Tilapia Lettuce Wraps - "Gyros"

My wife saw a recent Oprah episode that featured 3 celebrity chefs. Each was paired with a family that was clueless in the kitchen, and they each came up with a weeks worth of recipes that were interesting and simple to prepare. That, of course, means that I have more recipes to learn and try!
So far I've made 2 of them and will be making more. This recipe is from Cat Cora, the first female Iron Chef, and was titled "Lettuce 'Gyros'with Tilapia and Yogurt Sauce". The original can be found on Oprah's web site, but its not put together well- the idea is great, but the writeup isn't, so I've redone it here with a few of my own little modifications.

We enjoyed this - It's fresh tasting, satisfying, easy and quick, plus it's the base of a pretty healthy meal. I even like the yogurt sauce a kind of tzatziki, which is really saying something as I'm definitely not a fan of yogurt.

I made a few minor changes, for example, instead of using "butter lettuce", I used the romaine I already had in the fridge. Using the romaine also gave it a nice "crunch". I changed up the fish easoning mixture a bit, too.

Make the tzatziki first - it should sit in the fridge for a while, an hour or so, before serving. Beware, too - this tzatziki recipe makes a whole bunch more than you'll need for the lettuce wraps. You may want to half the tzatziki recipe.

Tilapia Lettuce Wraps with Tzatziki
Serves 4–6

Tilapia Lettuce Wraps:
3 fillets (6 ounces each) tilapia or whatever fish you prefer. If frozen, thaw completely first
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lime
1 tspn chili powder
1/4 tspn cayenne pepper
1/4 tspn ground cumin
1 tsp. sea salt, divided
Fresh black pepper
Romaine lettuce leaves, washed, dried
1 medium ripe tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 medium yellow onion , sliced very thinly
Black or kalamata olives , pitted and halved
1 Tbsp. dried Italian herb seasoning blend (I used Mrs. Dash® Tomato Basil Seasoning Blend)
2 or 3 scallions, sliced thinly on the bias

Method:
Preheat grill or oven to 400°.

In a mixing bowl, mix the tomatoes, onion, olives, Italian herb blend, 1/2 the olive oil, 1/2 the lime juice, 1/2 tspn salt and pepper and blend well. Set aside to serve as a condiment for the wraps.

Line a baking pan with foil and spray with vegetable spray.
Mix 1/2 the olive oil, 1/2 the lime juice, the chili powder, cayenne, cumin, pepper and 1/2 tspn salt in a small bowl.
Place the fish on the pan and spread the seasoning mixture over the fish.
Let the seasoned fish sit for 10 minutes.
Place in the oven until cooked through, but not dry, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Once the fish is done, remove from the oven and let sit until slightly warm.

On warmed serving plates, flake a generous amount of fish into each lettuce leaf.

Serve with the tomato/onion mixture, tzatziki (recipe below), scallions, etc. I served them with sliced cucumbers, too.

Tzatziki:
Ingredients:
1 lemon , juiced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic , minced
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

Method:
Add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt to the yogurt. Chill for at least 1 hour.

I also served this with some Sabra hummus and rye crackers.


A delicious dinner!
Enjoy,
Lorence

Shrimp and Scallop pasta

I created this dish a couple of years ago and forgot about it. I found the recipe written in one of my notebooks and remembered how much we liked it, so I gathered the ingredients together and cooked it up tonight. It was as tasty as I remembered, but perhaps could have used a bit more heat (red pepper flakes).
It's quick to make, not too fancy, but tastes rich. There's a whole lot of garlic in it, and If you've read any of my other posts, you know I love garlic.

This recipe made about 4 servings.

Shrimp and Scallop Pasta
Ingredients:
½ pound pasta (I used thin spaghetti)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 pound Shrimp, peeled (26-30 size)
½ pound bay scallops,rinsed
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces plain tomato sauce
4 ounces chicken broth
2 more ounces chicken broth with ½ teaspoon flour blended in
1 small tomato, diced, drained
1 roasted red pepper, cut in ½" x ½" pieces
½ teaspoon dried "Italian seasoning" blend (blend of basil, oregano,
Hot red pepper flakes to taste (¼ to ½ teaspoon)

Method:
put the shrimp and scallops in separate bowls. Sprinkle each with ¼ of the Italian seasonings and stir.
Cook the pasta per package directions.
Heat the Olive oil in a large saute pan on medium-high
Add the sliced garlic, cook 20 seconds or so.
Add the shrimp, saute about a minute.
Add the tomato and roasted red pepper. Saute another minute.
Add the 4 ounces of chicken broth, the tomato sauce & minced garlic. Bring to a boil
Cover and cook for another minute.
Add the scallops.
Stir the broth with the flour to be sure it is well blended and add it to the pan.
Add the red pepper flakes and return to a boil.
Cook until the scallops are just cooked through, another minute or 2.
Toss with the pasta in a large bowl, and serve.

I've used shrimp and scallops, but I think the next time I might try some shrimp and fish, like cod or even salmon.

Enjoy,
Lorence

Appetizer in a box

In our never ending quest for a quick fix for dinner, Boogie found a new little treat for us in the Kroger freezer case, Mussels in Garlic Butter Sauce from Bantry Bay Seafood, an Irish mussel producer. The 1 pound package was on sale for $2.99 and I figured, "how bad could it be?".

