Battle of the Salmon Steaks & Ginger Jasmine Rice
Posted: May 14, 2012 Filed under: food from the sea recipes, sides recipes | Tags: Butter, cajun, food, ginger jasmine rice, jasmine rice, menu, Rice, salmon, seafood, sides 9 Comments »
NOTE: Eeep, I was going through my drafts and just realized that this was never published! Oh what a night that was! Definitely do give the ginger jasmine right a try, so good! Hope you all enjoy reading our fun date night! Have a wonderful day, xoxo!
We had a large filet of salmon so we decided to do a cook-off challenge, appropriately dubbed “Battle of the Salmon Steaks”.
The challengers: Kat vs. Boyfriend
The boyfriend made his specialty,baked salmon à la mon ami…
baked salmon à la mon ami
I remade an old favorite, but this time with salmon…
blackened cajun salmon
It’s really hard to say who the winner is because both salmon dishes taste delish in its own right! His is packed with buttery goodness, whereas mine is crisp and spicy.
I made ginger jasmine rice as a side dish for these salmons. The rice is packed full of gingery flavor, and who knew ginger and garlic would go so well together? I just love simple rice dishes like these! Let me know if you have other rice dishes I should try!
Do you do cook-off competitions at home?
xoxo, kat
Blackened Cajun Salmon
- salmon filet
- cajun/creole spice mix
- olive oil
Directions:
- Rinse and pat the salmon fillet dry. Completely coat both sides of the fillet with the cajun mix, and shaking off any excess.
- Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat, and pour some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is hot and sizzling, and cook until blackened, about 4-5 minutes. Then flip and cook for another 4-5 minutes until blackened.
Baked Salmon À La Mon Ami
- salmon
- roasted garlic herb compound butter (or butter)
- olive oil
- dried herbs (oregano, rosemary)
- salt/pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Rinse the filet of salmon with cold water and pat the salmon dry.
- Rub both sides of the salmon with olive oil.
- Season with salt, pepper and any dried herbs according to your taste preferences.
- Coat the top of the salmon with a compound butter.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon.
- Serve immediately.
Ginger Jasmine Rice (adapted from Food.com)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
- 1/2 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup water
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Heat butter or oil in pan over medium to low heat. Saute garlic, ginger & salt for about a minute at most or until fragrant. Add rice and stir well.
- Add liquid. Bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat, simmer about 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice tender.
Blackened Cajun Tilapia
Posted: March 6, 2012 Filed under: food from the sea recipes | Tags: blackened fish, cajun, creole, Fish, food, menu, Tilapia 6 Comments »
blackened cajun tilapia
I took the easy route and made fish for dinner for one of our date nights late last month. Also that month, my boyfriend made baked salmon, soooo clearly we’re a duo that loves fish!
In honor of Mardi Gras, I decided to make a blackened cajun-style fish. It was so unbelievably moist and juicy! My favorite part are the crispy edges of the fish! If you love the crispy edges, don’t be afraid to cook them a little bit longer :)
Also feel free to use any white fish you like! This is tilapia…sadly, I couldn’t find catfish anywhere! Rinse with water and pat the fish very dry with paper towels.
If available use a pre-made cajun or creole style seasoning mix. I had to go to three grocery stores (Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, and Fresh and Easy) to find this seasoning mix! Alternatively, you can google a recipe for cajun mix which is what I will do next time when this bottle runs out.
Season both sides of the fish liberally, shaking off the excess. You’ll want to really pat it on! As you can tell, I’m pretty heavy-handed with my seasoning :)
In a cast-iron or heavy-duty pan, pour some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and heat over medium-high heat. It is important to have a very hot pan when cooking the fish. When the pan is hot enough, add the tilapia fillets, and let cook until it’s blackened on one side (takes about 2-3 minutes) then flip and blackened the other side.
Cooking tip: It’s time to flip when you notice nice dark crispy edges forming along the sides of the fish.
In only a matter of a few minutes, you’ll have a nice piece of juicy delicious blackened cajun fish!
