2011 Christmas Recap

For Christmas, we typically have two holiday meals. On Christmas Eve, we have a seafood dinner typically with lobster with some sort of side, and then for Christmas dinner, we have hot pot. This year was no different. 

Vodka Pasta: This was a request from my sister who has fallen in love with the vodka pasta from Sfuzzi in Dallas. It's a simple recipe and I've grown fond of Giada's version.  Check out my recipe here.  In an effort to add some sort of veggie to our meal, I sauteed up a bunch of spinach and added it to the top of the pasta.

Steamed Lobster: A lobster for each! Simply clean the lobster and then steam with some water until cooked. If you want to make another dish out of this, keep the lobster steamed water and lobster shells after you clean it of the meat. With just a little bit of broth making with the shells and some veggies, I was able to make a seafood risotto the next day for lunch.  Recipe to come soon.

Oven-baked Drum: Look at the size of this!  Even more impressive, my mom caught this fish! It seems like my parents go fishing at least once a week and the a few days before Christmas, my mom caught this enormous drum. When my mom called me with excitement about catching this fish, I actually had no clue of the kind of fish. Quick google and here you go. My mom seasoned the fish, added lots of butter and slices of onions. Baked in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Russian Tea Cakes: To cap off the night, Russian tea cakes for dessert! Recipe can be found here.

And to end this post, my little booger of a niece, Sophie. She did take a few bites of the pasta (hooray!) and a few nibbles of the fish. The lobster, not so much, and much rather preferred salty seaweed snacks...

Baked Trout with Green Beans

Growing up, my dad took us on several fishing trips and we soon found out how to de-scale and clean a fish. I remember sitting in our backyard cleaning the dozen fish from our night fishing trips. For the following weeks, having whole fish for dinner was a weekly if not daily dish.

Don't be alarmed with cooking a whole fish. Pretty simple! We bought these good looking trout from Costco and after getting home, I realized that they still had scales. UGH. Should have checked more carefully at the store so the butchers could de-scale them for me. 

I couldn't find any good recipes in my cookbook sso I just went on a whim with this - or should I say, what I could find in my fridget that I thought would go well with trout, which wasn't much. Lemon, butter and herbs. Yeps, that's about it.

Baked Trout

2 whole trout (cleaned and de-scaled)
1 lemons (one cut into slices and the second into wedges)
Several long sprigs of oregano and thyme
4 tbsp butter
S&P
Garlic Salt

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Wash and pat dry the fish. Season the fish with salt, pepper and garlic salt on both sides and inside the cavity. Then, cut deep slit into both sides of the fish and squeeze a lemon slice and tiny slab of butter in each. For the cavity, stuff the herb sprigs and a few more slices of butter. 

3. Place the fish on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes until completely cooked through.  Prior to serving, take one lemon wedge and squeeze the juice over the fish for additional flavoring.

Red Curry Tilapia

I've been trying to cook more fish recently because well, it's tasty and good for you!  Sadly, I just now realized that my fish cooking includes salmon and yes, more salmon.  I bought a bag of tilapia fillets a few weeks ago so this night was a good night to venture out.  This fish is a good starter since it's fairly easy to cook, mild in flavor and you can basically add anything to it for a tasty, tasty meal. 

My brother gave me a huge book of asian cooking and there was a recipe for fish with coconut.  Perfect!  Granted, in  my quest to cook healthier...curry probably isn't the best way to go. 

Red Curry Tilapia

Serves 3

2 tbsp veg. oil
3 tilapia fillets (you can use another mild fish like cod)
5 tbsp flour
1 garlic clove, minched
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
2 tomatos, cubed (or in my case, 1 can whole tomatoes chopped)
10 fresh basil leaves
white rice to eat with the curry
S&P
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp fish sauce

1. Clean and wash the fillet and cut into cubes.  Dry with a paper towel.  Put the flour into a plate, mix in salt and pepper and the garlic powder.  Coat the fish cubes in the flour.

2. In a hot pan, cook the coated fish and stir-fry for a good 4-5 minute until they brown and are almost cooked all the way through.

3. In a small bowl, mix the coconut milk, garlic, curry paste and fish sauce.  Pour the mixture over the fish and bring to a boil.  Next, add in the tomatoes and a little of the tomato sauce from the can.  Turn it to medium and just let it cook for a little bit longer.

4. Chopped the basil and add it to the mixture.  Give it a taste test and see if it needs more curry, fish sauce or salt/pepper.

5. Serve with rice and enjoy!