Although I haven’t talked about it much, I love to cook. Love…to!
This is wasted on my children (but, thankfully, not on Tad). They’re happy with PB&Js or pasta. I keep waiting for them to transition to the “eating me out of house and home” phase, but so far that consists of expensive sugar-cereals and ice cream. They have their favorites in all brands and it requires a tracking system just to keep up. Breyers, Oreo; Mayfield, Yellow Brick Road and Snow Cream; Edy’s, Toll House Cookie Dough; Ben & Jerry’s, Chocolate Fudge Brownie (wait, that’s MY favorite!). The problem is, I only buy ice cream when it’s on sale…soooo, sometimes they have to wait for their favorites. I’ve learned not to make substitutions…they’ll just sit in the freezer and morph into ice crystals and rubbery goo, so just no point in venturing into the unknown. Might as well flush the cash.
Yeah, I used to try to cultivate decision making; for some reason the areas I chose to do so were related to food choices and what to wear. That was stupid parenting. Do you hear me??? S-T-U-P-I-D. Now, if we’re headed out to eat dinner, they can NEVER agree if we offer them the choice. Never. Even if we agree on hamburgers, someone will want Burger King, someone will want Steak and Shake, and I’m sure one of my cherubs will say Chick-Fil-A, just because of the cow ads. That’s beef, right?
But, gee, this wasn’t a post about kids. It’s about what I cooked for dinner Saturday night. GOUR-MET! And easier than pie!! You MUSTMUSTMUST try it! And then write and tell me thank you and how impressed your family and friends were and that you are now leaving me in your will because you owe me a culinary debt. Ummm, guess I shouldn’t take credit for it for any more than passing it along to you. I picked it up from a Fresh Market FREE cooking demonstration, and it was love at first bite! If they have a store in your area, you have GOT to check into these cooking demos–they are MORE than worth your time, the price is right, and everything they’ve demo-ed, I’ve replicated easily at home.
Pan Seared Halibut with Scallion & White Wine Sauce
Ingredients:
4 (7-ounce 1″ thick) halibut fillets
coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
2 tbsp canola oil (I used EVOO)
Preparation: Season halibut on both sides with salt & pepper. In a 12-inch saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook one side of fish for about 3 minutes (until lightly browned). Turn fish, reduce heat to medium. Cook approximately 4 minutes longer, until fish is opaque in center and browned on both sides. Set aside and cover to keep warm.
Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cup dry white wine (I sampled it with sauvignon blanc, it was good; I tried it at home w/a Riesling, not good, and a chardonnay, very good!)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice or to taste
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ slices (I used salted, it’s all I had)
5 scallions, white part only, finely sliced on the bias
1 tbsp capers, drained and rinsed
1 large ripe tomato, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4″ dice
Preparation: Pour off any oil in pan and add wine and lemon juice. Raise heat to high and deglaze pan by scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until sauce reduces by half, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in butter, one slice at a time (I don’t know why, but I did it). Add scallions, capers and tomato. Season with salt & pepper and pur over fish on platter. Serve immediately.
Cookware makes a difference. I have some serious affection going for my Swiss Diamond saute/frying pan. IT alone has made a world of difference in presentation…it browns meats beautifully and nothing sticks! Ever! This line is expensive, but seeing as how I’ve been married almost 19 years and still have my original Revere Ware, and as I mentioned, I love to cook, this piece seems justified. Not that I deserve it or anything. I loathe that word.
I paired this with sweet and sour green beans and an orzo seasoned with fresh garlic, chardonnay, chicken stock and fresh parmesan. Did I mention delicious? Man, I’m hungry. Stomach’s growling loud enough to scare Pumba and Timon (must still be in Disney World).
I posted a recipe today too!
Must be the season?:)
Sounds good.
Mmm mmmm, can I get that with a side of STEAK please?
Ok now I am hungry. When is dinner?
now where would I keep those pesky lil capers? With the keystone cops, maybe.
much ado about getting into your blog today and more trouble into comments
PAMELA THE DUST WILL WAIT
(and I waited and waited and waited, too)
Wait just a minute. Ice cream that sits in the freezer and goes bad? How does that happen? I don’t care what flavor it is, it disappears at our house, and that’s without kids.
Malissa, My inlaws were here since Friday, I’m still catching up from being gone…and I DID get your email. Thanks for sending it (and I’ll be packaging some stuff up for ya soon 🙂 ). I think we all must be hungry with colder temps.
WT…I promise, cowboy, you will NOT miss the steak.
LW, can you eat yet?? How’s your jaw feeling?
Pamela…:( What do I do about Blogger? I’ve been afflicted, too (visiting, here, everywhere). I mean…I JUST HAD MY BLOG RE-DESIGNED!! What do I do??? Tell me, please!
Heather, I KNOW, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Ummm, since I dropped my exercise regime (snort), I’m not inhaling ice cream like I used to :/. We literally had 7 cartons of ice cream a while back, and I decided THAT was wretched excess. SEVEN! (We have two fridges). I was disgusted (but I think two of ’em were almost empty). Note: It was NOT B&J Chocolate Fudge Brownie.
And get this, as much as I love my coffee, I do NOT like coffee ice cream.
Printing, I’m printing. This sounds fabulous (and healthy)! I will try everything post-haste. We eat salads most of the time for weight loss reasons, but once a week I really cook. (Sunday dinners for the whole family.) This will be a huge hit! How do make the sweet and sour green beans?
As for ice cream, we are just unable to eat the good stuff anymore without gaining mega-inches by the spoonful. However, we do pull in for DQ dilly bars about once/month… a leftover from our college days. I get Heath crunch, and my husband still gets mint. Sweet memories (literally!)
Well, friend, I’ve e-mailed you twice now. Don’t know what the problem is. Sorry! I’ll try again tomorrow. :~)
it ate my comment — it was so deep, too.
Here from Pioneer Woman’s blog and this recipe DOES look delicious! I’ll be sure to try it.
We don’t have a Fresh Market where we live, but that sounds like a great thing to offer (free cooking classes).
Since you mentioned this is your old blog, I’ll follow the link to your new one.
I tried this recipe and it was delicious. It was also really easy to prepare.
PS
You add the butter one slice at a time so it will incorporate into the oil. It will separate and get “chunky” if you add it too quickly.