I think we should take a break. Heaven knows I’ve enjoyed our time together and lovely memories of you will linger on (mostly on my thighs). Fondly I’ll remember you, dressed in rich gravy – you, with creamy mayonnaise and crisp lettuce on toasty nine grain bread – you, in a steamy, homemade broth with thick egg noodles and chunks of carrots. It’s been fun. But it’s time for me to move on. It’s not you, it’s me.

Goodbye doesn’t mean forever,

Leah

Got that off my chest, what a relief. Breaking up is never fun or easy.

As you can tell from my “Dear John” letter, I’ve had just about enough turkey – and I’m sure you’re all on poultry overload by now too! Last night I decided to go the fish route with the tilapia that’s on sale this week. I came across this recipe a few months ago and have been meaning to try it ever since.

It contains an unusual ingredient that I hesitate to reveal. But since I’m soul-searching today, I guess I’ll divulge that this fish is, in fact ‘crusted’ with…

Boxed potato flakes.

I know, I know! Don’t go hatin’! I don’t even know why I have these in my pantry but they’re there. I must have been having a lazy moment a while back and didn’t feel like mashing my own potatoes. Don’t go judging me. It probably won’t happen again.

Anyway, if you do happen to have some boxed potato flakes in your cupboard, and frozen tilapia fillets in your freezer, then chances are, you already have the ingredients on hand to make this dinner! I managed to pull this dish together in under 30 minutes.

I thought it was pretty good, I have to say. The honey-mustard mayonnaise is an interesting alternative to traditional tartar sauce, and the potato flakes create a crunchy coating on the fish. The same procedure could easily be used on any other type of white flaky fish.

Enjoy!

POTATO CRUSTED TILAPIA

Serves: 4

Source: oceana.com

• ½ c. mayonnaise
• 2 T. Dijon mustard
• 1 – 2 T. honey (adjust this according to your taste)

• 4 tilapia fillets, thawed if frozen, patted dry with paper towels
• ½ c. flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• ½ c. milk
• ½ c. potato flakes
• ½ c. bread crumbs
• Neutral cooking oil

Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Have handy three shallow bowls or pie plates. Set up a breading station as follows: In one shallow bowl, place the seasoned flour. In another bowl, beat the eggs and the milk together. In a third bowl, combine the potato flakes and the bread crumbs. Line up these bowls near your cook top.

Place a large sauté pan over medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. While oil heats up, season the tilapia with salt and pepper to taste. Dredge one fillet in the flour, shaking off excess. Dip the fillet in the egg and milk mixture, then dredge the fillet in the potato flake and bread crumb mixture. Repeat with the remaining fillets. When oil is hot (a pinch of flour will bubble immediately upon contact with the oil), carefully place the fish into the pan. Saute for about 2 minutes; carefully turn fish. Saute for an additional minute or two, or until fish is a lovely golden brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to briefly drain. Serve tilapia with honey-mustard sauce.

I’m going to play along with the heat and humidity by whipping up this simple and light grilled seafood supper for the DamFam tonight.  This meal is ideal for a day like this; there is very little prep work involved, practically NO dirty dishes, and I won’t even have to fire up the oven (well, actually that’s not quite true; I think I’ll heat up a baguette to soak up the yummy sauce).  The long and the short is that I’ll have plenty of time to laze around, sipping lemonade on ice and enjoying the heat of the day.  Later on, I’ll put the Husband on grill duty.  He’s gonna be all over this recipe; I’m pretty sure the sight of foil packets will send him di-rectly down memory lane with sweet visions of his days at Boy Scout camp.

This recipe (originally found in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine) makes great use of the sale tilapia (the same I used for the tacos a few days back) as well as those ridiculously cheap redskinned potatoes (hello….39/pound?).  You certainly could use the sale Bos’n Cleaned Shrimp, but for this dinner, I prefer to use larger shimp.  I’m going to splurge and go for 16-20 count, which I can easily justify because I don’t need that many of them for this recipe.

Ask my husband – I can justify just about anything.  It’s a gift, what can I say.

The original recipe calls for a making a dill compound butter (don’t be scared!) which is really good, but because I stupidly forgot to grab dill when I was at the store, tonight I’m going to use a slightly different riff.  It’s the same basic idea, but with Old Bay seasoning instead of dill.  Directions for both butters are included; feel free to go with the one you like.  No need to thank me.  You know I live for this stuff.

