it a thin and crisp outer layer.  The syrup was perfect with the spice of the cayenne pepper I had rubbed on it.  It was fantastic, so fantastic that we didn't have leftovers from the meal.  The potatoes and spinach, though not the texture I wanted, were great with the pork. They had their own sweetness, but were elevated with the nutmeg and pepper I had used to season it.

Delicious weekday meal, and I'm happy to report, hubs ate all of his potatoes!