The long-awaited reappearance of trout

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed trout fillets
  
• ricotta-stuffed mushrooms
  
• green salad "bar"
  

It's been forever since I made fish for dinner and I'm not really sure why. We were eating a lot of tilapia for a while there, and I guess I kind of got sick of it. Anyway, my supermarket had some really nice rainbow trout fillets today, so I bought a couple and just seasoned them with a bit of salt and pepper before sauteing them in EVOO on the stovetop. I always start them skin-side down but I have no idea if that even matters. They were delicious and the boy had seconds and made a point of telling me how good they were. Remind me to start cooking fish more often!

I had a bunch of cheese filling leftover from when I made ravioli the other day and was looking for a way to use it up. I figured I could either make more ravioli (um, no), make lasagne (maybe, but that would involve the making of a meat sauce, which takes a while) or stuff mushrooms with it (bingo!). I modified the cheese filling slightly by mincing the mushroom stems and a couple of cloves of garlic and cooking those together in a skillet with some EVOO until soft. Then I cooled them and mixed them with the leftover ravioli filling, stuffing the mushrooms from whence came the stems and baking them in a foil-lined pan for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees F. I thought they were absolutely delicious, but DH is not a huge fan of ricotta and prefers the cream cheese-based mushroom stuffing. WHATEVER. More mushrooms for me!

The salad bar tonight was chopped romaine, sliced cucumbers and the last of the carrots from my garden (sliced). Time to make way for the spring veggies!

Another (delicious!) take on cabbage

Tonight's Menu

• sauteed rainbow trout fillets
  
• mixed-grain rice
  
• savoy cabbage with bacon and mustard
  

Yes, I know. I'm talking about cabbage again. But hey! Don't run away! This time there was BACON!

All I did was lop off about half a head of savoy cabbage and cut it into 1-inch wide strips (more or less). Then I chopped up a few thick strips of bacon and cooked them in a large skillet until they were not quite crisp and had rendered out quite a bit of fat. I tossed in the cabbage, stirring until it had wilted down a bit and the bacon had crisped up. I ended up having not QUITE enough bacon fat to really wilt down the cabbage, so I added just a few tablespoons of water to get some braising/steaming action happening. When the cabbage was tender, I stirred in a teensy amount of stone-ground mustard (like maybe half a teaspoon) and some freshly ground pepper. I didn't add salt because both the bacon and mustard were salty.

This was absolutely DELICIOUS, I am not kidding. You couldn't really taste the mustard at all, but it gave the dish a nice depth and provided some acidity to balance out the richness of the bacon. The crinkly texture of the savoy cabbage (as opposed to my usual plain green cabbage) was a perfect vehicle for the crunchy mustard seeds and crispy bits of bacon. SO GOOD! I will make it this way again for sure.

The trout fillets were just seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper, then sauteed in a large skillet with some EVOO (that's extra virgin olive oil, for those who don't know). I started them skin-side down and then flipped them halfway through. They really only take about five minutes total, if that.

The grain thing was something new. My favorite skincare company, DHC, also sells a few high-end food items and when I placed my last order for moisturizer I decided to give the multi-grain rice a try. It was kind of a pain, actually -- you have to soak it for 30 minutes, then cook it for 15. Not all of the water got absorbed so I let it sit, covered, for a while and then ended up draining it. It was actually really good, though! It has barley and rye berries in addition to a couple of different types of rice, and it has a lot more flavor and texture than plain rice. With a little salt and pepper, it makes a really tasty side dish. DH even liked it, and the boy had multiple helpings!

It was SO cold and windy and nasty today, but I'm hoping this is winter's last hurrah. I have a bunch more GRILLING to do, yo! Stay tuned!

Fishy some more

Tonight's Menu

• trout fillets sauteed in EVOO and seasoned with salt and pepper
  
• garlicky green beans
• big-ass salad
  

Look! It's me! Posting again even though our dinner was kind of boring!

