This Week The Plan

It is probably not a good sign that I keep having to post this further and further into the week! This has been a rough few days for me. Baby Furious has a bad cold and is up literally every hour on the hour all night. Kid Furious is fast approaching five and also a serious beat down... (just kidding about the beat down!) In truth she is pushing my buttons non-stop and pushing me to the brink of sanity. On top of one of the longest most trying days of my life Mr F decided to ride his bike to work today... and stay a little late doing personal stuff (needless to say not a lot of heads up on this one!)... and came home 45 fucking minutes late! Why is it (and I know there are other stay at home parents out there who are feelin' this one) that the days that I am most likely to freak out and get all Mommie Dearest on my young brood are the same goddamn days that Mr F is freakin' late!?! I mean is it some kind of test from God or what? So... when he jauntily rides up the drive and I haven't been able to get dinner on the table, since of course I didn't know when he was coming home, and Kid F is yappin' non-freakin'-stop and the Baby is exhausted so can't be put down I hit the wall. I was at the point where I no longer knew whether to start slamming doors or sobbing. Being the Superhero that I am I did neither, I "filed some complaints" with Mr F about not being able to workout now because he was home so late (true... you know I'm on a tight schedule with that... and if ever I needed an endorphin rush it is now) and fed my family a restaurant quality meal goddamn it! Long story short I didn't make a menu this week. Shopped without a list and ended up buying treats....ugggh... I need to get my life back!!

Here is what we had tonight. I've posted this before. I am not joking.. if you want to really test my kitchen prowess out this is the dish to do it with. This is as good a dish as you would get at any fine restaurant. I'm completely serious. It is fabulous. Even if you don't think you like salmon... you will like this.

Brown Sugar and Ginger Salmon

salmon filets
minced ginger (I use jarred pureed ginger... 1/2 t-2 t per 6oz of filet)
ground coriander
s&p
dark brown sugar (1 T per every 6 oz of filets)

Heat oven to 400

line cookie sheet with tin foil (do it!) and lightly grease the foil
Place filets (I get a 12-16 oz for the three of us) on the prepared cookie sheets. Salt and pepper the filets and then dust with the coriander (like you are putting cinnamon sugar on toast). Schmear (yes you NYers will know what I mean) the minced ginger over the filets. This is totally a taste issue on how "hot" you want the salmon to be. Apply sparingly (1/2 t per 6 oz) if you don't like spice and more (2 t per 6 oz filet) if you do. Then take a tablespoon of brown sugar for each 6 oz or so of salmon and evenly crumble and press this on top of the ginger. Pat the sugar to cover the whole filet and kind of moisten it from the ginger. Place in oven for 10-15 mins until desired doneness. The brown sugar should have melted into a glaze. THIS IS FANTASTIC!

175 calories for 4 oz portion


UPDATE
my grocery store isn't selling the jars of pureed ginger (might have been Christopher Ranch or some such brand like the garlic) anymore... they now have it in a tube "Gourmet Garden Ginger Spice Blend"

Also I use Wild Sockeye I find it has a stronger flavor and a firmer texture. Lately I've been buying the vacuum packed frozen filets so I can make this whenever I want.. I just put the filets in the fridge the night before. Whole Foods and TJ's both have these at about $9.99/lb. If you buy it at the fish counter it is often over this and since they've thawed it for you (well for those of us who do not live in Alaska).. you don't have a lot of flexibility in terms of when you're going to make it.


If you have technical questions regarding the prep of this dish please ask! I make these things up and sometimes, and this is the case with this, it is an eyeball thing and not an exact measurement.

Excuse Me While I Toot My Own Horn

Tonight for dinner I reheated up some frozen Cornflake Crusted Tilapia fish sticks (well nuggets really) and they were as good, if not quite possibly better, than when I first made them. I know I've talked these babies up before but I'm fairly certain none of you have broken down and lined up your pie plates as of yet. Well what are you waiting for... Get On It! These are so good I cannot even get over myself! If I had a restaurant these would be on the menu every goddamn night. These were so good, even reheated mind you!, that Mr F and I were fighting over the extra nuggets left in the pan.

Here it is one more time:

Cornflake Crusted Tilapia

1 lb Tilapia filets (4-6)
2.5 c cornflakes, crunched up
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c flour
2T spice rub*
2T oil


preheat oven to 400 baking time 10 mins

Coat the bottom of a large rimmed baking sheet with the oil, spread to coat evenly and set aside. Line up three pie pans or shallow bowls or plates. Place the flour and spice rub in one and whisk together. Beat one egg in the 2nd pie pan. Pour the crunched up Cornflakes in the third (I just crunch them with my hands). Dip each filet, one at a time, in the flour turning to coat evenly, the egg mixture and then the cornflakes. Place them on the oiled baking sheet. Bake for 5 mins, turn over and finish baking for an additional 5 minutes.

each filet is 200 calories

*Israeli Spice Rub (care of Racheal Ray)
1 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/2 palmfuls) sweet paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/2 palmfuls) ground cumin
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) dried oregano
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) ground coriander
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (medium to hot in spice level)
1 1/2 teaspoons (1/2 palmful), coarse kosher salt

Note: I omitted the red pepper flakes for this recipe!


