J's Fabulous Birthday Dinner

From the backlog: 6/20

J's amazing beach weekend birthday celebration included a fabulous dinner, with everyone chipping in to bring a dish plus a main course of fresh fish from the nearby shop. Shrimp, scallops, several kinds of grilled fish, mac and cheese, salad, guacamole, veggie tray, etc.

Oh, and of course, dessert! I made a citrus cake (unfortunately, the frosting turned out strangely lumpy - moral of the story, don't try a new recipe when you're cooking for a bunch of people), and there was cherry pudding and several pies. We were definitely well fed this weekend!

Baked Shrimp with Tomato-Feta Sauce

6/4
This is a great recipe from Simply Recipes. Simple, quick, tasty, and it starts with basic ingredients.

Swordfish with Balsamic Butter Sauce

From the backlog: 5/15

Swordfish with Balsamic Butter Sauce, from the package of frozen swordfish from Whole Foods.

1 package [12 oz] swordfish steaks, thawed
1/2 cup [1 stick] unsalted butter
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp drained capers
Chopped fresh tomatoes

Simmer butter until melted in medium saucepan until deep golden brown. Remove from heat. Whisk in balsamic vinegar, honey and mustard.

Brush swordfish steaks with olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat heavy large skillet over medium/high heat. Add swordfish steaks. Saute just until opaque in the center, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plates.

Whisk sauce over low heat to re-warm and spoon over steaks. Sprinkle with capers and chopped tomatoes.

Artichoke-Olive Pasta

From the backlog: 5/5

I used some of the remaining Artichoke-Olive mixture to make a pasta dish, with roasted red peppers and flaked salmon.

Man, this photo makes me want to go back in time and sprinkle some parsley over the top of that dish for color. Sigh.

Artichoke-Olive Crostini and Poached Salmon

From the backlog: 5/3

Appetizer: Artichoke-Olive Crostini from Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Mario Batali.

Main course:

Poached Salmon from Simply Recipes, served on a bed of couscous with a side of garlicky spinach.

Baked Shrimp with Feta

From the backlog:
4/20 Baked Shrimp in Tomato Feta Sauce from Simply Recipes. This recipe's a keeper - tasty and very easy, too.

Salmon with Mango-Pineapple Salsa

From the backlog: 4/4

I'll admit - I don't quite remember what this meal was. I think it was grilled salmon with a mango-pineapple salsa, served with couscous and avocado slices.

Pasta with Tuna, Arugula, and Hot Pepper

From the backlog: Thursday, 3/19

I made Pasta with Tuna, Arugula, and Hot Pepper from Simply Recipes. It's amazingly simple - basically saute garlic in olive oil, add the tuna and flake it, sprinkle in some hot pepper flakes, then mix the tuna/garlic with the pasta, a bit of reserved pasta water, and the arugula to let the greens wilt. Ta da!

Swordfish with Tomato Sauce; Brussels Sprouts

The swordfish was baked with a simple tomato sauce and topped with a dollop of crumbled goat cheese, and served on a bed of quinoa. The original recipe called for salmon, which would've gone better, but I had swordfish and not salmon so I tried a swap. Not bad, but the flavors didn't blend as well as they would have with salmon.





Since I purchased a big bag of brussels sprouts (well, big for one person, anyway) I had to attempt a second way of preparing them. Tonight's method was from Simply Recipes, Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon. This version turned out more tender than last night's.

Valentine's Day Feast - Honey Walnut Bread, Swordfish Kebabs, Baked Apple

Backlog from 2/14:

This year I fended off any possible Valentine's Day depression with a kick-ass dinner and a Battlestar Galactica mini-marathon.

Appetizer: Freshly Baked Honey-Walnut Wheat bread with Goat Cheese Brie
I just made a half-batch of the speedy no-knead bread, substituting white whole wheat flour for half of the bread flour and adding 1 Tbsp honey and about 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.


The entree was swordfish kebabs, based on a recipe in The Fifteen Minute Single Gourmet, borrowed from the library. Swordfish chunks marinated in a soy sauce/tomato paste/honey mixture, then threaded onto skewers alternating with fresh pineapple chunks, onions, and orange sweet pepper, and broiled to juicy perfection. The main course was rounded out with leftover brown rice and sauteed green beans garnished with pine nuts.


And for the finale - a baked apple from Simply Recipes, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

With a meal like that, who needs a man?

Seared Tuna with Avocado

The other night I made a recipe that I had tried once before and remembered it to be very tasty, and fortunately it lived up to my memories! Seared Tuna with Avocado, adapted from an original recipe from Tyler Florence of the Food Network, by way of Simply Recipes.

It's basically seared tuna, topped with a sauce, with sliced avocado served on the side. But, oh, this sauce! The ingredient list sounds like a Mexican cookbook and Japanese cookbook got mixed up in printing - cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, garlic, ginger and soy sauce. Who uses lime and soy sauce together? Well, you should. This sauce is amazing. Now if I can keep myself from overcooking the tuna next time (I definitely didn't have sushi grade, so I had to cook it through) then it would be even better.

Zeus thought it smelled good, too!