Creamy Caprese Pasta

I am a HUGE Caprese salad fan and an even huger (is that a word?) pasta fan so when I saw this on Pinterest, I just knew I was going to have to make it.  It turned out pretty yummy but I'm a "sauce girl" so when we heated up the leftovers the next night, I warmed up some of the remaining spaghetti sauce and a bit of the cream in a saucepan.  After I took the plate of pasta out of the microwave, I sprinkled some extra shredded cheese over the hot pasta, then spooned more of the warmed sauce over it all.  That seemed to help satisfy my need for gooey, saucy pasta.  I may just double the amount of sauce and cheese called for in the recipe the next time I make this.  At any rate, it was delicious and the grape tomatoes really gave it a fresh taste.  You can find the recipe here.  Here's some pics of my finished product:

Broiled Pesto Salmon

Since we opted to stay home for New Year's Eve this year, I decided to make a restaurant-worthy meal for DH and I.  This meal was inspired by a salmon dish I had eaten once at a restaurant (I can't remember the name) several years ago.  I don't really measure much so the following measurements are approximations.

INGREDIENTS:


2 Salmon fillets (one serving size each)
1 package (8 oz) sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 bag (10 oz) fresh baby spinach leaves
1/2 teaspoon dill weed
1-2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
juice from half a lemon
2 tablespoons basil pesto
salt and pepper to taste

Set Broiler to HIGH

Melt 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add mushrooms and saute until they are brown and tender.  Salt and pepper to taste after mushrooms have browned.  (adding salt before they are cooked will pull the moisture out of mushrooms).

While the mushrooms are cooking, season both sides of each salmon fillet with salt, pepper and dill weed.  Line a deep metal pan with a piece of foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Place the fillets on the foil, topping each with a small drizzle of olive oil and a dab of butter.  Broil on HIGH for 5-10 minutes, depending on how cooked you prefer your fish.

As the fish is cooking, add the entire bag of baby spinach leaves to the cooked mushrooms and continue to heat until the spinach begins to wilt.  Add a pinch of nutmeg, toss.  Remove skillet from heat and add Parmesan cheese.  Toss to mix the cheese throughout the spinach.

Remove the fillets from the broiler.  Squeeze the lemon juice over the hot fillets.  Spoon half of the spinach mixture onto a plate, creating a bed for the salmon.  Place the salmon fillet on top of the spinach.  Repeat with the remaining spinach and remaining fillet.  Top each fillet, while they are still hot, with a spoonful of pesto.  Serve with a side of your choice.  (I chose a boxed garlic and herb couscous).

Serves 2

You can take the girl out of the south...

A few weeks ago I was watching The Food Network and chef Claire Robinson of "5 Ingredient Fix" was making some southern goodies.  Born in a small southern town in Kentucky meant I grew up eating all the good stuff--biscuits and gravy, corn-on-the-cob picked fresh from the garden and, one of my personal favorites, catfish.

Claire was making blackened catfish that made my mouth water (thanks in part to JB) so I just had to try it out.  The only thing I did differently was using blackening seasoning instead of the Creole seasoning.  It turned out AMAZING!!  I rounded the meal out with whole corn-filled corn muffins and fresh-brewed sweet tea with lemon.  Here's my end result and Claire's recipe which can also be found here.

BLACKENED CATFISH

Ingredients

Compound Butter:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Catfish:

• 2 lemons, thinly sliced
• Compound butter
• 4 (8-ounce) fresh skinless, boneless catfish fillets
• 1/4 cup Creole seasoning (recommended: Tony Chachere's)
• Whole chives, for garnishing

Directions

In a bowl, add the butter, Creole spices, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper and mix to combine. Stir in the chopped chives and set aside. The butter can be made ahead and chilled; bring to room temperature before using.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Preheat a large well-seasoned cast iron skillet or nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Line the bottom of a 9 by 11-inch baking dish with the lemon slices and dollop half of the compound butter evenly over the lemon.

Evenly coat both sides of each fish fillet with 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning. Working in batches if necessary, add the seasoned fillets to the hot skillet, and cook 2 minutes on each side to just toast and brown the seasoning. With a spatula, carefully place the seared fish on top of the buttered lemon slices in the baking dish. Bake until fish easily breaks apart with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Immediately top each hot fillet with a spoonful of compound butter; transfer to heated serving plates and garnish with a few whole fresh chives crossed like an x over each fillet.

Custard Battered French Toast

When I ran across this recipe on Pottery Barn's Farmhouse Brunch Party Planner this summer, I knew I wanted to make it someday.  Unfortunately, I waited too long to print it out and now the season is over and it is no longer listed.  I was, however, able to find this video online and follow the recipe pretty easily.  I don't like exact measurements (hence my very limited baking skills) so winging it worked out well for me.  My custard didn't end up quite as thick as the one appears to be in the video, but it turned out delicious anyway!  I will list the approximate recipe below.  If anyone has the exact recipe, please feel free to share.  This made 4 large pieces of French toast with enough custard leftover for another batch tomorrow morning!

Ingredients:

1 Loaf French bread

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tblsp butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or seeds from 1 vanilla bean)

2 egg yolks

1.  Slice the French bread on a diagonal to create large, one-inch thick slices.  Set the bread slices aside.

2.  In a medium saucepan, bring the cream, milk, sugar, butter and vanilla to a simmer.  Watch carefully, as it tends to boil over very quickly once it heats up.  Remove from heat.

3.  In a medium bowl, add the egg yolks and break lightly with a wisk.  To temper the egg yolks, whisk in a few tablespoons of the hot cream mixture, then add the rest of the cream to the tempered eggs VERY SLOWLY while whisking.  If you do this too quickly, you could scramble your eggs.

4.  Pour the custard back into the saucepan and place it on LOW heat, stirring constantly until thickened.  A good way to tell if it's thick enough is if the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.  DO NOT walk away from the pan, you may accidentally end up cooking the eggs.  Pour custard into a shallow dish.

5.  Place a non-stick skillet over medium heat and melt about one tablespoon of butter in the skillet.

6.  Take your bread slices and dunk each side into the custard for about three seconds and place in skillet. 

7.  The toast is ready to flip when the edges closest to the bottom of the pan are becoming brown and carmelized.  

8.  Cook the other side for about 4-5 minutes.  Remove from skillet.

I served mine with a little bit more butter, a light dusting of powdered sugar and warmed maple syrup.  

(We also had a side of scrambled eggs, adding the leftover egg whites from the custard recipe to 4 more whole eggs, and a generous splash of milk.  This made them very light and fluffy!  I almost always top my finished scrambled eggs with a sprinkling of some type of cheese.  This time I just used sharp cheddar cheese)

Goblet:  Pottery Barn

Plates:   IKEA

Urn:      Pottery Barn

Floral:   Target