Baked Salmon

As part of our new dinner schedule, we have been enjoying a different red meat/seafood/white meat each day of the week.  Today's dinner menu called for salmon.  With the help of my good friend Angela, I was able to stock up at Costco for our winter storm coming tomorrow and buy salmon for tonight's dinner.  I have been truly blessed with really supportive friends who have helped me by chauffeuring me around for grocery shopping and other errands.  In no way was I going to be able to buy as much as I did and be able to come home on the bus.  It was a challenge to fit my normal stocking up pile in her small SUV, versus my usual large minivan storage.  Tonight's baked salmon is simple.   You are going to love the taste and how easy it was to make.

 Look at that wonderful meal, and yes it was delicious.  Stay tuned for the next post about the
sweet potato fries.

 Ingredients for this recipe are: Salmon (I bought Costco size since I have a big family), Salt, Pepper, Olive oil, and Lemon.

Preheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit

 Oil the skin side of the salmon and place on broiler pan or cookie sheet.  Sprinkle lots of salt and
some pepper on the meat side.  Squeeze the lemon juice on all the filets.  Place salmon in oven
and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Isn't it pretty?   This was the first meal our Chinese teenager did not salt his food!  It was a
 food miracle.   He also told us that he likes eating the skin too.

Enjoy!

Pork Roast

This week as a family we made a food calendar so I would know what they want for dinner.  Our Chinese teenager asked to have his meat not mixed with anything and to have rice.  Well I said I had a pork roast we could have, and my daughters and husband said they wanted mashed potatoes and corn. I was looking in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" for some inspiration and came up with my own version of pork roast tonight.  Pork roasts can be cooked in a pressure cooker in so much less time than in a Slow Cooker and in the oven, so of course that was the way to go.

 Dinner is served, old fashioned pork roast.  As my husband pointed out, "how boring."  This is
what our teenager wants, why not indulge him every now and again.

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1 Pork Roast (Get a size that will feed your family.  Mine is 3.2 lbs),
 Salt & Pepper, Olive Oil, Yellow Onion, Apple (I used Gala), 2 Bay Leaves, and 6 cloves of
peeled garlic.

 Preheat a saute pan to medium-high.  Liberally salt and pepper the pork roast.  Add two
tablespoons of oil and then pork to your pan.  Sear all 4 sides.

 Look at that golden delicious flavor!

 Everything shall be sliced!  Also remove the core from the apple, and the skin from the onion.

 Put half the apple, onion, garlic and both bay leaves on the bottom of a pressure cooker pan.
Place the pork on the vegetables/fruit and then place the rest of the fruit and vegetables on the
roast.  Look we're playing hide and seek with the pork roast, "Where's the pork roast? Peek a
Boo."  Add 1 1/2 cups of water.

Close lid on pressure cooker, set to high for  55 minutes.

 Wait for the pressure cooker to come down on its own.  Do you know the pressure this thing is
 under to cook your food?  The pressure on high is 15 psi (pounds per square inch) and the
 temperature is 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  Completely crazy what we put this thing
through to make us dinner.  Oh wait, I'm talking about an appliance, never mind.

Look how pretty it looks.  Remove roast to a serving platter.  Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

 Stare at the roast and enjoy the smell for at least 1 minute and really enjoy it.   Move on.
Time to finish dinner.

Enjoy!

Tilapia en Papillote (Paper)

Did you like my French?  This is a very simple recipe of fish baked in paper.  This is a French cooking technique, so I thought the French name would give an air of sophistication, or maybe not? My ingredients are not very French though.  Anyway, my children love when I bake fish this way.  My friend Whitney was also with us for the day and helped prepare this recipe, along with my husband.  My daughter photographed us.

 Perfectly moist cooked tilapia.

Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit

 Ingredients for this recipe are: Tilapia (enough for your family), Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Limes,
and peeled Garlic.

 Place fish on a large piece of parchment paper, enough to fold over fish and create a packet.  

Squeeze half a lime onto fish, 1/2 lime per two fish pieces.

 Pour 2 teaspoons of oil on each piece of fish and rub in.

 Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

 Press one clove of garlic per pair of fish pieces.  Rub garlic all over fish.

 Fold paper over and begin sealing the packet by folding at an angle small sections at a time.

 Place fish packet on cookie sheet, don't crowd them.

Bake for 15 minutes.

 Remove from oven, carefully open paper.  These are very tender, flaky fish.

Enjoy!

