Delicious.Com

Are there other foodies in the world who are as disorganized as I am? Ms. Elise Bauer offers a great tip on her wonderful website (could I use more adjectives?) Simply Recipes about how to organize recipes you run across on the net and may want to try in the future. She offers tips on how to bookmark those recipes or create a virtual cookbook at Delicious.com. It's a very user friendly system. Check out Simply Recipes too. It's a great site.

Tilapia in Thai Sauce

I love the internet. There is so much information at your fingertips with the touch of the button. I can find a recipe for anything, learn how to change a flat tire, check my poor spelling, and sometimes meet some really nice people. This recipe was passed along by an internet friend named Viviane. She sent it in pdf format, but I was not techy enough to figure out how to include the pdf here. I did finally figure out the enclosure link function so if you want to go directly to the recipe on the BBC Good Food website you can click here. Wasn't that cool? I'm easily impressed. I'm also including the recipe below. Thanks Viviane. I love tilapia and hope to try this very soon.

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp sunflower oil
4 spring onions , sliced
2 garlic cloves , crushed
small piece fresh ginger , finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
juice 1 lime , plus 1 lime chopped into wedges, to serve
1 red chilli , deseeded and sliced
handful Thai basil leaves or coriander leaves

Coat the fish fillets in the cornflour, then set aside. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan, sizzle the fillets for 2-3 mins on each side until crisp, then remove and keep warm. In the same pan, briefly fry the spring onion, garlic and ginger, then add the soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice and simmer until slightly syrupy. Spoon the sauce over the fish, scatter with chilli, Thai basil or coriander, then serve with the lime wedges.

PER SERVING 328 kcalories, protein 28g, carbohydrate 25g, fat 14 g, saturated fat 2g, fibre 0g, salt 2.94 g

Roasted Balsamic Asparagus

I've been meaning to add this quick and easy asparagus recipe for awhile. Barbara sent this to months ago and I'm just now updating. So here it is. Going to try out the pork loin recipe she sent last year. This seems like a good pairing...

10 oz fresh asparagus, bottoms trimmed
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
Coarse salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix olive oil and vinegar. Toss with asparagus. Sread asparagus in a single layer on a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt. Bake approximately 20 minutes.

S'oy Vey! Part Deux!

I thought I would give tofu one more shot before removing it from my list of edible foods. This time I tried a recipe for an eggless "egg" salad. I actually like this. It tasted very similar to egg salad. I could imagine eating this on some toasted bread. But then again I like eggs. They're an equally economic and storable protein source, so even though I could make it again I'm not sure if I will. However if I have a tea date with a vegetarian any time in the future I'll keep this recipe in mind. Seeing as how I've never had a tea date or currently know any vegetarians it may be a while. I took a picture but honestly it looked like someone vomitted in the plate. I guess I haven't quite figured out the art of food styling. At any rate, here is the recipe which I swiped from www.allrecipes.com By the way, I mixed everything by hand with a fork. I'm kind of a rebel like that. Okay, I'm just lazy. It worked out just fine. Click the link to go to their page or follow the recipe below...

Deviled Eggless Salad .

1 cup non-fat cottage cheese
2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
2 tablespoons plain low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1 (8 ounce) container firm tofu
5 green onions, minced


DIRECTIONS
In a food processor or blender combine cottage cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, soy sauce, turmeric, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Process until well blended. Add tofu and pulse a few times, maintaining a bit of texture. Stir in green onions. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to allow flavors to meld

S'oy Ve!

I eat tofu. I know that makes me slightly weird around these parts. I'm okay with that. I'm not a purist. Not a vegetarian. I don't care if you eat 14 cows every week. I'm just not a big fan of meat. Don't like the way it looks or feels or smells and sometimes tastes. That being said I still want to try the pork loin I previously posted. But I digress - as usual.

