Broiled Tilapia Parmesean( ALL RECIPES)....

Normally, I can take or leave Tilapia. I bought some because last weekend, it was on a 2 day special for 2.99lb. Yesterday it was 11.49lb. Ridiculous I say, I refuse to pay that much for a farmed, bland fish. Anyway, when I bought it, I had the salesperson, vacuum seal it and I chucked it into the freezer.

I know you're not supposed to have cheese with fish, but this was so yummy. Years ago, my grandparents used to take me to this restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale called Sea Shanty( I think it was a chain). I always would get the fish oreganato style, very similar to this recipe.

Here, the fish is broiled on each side, and then slathered with a mix of butter, mayo, parmesean and a few spices. I did sprinkle Old Bay on both sides of the fish for more flavor. I also added some fresh chopped dill and some breadcrumbs to the coating mix. I used low-fat mayo and reduced the lemon juice. The original recipe is HERE. I'm sure this would be great on other types of fish too( although I wouldnt use it on salmon)

Zingerman's Buenos Aires Brownies .....

I now know why I've never really cared for brownies. It's because I've never had a great brownie made with great chocolate. If you're on the fence about brownies, or you really love brownies, this is the recipe for you. I was in Ann Arbor for a few days this week and of course I had to visit Zingerman's. I actually went to a hard candy tasting held on Wednesday night. I was looking around the shop after the class and I toyed with the idea of bringing back a brownie for Robin. I then remembered that I had the recipe in an old issue of Midwest Living Magazine. I dug it out yesterday along with some unsweetened Callebaut that The Chocolate Doctor sent me. I also used a new 9 x 13 pan I picked up at Williams Sonoma. I took a bit of liberty with the recipe( the original recipe is for their magic brownies. These brownies contain walnuts). I've never liked nuts in brownies, so I dolloped dulce de leche on top of the batter and swirled it through. I ended up with the Buneos Aries Brownies. Try these, you won't be dissapointed.

Magic Brownies

13 tbls butter( no substitutes)
6.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1.5 c. sifted cake flour( I used white Lily)
3/4tsp baking powder( most brownie recipes have no levening in them, maybe this is why they were so good)

1/2tsp salt
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 c. toasted walnuts( chopped)

Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Melt butter and choc. together over low heat. Set aside. In small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In large mixing bowl( I used my KA), beat eggs and sugar for 5 min. Add cooled choc. mixture and vanilla. Beat on low speed until combined. Add flour mixture, beat again. Pour in pan, bake in 325F oven for 30 min( I used convection). Cool in pan on wire rack.

I have been cooking.....

I havent really been making anything too exciting. Our granite is being installed at the moment and all we'll need to complete the kitchen is a pendant light( next week) and backsplash. The kitchen is still a bit unorganized and a mess so I've been keeping my cooking to simple things. I did make this oreo cheesecake for a fundraiser Robin attended. I also made 3 of these for the Senior Meal last night. It went over really well. Its a simple recipe on the back of the philly package( here in Canada). I ended up using Lactania cream cheese because it went on sale on the weekend for .99 a bar. That price sounds normal for the US, but here in Ontario cream cheese is over 3.00 a bar. Each cheesecake has 4 bars, 4 eggs, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of sour cream. You add some chopped oreos too. The crust is simply oreo's and butter.


The other day I found some fresh pasta clams on sale at Sobey's for 3.99lb. I've never seen fresh clams around these parts so I dug out a recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It was pretty simple and it came out great!!.



Last but not least, I made some homeade hummus for the event Robin attended. It ridiculous how expensive hummus is when you buy it ready made. I made this from scratch( using dried beans) and it cost about 2.00 for a full quart. I even bought a big jar of Tahini. I basically winged it using garlic, Evoo, salt, pepper, lemon juice, tahini and a big spoonful of peanut butter. I sprinkled some chopped parsely on top. I served it with cut up greek style wheat pita.