Sea Bass Topped with Bacon, Tomato and Breadcrumbs with Roasted Potato and Asparagus

• This recipe came up on a whim while using up left over ingredients from the sip and swap.  The best improvisations were broiling the potatoes last minute for a crisp exterior (along with dicing them small), and adding bread crumbs as part of the topping for the fish.

Roasted Potatoes

• Cube potatoes into small 1/2 inch pieces.  Cook in salted boiling water till fork tender (maybe 20 minutes).
• Drain and place onto quarter sheet pan.  Drizzle with good amount of oil and bacon drippings.  Stir to coat.
• Place in 425 degree oven on the top rack.  During the last few minutes of cooking, broil on high till crisp.  Season to taste

Tomato and Bread Crumb Topping

• 3 strips bacon, chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 TBSP finely chopped leek or onion
• 3 TBSP chopped parsley
• 4 TBSP bread crumbs

Add 3 TBSP water and bacon to cold pan.  Turn the heat to medium high.  Cook bacon till crisp.  Remove bacon with slotted spoon.  Save some drippings for the fish and potatoes.

Add tomatoes and onion.  Cook until tomatoes start to soften, then add garlic, adding water to avoid burning the garlic.  Once tomatoes start to blister, add bread crumbs, parsley and cooked bacon.  Season to taste, salt probably not necessary since bacon is used..  Set aside and keep warm.

Sea Bass Preparation

• Sear fish on medium-high heat on its best looking side in a good amount of oil to prevent sticking. The goal is to get a nicely browned flesh.  Too much oil will prevent that, too little will result in sticking.
• Place in 350 degree oven for a few minutes till almost cooked through
• Flip the fish over and finish on the stove

Asparagus

• Cut asparagus into 1/4 inch coins and simply saute with salt, pepper and thyme

Assembly

• Place roasted potatoes and asparagus side-by-side on the bottom of the dish.
• Top with fish and spoon tomato bacon mixture on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pizza Topping Ideas

We have been making pizzas at home for about 4 years.  Recently, it has become more of a stable, ever since we realized that our preschooler loves it (no surprise!)  Our go to method:

1. Use  a store bought whole wheat dough.  It’s sweeter and has a nice texture compared to regular dough.
2. Drizzle a metal baking pan with oil and press the dough into the pan.
3. Often less is more-not too much sauce or topping otherwise you end up with a raw crust.  But most would argue that you could pile on the cheese!
4. Using light shredded cheese takes some of the guilt away since we eat this pretty often.
5. Bake at 425 degrees on the middle rack for 10-12 minutes, depending on the amount of toppings works our quite well.

The product is a pizza with a chewy, fluffy, ready crust!   Here are a few of my favorite combinations

the Chicago-Sausage, mushroom, provolone, pecorino and caramelized onion, pizza sauce – our favorite thus far. Can’t go wrong with pork!

the Naked Pizza-Bacon, mashed potato, roasted garlic, roasted cauliflower, sautéed spinach, ricotta, pecorino (no sauce)

BBQ Chicken-Store bought BBQ pulled chicken, red onion, sliced black olives, frozen roasted corn, mozzarella, BBQ sauce

Meatball Sub-Meatball, marinara, mozzarella, basil, pecorino

I would love to play around with figs and more roasted vegetables. Next pizza will be sausage, roasted bell pepper, basil for tomorrow night.

My favorite restaurant pizza combinations:

Spinach, garlic, ricotta, tomato sauce

Broccoli, tomato, olive, onion

Zucchini, Mushroom, Eggplant

California Summer Corn Salad

• 3 ears fresh corn, blanched
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 red onion, finely diced
• 2 small Persian cucumbers, chopped
• 1/2 red or orange bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2-3 strips of bacon (optional)
• juice from 1 juicy lime
• olive oil, or  substitute half the olive oil for bacon drippings
• salt and pepper to taste
• finely chopped jalapeno (optional)
• fresh cilantro, minced
• 2 avocados, chopped

Combine all the ingredients but the avocado in a bowl.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  Gently fold in the avocado

 

