Fish Tacos

Fish are friends, not food!  Love Finding Nemo!  When is the second one coming out?  2015???  That is a bummer!

Fish and seafood are great because I never feel stuffed when I eat them.  Unless they're cooked in butter.  These fish tacos are yummy because they turned out better than I would have ever imagined.  It can get tricky if things aren't cooked right or the fish used is "ok" quality.  Splurge and get the good stuff.  It will be worth it.

Please see my recipe below!  This was one of Bobby Flay's creations.

Nonetheless, this month seems like a blur.  A lot of new changes!  I can proudly say I'm engaged to one of the nicest, funniest, most thoughtful person I know!  It's a funny story because he surprised me on the same day I tried to have a "surprise birthday wine tour" for him.  True story!

Us after the surprise in the limo

The wine group. ;-)

I'm excited to start the next chapter in my life and to start planning for all of the upcoming events.  If you see a wedding overload on the blog page, I apologize.  I will definitely be posting more recipes shortly!  Some spring recipes or I guess I should say, summer recipes since summer has been showing it's self in D.C. lately.  #I'mnotreadytobustouttheshortsyet

I am ready to get all of my summer decor out though!

Starfish,

Branches, sand,

and funny looking crabs!

This is the stuff that makes me happy.  And cooking.  Stay tuned for my New Orleans inspired meal!  Yes, it involved a Hurricane recipe.

And now, fish tacos.  These are very good with a cold glass of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, or Viogneer. 

 Servings:  2

Serving size- 2 tacos

Calories:  418
Fat: 20 g   

Carbs: 33 g
Fiber:  3  g 

Protein:  26 g 

Points:  11

Taco Ingredients:

1 lb. white flaky fish, such as mahi mahi or tilapia (I use frozen mahi mahi at Target)
1/4 vegetable oil
1 lime, juiced
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 jalapeno, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 flour tortillas

Pureed Tomato Salsa:
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 Serrano chile
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 Tbsp. hot sauce
1 Tbsp. oregano
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp. lime juice
Salt and pepper

Garnish:
chopped romaine lettuce
hot sauce
sour cream
thinly sliced green onion
*Pureed Tomato Salsa, recipe follows

**The fish will need to marinate for 15-20 minutes.  Prepare the fish first, then start to make the salsa.  The garnishes can be chopped while the salsa is cooking.

1.  Place the fish in a medium size dish (I used a 9 x 9 pan with sides). 
2.  Whisk together the oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno, and cilantro and pour it over the fish.  Let it marinate for 15-20 minutes.
3.  In a medium saucepan, heat the extra virgin olive oil.
4.  Add red onions and garlic and cook until it's soft.
5.  Add tomatoes, chile, jalapeno and cook unto the tomatoes are soft, about 15-20 minutes.
6.  Add the hot sauce, oregano, cilantro, and lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. 
7.  Turn on the oven to 350 degrees to heat up the tortillas.  Place the tortillas in the oven.

8. In a large saucepan on medium heat, place the fish in to cook.  Cook fish for 6-8 minutes one each side until fully cooked (or fish can be flaked).  Remove from stove and let rest for 5 minutes.  Then, start to flake the fish.

9.  Take the tortillas out of the oven.

These are a little piece of heaven and just scream for you to have thirds or fourths.

Don't forget the sour cream!

Scotch Eggs

Wow, this week is flying by isn't it? Maybe the Snowquester/Snow Day here in DC helped a little yesterday.  Plus I'm a little on the sick side, but I'm in total denial.  I'm really trying not to slack on my training for the Nike Women's Half Marathon coming up in the end of April here in DC.  I want to get a good racing time and kick some butt.

Love this sign!

Nonetheless, with all of my free time on Wednesday, I had a fun time making some delicious recipes I've been wanting to make, but haven't had the time.

Since it's getting closer to spring and hard boiled eggs will be sooooo in, I made an appetizer called Scotch Eggs that I discovered at a pub called Daniel O'Connell's in Old Town Alexandria.

