Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Another recipe from the Mayo Clinic website. I had never had tilapia before, but it's quite a tasty little fish. I ran out of mayonnaise once and used Miracle Whip instead. Boooooo.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Greese a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise, and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Oh, the Devil Take It!

The day after Easter brings an abundance of hard-boiled eggs. Thank heavens Paula Deen is here to show us what to do with them! Here are our 2 favorite Deviled Egg recipes from her magazine.

Southwestern Stuffed Eggs
makes 12 servings

6 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

1/3 cup mayonnaise

3 Tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tablespoons salsa

1 1/2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 Tablespoon chopped green onion

1 tsp ground cumin

Salt and pepper

Halve eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a small bowl. Mash yolks with a fork and stir in mayonnaise, Cheddar cheese, salsa, sour cream, green onion, and cumin. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Fill egg whites evenly with yolk mixture. Garnish with additional green onions, if desired. Store covered in refrigerator.

BLT Stuffed Eggs

makes 12 servings

6 large eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

2 cherry tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

1 Tbs dried parsley flakes

Salt and pepper

Additional crumbled bacon for garnish

Chocolate Cups

Since this was our second attempt at these chocolate cups, I feel like we can impart enough wisdom to post the recipe. They're so cute! Popped balloons = lots of chocolate splatter to clean up, but otherwise fun to make. (We used dark chocolate and mint chocolate chip ice cream for our St. Patrick's Day version. I liked these better, though.)

5" balloons (NOT water balloons - they will pop... they will ALL pop)
3 bags white chocolate chips (for approximately 18 finished cups)
Crisco (or whatever) spray
Wax paper

Blow up the balloons - as many as you need for the number of cups you want. Melt the chocolate over medium low heat in a double boiler. When the chocolate is completely melted and smooth, let it cool slightly. Spray the balloon with Crisco and spread the grease with your hand to about halfway up the balloon. (We have done it without the Crisco with sad results. The higher up you go with the grease, the easier it will be to get the balloons out.)

Hold the balloon by the knot and dip it in the melted chocolate, bringing it up out of the chocolate between each dip. (The longer you leave the balloon in the warm chocolate, the more likely the balloon will pop and you will be finding chocolate in strange places for weeks.) Set the balloon on a flat (and mobile) surface covered in wax paper (we used our cutting boards) until you have filled the surface. Put the chocolate covered balloons in the refrigerator (or freezer) for about 15 minutes.

Remove the balloons from the refrigerator and poke the top (near the knot) with a safety pin. Let the air out of the balloons slowly, then ease it out of the chocolate cup. Keep the cups cold until you plan to use them. We filled ours with strawberry ice cream and added a side of dipped strawberries.

green eggs and ham

Adam was dreaming of having breakfast in green for St. Patrick's Day; green grits, green orange juice, green everything. I had thought about it St. Patrick's Day Eve, but when the morning came, I didn't have the energy. Luckily, I have a very festive husband who happened to be home that morning. He got busy working on the green pancakes, apple juice (no orange around),green butter, and green sprinkles to top everything. I got a good one of the girls and Adam. Somehow, Banks was not captured eating his green feast!

And Bring A Turkey!

I love turkey! Roast turkey and roast chicken are both recipes that cookbooks and grandmothers assume everyone knows. (Therefore I rarely see a recipe for a basic roast turkey.) It has taken me years to figure out how to make a good one. Keep your mind away from Grandma Shirley's disturbing raw turkey imagery and you're set!

1 turkey breast up to 8 lbs. (I prefer the kind with the bagged guts so I don't have to do any digging)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 an onion, quartered
Fresh sprigs of:
Thyme
Rosemary
Sage
1/4 cube soft butter
1 Reynolds oven bag
1 T. flour

Release the turkey from those high-security bags they come in, remove the giblets, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. Set the turkey in the pan you'll be cooking it in while you cut the onion and put the flour in the oven bag. Come back to the turkey and pat it dry again. Liberally salt and pepper the cavity between the breasts (the turkey's, not yours) and put a few sprigs of herbs in, followed by the onion. Tuck the rest of the herb sprigs under the skin of the turkey breasts (you'll need to cut a little opening to get them in there far enough). Rub with butter (with your fingers is the only way!), then salt and pepper the whole bird. Put the turkey into the oven bag, leaving room for heat to expand around it, and place it in a shallow roasting pan. For an 8 lb. turkey, bake at 350 degrees for an hour and 50 minutes. (The package for the oven bags has excellent instructions for smaller birds.)

Serve with yukon gold mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. Delicious!

Fuss-free Ravioli and Cheese Bake

I, personally, don't care how long something takes to cook as long as it's easy to put together. That's why this is one of my favorite recipes--it never takes longer than 5 minutes to prepare. Also, it's delicious and my kids will eat it, so bonus!

1 jar (16 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10 oz.) reduced sodium beef broth
1/4 cup italian dressing
1 pkg (24 oz.) frozen cheese-filled ravioli (or 2 9oz pkgs fresh)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, with their liquid, broth and dressing in 13x9-inch baking dish. Add ravioli; mix lightly. Cover with foil.

Bake 50 min. or until ravioli are tender.

Remove foil; stir. Sprinkle with cheese. Let stand 5 min. until the cheese melts.

Makes 6 servings.

Chocolate Cake

The title does this cake no justice. It's so good!

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, beat sugar, canola oil, eggs and vanilla for 4 minutes. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with boiling water to the sugar mixture. Beat well after each addition.
3. Pour into an oiled and floured 9x13 inch cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until cake springs back to the touch.


I like to put cream cheese frosting on it. I just throw a brick of cream cheese, some milk and as much powdered sugar as you can stand.