If you decide to do a double batch go ahead and cook them then transfer them to a cooling rack so they don't sog up on you. Once they are completely cool I just put the cooling rack in the freezer. Once the fish is frozen through pop the filets (or nuggets if you decided to go that route... and I suggest you do!) in a freezer bag. I freeze things this way so that I don't end up with a frozen clump of fish, cookie dough, what have you... trust me on this one! When reheating I just popped the frozen fish onto a lightly oiled baking sheet, sprayed the tops of the fish with oil and put them right into a hot (400) oven. I forgot to time them (sorry!) but they heated up pretty quick and I did flip them once half way through. Around 10-15 mins.... just don't burn them. The coating was even crunchier and if possible more delicious! Tonight I served it up with a creamy cocktail sauce. Yum!

And I'm not kidding around, the spice mix is key in this recipe. Take the time to do it right. I just make up a big batch and keep it around. In fact that's what I seasoned last weeks steak with and it was fantastic.

Recipe of the Day

I posted this a couple of weeks ago on my old site. It is fantastic and I urge you to make it. Despite needing three pie pans it really is so simple! And totally kid friendly!

Cornflake Crusted Tilapia

1 lb Tilapia filets (4-6)
2.5 c cornflakes, crunched up
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c flour
2T spice rub*
2T oil


preheat oven to 400 baking time 10 mins

Coat the bottom of a large rimmed baking sheet with the oil, spread to coat evenly and set aside. Line up three pie pans or shallow bowls or plates. Place the flour and spice rub in one and whisk together. Beat one egg in the 2nd pie pan. Pour the crunched up Cornflakes in the third (I just crunch them with my hands). Dip each filet, one at a time, in the flour turning to coat evenly, the egg mixture and then the cornflakes. Place them on the oiled baking sheet. Bake for 5 mins, turn over and finish baking for an additional 5 minutes.

each filet is 200 calories

*Israeli Spice Rub (care of Racheal Ray)
1 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/2 palmfuls) sweet paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons (1 1/2 palmfuls) ground cumin
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) dried oregano
1 teaspoon (1/3 palmful) ground coriander
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (medium to hot in spice level)
1 1/2 teaspoons (1/2 palmful), coarse kosher salt

Note: I omitted the red pepper flakes for this recipe!

Recipe of the Day

I am a bit demoralized at having lost all my recipes. I make them up while I am cooking and writing them down for this was really a potentially valuable source for myself, and now they are gone, and I just don't have it in me to try and think that hard right now.

So here's an oldie but a goodie

Brown Sugar and Ginger Salmon

salmon filets
minced ginger (prefer the jars pureed ginger you can buy... 1/2 t - 2 t per 6 oz filet)
ground coriander
s&p
brown sugar (1 T per 6oz of filet)

Heat oven to 400

line cookie sheet with tin foil (do it!) and lightly grease the foil
Place filets (I get a 12-16 oz for the three of us) on the prepared cookie sheets. Salt and pepper the filets and then dust with the coriander (like you are putting cinnamon sugar on toast). Schmear (yes you NYers will know what I mean) the minced ginger over the filets. This is totally a taste issue on how "hot" you want the salmon to be. Apply sparingly (1/2 t per 6 oz) if you don't like spice and more (2 t per 6 oz filet) if you do. Then take a tablespoon of brown sugar for each 6 oz or so of salmon and evenly crumble and press this on top of the ginger. Pat the sugar to cover the whole filet and kind of moisten it from the ginger. Place in oven for 10-15 mins until desired doneness. The brown sugar should have melted into a glaze. THIS IS FANTASTIC!

175 calories for 4 oz portion

UPDATE
my grocery store isn't selling the jars of pureed ginger (might have been Christopher Ranch or some such brand like the garlic) anymore... they now have it in a tube "Gourmet Garden Ginger Spice Blend"

Also I use Wild Sockeye I find it has a stronger flavor and a firmer texture. Lately I've been buying the vacuum packed frozen filets so I can make this whenever I want.. I just put the filets in the fridge the night before. Whole Foods and TJ's both have these at about $9.99/lb. If you buy it at the fish counter it is often over this and since they've thawed it for you (well for those of us who do not live in Alaska).. you don't have a lot of flexibility in terms of when you're going to make it.