Cajun Broiled Tilapia w/ Four Cheese Alfredo Sauce



Tilapia with Alfredo Sauce

 Cajun Seasoned Tilapia with Shrimp and 4 Cheese Alfredo Sauce

HI again! I know the name above is kinda long winded, but this really is extremely easy to prepare. It only looks like it took forever. The smooth taste of the Alfredo sauce mellows out the Cajun seasoning. Pair that with the rice pilaf and the pan cooked shrimp and you've got a dinner fit for company. The restuarant Ruby Tuesdays has been selling a dish like this for quite awhile, but as you'll see it isnt at all expensive to prepare (sure is on their menu though).

The ingredients are straight forward. You may have your own choice of Cajun seasoning, or even create your own from discrete spices. For convenience I am gonna use an off the shelf seasoning and a boxed rice pilaf. Take caution with the rice pilaf. Some of the boxed pilafs do not require you to pre-brown the pasta in butter/margerine before you add the rice and water. Those aren't as good as the ones which
you brown first. I bought the Rice-a-roni brand this time (it was on sale).

********Ingredients********
4-6 tilapia fillets (thawed if previously frozen)
16-20 medium size raw shrimp, peeled and deveined. (27-30 size) OPTIONAL
Cajun Seasoning of your choice - I use Weber Grill Creations N'Orleans Cajun
Butter or margerine
Rice Pilaf - 7 oz. box or make your own.
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
Alfredo sauce - 15oz. jar (Use the Classic or 4-Cheese)
1 - Lemon & Parsley to garnish.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Start with the rice pilaf. Each item here will take about 15-20 minutes to prepare, so overlapping their start times will help insure that everything will be ready when it is needed.

While the rice is cooking, grease a large glass baking dish or a lipped baking sheet pan. I use an ample amount of real butter or margerine for this. Lay out the tilapia fillets in the prepared baking dish. If any of your fillets have really thin flesh areas, especially towards the tail edge, fold these under the fillet slightly so they wont cook too fast or become overdone. Sprinkle a small amount of the crushed garlic on each fillet. Sprinkle a fair amount of your choice of Cajun seasoning on each fillet. For presentation, I dont go from edge to edge with the seasoning, but leave a small area at the end of each fillet with little to no seasoning. It just looks better I think. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes. The fish should flake easily with a fork when done.
Overcookng tilapia will make it tough, so check the fillets often after the 12 minute mark.

Ok we've got the rice cooking and the fillets in the oven. Lets pan fry some shrimp with garlic and butter.

In a large skillet over medium/high heat melt 3 tbsp. of butter or margerine. (Real butter works best) Add in the crushed garlic. Allow the garlic to sear alone in the butter for about a minute or two. A very light tan color is desirable. When your garlic has gotten to this point, add in the peeled shrimp. Cooking over medium/high heat, keep the shrimp moving in the pan. Constantly moving the top shrimp to the bottom, turning the food over and over will insure a nice coating of buttery garlic and help make sure all the shrimp is equally cooked. Once the shrimp is done, about 5 minutes, remove from the heat but leave in the pan.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, open the Alfredo sauce into a medium sauce pot. Heat the Alfredo sauce slowly. It will scorch very easily. I will use a Pyrex bowl and the microwave often to heat a cheese based sauce in a hurry. Dont use plastic bowls if you use the microwave for this. The cheeses in the sauce will overheat around the exposed edge and melt most bowls.

So the fillets should be done by now. The rice pilaf is done and waiting, and now we have some shrimp and Alfredo sauce.

Time to assemble and serve. I start with a nice bed of the rice pilaf, about 2/3 cup. Place the tilapia fillet in the bed of rice. Drizzle or ladle a zig zag layer of the Alfredo across the fillet. Arrange 4-5 shrimp atop the fish/sauce combo... Garnish with sliced lemon and parsley and serve.

Steamed vegetables like brocilli pair up with this well. Oven roasted potatos work just as well. A good coarse bread helps balance the meal. Enjoy!!
Thanks for stopping by....Just Harv.

Point In Time



http://appalachianhomeless.org/

 Hi folks! I'll be in Bristol tonight, so no cooking this evening...
The Appalachian Regional Coalition On Homelessness is performing their annual Point In Time count tonight. The count will start at the local United Way located on 8th St in Bristol (two down from State St). From there we will hit all the typical locations, YMCA and such, but then as the evening matures we will be hitting the streets for an all nighter. All the places where the less fortunate have sought refuge; under bridges, bypasses, alley ways, wooded areas, etc will need to be scoured also to get a true count of just how bad the homelessness situaton really is. By getting a realistic count and individual interviews with those agreeable to do so could result in more donations from both private and public entities. This is my first Point In Time count and hope the night goes well. It's probably gonna be colder than heck, but at least when I'm no longer needed, I can go back to my own home and enjoy heat, hot water, warm bed, etc....

