Fish

Hubby had done some fishing in Alaska last summer and I love pulling some out of the freezer to make various dishes. This time I turned to my Somersizing book to find the "Fillet of Sole with Lemon-Caper Butter" WOW It was GREAT! I don't even know what kind of fish I took out, one was a linkcod, I believe. YUM my favorite! But you can use any white fish. Here's the dish:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large fillets
1/2 cup broth
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp drained capers
2 Tbsp parsley (I used dried)
Juice from 1 lemon

Heat a saute pan large enough for the fish over high heat. Add the olive oil, then the fish and saute about 3 minutes per side. Remove the fish and set aside.

With the heat still on high add the chicken broth and reduce by half. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter until well combined. Stir in the capers, parsley and lemon juice.

The Linkcod was pretty thick so I let the fish cook some more in the sauce.

I served over shredded cabbage with diced red onion and black beans.

WOW! My new favorite fish!

Enjoy!

 

Here's the book I'm cooking my way through. I was at my daughter's house last week in Northern CA, so I'll post more this week when I get my feet back on the ground.

:) At least hubby was drinking his smoothies every morning while I was gone! :)

Celery Root Puree

3 celery roots
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional, but I used it)
4 tbsp butter (or 1/4 c olive oil - I used butter)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring 5 cups water to boil in a large pot (the recipe calls for a steamer, but I just boiled them like I boil potatoes for potato salad)

Chop off the roots and peel off the outside layer of skin from the celery roots, being careful to remove all the brown. Cut each celery root into about 12 pieces and place pieces in the steamer. Steam (or I just boiled them) until very soft when poked with a fork, about 20 minutes.

Transfer the celery root to a food processor. Add the cream and butter and puree until smooth. (If you don't have a food processor you can use a mixer, just as you would for mashed potatoes). Add additional cream or butter to achieve desired consistency, or for a healthier option, omit the butter and cream and use a little olive oil instead. (I didn't spare for healthy!)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata is one of the quickest and easiest dishes I've done in a long time.

It perfectly served hubby and me for dinner. I served it with a bunch of steamed asparagus. I served it on plates, but next time will serve in my pasta bowls because the juice from the piccata was wonderful poured over the chicken and the asparagus.

I followed the recipe except using 1/4 cup wine, I used 1/2 cup water and added a chicken bouillon cube. Not sure why I used 1/2 cup. But I'm glad I did. We loved pouring the sauce over everything. And for me, I don't really like lemon that much. So even with 1/2 cup water the juice from one lemon made it to lemon tasting for me. Hubby loved it.

Funny story... the recipe calls for capers. Now I don't know why, but I was thinking peppercorns were capers. So I had just opened my jar and had poured a tablespoon full of the peppercorns and was about to put it in the lemon sauce when I happened to stop and mentioned to hubby "is peppercorns the same as capers?" And of course being the grocery man he is, I got a resounding No! So hubby ran to the store to get capers and saved the day.

This is a great dish and we both commented how much we love eating from this book. Our lifestyle is changing and we are loving it!

I'll be at my daughters for a week and won't be taking my cookbook, so will chat with you next week!

Marinara Sauce

As a Italian house we love love love our pasta. So it was with "fear and trembling" (grin) that I tried Suzanne's Marinara Sauce. I mean... who could make sauce like his mother or older sister?? Certainly NOT this little midwesterner with NO Italian in her blood line! Or could she!!

I DID IT! I actually doubled the recipe so we could have extra. And I used dried minced onion and garlic from the jar, and fresh basil. I didn't have tomato sauce so I used 2 of the large cans of tomatoes and a small jar of tomato paste. The recipe called for "4 garlic cloves, pressed". Not sure what "pressed' was so I just through them in. Maybe the JUICE from the garlic?? I guess I'll have to google that. If anyone knows, please add instructions in the comment section. :)

And basil.... I actually don't have dried basil. Will have to put that on my shopping list. But the only herb we grow is basil, so I used 6 medium leaves and sliced them.

Then I have this jar-grinder thing of Melissa's Italian Herbs. So I added a teaspoon of that too.

Geez, it doesn't look like it was her recipe after all! So let me put Brenda's translation of the Marinara Sauce on page 170

4 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoon minced onion (hydrated in water for 10 minutes then drained)
2 teaspoon minced garlic (in jar, not dried)
2 can (28 ounces) tomatoes
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
4 tablespoon dried parsley
6 medium leaves fresh basil (sliced up)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and add the onion and garlic. Cook 1 minute. Add all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 hours or more.

That's it! Super easy! for us... it could have used more garlic. :)

I steamed some bell pepper, broccoli and snow peas.

Add pasta, then steamed veggies, then Parmesan cheese (I used the shredded) and top with your home made marinara sauce!

Hubby at it with cottage cheese (a family tradition that doesn't seem to get broken. they are convinced that cuts back on the acid from the tomatoes). He said a bit later it was the first time he ate pasta until he was full and didn't get bloated afterwards! Thank you Suzanne Somers! I'm not sure what difference there was in what I served and the regular. But I'm sure as I go into this more, I'll learn.

Weekend

The weekend came with mixed results. Hubby has lost 4 lbs, I gained one. But today we went hiking today in the hills that are pretty steep. I didn't do well because I didn't get good sleep last night and we left right after eating pot roast! :(

But I felt it in my upper thighs so that can only be good. Tonight he felt like pizza. :( I did convince him to go to California Pizza Kitchen. They have whole wheat crust pizza, he got me a vegitarian. It was delicious. And it didn't have sauce only veggies and cheese.

I wonder if when I get my body in balance if I won't react to the sodium in food so much. I get so puffy from water retention.

Tomorrow is the beginning of week two. And we didn't do bad. Fortunately we tend to eat somewhat healthy. But I did finish up things that are on the funky list like the almonds, bananas and carrots. And yogurt with fruit. And unfortunately I had a few pieces of chocolate candy bar. Yuck. I don't like that much sugar now. So I don't even have the desire to eat that stuff. So why do I do it anyway?!? Lord, help me!

Friday - Day 5

Today was left over day. And so I ate what I found. Which isn't a good thing, but at least that food is gone. I had french toast for lunch. And a blueberry yogurt.

I didn't really feel all that unbalanced.

Hubby did good when he got home. He ate left over wild rice (it was mixed however) and veggies. Not sure what he had for lunch. But he mentioned he has lost 4 pounds. How I wish women could lose that easily. Must have something to do with that muscle mass of which I don't have any! Menopause did it! :)

My weight has stayed steady. 1/2 lb until my first goal!