Despite how simple these packets are to pull together, I would TOTALLY be comfortable serving these to guests!  In fact, I’m going to pop it into my menu rotation for entertaining out here at the cottage.

Happy summer, all!  Enjoy!

GRILLED SEAFOOD PACKETS

Serves: 4

Source:  Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine, July/August 2007 issue.

For the dill butter:

• 2 T. butter, room temperature
• 2 T. finely chopped fresh dill, plus additional sprigs for garnish
• 1 small clove garlic, pressed or very finely minced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

For Old Bay butter:

• 2 T. butter, room temperature
• ½ t. Old Bay Seasoning (adjust it to your taste)
• 1 small clove garlic, pressed or very finely minced
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

• 8 oz. redskinned potatoes, scrubbed and very thinly sliced (I’m serious)
• 1 lb. skinless cod fillet, cut into 4 equal pieces (I used the sale Tilapia)
• 8 oz. uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 12, which is 3 a piece…did I mention math is another of my gifts?)
• 2 ears corn, husked and quartered
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced, plus additional wedges for garnish

Heat your grill to medium.  Decide which compound butter you’d like to use (or do a little of each — whatever makes you happy!).  The instructions apply to either:  In a small bowl, combine  well 2 T. butter with either the chopped dill or the Old Bay, and the garlic.  Season with salt and pepper and voila, you just made a compound butter, you sassy thing!  Taste it, admire it, set is aside.

Fold four 14-inch squares of heavy-duty aluminum foil in half, forming 4 rectangles.  Assemble packets:  spray on one half of each of four folded pieces of foil with a little Pam; arrange your VERY THINLY sliced potatoes in a single layer, top with the fish, then the shrimp, dividing all ingredients evenly among the foil pieces.  Place two ears of corn on the side.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add a dollop of the compound butter and two lemon slices.  Fold foil over ingredients, and crimp edges tightly to seal.

Place the packets on the grill, with potato layer on the bottom.  Cook, rotating (but not flipping) packets occasionally, until fish is just cooked through and potatoes are tender, 15 minutes.

Remove from grill.  Slit packets to open, and transfer contents to individual plates.  Garnish with additional dill sprigs or lemon wedges.

We spend summer weekends at our cozy little cottage on Lac La Belle.  I do a big shop before we go, to gather up weekend provisions, as well groceries for weekend entertaining.  Once a weekend, we host another family for tubing, waking, boarding, and a lakeside picnic dinner.  But now that it’s almost the middle of August, I’ve hit somewhat of a cookout ‘slump’. We’ve done the usual grilled dinner fare: from burgers, brats, and hotdogs, to bbq’d chicken, ribs, and steaks.  It’s time to shake things up a little bit on the shores of Lac La Belle!

The next time we have friends out, I’m going to make these terrific fish tacos.  They’re perfect for entertaining; the preparation is simple, so I won’t have to spend the afternoon in the kitchen while our guests are hanging out on the sandbar (lordy, I do so HATE to miss a trip to the sandbar!). Another perk: these tacos are so fresh and light, they won’t feel like a big ol’ lump in your stomach after dinner!

As I mentioned, the prep is easy.  But to further simplify the dish, I’ll pick up containers of Sendiks pico de gallo and guacamole; for sides I’ll punt and make a box of Spanish rice, and a can or two of the sale Amy’s Refried Beans.  Add some icy cold Mexican beers or a chilly margarita, and a delicious lakeside fiesta is well underway!

By the by, you can use most any flaky white fish for these tacos;  I’ve used both mahi mahi and halibut with great success.

And did I mention the terrific taco dip appetizer?  I didn’t?  How unlike me!  I’m a total fool for appetizers of any kind, and can’t believe I almost left this out.  I apologize.  That definitely will not happen again.

Glad I caught that.

Here’s an upscale version of the layered taco dip we’ve all had at parties.  I love that it’s kicked up with spicy refried beans and a smokey chipotle salsa.  To balance the heat, it’s topped with layers of cilantro-lime cream, crunchy iceberg lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese, scallions, chopped tomato and olives.