Here's a link to their website for anyone that would like to know more....
http://appalachianhomeless.org/index.php

Have a great evening! Just Harv.

Lil' Humor :-)

Hi folks! I had so many turnovers left from dinner yesterday that I didnt need to cook today.....I didnt want to leave you with nothing at all, so I thought I'd plug in a little kitchen humor! I found some seriously funny stuff across the web, but not all of them were descent enough to post....but a few are. This little list came from a site called e-cookbooks. Check 'em out when you can.

The Top Ten Signs You're Being Stalked by Martha Stewart:
   10. Mysterious late-night phone calls: "I can't stop thinking
       about you... and that's a good thing!"
    9. Contents of your curbside recycling tub are stolen,
       reorganized, and replaced.
    8. On her show she makes a gingerbread house that looks exactly
       like your split-level, right down to the fallen-over licorice
       downspout and the stuck half-open graham cracker garage door.
    7. You get a threatening note made up of letters cut out of a
       magazine with pinking shears, and they're all the same size,
       the same font, and precisely lined up in razor-sharp rows.
    6. You find your pet bunny on the stove in an exquisite tarragon,
       rose petal & saffron demi-glace with pecan-crusted hearts of
       palm and a delicate mint-fennel sauce.
    5. The unmistakable aroma of potpourri follows you everywhere -
       even after you leave the bathroom.
    4. You discover that every napkin in the whole house has been
       folded into a swan.
    3. That telltale lemon slice in the dog's water bowl.
    2. You wake up in the hospital with a concussion and endive
       stuffing in every orifice.
      ... and the Number 1 Sign You're Being Stalked by Martha Stewart:
    1. You awaken one morning with a glue gun pointed squarely
       at your temple.

LOL.... I hope you liked it. Thanks for stopping in. - Just Harv   :-)

Red Potatos with Parsley and Chives (SUPER SIMPLE)

Red Potatos with Parsley and Chives

Tonight when I decided that the hamburger turnovers would be a good idea for dinner, I knew that I wanted something to go with them but wanted it to be so simple that it almost prepared itself. So the only thing that I could think of short of just ordering out for delivery was the red skinned potatos with parsley and chives. They are very quick and easy with just a couple of steps in the whole recipe.

5-6 -medium red potatos
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped chives
4 tbsp butter or margarine.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash and coarsely cube the red potatos. In a large skillet, melt the butter and begin to bring the temp up to a near high setting. Once the skillet is hot, add the red potatos. By doing this on the stove top in a skillet, we are sealing the potato to preserve the moisture and also to lightly brown the potato. I use real butter for this since it will brown your food much quicker than margarine. Once the potatos have begun to brown slightly, add the chopped chives and parsley. Mix well. Add salt to taste.

Pour the seasoned potatos and buttery mix into a 9"x9" baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
Serve alongside any of your dishes that need a side that brings both taste and presentation to the table. Enjoy! Thanks again for visiting the blog. Please encourage your friends to subscribe to the blog also. It is free to you and them both..... Thx - Just Harv.

Hamburger Turnovers



Hamburger Turnovers

 A friend asked me this morning, "what can I do with some hamburger that does NOT taste like Hamburger Helper?" It didn't take but a second for the answer to come to me; hamburger turnovers! The hamburger turnovers presented here were a favorite of mine when I was a kid and continue to be even today. They are so easy to prepare that I wonder why I dont eat them more often. Their great in so many ways. They are easy to prepare, they make a meal all on their own, they appeal to both adults and kids. So here we go....

***** Hamburger Turnovers *****
1 lb. ground beef (85% mix)
1/2 - green bell pepper (diced)
1 - small yellow onion (diced)
1- celery stalk (diced)
1 - can large biscuits 8 ct. (not the flakey ones)
2/3 - cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 - egg white, lightly beat.
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a large sheet pan.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onion, bell pepper, and celery in about 2 tbsp vegetable oil. When near done, remove from the skillet and set aside.
In the same skillet brown the ground beef. When the beef is near done, add back in the onion, pepper, and celery mix. Stir well and continue cooking until browned. Drain well and allow to cool enough slightly.

While the beef is cooking, flour a bread board. Using a rolling pin or dough roller flatten the canned biscuits to the thickness of 1/16 - 1/8 inch (about the thickness of a dime). Sprinkle a small amount of flour over each biscuit dough disc. Set aside.

