Terrified of Fish - Part IV

We completed another round of TOF last night! This time, the menu item was "Fish in Papillote" submitted by Grossgrain Lane (Prep in Paradise). This is a very delicious, full of flavor dish, and it was so fun to prepare! L got his hands dirty this time too, so we had a great time making the super easy parchment packs. The fish looked beautiful with the gorgeous colors of the tomato, capers, and lemon. Definitely a great dish! Highly recommended!

Here's the recap!








And, the finished product!! Yum!

Here's the recipe!

"Here's an easy, fool proof recipe from Gourmet magazine. Good luck, and don't fear the fish!

Fish In Papillote

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 (1 1/2-lb) piece white-fleshed fish fillet such as striped bass, haddock, or halibut (about 1 inch thick)
8 thin lemon slices (from 1 large lemon)
8 fresh thyme sprigs
Parchment Paper
Kitchen twine

Preheat oven to 400ºF with rack in middle. Heat oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté garlic until pale golden, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt and sauté until tomatoes are softened, about 1 minute. Stir in capers. Remove from heat. Cut fish into quarters (you are aiming for square-shaped pieces rather than long, thin cross-cut slices). Pat dry and sprinkle both sides with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (total). Arrange 4 (12- to 15-inch) squares of parchment paper on a work surface. Drizzle center of each parchment square with a little olive oil, then top with a fish fillet. Slide lemon slices under fish and top with thyme sprigs. Spoon tomato mixture over fish. Gather parchment up around fish to form a pouch, leaving no openings, and tie tightly with string (make a bow so that you can untie it easily). Put pouches in a large shallow baking pan and bake until fish is just cooked through, about 18 to 20 minutes. (Check by unwrapping one pouch.)"

And, viola! That's it :-)

Thank you so much for the recipe, Grosgrain Lane! Its another great fish dish to add to the collection :-) You're entered for the fabulous TOF prize too!!

Terrified of Fish - Part III

Another delicious fish dinner to report :-)

This time we had Salmon in a Pouch, compliments of Mona. It was suuuper easy to prepare, but would definitely fool your friends into thinking you spent way more than 15 minutes in the kitchen because there are so many wonderful flavors and beautiful vegetables involved. It smelled wonderful, thanks to the garlic and lemon, and was so so yummy. Thumbs waaay up from both L and I. The recipe is in my recipe book and waiting to be made again!

And there it is 1,2,3! And, so, so, good! You should definitely try it yourself, because it is soooo darn easy! Here is Mona's recipe:

"This recipe is easy to prepare, delish and there's no pan to wash!

Salmon Dinner in a Pouch

1 lemon

1 1/4-lb. piece salmon fillet(skin removed)

1/2 lb. asparagus spears cut into 1.5" pieces

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks

4 scallions, sliced

2 small plum tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh or 2 teaspoons dried basil

lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grate peel and squeeze juice from lemon (yield 2 TBSP. juice and 2 tsp. peel). Place 2-foot piece heavy-duty aluminum foil on baking sheet, allowing edges to hang over sides. Place salmon fillet in center of foil. Top fillet with vegetables and garlic. Sprinkle with basil, lemon juice and peel. Dot with butter. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring edges of foil together over top of fish; seal by rolling and tightly crimping foil. Bake 30-35 minutes until fish flakes easily. (To check, simply open package; if necessary, reseal and continue to cook. When opening packet be cautious of escaping steam!)

Serve with rice and lemon wedges.

Prep: 10 minutes;

bake: 35 minutes;

ready to serve in 45 minutes.

Makes 4 servings."

Thank you, Mona!! You too are in the running for the TOF contest prize! :-)

Terrified of Fish - Part II

Yummmmmaay! Is what I have to say about our Terrified of Fish dish #1! Thanks to Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S., L and I had some very tasty, lightly breaded tilapia this week! I'm sure ours turned out looking NOTHING like Grits and Country's does, but it was so so good :-) When it came to presentation, I worked a little improv, and here's how it turned out!

Sauteing while I pray that I'm doing this right. But as soon as the sweet smell of lemon, butter, and cooking sherry mixed with the fish, we knew we could do no wrong! L said it smelled like kettle corn :-)

Here is the finished product with some jasmine rice and steamed asparagus. You can't see a whole lot of the fish, but you get the picture. And, like I said, I improv'd on the presentation! I'm still a fish-beginner!

You all should try this one if you're interested in making your own fabulously yummy fish dish! Here is her story and directions...

"Country and I live off of seafood....we eat nothing but when we're down in the keys at his house. We caught a bunch of snapper the other weekend and I cooked it the same way our favorite restaurant does... If you can't get your hands on snapper, any light white flaky fish will do- Tilapia is really easy to find. Give the fish a light covering of egg and flour..you don't want a thick breading. In a sautee pan over medium heat melt a bunch of butter- maybe half a stick, squeeze in a few lemons, and pour in about 1/4 cup of cooking sherry. Taste it with your finger until you get a combination that you like...lay the pieces of fish in the pan and don't touch it! Give it a few minutes and when you lightly touch the fish and it flakes apart, flip it over! Give it another minute or two and you're done! It's delicious served with rice- we like Jasmine Rice."

