curried red snapper

well, hello! though the posts have slowed down, the cooking has not. since i don't eat red meat, we have the potential of going stir-crazy on chicken in our house. so i try to bring fish into our menu as often as possible. this is a really simple recipe i found on allrecipes.com that's very tasty. it calls for red snapper, but you could use cod, flounder or tilapia fillets, too. and if you need to make it gluten-free, try subbing cornstarch in for the flour to thicken. enjoy!

curried red snapper
1 lb. red snapper fillets
1/2 c. onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 T. butter
1 T. curry powder
1/2 t. salt
4 T. milk
2 t. flour or 1 t. cornstarch (or more, to thicken)

place fish in greased 9x13" cooking pan. in skillet, sauté onions, celery and butter until tender; add salt and curry, mix. stir in milk and flour. spread curry mix over fish and bake uncovered at 350 for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with fork.

baby food

i haven't updated the blog in a month or so because a good portion of the food i've been making has been baby food. i thought i could share a few ideas on that front since making your own baby food is a healthy, cheaper way to feed your kiddo. i'm not going to rewrite a baby food book or blog, and the instructions for all baby food are basically "cook til soft, purée, serve". to store it (after puréeing), i poured the food into ice cube trays, froze it, and then stored it in zip-top bags in the freezer. here are just a few ideas of great foods for baby.

baby food
sweet potato (with cinnamon and nutmeg)
green beans (with onion powder)
butternut or banana squash
carrots (with curry and onion powder)
peas
broccoli
asparagus
avocado
peaches
prunes
pear
nectarine, banana, mango
blueberry, mango, spinach, kiwi, banana
plum, banana, blueberry
cottage cheese
tofu (mixed in with any other food)

turkey meatloaf

stereotypically, meatloaf isn't something people look forward to at dinner. i don't quite understand where it got such a bad rap. my husband james had a very different opinion of meatloaf; as chinese food was the everyday, having meatloaf was a big treat. so when i tried this recipe the first time, he was pretty excited. this is a good one from ina garten, but i've made a few tweaks (starting with cutting the original recipe in half... 5 pounds of turkey? ina!). tonight i added about 1/2 cup of chopped bell pepper & 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms when i sautéed the onions - delish!

turkey meatloaf
1 1/2 c. chopped onion (1 large onion)
1 T. olive oil
1 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1/4 t. thyme
1/4 c. worcestershire sauce
1/3 c. chicken broth
1 T. tomato paste
2 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
3/4 c. plain bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. ketchup

preheat oven to 325. in pan over med-low heat, cook onions, olive oil, salt, pepper & thyme until translucent, but not browned - about 10 minutes. add worcestershire sauces, broth and paste and mix well. allow to cool. combine turkey, bread crumbs, eggs & onions and mix in large bowl. mix well & shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. spread ketchup evenly on top. bake for 45 minutes, or until internal temperature is 160 & cooked through. (a pan of hot water on the lower rack of the oven will keep the top of the loaf from cracking)

slow-roasted garlic chicken

cooking a whole chicken freaked me out for years... it just looked so daunting. but when i got married i had this weird desire to be able to cook one for my husband and me. maybe i have some hidden desire to be a housewife in the 1950's. but then i got this recipe (from where or whom i don't know - please identify yourself!) and it looked do-able. and i can say wholeheartedly: it is do-able and delicious, to boot! this is one of james's top 5 recipes that i make. i've included a couple pictures to show what i mean by seasoning under the skin and how i tie penny's (henny penny reference) thigh's together after stuffing her. the cool part of this is the first hour she cooks under foil, getting all juicy throughout, but then you take the foil off and crank the temp up to give her a nice tan - extra yummies! join me in 1950 and cook penny up tonight. (sorry - i forgot to take a picture of penny all cooked and golden... guess we just got too excited about carving her up.)

slow-roasted garlic chicken
2 T. kosher salt (or regular)
1 t. black pepper
1 ~5 lb. chicken
4 garlic heads, top 1" cut off
1 medium lemon, halved
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, quartered
1 c. low-sodium chicken broth

heat oven to 375. mix salt & pepper and set aside. remove giblets & pat chicken dry. rub chicken all over with one garlic head, rub all over (under skin, too - see picture) with oil & season with salt and pepper (in cavity, also). place 1 garlic head, top pieces of garlic and half the lemon in cavity & tie thighs together (see picture). arrange remaining garlic, lemon & onion on bottom of baking dish and place chicken in middle. add broth to pan and cover tightly with foil. roast until chicken reaches 135-140 degrees, about 1 hour. remove foil, brush chicken with juices and increase oven temp to 450. basting occasionally until temp of chicken in inner thigh is 165 degrees, skin is golden brown and juices run clear - about 30-40 minutes more. let rest 10 minutes before carving. (optional: pour pan juices into small saucepan and simmer over med. heat until thickened; about 7-10 minutes)

texas sheet cake

this is my favorite cake, hands-down. growing up, when my mom would ask what kind of cake i wanted for my birthday i always chose this one. i'm not a big frosting girl, but this cake and frosting - oh man. it's because there's buttermilk in both, making them not overly sweet. i'm so excited i'm making this today! i hope i can wait to eat it til tonight... it's not as good of a birthday cake with a big section missing and crumbs around the cook's mouth.

texas sheet cake from gretchen riedel
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. oil
1 c. water
1/2 c. cocoa
1/3 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

preheat oven to 400. grease and flour an 11x17" cookie sheet. mix flour, sugar & salt in a large bowl, set aside. in a small saucepan, combine butter, oil, water & cocoa and bring to a low boil. pour cocoa mixture into flour mixture and stir. add remaining ingredients, mix until combined and pour into pan. bake for 20-25 minutes and spread frosting when cooled.

chocolate buttermilk frosting
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. cocoa
1/3 c. buttermilk
4 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla
dash of salt

bring butter, cocoa & buttermilk to low boil, pour over sugar and stir to combine. add vanilla and salt and beat well. spread over cooled cake.

banana muffins

we had a large amount of bananas in our kitchen this morning and that needed to stop. you see, i'm not a huge fan of bananas - i don't eat them and feel pleasure. the exception: when they're baked into something. then i feel pleasure in eating them.

i found a recipe using allrecipes.com and experimented by adding some extra flavor and cutting down on the fat. i also substituted in some whole wheat flour. it worked really well! they taste wonderful and our house smells fantastic. i added chocolate chips and walnuts, but you don't have to & they'd still be good. hope you enjoy!

banana muffins
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 egg
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. plain yogurt (i used fat free & it was great)
1 t. vanilla
1 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. chopped walnuts

in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. in another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. fold in bananas, chocolate chips and walnuts. fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

creamy potato dish

two things you can count on at easter dinner at my family's house: creamy potato dish and quotes from "what about bob?". the quotes are not limited to easter - the well of lines from that movie is bottomless. i watched it again a few years ago and was surprised at how annoying it was, but man... those quotes still have life in them! but i'm pretty sure talking about dr. leo marvin et al wasn't the point of this post.

this is an easy side dish that pairs well with many meats, but particularly ham. when it bakes, the top and edges get all crunchy and extra delicious. it'll leave you saying, "oh, fay!"

creamy potato dish
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 c. sour cream
1 (2 lb.) package frozen hash browns
2 T. grated onion
1/2 c. grated cheese (cheddar or mozzarella both work well)
2 t. paprika

preheat oven to 350. grease a 9x13" baking dish. mix all ingredients except paprika in bowl and then spread into baking dish. top with paprika and bake for about 1 hour, until top begins to turn golden brown.