Turkey Enchiladas

This is the culmination of my day, the meal where my previous recipes come together to make enchiladas. Okay, well not the chocolate syrup (I promise).  I really like enchiladas.  My sister Adrienne makes very yummy enchilada casserole, but I wasn't planning on a casserole.  My plan was the rolled up version with my own spin.  In my refrigerator I had some ground turkey thawed and needing to be put into something. 

 Oh my goodness was this delicious.

Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit

 Ingredients for this recipe are: Enchilada Sauce (I used homemade, recipe is here), Grated
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 10 Tortillas (I used homemade corn/flour, recipe found here), Paprika,
Salt, Pepper, 4 cloves Garlic, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow onion, and 2 lbs. Ground Turkey.

 Dice onion, bell pepper, and press garlic. 

 Saute turkey, bell pepper, onion, and garlic together over medium flame.

 Sprinkle salt, pepper, and paprika according to your preference.

 Pour 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and stir.

 This is ready to join with the tortillas.

 Add just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the baking dish.  Use a 9x13 pan if you have one.

  Add 1/3 cup meat to tortilla, a sprinkle of cheese, and roll. 

I made mine with the side tucked in so they would fit in my small pan.  If you have a bigger
pan,  I'm sure you won't need to do this.  Place enchiladas in pan.

 Cover with sauce and cheese.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and
 slightly brown.

 They have emerged, joined together as enchiladas.

Enjoy!

Turkey Meatballs

Meatballs are really fun to make. I love adding ingredients together and coming up with a round ball of deliciousness.  I have made many different meatballs, changing what I add and how I cook them.  This is the latest version of meatballs.  This recipe was created with what I have on hand.  Have you noticed my pattern yet?  Yes my recipes are based on the ingredients I have, sometimes I prepare in advance and have certain ingredients, but these almost 14 years of marriage have been a lesson in using what I have and making do. 

 Look familiar?  Last post was about the spaghetti, now we get to make the meatballs.

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 1 lb. ground turkey, 6 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese,
1 small yellow onion, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning (Basil, oregano,
parsley), 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.

 Grate the Parmesan cheese into bowl. This is my grater, isn't it great?

 Dice the onion small.  Using a garlic press press all the garlic cloves.

 Saute onions in 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil, when starting to become translucent, add the garlic
and saute for a minute.

 Add all the ingredients together.

 Gently mix together with hands.   Over mixing meatballs mixture will create tougher meatballs.

 Heat up 1/2 inch of Olive Oil in a large 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat.  When you see
 ripples in the oil, test with a droplet of water.  If the water sizzles, add the meatballs.  Form meat
into 1 1/2 inch balls and place in skillet. 

 Cook on first side until brown.

Using tongs flip the meatballs over.

Remove from oil when finished browning and add to a skillet with your favorite marinara
 sauce.  I recommend my homemade sauce, recipe can be found here.  Cook meatballs in sauce
for at least 10 minutes with lid on.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Parmesan

Tonight my friend Lori will have her recipe for eggplant Parmesan.  Ask and ye shall receive.  This recipe came about as a side dish to the massive lasagna I made on Saturday over the weekend for a dinner party.  My friend Angela and I tag teamed dinner with another friend Tiffany helping that night, and with my husband's description of this particular dish we came up with a recipe using the ingredients I had on hand.  It was a hit, well liked by everyone, won out over the lasagna just barely too.

Preheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit.

 

 I like the softness of the photo, and the taste of this meal was out of this world good.

 Ingredients for this recipe are: 2 small eggplants (pick firm fleshed ones), 4 eggs, flour, salt &
pepper, shredded mozzarella cheese, and prepared marinara sauce (you can use my
homemade sauce recipe found here).

 Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch slices.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on one side of the slices.

 Place a cup of flour in container, with a fork beat the eggs in another container.  This will be your dredging station.

 Dredge eggplant slices in flour on both sides....

 Then into egg....

 Finally into flour again.

 Preheat 1/2 inch of olive oil in large skillet. Fry eggplant until golden brown on both sides.  I changed the oil once in the middle of this process so I had fresh oil for all of the frying.

 Remove from oil and place on paper towel lined plate.  Sprinkle with salt.

 Add a layer of sauce to two long bread pans if you want to do what I did (necessity is the
mother of invention when you don't have a rectangular pan) or to a 9x13 pan (glass or metal).
Add one layer of fried eggplant.

 Spoon on some sauce, a little really, and sprinkle with cheese.

 Repeat until all the eggplant is used.

 Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Serve yourself a stack or half a stack of eggplant.  I really like using a bread pan, the
fried eggplant retains its crisp fried edges this way. 

Enjoy!