All 3 of us love mussels, but have only had them out, at restaurants and wedding parties. Yes, I know they're quite easy to prepare, and I have a great recipe for "mussels prodotto" that I saw Lidia Matticchio Bastianich make on a cooking show on PBS a few months ago. I think it is from her book, Lidia's Family Table. I also just stumbled on "Tapas of Mussels" on The 64 Sq Ft Kitchen blog. I will try them both soon.

In the mean time and until I have the patience to do it myself, the Bantry Bay frozen mussels weren't bad at all!

We fixed them as an appetizer a few nights after we bought them . They cooked up quite easily and we were very happy with the taste.

To prepare them, the sealed package is opened and dumped into a large saucepan:

After heating on high for about 4 minutes and simmering for another 2-3 minutes,
I just transfered them to a big bowl and sat them in front of the family.

The mussels were sweet and tender and the sauce was good, not too bold, not really bold enough, but pleasant. It wasn't anywhere near the heavenly broth my table was fighting over at the Scottsdale, Arizona "Bobby's, A Mancuso Restaurant" back in August, 2006, but it wasn't bad at all, and certainly worth the effort of scooping up and slurping from an empty mussel shell.

The package went quickly that night, and we've since tried the "Tomato and Garlic Sauce" variety. Boogie really preferred them over the garlic and butter, but he was out voted 2-to-1 on our last shopping excursion (still $2.99).

Better luck next time , Boog...

Enjoy,
Lorence

Garlic Lemon Shrimp Pasta

Yeah, let's hit all the good stuff at once - garlic, shrimp, pasta, and lemon all living in perfect harmony and with one goal in life: to make me happy.
This recipe is based on one of those old recipe cards I got from First Magazine years ago (early 1990's?). I haven't made it in a while, but I pulled it out last week when I was pressed for time. I always have a pound of shrimp in the freezer for emergencies, and I'd just been to the store and found some nice lemons at a decent price (for February), so I was all set (garlic is, of course, a staple...).

I usually use a thin spaghetti, and until recently my preffered pasta was Barilla Linguini Rigate. I can't seem to find it anymore and it's no longer mentioned on their web site. I've had to settle for their Spaghetti Rigati, which works ok , but it's a bit heavier than I like for this dish, although I think angel hair would be too thin. Such a delicate balance..

It's a pretty simple and quick recipe, and tastes even better as leftovers.

Ingredients:
½ pound spaghetti
3 large cloves of garlic, crushed, then minced
¼ cup of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (I used the zest from ½ large lemon)
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice (I used the juice from ½ large lemon, the same ½ that I got the zest from)
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:
Cook the pasta per package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil and butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan.
Add the minced garlic and cook for about a minute.
Add the shrimp and cook until pinked through; that should only take a couple of minutes.
Add the parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice and toss well.
Be sure to time the finshing of the shrimp with the finishing of the pasta.
Drain the pasta and toss the drained pasta into the sauté pan of shrimp and garlic sauce, blending it well with the shrimp/garlic sauce.
Serve with a finish of a bit fine salt and fresh ground pepper, garnish with some thin lemon slices if you're into that sort of thing.

Sorry, no photo this time - too hungry.

Enjoy,
Lorence

Tilapia Stuffed with Crabmeat

What to make tonight...Same old question, made harder by long stretches between grocery store excursions due to colds and bronchitis...I got lucky, though, a couple of weeks ago as we were "recovering". We all felt somewhat better and were hungry for dinner. What do we have? Nothing obvious... Lets dig around in the freezer... Hey, look Tilapia! Ok, that could be good if I had some way of making it, um, interesting. Tilapia *can* be a little bland. So I went rooting around for something, anything to do with the fish & I found this recipe on Recipezaar. I've had a can of crabmeat in the cupboard for a couple of months just itching to be used. The perfect opportunity, I thought.

I was right.

The recipezaar version calls it "Crabmeat Stuffed Tilapia". Well, not really. I couldn't see anyway to roll the little fillets around the crab mixture, as the original recipe on http://www.blogger.com/www.tilapia.ws describes, and I didn't want to "sandwhich" the stuffing between fillets as the recipezaar recipe called for. I did something just slightly different and wrapped a fillet over a mound of crabmeat mixture. They were big enough. You'll see what I mean below.

This was a very good tasting & easy to prepare dish. Nice crab flavor (even better with some fresher fillets & crabmeat if handy). We'll definately be making this again.

Tilapia Stuffed with Crabmeat
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 celery rib, chopped fine
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley (yeah, I had to use dried, but it worked just fine)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, unseasoned (we used fresh from whole wheat bread)
8 ounces white crab meat (I only had a 6 oz. can of BumbleBee)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 tablespoon cayenne pepper
4 (6 ounce) tilapia fillets, approximately 6 oz each (had 6 fillets in the bag)
2 tablespoons butter, Melted
paprika

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Chop the onion and celery into fine pieces.
3. Flake the crabmeat and check for pieces of shells. I drained it a bit, too.
4. Sauté the onion and celery in butter until tender.
5. Add the parsley, stir, saute for just a bit more and remove from heat.
6. Stir in the bread crumbs, crab meat, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.
7. Spray a casserole or oven pan with cooking spray. I used a foil lined pan.
8. Make a small mound of the mixture, then drape a tilapia fillets over it as shown inthe photo.
9. Sprinkle with melted butter and paprika.
10. Place in a 400°F oven for about 15 to20 minutes until the tilapia flakes easily with a fork.
"Stuffing" the tilapia.

After about 18 minutes in the oven...
Plated, with some quick steamed edemame.

Give this a try - quick and tasty.

Enjoy,
Lorence