So, thank you GRITS for dish #1! You're in the running for the suprise at the end of the contest!

Terrified of Fish.. Part II

L and I are very excited to try some new, fabulous fish dishes. Now, I just pray that I can prepare them just as fabulously! The tips and recipes I received look so so yummy and definitely do-able for a beginner! So, I will begin the contest (aka practice) this Thursday evening. I plan to do one dish per week. And, as I said, L and I will judge the yummiest and I will send a fun kitchen/cooking related suprise to the lucky and fabulous fish-chef of a winner!

Here is the schedule! (And, by all means, if you would like to add yourself/your recipe to the contest, keep 'em coming!! But try to do it by the end of this week to actually be part of the contest!)

1. Tilapia with Jasmine Rice - Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S.
2. Salmon Dinner in a Pouch - Mona
3. Fish in Papillote - Prep In Paradise
4. Salmon a la Ramen - Rachel Ann

Yum! Let the contest begin!

Terrified of Fish.. Part I

Ok, I need to you all in on a little secret.. I'm terrified of fish. COOKING it that is! I baked my first salmon fillet a few weeks ago, and although it turned out okay, I would have to say it was a little overcooked (thanks to me being terrified of NOT cooking it enough!), and slightly bland with my "just squeeze the lemon over the fish" method. I am scared to prepare it because I really just don't know what I'm doing when it comes to fish. My parents are both fabulous cooks and have prepared all different types of seafood many many times, but I guess I never payed close enough attention on "seafood night." Anyway, this is where you all come in ;-) Is anyone out there a genius with fish in the kitchen, and do you have some pointers for the rookie? What is your favorite type of fish to prepare? Favorite recipes? How hot and how long to bake, fry, broil, bbq? I would love any type of tips you can offer!

To make this even more fun, I promise I will try each and every recipe that you send my way within the next couple of weeks, and the winner for best fish recipe (judged by myself and L, of course!) will receive a fabulous cooking/kitchen-related suprise from me! If you have a recipe to send, just leave it in a comment or let me know you want to e-mail it to me and I will send you my e-mail address! Make sure the recipe is detailed and has been tried successfully before by you!

Hopefully there are a lot of you out there with fish on your menu! If not, oh well.. but if so, this will be a fun way for me to practice!! Thanks ahead of time!

Terrified of Fish - Part V

And here it is! The fourth and final dish of Vineyard Vogue's Terrified of Fish segment! This one was very fun to make, it reminded me of Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee! Follow along for another fabulous fish dish!

L took the reigns for much of this one, and I must say he did a great job! This salmon dish was so yummy. It is full of flavor and mixed with veggies and noodles.... YUM!! The noodles really hold the lime too, so it makes it even tastier. And, even better, the dish was sooo simple! Rachel Ann was worried that it was too simple, but we all need a quick-go-to fish dish, and this is definitely one!

This recipe came to me from BFF's in Boston. Its a "semi-homemade" dish made by her and her husband. Its awesome, Rachel Ann.. THANK YOU!

Here is her explaination:

"Nathan and I eat the easiest salmon recipe known to man. I'm a little embarrassed to type it here because all of these "real" recipes sound so good.

Anyway, we take salmon filets and squeeze a lot of lime juice over them (one lime per piece of salmon). Then, we salt them and add Spike (a non-salt version of Mrs. Dash you can buy at Whole Foods--although I'm sure Mrs. Dash works too).Then we slice another lime very thinly and lay the lime slices over the salmon for broiling.Broil them for 10-15 minutes until the middle is flaky.

We eat this with ramen noodles. Nope--I'm not kidding. We throw out the spice packet and make ramen with veggie stock and mixed frozen vegetables and chunk up the salmon over it. So.Good."

Here are the goods! Yummy, yummy, yummy!!

Thanks again, Rachel Ann!! L and I have yet another great recipe to add to the collection! :o)

Alright, now I would just like to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, to all four of the ladies that sent in such wonderful fish recipes for L and I to try. They were-

Grits, Mona, Grosgrain Lane, & BFF's in Boston!

We thoroughly enjoyed preparing, and eating (of course!) all four of them. Even though it took awhile to get through the whole segment (oopsie!), I really do feel more confident cooking with fish. I am excited to try even more recipes and even more types of seafood in the kitchen. I hope you have all been able to try some of these great recipes, and feel more confident handling fish too!

To see all of the recipes, click here!

To thank you ladies, I have a little something for each of you! All you have to do is e-mail me your address at VineyardVogue@gmail.com, and your thank-you treat will be on its way! I promise it won't be a piece of fish, haha!

Thanks again ladies! Happy fish-cooking! :o)