I typically use tofu to thicken soups or dips and it really can't be detected. But I keep running across recipes for scrambled tofu. The foodie in me screams no way can that be good. But the novelty seeker in me has to try it. The recipes I found were basically the same. Appently turmeric is a key ingredient. I suppose you need to trick your eyes into thinking it's actually an egg product.

So here's the recipe from Andrew Weil's The Healthy Kitchen cookbook.

Ingredients


1 16-ounce block firm tofu
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin (11/2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons diced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup sliced green onions, scallions, chives, or 1/2 cup minced onion
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Fresh salsa
Corn tortillas

Directions

1. Drain the tofu and crumble it, using clean hands.

2. Saute the garlic and diced pepper with the olive oil in a medium saute pan on medium heat, for about 2 minutes. Stir in the crumbled tofu first, then add turmeric, salt, pepper, green onions (scallions, chives, or onions), and soy sauce.

3. Cook the tofu for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with salsa and warm corn tortillas.

So here's the challenge. Take these ingredients and make them into something edible. Good luck.

The verdict?

Well, it wasn't horrible as I was expecting it to be. It wasn't dance around the room terrific either. I was surprised at how much it looked the part. It really did look like scrambled eggs. It tasted okay. I suppose it might have been much better with the suggested salsa and tortillas. The soy sauce made me think I should be eating it with fried rice. Make sure you season it properly or it will taste awful. I ate a few bites then went to taco bell.

Hyman's Seafood Company

Why did the dish run away with the spoon? Because they experienced Shrimp and Grits and Hyman's Seafood Company and fell madly in love, that's why.

I stumbled into this restaraunt completely by accident and it was love at first bite. I met the humble grit a few years ago in South Carolina and wasn't all that impressed really. It was a bit, well, gritty and therefore aptly named and bit bland, but after some experimentation I came to appreciate the gritty grain.

Hyman's is located in Charleston, SC. I've heard that shrimp and grits is a classic lowcountry dish so I thought I would give this local favorite a shot. To be honest I had low expectations, expecting creamy bird seed topped with shrimp - lowcountry surf and turf?

But I was wrong. Dead wrong. I think this may have been the best thing that has ever graced my taste buds. I expected some sort of culinary purgatory (not bad, but not really good), but what I experienced was, okay I'll just say it - food porn. They suggested topping it with bacon and cheese. I agree. I had a difficult time not bursting into song while I ate. I also had to resist the urge to lick the plate. Yep, Shrimp and Grits from Hyman's Seafood Company. Food porn.



Click the title to go to their menu. If you're ever in Charleston check them out.

Pork Loin With Olivida, Spinach, and Rice Stuffing

Okay. I really need to stop posting recipes I haven't tried yet. But I had to post this one. I intend to try it over Christmas break. And you know I'm not a big meat fan, but I couldn't pass this one up. You had me at "olivida"...

You can click the title to go directly to the recipe link. Or follow the recipe here.

Ingredients
Brine:
8 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup kosher salt
2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (3 1/2-pound) center-cut boneless pork loin roast, trimmed

Stuffing:
3/4 cup uncooked jasmine rice
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, finely chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Remaining ingredient:
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
Preparation

To brine pork, combine first 6 ingredients in a large nonaluminum bowl or pan, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve; add pork. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Remove pork from brine; discard brine.

Preheat oven to 325°.

Starting off-center, slice pork lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, other side. Open uneven portions, laying pork flat. Turning knife blade parallel to surface of cutting board, slice larger portion of pork in half horizontally, cutting to, but not through, other side; open flat. Place plastic wrap over pork; pound to an even thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To prepare stuffing, cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Add spinach and 1/2 teaspoon salt to hot rice, stirring until the spinach wilts. Stir in olives, red pepper, 1 teaspoon rind, and juice.

Spread rice mixture over pork, leaving a 1/2-inch border around outside edges. Roll up pork, jelly-roll fashion, starting with a long side. Secure both ends with twine; secure middle at 2-inch intervals with twine. Rub black pepper over pork. Place pork on a broiler pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Let pork stand 10 minutes before slicing.