Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday's Menu

Each week, I will feature a recipe on Monday that Dave and I cooked the previous week. If you'd like to contribute a recipe, please leave a comment below or send it to me via email: meredith-gordon@insight.rr.com.

This week's recipe is courtesy of my high school friend Mike. After high school Mike went to culinary school and became quite the chef. He suggested I might like pistachio-encrusted tilapia. He was right.

The full menu was tilapia, garlic potatoes, green beans (which we forgot to make), and bread pudding for dessert. (Make sure to click on the links for full recipes and descriptions.) We started with the bread pudding actually (it would take a lot longer). First we cooked the bread to make it stale.


While I was working on the pudding, Dave began working on the potatoes. Here's what they looked like after he washed and peeled and them.


From there they got a treatment of garlic and olive oil and whatnot. Did I mention we used the leftover potatoes we had from last week's Monday's Menu. Yay for using all our food before it went bad!

Next it was time for the tilapia. Dave prepared the "bath" for them. We seriously need to find a better way to grind the pistachios. I think next time we'll use the blender.


We dunked the tilapia in the "wash" then in the pistachios and then put them in the electric skillet to just seer both sides. The cooking would be in the oven.

While the fish were cooking we finished up making the bread pudding. We added a whole bunch of really good smelling ingredients...cinnamon, nutmeg...and then we put in zucchini. I don't understand the zucchini but Dave's swears it was necessary. This is what the pre-baked bread pudding looked like:


The bread pudding went into the oven; the fish and potatoes came out of the oven. It was time to eat. This is what the prepared meal looked like:


The result was YUMMY! Now, I haven't eaten fish in like 20 years and I've been really nervous about adding fish back into the routine. I don't know....I just don't like fish. BUT, this tasted delicious. In fact, I wish I had more to eat. It was so easy to make. I highly recommend the tilapia. The potatoes were okay. Just okay. I didn't think they had a lot of flavor to them. I wound up cutting them up and putting some butter and salt on them.

After dinner it was time for dessert and bread pudding.


It smelled terrific. Dave dipped us both some and I took the first bite. Um, what's the best way to describe it....DISGUSTING!!! It tasted like wet bread. I've had some really good bread pudding before but this was nowhere near good. Dave took a few bites and he too agreed it was not good. We threw it all down the drain. Oh well. We're trying to become better cooks and improve our eating habits, but they can't all be winners, right?

Next week's recipe has yet to be decided. If you'd like to submit one, we'd love to give it a try. Happy eating!

6 comments:

mjcaron said...

Geez I thought the breadpuddling LOOKED great.

Caroline said...

Tuna Burgers (they really don't taste fishy)
- 2lbs of fresh tuna steaks
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp of soy sauce
- 2 tbsp of molasses
- 1/2 a red pepper, chopped up
- 1/2 a yellow onion, chopped up
- 2 tsp of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp of dried mixed herbal seasoning
- sea salt and black pepper

Chop up the tuna steaks in the food processor until it looks like ground meat. In a separate bowl, combine all of the other ingredients. Then add the ground up tuna. Mash together with your hands, shape into hamburger patties, and cook on the grill or in a grillpan on the stove. Put on the burger bun of your choice (makes 4 servings). I usually make some sweet potato fries to go with it.

Good luck with the cooking endeavors - some of the meals so far have looked really good. That bread pudding looked/sounded yummy - too bad it didn't taste yummy :(

anu said...

the pic of Bread Pudding looks gud.

Big Daddy Diesel said...

That looked good, till the last paragraph.

What races are you doing to fill in the schedule till CP? I am having a hard time finding a HIM, I looks like its either Steelhead or Buckeye Challenge, I am trying to make sure I dont burnout like this season

as for a recipe, here is a quick and easy dessert

CINNAMON BAKED APPLES WITH BLUEBERRY FILLING

~ 1 -4 medium apple(s)

~ 2 tablespoons frozen unsweetened blueberries (not thawed) per apple

~ Ground cinnamon and cinnamon sticks

~ 2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey per apple

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Wash and core apple(s) making the holes about 3/4 – 1 inch wide and leave 1/4 inch at the bottom
3. Sprinkle the insides with cinnamon, fill with frozen blueberries and drizzle with agave nectar or honey. Add a cinnamon stick to the center hole
4. Place the apples in a deep baking dish and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan
5. Bake 30 minutes until tender but not mushy
6. Baste the apples with the juices occasionally during cooking

Nutrition Facts Per Apple: 112 calories, 29 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber

Andrea said...

I love that you poured the bread pudding down the drain!!! HA! HA!

I've been inspired by your Monday's Menu and am going to add my own version to my blog calling it "Tasty Tuesdays" or something equally as clever.

Look for it next week ... or whenever I get around to it. ;)

Val said...

Wait, the same Mike who did our wedding cake that didn't make it to the wedding!? What's his contact info!?!??!?!!?