A little tip from me to you:  I always divide this recipe into two different platters and I strongly suggest you do the same.  For one, while it looks lovely when it first hits the table, after a few people have dug in, this dip can start to look a bit like a bicycle wreck. Trust me, it’s true.

Also, it’s nice to have a fresh platter in the fridge that you call pull out later in the evening, or as I’ve learned to do at the lake:  set a tray of it on the ‘kid table’ (far, far away from where the adults are congregating), and let them have at it.  Teenagers are CRAZY for this stuff.  It’s like taco crack, I swear!

Bon appétit, everyone!  Enjoy your weekend!

CHIPOTLE TACO DIP WITH CILANTRO-LIME CREAM

Serves:  8-10

• 1 can spicy re-fried beans (I used the sale Amy’s brand)
• 1 package taco seasoning (any brand)
• 1-16 oz. container sour cream
• 1-8 oz. block cream cheese, room temperature
• Hefty squeeze of lime juice (please, use a real lime. The stuff in the bottle is foul)
• Hefty pinch of minced cilantro
• 1 jar chipotle salsa (again, I used the sale Amy’s brand)
• Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese (or, shred the sale Sendiks Brand Colby)
• Chopped iceberg (I know, ‘ICEBERG’.  It’s a must though, so play along)
• Sliced olives and scallions
• Chopped tomato, optional
• Chips for serving (go the lower-cal route if you like, and use the sale Guiltless Gourmet Baked Chips)

As discussed, have two medium platters (or cake stands, or plates, or whatever your pretty little heart desires) at the ready.

In a medium bowl, mash together the beans and the taco seasoning.  Spread this mixture on your platter(s).

In another bowl, mix together the sour cream, cream cheese, lime juice, and cilantro.  Spread this layer on top of the beans, leaving about half an inch of the beans showing.

Follow with the salsa (I like to use a slotted spoon to drain off most of the liquid from the salsa.  I don’t like watery looking dip, blech), the lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, scallions, and olives.  Garnish with a sprig of cilantro and some lime wedges if desired.  Get out your chips and stand the heck back, especially if there are hungry kids nearby….don’t say I didn’t warn you.

TILAPIA TACOS WITH PICKLED ONIONS & ADOBO CREAM

Serves: 4

Source:  epicurious.com

• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• About 1 ½ c. red wine vinegar
• ¼ c. olive oil
• 1 ½ t. ancho chile powder (I used Spice Island’s Ground Chipotle Chile Powder – it was HOT!)
• 1 ½ t. dried oregano
• ½ t. cumin
• ¼ c. lightly packed cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, stemmed and chopped (I accidently left this out, oops!)
• 1 lb. tilapia (or any other flaky white fish, but I used the sale Tilapia family pack)
• Salt
• 8 corn tortillas (or hard shells, or small flour tortillas – your preference)
• ½ c. sour cream
• 1-2 t. adobo sauce (from a small can; reserve the rest for another use)
• Pico de Gallo & Guacamole

Marinate the sliced onion in a small bowl with enough red wine vinegar to cover.  Set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Pour the olive oil into a small bowl and add the chile powder, oregano, cumin, chopped cilantro, and jalapeno.  Mix well.  Place the fish on a dish and pour the marinade over it, making sure to coat the fish well on both sides.  Allow the fish to marinate for 20 minutes (mine went almost two hours and it was fine).

Meanwhile, stir together the sour cream and the adobo sauce (making it as spicy as you like).  Set aside.

Heat a large, nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Remove the fish from the marinade and place in the hot pan (there is no need to add additional oil).  Season the fish with salt.  Cook the fish for three minutes, then turn over and cook for an additional 2 minutes (obviously, you’ll need to modify this if you’re using a thicker fish).  Remove the fish from the pan and set aside.

Heat 4 corn tortillas on a plate and sandwich them between two slightly dampened sheets of paper towel.  Microwave on high for 45 seconds.  Place warm tortillas in a towel-lined basket or plate to cover.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.  (* NOTE:  I prefer to heat my corn tortillas individually over the gas flame on my cooktop.  They get a smokey, charred flavor this way).

To assemble the tacos, cut the tilapia in half lengthwise (so the pieces will fit in the tortillas).  Top with the marinated onions, a dollop of the chipotle sour cream, and the pico de gallo.  Garnish with cilantro sprigs.