Spinach Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS – SALAD

• 1 pound fresh baby spinach
• 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, chopped
• 6 slices bacon
• 1/2 pont cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 oz sliced mushrooms
• 3 ounces shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• dried cranberries for garnish

INGREDIENTS-DRESSING

• 3 TBSP bacon grease
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 6 TBSP vinegar (cider, red wine, rice)
• 2 TBSP sugar
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook the bacon starting in a cold skillet.  Remove the cooked bacon and reserve 3 TBSP grease for the dressing.  Cut the cooled bacon crosswise into 1/4 inch strips

Combine the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake thoroughly

Pour onto the salad to combine

Brunch with Old Friends – Bacon Potato Hash

M and P came over on Sunday to meet little S for the first time.  We invited them for brunch at our house instead of going out so that we can enjoy the afternoon and not feel rushed to bring little S home.  Little S was very good, letting Auntie M hold her and play with her for a bit!

For brunch, I made a variation a baked frittata, bacon potato hash and fresh cherry crisp for dessert.  The potato hash was something I had never made, but I was pretty happy with the results.  Par cooking the potatoes allowed me to prepare it more quickly in the cast iron skillet when our guests arrived.  I like to smash my potato cubes as they cook to exposed more surface area to the pan to get more of the crispy bits (my favorite part.  So it’s kind of cross between home fries and hash brown consistency.  Yum yum!

BACON POTATO HASH

INGREDIENTS

2 large russett potatoes, cut in half length wise

6 slices of bacon (I like to use the end and pieces from Trader Joe’s)

medium knob of butter

1 very small onion or 2 shallots, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

Herbs-fresh thyme or dried herbs de Provence

INSTRUCTIONS

Place unpeeled potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are cooked partially but still firm when pierced with a fork. Dice the potatoes.

In a cast iron skillet, place bacon and turn heat to medium.  Cook slowly, rendering the fat.  Turn bacon over once and remove from pan once cooked.  Drain bacon on paper towels and allow the pan to cool slightly. Cut bacon into 1/2 inch dice

Reserve 2-3 TBSP bacon fat to cook the hash.  Remove the remaining fa from the pan and save for another use.

Return the bacon fat to the pan and add butter.  Turn heat back onto to medium.  Cook onions, peppers and a dash of salt for a few minutes, until softened.

Add potatoes and herbs.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  Mix with the peppers and onions.  Lay over the entire surface of the pan, pressing the potatoes with the spatula.  Allow to cook without stirring for a few minutes.  Be careful not to burn the bottom of the potatoes!  IF they start to burn, turn the heat down and flip the potatoes over.

Once the potatoes are browned on one side, flip the potatoes over and continue to cook until the second side it browned.

broccoli salad

My sister-in-law made a version of this one Thanksgiving before I was married.  I tried a different version the following 4th of July as well as for Jen’s shower

INGREDIENTS
about 6 cups of raw broccoli
1 c mayonnaise
1/4c sugar
2T vinegar
4-6 slices bacon, crumbled
1/2 c red onion, choppped
1/2 c raisins
grape tomato, halved
8 oz cheddar cheese, small dice
salt and pepper to taste

optional:  add some of the bacon grease

Combine ingredients and chill

potato salad

This was a part of our baby shower brunch we hosted for our co-worker Jen,  One step that is a little differen is mixing the vinegar with the hot potatoes before adding the rest of the ingredients

INGREDIENTS
About 2lb yukon gold potatos
few strips of bacon (optional)
2T vinegar
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2T green onion (optional)
2T red onion, finely minced
3T relish
1/2 c mayo
2t yellow mustard
2T fresh parsley
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Cube potatoes and place in pot of cold salted water.  Bring to boil, then simmer until tender
Drain potatoes and toss in viengar.  Set aside to cool
Add the rest of the ingredients and toss.
Chill before serving
salt and pepper to taste

curried chicken salad for brunch

2 strips of bacon (optional)
3 chicken breasts, baked in a 375 degree oven (may use same pan as bacon was cooked in to enhance flavor)
red grapes
celery, finely minced
red onion, finely minced
red grapes, cut in half
raisins or another dried fruit
apples, diced

curry powder
mayonnaise
worcheshire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice or vinegar