Another super easy and quick meal idea for date night! Hope you get to give this a try!
xoxo, kat
Blackened Cajun Tilapia
serves 2
- 2 tilapia fillets
- cajun/creole spice mix
- olive oil
Directions:
- Rinse and pat the tilapia fillets dry. Completely coat both sides of the fillets with the cajun mix, and shaking off any excess.
- Heat a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat, and pour some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Once the pan is hot and sizzling, add the tilapia fillets (one at a time) and cook until blackened, about 2 – 3 minutes. Then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until blackened.
baked salmon à la mon ami
Posted: February 23, 2012 Filed under: food from the sea recipes | Tags: baked salmon, Fish, food, menu, salmon, seafood 9 Comments »
basic baked salmon
My boyfriend, the chef, hehe. Another she eats, he cooks moment :)
This is such a lovely quick and easy idea for a lazy date night meal!
Fish bones scare the bejesus out of me because I always end up choking lol. Therefore, salmon is my favorite fish to eat because it usually comes filleted and boneless (which is key :).
Baked salmon is so delicious and super easy to prepare!! All you have to do is rub both sides of the fish with a little olive oil, season the top (skinless) side with s+p, any of your favorite herbs (he used dried rosemary and a little bit of dried oregano) and slather some super yummy roasted garlic/basil herb butter. How easy!
Surf & Turf Thanksgiving: Garlic Shrimp with Basil, Tomatoes, and Red Pepper Flakes with Brown Butter Gnocchi
Posted: December 5, 2011 Filed under: food from the sea recipes, pasta recipes | Tags: food, garlic shrimp, gnocchi, menu, Pasta, seafood, shrimp, surf and turf, thanksgiving 5 Comments »
garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes with gnocchi
Yummy! I only have one thing to say, gnocchi is awesome! I can’t believe I waited twenty-something years to try this! Oh why was I deprived of this growing up???
Welcome to part two of my super belated Thanksgiving extravaganza! We had the turf (steak with tomatoes, red onions, and balsamic) and now we have the surf (garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes). Haha, that was such a terrible joke, I’m sorry!
Rather than babble, check out the garlic shrimp with basil, tomatoes, and red pepper flakes with brown butter gnocchi below…
INGREDIENTS: gnocchi, shrimp, grape tomatoes, dry white wine, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, s+p
STEP 1: Boil the gnocchi according to package, drain and set aside.
While the gnocchi is boiling, start working on the shrimp. In my opinion, the shrimp takes the most work.
Kat’s Crispy Fish
Posted: September 7, 2011 Filed under: food from the sea recipes, Uncategorized | Tags: crispy fish, Fish, food, fried fish, Lawry's, Panko, Recipe, seafood, Tilapia 6 Comments »
kat's crispy fish
As promised, here’s my recipe for Crispy Fish from last Friday’s favorites! For crispy fish, you only need seven ingredients, and most likely you have them right in your kitchen already. This is a no-recipe recipe! It’s more of an “add more as needed” type of recipe. Since this is a basic fried fish recipe, it’s also goof-proof!
After my first horrific incident with making chicken katsu, I shied away from any recipes that require frying of any kind! The thought of hot oil popping and splattering all over face makes me worry, so my boyfriend usually takes over frying duties because he’s manly like that. Anyways, I don’t know what came over me last week but I took over frying duties! In fact, I told him to “shoo” hehe. He came back surprised and proud :)
My first solo frying experience went great! In fact, the whole meal turned out great! The fish was so crispy and crunchy on the outside, and soft and flakey on the inside.
Oh ladies, this is the dish to make for your man!!! My crispy fish is now one of my boyfriend’s top fave meals that I make him! He loved it so much that he had seconds way before I even finished my first! It makes me very happy seeing him get seconds :)
Hope you guys enjoy this quick and easy idea for DIY date night! What are your date night ideas for this week? Ugh…that reminds me, I don’t have a clue as to what I’m going to make for this week! Any suggestions for me?
INGREDIENTS: tilapia, eggs, flour, panko, Lawry's, pepper, and oil for frying
farm raised tilapia from Trader Joe's
STEP 1: Take the fish out of the package and rinse with cold water