The server had suggested them as an appetizer and I sort of doubted him because I wasn't sure what to expect.  I am so glad I went with it and gave them a try.  I could eat these delicious eggs as a meal instead of an appetizer.  And they go really well with honey mustard sauce.

Plus they're not as hard as they look.  I cheated a little by purchasing pre-made hard boiled eggs to cut the time. 

I'm not going to post the nutrition content because I don't feel it's necessary. It's eggs wrapped in yummy pork sausage so it's not going to score any points on being super healthy, LOL.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of vegetable oil for frying on the stove
6 hard boiled eggs
1 Bob Evans Breakfast Sausage- Original Flavor (12 oz)
1/4 cup flour
3/4 c. bread crumbs
3 eggs beaten
1/4 c. dijon mustard
1/4 c. honey

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Place the vegetable oil in a large frying pan and turn on the stove to medium heat.

3.  Flatten the sausage like a cookie and so that it can wrap around the whole hard boiled egg.  Before wrapping the sausage, sprinkle a little flour on it and then wrap it around the egg.

4.  Using a brush, coat the outside of the sausage egg with the beaten egg.

5.  Roll in bread crumbs to coat evenly.

6.  Place in the large frying pan and repeat for the other 5 eggs.  Rotate the eggs in the frying pan so each side is brown and cooked.

7.  Take the eggs out of the pan and place them on a cooking sheet.

8.  Cook the eggs in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

9.  While the eggs are cooking, mix together the dijon mustard and honey as the dip.

10.  After the eggs are fully cooked, cut them in half and serve them with the honey mustard sauce. 

Doesn't this represent the feeling you had in your first car? 

REPRESENTING.



Only 1 more day and it's the weekend!

Recipe inspired by AllRecipes.com

Pineapple Mango Sparkling Sangria

What a nice weekend!  On Friday, I was able to partake in Spa Night with the ladies.

Love these girls!  I miss seeing them everyday at my past job, but I'm so thankful we're still able to get together.

Another thing we had in common was being dedicated to working out.  I'm not going to lie, having someone to push you and encourage you to do different workouts is definitely motivational!  We reached some major goals at the gym!  I miss you ladies!

Nonetheless after a long week, a spa night was definitely in order!  We had a nice spread with a lot of delicious food,  got pampered with silly face masks/hair masks, hit the hot tub, polished nails, and caught up on each other's lives.

Yay.

I also brought a new sangria recipe for the occasion.

This is by Jose Garces and I found it on Oprah.com.

It is Pineapple Mango Sparkling Sangria!  It's so refreshing and best of all, it doesn't have any added sugar or sweeteners. It's basically a bottle of sweet white wine, a bottle of brut, mango and pineapple!  I'm making this again for sure. 

Servings:  8

Serving size- 3/4 cup

Calories:  139.37
Fat: .06 g   

Carbs: 28.16 g
Fiber:  1.81  g 

Protein:  .32 g 

Points:  3

Ingredients:

1 bottle sweet white wine (I used Fetzer's Gewurztraminer)
2 cups pineapple, cubed
1 mango, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 bottle Brut (I used Korbel)
1 lime, thinly sliced, as a garnish
1 pinch of saffron (optional) 

1.  In a large pitcher or punch bowl, stir together all ingredients except Brut and lime slices. Refrigerate 2 hours or as long as overnight.
2. When ready to serve, slowly pour in Brut, stirring gently. Pour the sangria into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with lime slices and serve.

That's all there is to it!

Cheers and until the next ladies night!



Seafood and Meat Paella

Hello, my friends!  Sorry for the delay on blogging!  I honestly missed it but couldn't get myself to sit down and actually write (which I love). 

I started my new job and before I knew it, a whole month went by.  I'm now ready to jump into new recipes, arts and craft projects, jewelry, organization tips, etc!  Over the next couple of days, I'll post projects I've done and recipes I'm quite fond of (as in I've made them multiple times, LOL).

Life is good though.  I'm really happy with how things panned out.  Like REALLY happy.

And I'm happy to see that spring is approaching.  It's almost March, folks.  Pretty soon there will be Cherry Blossoms out here in D.C., some extremely green grass, and more tourists!  Even if it means that the metro will be CRAZY.  Bring it, ha!  I know what it's like to be a tourist when you're in vacation mode and everything is great.  So, all I'm trying to say is, be nice to tourists!