When the hamburger and vegetable mix has drained and cooled slightly lightly flour the bread board and place a single biscuit dough disc on the surface. Spoon about 3-4 heaping tablespoons of the meat mix onto the disc. Sprinkle the mix with the cheddar cheese. Lightly brush the edge of the disc with the egg white. Fold the biscuit dough over the meat mix. Using a fork or pastry roller seal the edges of the turnover.

Once all the turnovers have been filled and sealed, place them on the sheet pan and bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Once they are golden brown remove and brush each with a light coat of melted butter or margerine.

Serve piping hot and ENJOY. My mom made these alot and I still like them. I hope you do also. Thanks again for visiting the blog. Just Harv

Mini-Quiches



Mini-Quiche (Curried Apple, Smoked Salmon)

 The mini-quiches that I made over the previous holiday season were a success. Those that tried them seemed to really enjoy them. There isn't too much to making a quiche, eggs and milk (or cream) are the basic ingredient. Its just what you throw in there to flavor it that makes one quiche different from the other.
The mini-quiches are made atop pastry dough. I used the sheets of redi-made pastry dough from the grocery store. You can use the redi-made rolled pie shells also. They are pretty much the same. Make sure you let them warm up some before you attempt to unroll them. They will tear if too cold. Usually 15 minutes out of the fridge is enough to make them workable. The cooking tin that you are "supposed" to use is a patty tin. I dont have one, so I simply use the muffin pan. It doesnt emboss that wavey piecrust-like edge like a patty tin does, but I already have it in the cabinet. (If anyone feels the strong desire to send me a patty tin I wont mind a bit).
OK, lets make some mini-quiches. The basic setup for the bottom shell is the same for each flavor variation presented here. The three quiche that I will show are the "Curried Apple & Onion", "Smoked Coho Salmon", and "Crab & Lime".
Preheat the oven to 415 degrees. Grease your patty tin (or muffin pan) with either butter or margarine. (I use REAL butter - We dont need to tell my doctor that though)
Unroll your pastry dough sheets onto a lightly floured cutting board. Cut 3" discs using a biscuit or cookie cutter. Press one pastry disc into each of the 12 holes in your baking tin. Set aside and prepare the quiche mix.

***** CURRIED APPLE & ONION *****
1 - small yellow onion (or half a medium one).  - finely sliced and diced. (near minced)
1 - green apple - peeled and grated (Use the medium hole size, too fine and the apple breaks up)
1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 cup milk (at least 2% or better)
2 - large eggs
2 - tbsp cream (evaporated milk or whipping cream)

1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
*********************************************
Start with about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a medium skillet. Lightly brown the onion. Once browned, add the peeled and grated green apple to the skillet. Stir gently for just a few seconds. Add in the 1/4tsp of curry powder to the skillet. While stirring, continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove the mix from the heat and allow to gently cool.
Using your blender, combine the two eggs, milk, and cream. Blend well and set aside.
Spoon a heaping tsp of the curried onion and apple mix into each pastry shell. Gently pour in enough of the milk and egg mix to cover the onion/apple and the rim of the pastry disc. Sprinkle in some finely shredded cheddar cheese on top of each quiche.
Bake at 415 degrees for 15-20. The quiche will rise during baking, but deflate a little as they cool. Ovens can vary, so the "clean toothpick" test may prove necessary until you know how your oven will perform for making quiches.  Allow to cool slightly before attempting to remove from the baking tin.  Serve warm...... :-)





***** Smoked Coho Salmon *****

The start of the salmon quiche is the same as the others; the oven temp, pastry discs, greased tin, etc....

6 oz smoked coho salmon, crumbled

3-1/2 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup cream (evaporated milk or whipping cream)

2 - large eggs

1 tsp. fresh dill weed (finely chopped) (I havent tried the dried dill weed but would like to know if anyone does.)

In a blender, mix the cream cheese, cream, eggs, and dill. If the mix is too thick to pour easily, add a little more cream or milk.
Crumble about a tsp of the smoked salmon into the pastry shell. Pour in enough of the egg/milk mix to top the shell and cover the salmon.
Bake at 415 degrees for 15-20. Do not overbake. Use the dry toothpick test if in doubt. The quiche will puff up when near done but deflate slightly as it cools. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin. Serve warm.
By the way, I added a small sprig of the fresh dill weed on top of each quiche before baking, but you can also use a small sprig to garnish with as well. A thinly sliced lemon, cut and twisted makes a nice garnishment as well.   Enjoy - Drop me a line if you like these!

