5 Tips for Fish and Seafood Made Easy

Click here for details!

Today, I am sharing a few fish and seafood tips I have learned through many years of cooking.  Having grown up on the Severn River in Annapolis, off the Chesapeake Bay, my roots are "grounded," or should I say "watered." by the food that came from my environment.  In terms of food, my first love is seafood, including the many varieties of fish we find. 

Tip #1.  Preparing and cooking seafood is not difficult.  This is a common misperception that has kept many a home cook from attempting to prepare a quick and sumptuous meal.

Tip #2.  In general, fish and seafood should never be overcooked.  Because of its delicate nature, seafood will become rubbery or dry or even tough.  Seafood is at its best when cooked quickly.  There are exceptions, of course; as when we make crabmeat, scallop and shrimp quiche or the rich tomato-laced Italian stew, cioppino or fish curry or Louisiana gumbo.

Tip #3.  Be creative.  Go beyond macaroni and tuna salad. Mix flavors and textures using pasta and rice with seafood.  Cook spinach bow tie pasta with mushrooms, peas, canned tuna or salmon and cream for a change.

Tip #4.  Use a combination of seasonings you would ordinarily use to rub on chicken or meat to spice up your fish steaks or fillets.  Cook in a hot oiled skillet, like cast iron, for 3-5 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of each steak or fillet.

Tip #5.  Combine 1/2 cup Panko flakes with 1 cup yellow cornmeal and Cajun seasonings for extra crispy and light fried fish fillets.

Get over 200 restaurant favorite recipes, like Applebee's Broiled Salmon with Garlic Butter, and cook them at home.  Click the image below and have your credit card ready to order.

Molasses Crisps (Cookies) for Spring

Not all chefs are professionally trained in culinary schools.  Most of us are self-taught or a least, learned at home.  Personal chefs, for example, are not all formally educated in a cooking school.  Most of us just have a passion for food.  We love taking wonderful ingredients and transforming them into a magical performance.  We learned at home from family or just always had a desire.  Some, to our surprise, never had the desire, yet found that we enjoyed creating masterpieces for ourselves and others to eat.

I learned cooking at home as a child even though I never did the cooking until I got married.  I realize that I have always been inspired by the cooking from my childhood in Annapolis.  The tastes and smells of the kitchen come back to me often.

Today, I was thinking of crispy molasses cookies Mom made in the springtime.  These would be the last of the season, because summer was coming and it would be too hot to have the oven on.  The cookies have a deeply satisfying taste reminiscent of home.

Molasses Crisps

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup molasses (I like dark molasses)
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour and measure.  Add next 5 ingredients and sift again.

Heat molasses to boiling.  Add butter and stir until melted.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Roll dough in a long roll about 3 inches in diameter and refrigerate over night or at least 4 hours.

Cut dough into very thin slices with a sharp knife.  Place on a greased baking sheet and bake until golden brown.  (10-12 minutes)

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Hmmm. Yummy!

Do you have a favorite restaurant dessert  you wish you could give your family without having to buy the processed kind?  Maybe it is Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies or Hardee's Peach Cobbler or maybe T.G.I. Friday's Mocha Mud Pie.  Click the image below to order the Secret Restaurant Recipes Cookbooks?

The Magic of Spice Rubs

Spice rubs provide rich deep flavor to many foods.  They can liven things up and make a dish outstanding.  They can range from quite hot and robust to mild and sweet.  There are various versions depending on the kind of meat you use.

The rub acts as a dry marinade and can be made from whole toasted spices or a blend of dried ground herbs and spices.  You can buy commercial blends in supermarkets or specialty food stores, however, they can be too salty for my taste.

Despite what many new cooks may think, spice rubs are easy to make at home.  An added bonus is that they can be stored for about 3 or 4 months.  So make your own magic.  Just make sure you measure out what you need so you do not contaminate the rest.

You can choose just about any herbs and spices for mixing like marjoram, thyme, savory, oregano, paprika, nutmeg, Italian seasoning ginger, sage and garlic powder.  Spice rubs are good on pork chops, duck, roast pork, leg of lamb, beef tenderloin and grilled fish steaks.