So, with that said, here is a recipe that I love to make and it's soooo easy!  It also makes a ton of food so that means nice leftovers or an impressive dish to woo company.

Let me introduce you to Grilled Seafood and Meat Paella.  Paella is great because you can really add anything you want to it.  Chorizo sausage, clams, shrimp, chicken, mussels, whatever you're heart desires.  Then throw in some arborio rice, chicken broth, spices, onion, etc, and you have a wonderful, flavorful dish.  It is so tasty!

 Servings:  8

Serving size- 3/4 cup

Calories:  388.5
Fat: 12.4 g   

Carbs: 43.1 g
Fiber:  1.37  g 

Protein:  23.55 g 

Points:  10

Ingredients:

16 large shrimp (I use fully-cooked, frozen shrimp at Target)
1 pound boneless, chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounces Spanish chorizo, cut in 1/4-inch diagonal pieces
16 clams or mussels (fresh or frozen)
2 cups paella rice (or arborio rice)
1 medium onion
2 medium garlic cloves
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 large pinch saffron threads (please see note below)
1 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
1 to 2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
2 medium lemons
oversized skillet
medium skillet

*Saffron is expensive if not purchased at the right store.  Some saffron can cost up to $20 for a teeny-tiny portion!  That is a little ridulous. I purchased my saffron at World Market for under $6.  They are also just starting to offer saffron at Trader Joes (yay!) for about the same price.  Don't overpay for saffron.  Just don't. 

1.  Chop the onion and place it aside.
2.  Cut the chicken and place it aside.
3.  In an oversized skillet, cook the chicken, olive oil and onion.
4.  While cooking, season with salt and pepper.
5.  Chop garlic while the mixture is cooking and add it at the end (once the chicken is fully cooked).
6.  Pour in the chicken broth and turn up the heat to high.  
7.  Add the rice and place a lid over the pan.  The rice needs to simmer for at least 15 minutes.
8.  In the meantime, prep the clams or mussels.  If you have mussels, they need to be scrubbed and cleaned.  Throw away any shells that are opened (these are spoiled).
9.  In a smaller skillet, add wine and the clam or mussels.  Turn on high and cover with a lid.  The clams or mussels need to steam for at least 5-8 minutes or until most of them have opened.  Throw away any shells that haven't opened (these are spoiled).  Put the clams or mussels aside. 
10. By this time, the rice should be almost halfway done.  Add the chopped chorizo, shrimp, saffron and paprika.
11. Let cook for an additional 5 minutes and add the clams or mussels at the end.
12.  Top with chopped parsley and cut the lemons in wedges to place on each plate.  Once the paella is served, the lemon can be squeezed per liking.

Cooking clams or mussels (Fresh mussels are pictured)  Nice clams can be purchased at Trader Joes in the frozen section.

Cooking the rice, shrimp, chorizo and chicken

Finished product

Stay classy my friends...

This is another one of those recipes where I stepped way out of my comfort zone. I've never cooked mussels before and couldn't believe they required "scrubbing off of the beard."  Some mussels have fuzzies or a "beard" that need to be taken off of the mussel.  Also, mussels have a VERY fishy smell once they have cooked.  If you'd like to bypass the fishy smell, then clams are for you.  They also don't require scrubbing.

This dish really can't be messed up unless you overcook the rice (and it becomes dry) or if the mussels or clams become overcooked (they become rubbery).  The rice can be fixed just by adding more broth.  The mussels or clams can't really be fixed so be extra careful when cooking them.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday! 

  

 

Curry Chicken with Tikka Masala Sauce

Wow, it has been two months since my last post and I apologize!  It has been quite busy in preparing for the holidays by shopping, crafting, wine demos, and work.  I missed the blog though and definitely have some fun recipes and crafts to share! 

First and foremost, Happy 2013!!!  I hope your next year is better than the last!

I'm very lucky to start the year with a new job (yay!) so I'm looking forward to new beginnings and an adventure. 

