Author: The Blind Guy Cooks

A kid friendly meal that adults will also enjoy: Panko-Crusted Fish Sticks

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Susan and I are really quite fortunate that John will eat most anything we serve him. He is far from a picky eater. I still like to keep him in mind while planning meals and try to make one of his favorites each week. One of his favorite meals is fish sticks. I, on the other hand, have bad memories of the cardboard boxed Mrs. Paul’s and Van de Kamp’s fish sticks of my youth and would rather forgo them.

Here is how I satisfy the palate of a six year-old and make a fish stick that an adult will also find tasty.

Fish Sticks

1 large egg
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 cups panko
1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ pounds cod fillets (or similar firm white fish), cut into wide strips

Directions

Preheat oven to 475° F. Line 9 x 17 baking sheet with aluminum foil, spritz lightly with cooking spray and set aside.

Lightly beat the egg in a wide, shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. In another wide, shallow bowl, combine panko, Old Bay, and olive oil. (Mixing the olive oil with the panko will help the panko to brown.) First dip the fish in egg and then shake off the excess. Next, dredge in panko mixture pressing the fish into the panko to help it adhere then place on baking sheet.

Bake until lightly browned, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Serve fish sticks with sauce and lemon wedges on the side.

Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

½ cup light mayonnaise
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
2 teaspoons prepared white horseradish

Directions
Whisk together mayonnaise, parsley, mustard, lemon juice, and horseradish in a small glass bowl.

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Portabello, Broccoli, and Red-Pepper Melts

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Susan and I like to have at least one day a week when we do not eat meat so I am always trying new ideas and recipes in that regard. Tonight’s meatless meal was very delicious and extremely satisfying. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 head broccoli florets (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt and ground pepper
4 portabello mushrooms sliced about ½ inch thick (stems removed)
2 red bell peppers seeds removed and sliced into strips
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic crushed and then minced
4 thick slices sourdough bread sliced about 1″ thick
4 ounces Gouda cheese, shredded

Directions

Spread broccoli out on 9 x 17 jelly roll baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil, tossing occasionally, until broccoli begins to char, about 6 minutes.

 

 

Add mushrooms and bell peppers to sheet, and toss again to mix vegetables. Return to broiler and broil, once again tossing occasionally, until vegetables are tender; about 10 minutes more. Remove from broiler and set aside.

 

 

While vegetables are broiling, combine mayonnaise and garlic in a glass bowl. You may want to season with salt and pepper. Place bread on another baking sheet and divide mayonnaise garlic spread between the bread slices and spread evenly. Top with vegetables, then cheese. Broil until cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

There’s an app for that: Jalapeño Poppers

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Everybody loves jalapeño poppers. They are just the right amount of spicy balanced with the right amount of creamy cheesiness, and by God they have bacon. Who could ask for anything more? Oh, a nice Raspberry-Merlot sauce to dip them in? Sure thing.

Jalapeño Popper

Ingredients

6 good sized jalapeño peppers
3 slices of smoked bacon (cut in half to make six pieces)
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (Approximately)

Directions

Bring cream cheese to room temperature. Preheat oven to 425° F. Cook the bacon on a plate lined with paper towel in a microwave until almost crisp, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Wash and slice the jalapeños in half length-wise. Deseed the peppers also removing as much of the inner rib as possible. Blend the cream cheese and cheddar cheese together very well. Next, fill each half of the jalapeño with cream cheese and cheddar mixture. Place on baking sheet filling side up and top each pepper with a half slice of bacon. Bake in oven until cheese is bubbly, bacon is very crisp, and jalapeno is beginning to soften: approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes. Serve with Raspberry-Merlot sauce.

Raspberry-Merlot Sauce

Ingredients

2 packages frozen, unsweetened raspberries (about 4 cups)
1 ½ cups Merlot wine
1 cup sugar

Directions

In a medium sauce pan, combine all ingredients. Stir and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until the mixture is thick and reduced to about 1 cup: about 30 minutes. Occasionally stir the sauce to prevent scorching. Allow to completely cool before serving.