***** Crab and Lime *****
This variation has a more tropical twist than the others. The lime and the coconut cream may have you booking a flight to somewhere warm before you know it! Dont forget to send me a ticket also.....

Again, the base of these is the same as before. Redi-made pastry sheets or pie crust dough. Unrolled and cut into 3" discs and placed into the greased wells of a 12 hole patty tin (or muffin pan). Preheat the oven to 415 degrees.

2- large eggs
3/4 cup coconut cream
finely grated rind of 1 lime
2 tsp lime juice
6 oz can of crab meat, drained
1 tbsp chopped chives
salt & white pepper to taste

The crab meat can be delicate so you dont want to use the blender for this one. Lightly beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the salt and white pepper to taste.

Spoon enough of the mixture into each pastry shell; just enough to come close to the rim of the pastry disc.
Bake at 415 degrees for 15-20 minutes. The quiche will rise during baking, but settle slightly as they cool. Serve warm.
**********************************


Well folks, thats all the quiche flavors that I made over the holidays. There arent many things out there that you cant throw into a quiche base and have a quick but fancy looking lunch or dinner. If you want to see some more variations, drop me a line and I will be glad to put a few more together. If you have a favorite of your own and want to see it listed, send it to me and I will put in on the blog (with proper credit to you).

Enjoy..... Just Harv.



Seafood or Shrimp Bisque

Seafood Bisque

SHRIMP/or SEAFOOD BISQUE

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
4 tbsp. all purpose flour

1 small yellow onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 stalks celery (minced)

1 can tomato paste
1 can chopped & peeled tomatoes (I used petite diced)
1-1/3 cups dry sherry

1 tsp. hot pepper sauce (I used Tabasco)
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper (or to taste)

1 qt. seafood stock (see below)
1 qt. heavy whipping cream (ok to use part half-n-half mixed with heavy cream)

15 or so medium size shrimp (peeled and de-veined) The small bags of 26-30 size work well.

Optional: (Fresh Dill or Parsley for garnish.)

*********************************************
Seafood stock - I use a couple or three tilapia fillets and 4-5 medium shrimp in the shell to make stock with, but any mild tasting white fish will do. I brought 2-qts of water to boil and tossed in the fillets with about 1/2 tsp. of Old Bay seafood seasoning & 1/2tsp. of salt. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and allow to simmer for two hours. Remove fillets and shrimp. They are pretty well not worth much now, they will most likely fall apart so I dont use them in the final bisque. The cat doesnt mind that at all since she gets the leftovers.
Strain the stock through a collendar and fine screen. I strain mine two or more times until I feel the stock has been clarified enough. This produces enough stock to be able to freeze some for another day when I dont have as much time.
*********************************************

In the same large pot that I am going to use for the bisque, cook the onion, garlic, celery and salt/pepper until transparent. Stir in the flour when they reach that point.

Add the quart of seafood stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in heavy cream. Then add the tomato paste, pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and diced/peeled tomatos. Stir well to break up tomato paste.

Add the dry sherry and raw shrimp (Note: After peeling and de-veining the shrimp, I cut them into thirds. They work better smaller in a bisque.
Cook for 35-40 minutes on medium to medium low heat. I dont cover it and I stir often. The cream mix will boil over quickly if not careful.

I served topped with some fresh cut dill, but parsley could work also. A couple of peices of a good coarse white bread for dipping and your done!

btw-this was not my original recipe, I just modified it to balance it out some. Some suggest to use canned chicken broth/stock, but it is NOT the same.

Cooking With Harv.....First Post

Hi there. This is my first venture into blogging. My daughter, Cassaundra, suggested that I create a blog to capture some of the recipes for the food that I prepare.

I am by no means a professional cook or chef. By day I am a Facility Design and Construction Manager for a state government corrections agency. A kinda "Bob the Builder" for prison facilities. Kinda odd job, huh? So my woodworking and cooking are my "escapes". I've cooked all of my adult life and many years back into my early teens.

Please note that not all recipes were created by me, but all of them have been tried to insure that they work. I do take ample liberties in adjusting some of the ingredients to help balance out flavors and such. I welcome your comments and suggestions here so please feel free to let me know what you think.

I am also involved in a major kitchen over-haul and created a small blog for that project as well. The link is listed here.
http://harvskitchenproject.blogspot.com/  So anyhow, I will start plugging in the recipes that many of you have seen me prepare and post to Facebook. If there is something that you would like to see prepared or tested, drop me a line and I'll see what we can do. Dont forget to visit one or two of the sponsors ads on the Blogger pages. It pays for the site and allows these blogs to be FREE for us all..... Thanks and Enjoy!!! Just Harv....