The green beans were good, though. I'm determined to duplicate the garlicky green beans at our favorite Italian restaurant, Andiamo. They are BEYOND delicious. I could eat a whole plate of them, seriously.

Tonight I parboiled fresh green beans for about 10 minutes, then minced a couple of garlic cloves, sauteed them in EVOO for a bit (being VERY careful not to burn the garlic, which would suck), then tossed in the beans and sauteed the whole lot until everything was infused with garlicky goodness. DH thought there was too much garlic; I thought there wasn't quite enough (or that I hadn't sufficiently infused the oil). But still, YUMMY. Hopefully the leftovers will be even better!

Fishy!

Tonight's Menu

• baked salmon
• pan-sauteed rainbow trout
  
• leftover quinoa
• steamed broccoli
  

I have successfully gotten the boy hooked upon my salmon, which I just brush with EVOO and then sprinkle with garlic pepper and Jane's Crazy Salt before popping it in the oven at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes per inch of thickness.

The trout was for DH the salmon hater. As usual, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then give it a once-over in a hot pan with EVOO.

As you may have noticed, I have switched (or more accurately, I've BEEN switched, against my will) to the new Blogger, which means I can do labels and stuff. I'll be going back through old posts and adding them, so eventually you'll be able to, say, click on the "salmon" label and pull up all my posts about salmon. I haven't decided whether I'm going to do the REALLY old posts, or just the ones since I switched the blog over to general cooking (as opposed to Get My Kids To Eat Normal Food cooking). I figure you're probably looking for recipes and meal ideas, so I may just stick with that.

Anyhoo.

Fishes

Tonight's Menu

• rainbow trout fillets sauteed in EVOO
• baked salmon fillets
  
• quinoa
• big-ass salad
  

Yeah, I made two different fishes. DH likes trout and I like both, and I wanted to make enough that the kids could try both or either (the boy tried both; the girl passed).

I made the trout the same way I always do -- sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, saute in EVOO for a couple of minutes per side (skin side first, then flip). The salmon was brushed with a bit of EVOO, sprinkled with Jane's Krazy salt and garlic pepper, and baked (skin side down) at 450 degrees F for about 12-13 minutes (you want about 10 minutes per inch of thickness at that temperature).

I washed mine down with some Vinho Verde. It was sunny and in the low 60s today for the first time in FOREVER, so it was a good day for something nice and light.

Of course, it's supposed to be rainy and cold again all week so I may be busting out the soups and stews again after this.

Too damn much trouble

Tonight's Menu

• trout fillets sauteed in EVOO
  
• quinoa
• shredded brussels sprouts with onion and bacon
  

I got this brussels sprouts recipe out of a magazine (Oct./Nov. 2006 Eating Well, page 35) and it was extremely tasty, but I don't think I'll make it again because it took FOREVER. Basically you slice up a pound of fresh brussels sprouts (do you have ANY idea how long that takes? well, double that and you're close) and a small yellow onion. Fry two strips of bacon in a skillet, remove the bacon, and dump the onions and a dash of salt into the drippings. Cook those on medium-ish until tender and starting to brown, then add 3/4 cup of water and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Then add the sliced up brussels sprouts and cook those, stirring often, until they get tender. Stir in a tablespoon of cider vinegar, crumble the bacon and sprinkle that on top, et voila! Really yummy, but damn is it labor-intensive.

On the plus side: DH, who usually avoids brussels sprouts, liked this stuff and would probably eat it again. And also, AFTER he ate it and I complained about how long it took to make, he asked me why I didn't just use the food processor. D'oh! I kind of forget we have one sometimes. We have a little one that I use to chop nuts, but I rarely drag out the big one. I mean, a knife is a lot easier to clean, you know? So I dunno. I really don't think I'll try this again, but I never say never. Cabbage is a lot quicker and easier to chop up, even WITHOUT a food processor, and it tastes about the same.

