Thursday, 5/5/2011

I baked mahi mahi fillets from Costco and made brown butter green beans for our meal tonight.  The sea salt and roasted garlic mahi mahi fillets come pre-seasoned and frozen.  Just 25-30 minutes in the oven and they're done.  The flavor is outstanding and all three of us love it.  The green bean recipe came from Cuisine At Home's Weeknight Menus book/magazine.  When I looked up the recipe to see if I had posted it on my blog before, I found that I did a year and two days ago.  I should make it more often since it is quick and easy to make.  The best part is that it only takes two dishes to prepare--a saute pan and a strainer.

Thursday, 6/3/2010

When I planned our dinner menu for the week, I expected to have left over salmon for dinner tonight. Without a better option, we stuck to the plan. I needed to find a way to make the salmon better than it was last night. I placed pats of butter on top of the salmon before I reheated it in the microwave. Turns out the melted butter helped with the moisture issue I had last night. It didn't help with the orange flavor, but it was better overall. Ben liked it. We had a caesar salad on the side.

Saturday, 5/22/2010

Tonight Ben and I had dinner at a wedding! Our friends Lauren and Tim tied the knot in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, and we were thrilled to join them for the wedding and reception.

CONGRATS TO MR. & MRS. FLOOD!!!!

After the outdoor ceremony, there was a cocktail and appetizer hour. The crab cakes were YUMMY! They were sitting on little round pieces of bread, SOAKED in butter. Ben joked that the crab cakes were sitting on bread soaked butter;) The chicken skewers were tasty too. For dinner we each selected the chicken and salmon option. Our friend Mckenzie was kind enough to give Ben a bite of her steak. He said the sauce on it was good. I wish I could remember more about the dinner, but honestly, I had too much to drink.

I do remember that Lauren and Tim had a couple different cake flavor options. We sampled them both...white and chocolate...and they were delicious.

Monday, 5/3/2010

Time for something different tonight. No sausages, no chili:) I made Parmesan-Crusted Halibut & Brown Butter Beans. You will notice that both recipes came from Cuisine at Home. Ben and I have received subscriptions to this magazine a couple times and love it. The dishes are practical with great tips. And, the flavor is usually really good...not bland at all. I've made the Halibut before. It is super simple to put together and the taste is FANTASTIC! Definitely a dish you could serve to company. I didn't have a lemon on hand tonight, so I made it without the lemon zest. It was still delicious, so don't fret if you don't have that ingredient.

The Brown Butter Beans recipe was new for me. I didn't weigh the beans when I purchased them, so it is very likely that I had fewer beans than the recipe called for. Regardless, it was a super tasty way to fix them up. I really like that the beans boiled in the same pan that the sauce was made in. It is far better to clean one pan than two:)


PARMESAN-CRUSTED HALIBUT (from Cuisine at Home magazine)

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
Minced zest of 1/2 a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
4 tsp. purchased pesto, divided
2 halibut fillets, 1-inch think (4 oz. each)

Preheat oven to 450°; coat a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Combine panko, Parmesan, lemon zest, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Spread 2 tsp. pesto on 1 side of each halibut fillet and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Press panko mixture onto pesto side of fillets, spritz crumbs with nonstick spray, then refrigerate until ready to roast.
Cook fish until crumbs are golden and flesh flakes easily with a fork, 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.

BROWN BUTTER BEANS (from Cuisine at Home Weeknight Menus)

Makes 4 cups
Total time: 15 minutes

4 cups haricot vert or thin green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 t. garlic, minced
1 T. fresh lemon juice
Cooked beans
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook beans in a large saute pan of boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Drain and set aside; wipe out pan. (We thought they could have cooked a bit longer.)
Melt butter in the pan over medium heat until light brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds.
Deglaze with lemon juice; remove from heat.
Add beans, toss well, and season with salt and pepper.