Check out the magic of spice rubs.  See what it does for your food. Here is a blend I like especially to add some excitement to a whole chicken or parts:

Spice Rub for Chicken

2 Tbs dried Italian seasoning
1 Tbs dried thyme
2 Tbs dried crushed rosemary
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs dried parsley flakes
1 Tbs freshly ground peppercorn blend (like Trader Joe's brand)
1 tsp red pepper flakes or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Mix in a small bowl.  Place in an airtight jar.

Makes about 2/3 cup.

Re-create your favorite restaurant dishes at home for a fraction of the cost. Here is a fabulous cookbook with easy step-by-step directions you can use right at home to make them and delight your family and friends.  Click the cookbook image and get cooking!

A Diabetic Dessert and Beautiful Memories

Cooking is a little erratic this week, because I'm packing up 25 years of accumulation.  Some of the things I am throwing away; believe me, that takes a long time.  Deciding what is really valuable to keep and what to throw away takes awhile.  Anyway, the cooking is suffering a bit, because of time and space; or the lack thereof.  There is a diabetic dessert following my thoughts here.

Moving brings forth some beautiful memories.  Interestingly, I found two letters wrritten by my father to my grandmother, his mother in-law, when he was in boot camp preparing to go into WWII.  I'm so glad I found tthem.  Even though there was no date, I believe they were written around 1944 or so.

He talked about how he was so fortunate tto have her as a mother-in-law and how much he loved her daughter and missed  his "sweet little rascals," that was my brother and me.  He mentioned that the guys in his unit were suprised at how he close he was with my grandmother.  They did not have the typical in-law relationship.  It was really cool; I remember that.

Meanwhile, I was thinking that I needed to write in my blog in case someone was reading.  I happened on this diaberic dessert recipe from recipe secrets blog and decided to share it.

DIABETIC PINEAPPLE DESSERT

15 oz can Crushed Pineapple ( drained )
1 small carton of cream cheese
1 small pkg. Sugar free instant Vanilla Pudding

Mix pineapple and cream of cheese add pudding and place in graham cracker pie crust (medium ) and mix well. Top with cool whip Let it chill for at least 20 minutes.

Re-create your favorite restaurant dishes at home for a fraction of the cost. Here is a fabulous cookbook with easy step-by-step directions you can use right at home to make them and delight your family and friends.  Click the cookbook image and get cooking!

Personal Chef Syle Moving and Making Big Changes!

It is March already.  Time to think of springtime.  And, as is fitting for the season, I am embarking on some big changes in my life.  Moving in with my daugher at the end of the month.  Cleaning out 25 years of papers, books, memories and all sorts of things..  Moving on to a new high in my life and looking forward to a fabulous and new experience.  We are both excited about this.

This has taken its toll on my ability to contribute to my blog recently; getting mired in the details of the move.  I'll be writing more soon, adding some more recipes and other comments.  Wow!  Moving into a house after having been 25 years in a small condo.  Parking right outside the door rather than having to walk long halls to bring my cleaning and groceries in.   That will be neat for a change.

Being able to walk in the streets of the neighborhood and talk to neighbors from their backyards and on their walks and jogs.  That will be fun.  Looking across the street and outside the window at homes and trees and flowers rather than other apartment buildings.  What a great new adventure.  To say nothing of having a really big kitchen in which to cook!  Yea!  Will keep you posted.

By the way; I overindulged in some more fish tacos last night.  I made enough for two or three people and ate them all.  This time I used my daughter's sauce recipe with light sour cream and light mayo rather than yogurt which I used before.  I also experimented with crystallized lemon (True Lemon brand) to give it a tangy taste.  The sauce was really good.  I'll bet adding some avocado to the tacos will add some nice flavor and texture.

Do you have some favorite restaurant dishes you wish you could have without going out?  Maybe it is the Tequila Lime Chicken from Applebee's or the Olive Garden Sangria or T.G.I. Friday's Mocha Mud Pie.  Always wonder what their secret ingredients are? Click the image to order your favorite restaurant recipes.