Italian Style Fish

This recipe was easy and had that good for you feeling. Wonderfully light and perfect served with greens. Very low fat filled with fresh goodness

Ingredients: serves 4

4 fillets of Orange Ruffy, Halibut, or Tilapia

1/2 c chopped Italian parsley

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 crushed red pepper

2 tbs minced shallot or onion

8 callamata olives quartered lengthwise

2 c diced tomatoes

1. Salt and pepper fish. Put olive oil (enough to really coat the bottom)in fry pan and get hot. Fry fish in hot pan (this will put a nice brown on the the fish) till opaque (about 3 minutes per side).

Set fillets on serving platter or plates.

2. In the same pan heat 1 tbs olive oil and 1 tbs butter. When melted and sizzling add parsley, shallot, crushed red pepper and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes.

3. Add olives and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are soft and the mixture is slightly saucy. You may with to add a few tbs of water during the process if you like it a little runnier. Spoon over fish and serve.

Cook's tip: Never add anything to cold olive oil on the stove. It will absorb it and get greasy. Using a hot pan will put a nice sear on things keeping juices in.

Creme Brulee

Don't be intimidated!  This recipe is easy and tastes great.

2 cups 1/2 and 1/2
1/3 cup sugar
5 egg yolks (slightly beaten)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Heat 1/2 and 1/2 gently on low in a saucepan.  Be careful not to burn it. 

While you are heating your 1/2 and 1/2, in a mixing bowl add slightly beaten yolks, sugar, salt, and vanilla.  Stir with a whisk until combined.  Once your 1/2 and 1/2 is very hot (almost bubbling) you can begin to add it to the yolk mixture.  Do this in 3 parts, stirring after each addition, until your sugar is dissolved.

Skim off the foam from the mixture using a large spoon. 

Set 6 ramekins in a shallow baking dish.  Pour hot mixture into ramekins.  Make sure to leave about a 1/4 from the top empty.  Next pour VERY HOT water into the baking dish so that the water is about an inch up the sides of the ramekins.  This will help the custard not to burn and cook evenly. (If you spilled a little custard as you were pouring --as I always do-- no worries.)

The above photo is just after removing from the oven.

Bake for 50 minutes at 325.  When a knife is inserted into the custard it should come out almost clean.  Custard will continue to cook after you remove from the oven.  Remove hot ramekins from baking dish.

Chill overnight or at least 4 hours.


For Tops
Sprinkle the tops of your chilled custards (just before serving) with about a teaspoon of sugar.  Using a kitchen torch slowly melt the sugar atop the Creme Brulee.  This may sound intimidating, but once you've tried it you will see how easy it is to do.  The sugar will crystallize and harden from the flame, creating that restaurant finish.