Also, I feel really blessed lately to have such a loving family, an awesome boyfriend and fabulous friends.  Thank for being so supportive and I'm lucky to have you all in my life.  <3

With that said, since I'm all about new beginnings, I decided to really go out of the box with this recipe by trying a whole new venue:  Indian cuisine!!!!  

This recipe is a winner in so many ways!  Think of a creamy, mild-spicy sauced chicken over basmati rice.  Pair it with authentic Naan (Indian garlic bread) and you will be so happy!  Yep, I decided to go all out with this one.  Also, it's not super healthy, but it's only because of the whipping cream.  There is a ton of protein in this dish (about 23 grams) so it will hold you over for awhile.  If you decide to make Naan, make sure you prep the dough two hours beforehand.

Here is the recipe for Naan.  This can be prepped beforehand (start step three for when the chicken is simmering and the rice has started cooking).

 Servings:  14

Serving size- 1 naan

Calories:  202.07
Fat:  3.67 g   

Carbs:  39.19 g
Fiber:  1.21   g 

Protein:  4.08 g 

Points:  5 

Naan Recipe:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 c.warm water
1/4 c. white sugar
3 Tbsp. milk
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp. salt
4 1/4 c. bread flour (or regular flour)
2 tsp. minced garlic (optional)
1/4 c. butter, melted

1.  In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand for about 10 minutes, until frothy.  Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt and 4 c. of flour to make soft dough.  Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth.  Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and set aside.  Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2.  Punch down dough and knead in garlic.  Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a gulf ball.  Roll into balls and place on a tray.  Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3.  During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.  I use my George Foreman grill.
4.  At grill side, roll one dough out into a thin circle.  Lightly oil grill.  Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned.  Brush uncooked side with butter and turn over.  Brush cooked side with butter and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes.  Remove from grill and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Here is the recipe for the Curry Chicken with Tikka Masala Sauce.

                                                                        Servings:  6

Serving size- 1 cup

Calories:  306.5
Fat:  21.26 g   

Carbs:  6 g
Fiber:  .65   g 

Protein:  15.75 g 

Points:  8 

Curry Chicken with Tikka Masala Sauce Recipe:

2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste (optional)
1 tsp. white sugar, or to taste (optional)

1.  Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook and stir onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic, cook and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in cumin, 1 tsp. salt, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and turmeric into the onion mixture; fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

2.  Stir tomato sauce into onion and spice mixture, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low.  Simmer sauce for 10 minutes, then mix in cream, paprika, and 1 Tbsp. sugar.  Bring sauce back to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until sauce has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
3.  Heat vegetable oil in a separate skillet over medium heat.  Stir chicken into the hot oil, sprinkle with curry powder and sear chicken until lightly browned but still pink inside, about 3 minutes; stir often.  Transfer chicken and any pan juices into the sauce.  Simmer chicken in sauce until no longer pink, about 30 minutes.  Adjust salt and sugar to taste. 

Lastly, here is the recipe for the Basmati Rice!  The rice can be made once the chicken and sauces have been simmering for 10 out of the 30 minutes. 

Servings:  6

Serving size- 3/4 cup

Calories:  96.83
Fat:  .21 g   

Carbs:  20.31 g
Fiber:  1.21   g 

Protein:  3.11 g 

Points:  2 

Basmati Rice Recipe:

2.5 c. water
2 c. basmati rice
1 c. frozen green peas
2 tsp. cumin seeds

1.  In a saucepan, bring water to a boil.  Add rice and stir.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2.  In about 10 minutes in, stir in the peas and cumin.  Cook for the remaining 10 minutes.

Pair the meal with a Vidal Blanc or a Riesling (to offset the spices).  

If you have a sensitive stomach, I'd recommend taking some Tums after the meal. ;-)

This dish blew me away because I didn't think it would turn out this good.  It also makes PLENTY of leftovers.  

If you have any recipe suggestions, please let me know and I will attempt to make them! 

Curry Chicken and Tikka Masala recipe is courtesy of allrecipes

Naan recipe is courtesy of allrecipes

Basmati rice recipe is courtesy of allrecipes