Roly poly fish heads

Tonight's Menu

• grilled rainbow trout fillets
  
• a cold salad of new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil, and marinated artichoke hearts
  

Okay, so tonight instead of sauteing the trout fillets in a pan with EVOO, I stuck them in a wire basket and grilled them. This was a moderately successful experiment in that the fish cooked just fine and tasted good and everything; however, the fillets stuck to the grill basket something awful despite the fact that I brushed them generously with EVOO before putting them in there. Argh. I think I'll leave grilling for heartier fish like salmon and tuna, and go back to sauteing my trout.

It's almost getting too late in the season for this, my favorite summer salad. The tomatoes just aren't quite up to par anymore around here, alas.

Something fishy

Tonight's Menu

• trout fillets sauteed in EVOO
  
• steamed basmati rice
  
• giant green salad
  

This was a quick and easy dinner because we had to cram it in between the kids' taekwondo class and parent info night up at the school. I buy the pre-bagged salad greens and just add shit to them. Cucumber, carrots, cherry tomatoes, etc. We eat a lot of salad, as you may have noticed. The kids like it and it's an easy way to get some veggies into them.

Our microwave has a setting for rice so I make use of that. It's AWESOME. Just dump a cup of rice and two cups of water into a covered casserole dish, stick it in the nukerator, push the button and forget about it. The rice comes out perfect and fluffy and never sticky or clumpy.

Trout is DH's favorite fish, and it's so easy to prepare. I buy the fillets that are de-boned but still have the skin on. Just crank up a skillet to medium high, drizzle in some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper the flesh side of the fillets, and cook them maybe 3 minutes per side depending on how thick they are. I start with the skin side up but it doesn't really matter.

Yum!

Day 70

Adult Menu

• rainbow trout fillets, sauteed in EVOO
  
• steamed basmati rice
  
• steamed broccoli
  

Girl Child
Ate the broccoli and rice but had deli turkey slices instead of fish.

Boy Child
Tried the fish! And ate a fairly sizeable portion, but said he probably didn't want it again. He had plenty of rice and broccoli.

Day 50

Adult Menu

• rainbow trout fillets, sauteed in olive oil
  
• steamed basmati rice
  
• leftover green salad from last night
  

Girl Child
Ate some salad and rice but had cheese cubes (colby jack) instead of fish.

Boy Child
Also had salad and rice but with shredded mozzarella.

Day 25*

Adult Menu

• pecan-crusted trout fillets (DH's Father's Day request)
  
• steamed basmati rice
  
• steamed broccoli
  

Girl Child
Passed on the fish and had shredded cheddar instead. Had some rice and broccoli.

Boy Child
Passed on everything. Had shredded cheddar, whole-grain bread and leftover salad.

*Yeah, sorry about the gap. There were a couple of days of take-out pizza and leftovers in there.

Day Eight*

Adult Menu

• rainbow trout fillets, sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with freshly ground pepper and sea salt
  
• steamed basmati rice (our microwave has a "smart" setting for rice, and it comes out fluffy and amazing)
  
• a big-ass salad
  

Girl Child
Passed on the fish and had shredded Monterey Jack cheese instead (wtf?). Ate some rice and some cucumbers and carrots out of the salad. Tried a snow pea (see below) but didn't like it.

Boy Child
Passed on EVERYTHING. Had shredded MJ cheese (again, WTF?), a piece of whole-grain bread, and a bunch of raw snow peas.

We went grocery shopping today and I nixed the idea of fruit snacks, which have become a staple in my kids' diet. Instead, I offered to buy them any dried, canned or fresh fruit or vegetable that their little hearts desired. They picked out raisins, canned pears, canned pineapple, cabbage, baby corn, snow peas, oranges, fresh pears, mangoes and I don't even remember what else. Yay! Now let's hope it doesn't all go to waste.

* Day 7 was one of those "clean out the fridge" type buffet things. I have no idea what they ate, so don't ask me.