Baked Breaded Cod

Like breaded fish but don't want to fry it?
This is a tasty recipe.

You'll need:
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use light)
4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt or vegeta
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons marjoram
8 cod fish fillets


Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Spray skillet or pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Combine mayo, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.


Combine bread crumbs and marjoram, and whisk the liquid ingredients together.


Clean and pat dry your cod. Ok...I only had 7 pieces...what of it?


Spoon mayonnaise mixture on one side of the cod ...


Cover the mayo side with bread crumbs.


Place fish on pan with crumb side up.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until fish is cooked through and bread crumbs begin to brown.
Serve with lemon wedges.

Easy and yummy.

Strawberry Coffee Cake

You'll need:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 pint of strawberries, sliced

Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup butter


Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan, and slice a pint of strawberries.
Set aside.


In a small bowl combine; Combine 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Add the butter.


Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, sift together the 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt.


Add buttermilk, egg, and melted butter; beat until smooth.


Spoon batter into the pan, making sure to cover the bottom. Top with sliced strawberries.


Sprinkle crumb topping over the strawberries.
Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes.

Buttermilk Cornbread

I've tried many, many cornbread recipes...always looking for the recipe that would make moist cornbread, instead of the dense, heavy cornbread I'm used to.
This recipe is a successful tweak.
I've combined a few recipes, and this one is by far the best I've combined.
In my opinion...a little sweet, and moist...next time though, I'll double it for the 10 inch cast iron skillet to make it thicker.

You'll need:
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup of melted butter

Preheat older ovens to 400F, newer ovens to 375F.
(I've learned the hard way that ovens with ceramic tops are hotter than older versions, by about 25 to 50 degrees)


Whisk the egg and sugar together. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.
Melt the butter and set aside to cool.


Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk...whisking in between to mix everything evenly.


Mix in the melted butter at the end...



and pour into a greased skillet. Bake at 375F until sides come away from the skillet.
Turn the oven to broil at 375F to brown the top for about 3 minutes or so.

This cornbread is nice and moist, and sweet...but not too sweet.
I'm happy with this recipe now.

Curry Shrimp from Epicurious

I tried this recipe for curry shrimp from Epicurious.com, but I modified it a bit since it just seemed a little bland to me.

You'll need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 scotch bonnet pepper
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 13 1/2-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
8 uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro


Clean, peel, and devein the shrimp. Mince the onion, garlic and scotch bonnet in your little mincer.


Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and scotch bonnet; sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add ginger and curry powder; sauté 1 minute.


...and other spices...Stir in coconut milk. Simmer 2 minutes.


Add shrimp and simmer until opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro.
Season with salt and pepper.

It was good....but, I'd still add something to this recipe...Maybe more curry and salt or vegeta.

Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted red peppers are something that is on the Serbian table for every special occasion, but particularly at this time of year.
I could eat these with just bread, but it's generally served with dinner or with cold meat.
I love them.


First broil them until the skin is blackened, either on a grill or as I did here, in the oven...because I'm not going outside to do this in January.
Use shepherd red peppers, they're better.


Peel them (which is easy to do when the skin is blackened), and put them in a bowl.
Add garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt and sugar to your taste


Mix it all together, and let it sit for awhile for the flavours to infuse.
Serve with cold meat, or do like I do and just eat them with a nice chunk of fresh bread.

Oxtail Soup

Just like most West Indian recipes, there are a million versions of Oxtail Soup.
This is my Mother in Law's extended version.

You'll need:

About 4lbs Oxtail (cut Small)
1 large onion (chopped into med sized pieces)
1 or 2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 or 3 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 small cassava (chopped)
1 yam (chopped)
2 small potatoes (chopped)
1 or 2 carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 scotch bonnet to float
Salt
Pepper
about 8 springs of fresh thyme
a little grated nutmeg
about a tbsp of curry
a couple of tbsp of cassareep.


First rinse and clean your oxtail with lime


Then place on a baking sheet and broil until browned on both sides, turning over the pieces once.


Take out of the oven and set aside for a moment.


brown the onions in olive oil and when they're translucent....


Add the oxtail, garlic and juices and brown a few minutes more.


Add the 2 or 3 stalks of chopped celery, chopped cassava, chopped yam, chopped potatoes , chopped carrots, scotch bonnett to float, salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, about a tbsp of curry, a couple of tbsp of cassareep, 8 or so springs of fresh thyme, and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to medium low and stew for hours for the best results, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender checking for flavour. Add salt if needed.

I love this with rice, but it's really "stick to your ribs" food.
It's not light fare.