Rosemary and Thyme Smashed Potatoes

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Steak and potatoes just go together. We’ve known this instinctively for years, but now the Plant and Food Research, a member of the New Zealand government owned Crown Research Institute, has shown that consuming the two together helps promote digestive health. I’ll let you read the article. It is linked here: It’s official: steak is always better with potatoes.

One of our favorite potatoes is Rosemary and Thyme Smashed Potatoes.

You can use most any sized red potatoes when making this side dish. I prefer to use B sized red potatoes no bigger than a golf ball in size. What ever size you choose, make sure they are fairly uniform in size as so they cook evenly.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

3 to 4 B sized red potatoes per person
Olive oil
Fresh thyme leaves
Fresh rosemary leaves
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions

Boil the potatoes in salted water until they can easily pierce them with a fork. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush the foil with olive oil and preheat oven to 450° F.

When the potatoes are cooked through, place them on the baking sheet a few inches apart from one another. With a flat device such as a firm spatula or even palm of your hand, smash the potatoes flat. Drizzle with a little olive oil then season with Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, thyme and rosemary leaves.

Baked potatoes until they develop a crispy brown color. Remove from oven and let cool a minute or two then serve.

You don’t have to be a sailor to like this spinach side: Garlic Sautéd Spinach

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Popeye would love this side dish because the spinach is sautéed in olive oil. Okay, excuse the terrible pun, but this spinach dish is extremely tasty and cooks up in just over ten minutes. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons good olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Lemon
Sea or kosher salt, optional

Directions

Rinse the spinach very well in cold water. If you have a salad spinner give the salad several good spins otherwise shake off as much water as you can. A little water left on the leaves is okay as it will create steam and help wilt the spinach.

In a large pan or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute. Add all the spinach, the salt, and pepper to the pan and toss it with the garlic and oil. Cover the pan and cook it for no more than three minutes. Remove the lid and turn the heat to high. Cook the spinach for another couple minutes stirring with a wooden spoon until all the spinach is wilted. Remove the spinach to a serving bowl using a slotted spoon. Give the spinach a good squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of kosher salt if needed. Serve immediately.

Take a break from beef: Try Lamburgers

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In my opinion, Americans should eat more lamb. From a health standpoint it’s leaner, has fewer calories, and less cholesterol than beef. This is due in part to the fact that lamb is grass fed. Beef should be this way, and in fact, much is being made of the benefits of grass fed beef over grain fed beef as of late.

The biggest obstacle to eating more lamb is availability. Luckily, Hy-Vee, a local grocery chain here in Iowa, has begun selling lamb from Strauss Farms, making obtaining lamb much easier.

Tonight I made lamburgers and topped them with crumbles of feta cheese, Kalamata olives, red onion, and oregano. Here is what I did:

Ingredients

1 pound ground lamb
4 ounces Greek feta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh chopped oregano
1/8 cup Kalamata olives, chopped (approximately 8 olives)
Red onion
Buns

Directions

Heat grill to medium heat.

Meanwhile, form ground lamb into three equal patties. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Combine feta, olives, and oregano in glass bowl mixing well.

Grill burgers to desired doneness. During the last few minutes of cooking, divide feta mixture onto burgers. Remove from grill placing on buns and top with onion.

 

Lemon, Garlic, and Rosemary Grilled Halibut

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Fish lends itself to grilling. Grilling fish over direct heat not only cooks it quickly but also prevents it from drying out.

There are two main problems with grilling fish but with a little practice, you can overcome them quite easily. The first is keeping it from sticking. A clean grill oiled right before you put the fish on and brushing the fish with olive oil helps prevent the fish from sticking. Some people like to use a fish basket when grilling fish. They do help considerably.

The second difficulty is knowing when the fish is done. Fish will appear a little translucent before it is cooked. You will know when a fish is cooked as it becomes opaque all the way through and will flake quite easily. If any part of the fish is glossy, it still has a little longer to cook.

