End Your Quest With the Garden's Best

The tomatoes are here! The tomatoes are here! Today's mild fish marries perfectly with the fresh and tangy bruschetta, made from tomatoes picked at their peak. All you need to complete this meal is fresh corn and a tossed salad. Don't you just love summer?

With tomatoes ripening in the backyard, I just had to include them in today's fish dinner.

Pacific Cod and Bruschetta

1 cod fillet, 4-6 oz per person

sea salt and freshly grated peppercorn, mixed is best

1 tablespoon olive oil per fillet

Heat the oil in a skillet. Sprinkle the fish on both sides with the salt and pepper. Place in the hot oil about 3 minutes per side, or until the fish is opague all the way through.

While the fish is cooking make the bruschetta.

4 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup fresh basil leaves

4 tomatoes, cut into chunks

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground peppercorns

2 tablesppons olive oil

Put the garlic cloves in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add the basil and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes and pulse until chopped. Pour into a colander and drain for a few minutes. Then pour into a bowl and add all the other ingredients. take a moment just to smell this! One of the highlights of summer.

Remove the fish from the heat and plate the fillets. Add the bruschetta topping and enjoy.

Tonight the Sauce is Boss

I decided to try this recipe because it looked both easy and different from anything I have ever made before. I was right; it was definitely a quick and easy to the table sort of dinner, but my oh my, it was restaurant quality, serve to impress guests, and a delight for the palate all in one. This is a keeper! I actually saw this being made on Create TV while I was busy getting ready to go out, so it is my take on those few hurried moments of viewing. What makes this dish so very special is the wasabi sauce. Look how thick it is! Now, imagine the taste, creamy with a hint of Asian and just a little bite. You will love it! (Serves 4)

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Whipped Wasabi Sauce

4 tuna steaks
olive oil, salt and pepper

Brush the tuna on both sides with the olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place them on a hot grill about 4 minutes per side, just until the pick fades from the center and before they become dry.

For the sauce:

1/3 cup wasabi powder

1/3 cup soy sauce

Juice of 1/2 lemon

3 cups whipped heavy cream

While the tuna is grilling, mix the sauce ingredients until smoothly assimilated, and then spoon this sauce over the grilled tuna. Wait until you taste this sauce.  I served it with a veggie pasta salad and sliced peaches. Next time I think I'll serve it with skewered vegetables and cous cous or quinoa. I hope you try this and love it as much as we did! This is a weeknight dinner you would be proud to serve to guests.

Deja vu Salmon Pour Vous

Thanks to Ann Marie and Terry, two awesome French teachers, for all those trips to Quebec and a bit (tiny though it is) of the French that stuck. Last post I baked a two pound salmon fillet which turned out to be too much fish for Mike and me. I was not going to waste that delectable fish. So, here's what happened. The romaine was crisp and green in the garden, and some raspberries were ripe for the picking; they along with the salmon, became the basis for  tonight's dinner. This summer has been hot, hot, hot, so I want this dinner to be cool. Try this salmon and quinoa salad the next time you have leftover fish for  a light and delicious summer meal.

Here's what you need to make my Salmon and Quinoa Salad.

The amounts are per person.

cooked salmon, about 5 ounces

generous cup of torn romaine leaves

half of a tomato, chopped

1/4  cup of corn kernels

1/4 cup raspberries

1/4 cup red pepper, chopped

1/4 cup chopped carrots

2 thin slices red onion

1/2 cup quinoa, cooked and cooled

Mix together the following for the dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon country style or rustic mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Mix the salad ingredients together and gently toss with the dressing. Now, you have a crisp, colorful salad that goes together in no time and is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. Oh yes, and I served it with the first summer squash of the season; Mike wanted that fried and on the side.

Combine Salmon and Dill for a Midsummer Thrill

The dill is tall and fragrant, and just begging to be picked. And yes, it pairs perfectly with salmon, so let's bake it in foil for a 'put it together and then forget it' sort of dinner. 

Here's what you need for a moist and succulent salmon dinner.

                                             

salmon fillet (this one was 2 lbs)

1/4 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio)

three slices of lemon

1 tablespoon capers

fresh dill to taste

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Place the salmon fillet on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to to wrap into a pouch.

2. Top with all the other ingredients and enclose in the foil.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (or alternately try it on the grill) and you have a moist and delicious salmon dinner.

This is easy, delicious and basically cooks itself. Enjoy a chilled glass of the pinot while your dinner bakes.

Cool and Light for a Hot Summer Night

I looked at a few fish kabob recipes on line, then in the collection of recipes I've cut from various publications through the years, and finally Giada De Laurentiis' newest cookbook Weeknights with Giada. This recipe is a composite of my findings. I especially like Giada's recipe using more than one kind of fish on the kabob and making an herb butter to finish the fish after grilling. This is what transpired at the Cowles' house.

I used fish that was in my freezer and herbs that were at peak in my garden.

1 fillet of barramundi (an Australian sea bass)
1 mahi mahi fillet
1 ahi tuna filet

I cut each fillet into kabob size pieces, placed them in a shallow bowl and poured this marinade over them:

1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon and about a teaspoon of the zest

juice of one lime and about a teaspoon of the zest

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon of minced red onion
2 tablespoons, chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (I love the pepper)

Marinate the fish pieces in the refrigerator for an hour or so and then off to the grill. We chose to use charcoal for this meal, but a gas grill or a broiler would work fine. Grill about three minutes on each side and the fish is coooked in ten minutes or less. The kabobs are great as is, or you can make them special occasion ready by topping with an herb butter. I softened a quarter stick of butter and mixed with it the same herbs in the same amount as I put in the marinade. As the fish comes hot off the grill, dab with the butter and watch the goodness melt.
This recipe made four kabobs that generously fed three people. For sides I served sweet potato oven fries, broccoli, and a citris salad.  For dessert we grilled peach slices over that same charcoal fire. Then served them warm over vanillabean ice cream with chocolate and whipped cream!

The presentation was fun and despite the number of ingredients in the marinade, it took about five minutes to throw together. It could easily double for a larger group. It was very high on the yum factor! Try it and let me know what you think.

              Cool and light for a hot summer night!