One of my favorite fish to cook is halibut. It is firmer than most other fish and stands up to grilling very well. It is also a good fish to start with when first grilling fish. Here is what I did tonight:

Ingredients

2 5 ounce Halibut filets
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice from one lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions

Heat grill to medium heat. Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and rosemary together. Liberally brush one side of halibut filet with mixture. Salt and pepper. Flip and repeat on other side. Place on grill. Cook for three to five minutes on one side. Flip and grill on other side for two to three minutes or until the fish turns opaque throughout and flakes easily.

I like to serve this over a brown rice and serve with a vegetable like asparagus.

Shrimp in Tomato Cream Sauce

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Shrimp is great when you need a relatively quick weeknight meal. Not only does it cook quickly, it is very versatile in how it can be cooked and the sauces it can be cooked with from a simple browned butter garlic sauce to a tomato based sauce like the one I made tonight. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (26/30 count)
4 – 6 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup heavy cream
15 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes, diced
Cayenne pepper to taste
8 ounces Farfalle pasta
Freshly shredded Parmesan for serving

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions to al dente.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter on medium heat in large skillet and sauté garlic. Add shrimp and cayenne and cook 2 to 3 minutes on one side. Turn shrimp and cook 2 minutes longer on other side. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside. Add tomatoes to pan and cook until liquid is reduced by about half. Add cream and cook 4 to 6 minutes longer. Reintroduce shrimp to sauce and remove from heat.

Divide farfalle in pasta bowl, top with shrimp and sauce, and shred Parmesan on top.

Parmesan Encrusted Chicken

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For the longest time I have been turned off by chicken for various reasons. First, although I may not have been, it seemed like I was eating it all the time. Secondly, I tend to find chicken very bland. Finally, I have a problem with today’s chicken. It is bred for white meat and because of this, is typically pumped full of hormones and who knows what else to develop the desired parts of the bird.

Recently, I have begun including more chicken in my diet again. It is a great source of protein and if you choose your source wisely, you can avoid the mass of hormones and other chemicals. Even so, I still find chicken to be somewhat bland. The plus side to that though is that it takes on other flavors very well.

Here is one of my favorite chicken recipes that is relatively quick to make and provides a great flavor.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, chopped
Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each)
¾ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
¾ cup panko bread crumbs
Cooking spray

Directions

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Mix the mustard, thyme, ½ teaspoon salt and the cayenne in a medium bowl. Add the chicken breasts and turn to coat completely; set aside.

Pound chicken breast so the breast is a consistent thickness throughout but no less than a ½ thick.

In a medium shallow bowl, combine the Parmesan and panko. Dredge the chicken pieces in the panko mixture, Press the breasts into the mixture to coat evenly and give a very heavy coating.

Put the chicken on a rack set over a baking sheet, spray with a quick burst of cooking spray and put the sheet in the middle of the oven. Bake until the chicken is golden and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

Meatless Monday or just any time: Gemelli with Mixed Mushrooms and Thyme

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Sometime around 2003 a push was made to reintroduce Meatless Mondays: a campaign begun during World War II to help the war effort but today to help establish better eating habits which has since become a global initiative. I know many people who partake in Meatless Monday or have one day a week that the main meal of the day is vegan or less reliant on meat as do I. Here is a great meal for the Meatless Monday that is protein packed, full of B vitamins.

I paired this with an excellent pinot noir. My only wish is that I would have had more morels…

Ingredients

Coarse salt and ground pepper
12 ounces gemelli pasta
1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 cup)
4 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, minced
½ cup Sauvignon Blanc (one that you would drink)
10 ounces baby bella mushrooms,  thinly sliced
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 ounces morel mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves only
¼ cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente; drain, and return to pot. Set aside. While pasta is cooking, in a small bowl, soak porcini in 1 ½ cups hot water until tender, at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallot begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine; cook until almost evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add baby bella and shiitake mushrooms. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add morels and porcini along with their soaking liquid (leaving any grit at the bottom of the bowl), morels and thyme to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces by half, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer porcini mixture to pot with pasta. Add Parmesan and remaining butter, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with more Parmesan.