Snapper Backed in Parchment with Spring Vegetables

RECIPE IS FROM MYRECIPES.COM originally from Southern Living

This method makes French-style cooking easy. Each parcel of fish and veggies steams with its own delicious juices (a technique called en papillote). The package concentrates the flavors, and when opened at the table, it releases a dramatic cloud of aromatic steam.

Yield:
MAKES 4 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh asparagus
8 sweet mini peppers
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
4 pickled okra pods, halved lengthwise
8 ounces small Yukon gold potatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 (17-inch) parchment paper or aluminum foil squares
4 (6- to 8-oz.) fresh snapper fillets, skin on I actually used Tilapia without skin
1 lemon, quartered I also added lemon pepper which gave it a nice spice
4 tablespoons butter

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Snap off tough ends of asparagus, and discard. Toss together asparagus, next 6 ingredients, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, and 1/2 tsp. each salt and black pepper. Divide mixture among parchment paper squares; top each with 1 snapper fillet, skin side up. Sprinkle with remaining salt, and drizzle with remaining oil. Squeeze juice from lemon over fillets; and top each with 1 Tbsp. butter. Bring parchment paper sides up over mixture; fold top, and twist ends to seal. Place packets on a baking sheet.

2. Bake at 400° for 15 to 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 140° to 145° when inserted through paper into fish. Place packets on plates, and cut open. Serve immediately.

PARCHMENT IS BEST FOR: Fish fillets that are about 1 inch thick, such as snapper, flounder, sole, striped bass, and salmon.

EXPERT ADVICE: Packets must be tightly sealed so they don't come undone while baking. Make small, snug, overlapping folds to seal each bundle, and then twist the tail ends tightly closed.

Carmelitas

OH MY GOODNESS
these are so good

I hope our new neighbors like the treat.

INGREDIENTS
32 caramel squares, unwrapped
½ cup heavy cream
¾ cup butter, melted
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips I found that to be too much chocolate...

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Grease an 8×8 pan or you can line it with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easier removal. The caramel gets very sticky. (This can also be made in a 9×13, by doubling the ingredients)
2. In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar. Add flour, oats, and baking soda. Mix until combined well. 
3. Divide the cookie mixture in half and pat half of the mix into the bottom of the 8×8 pan. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.
4. While the crust is baking, combine the caramels and heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat; stir until completely melted and smooth. The caramels can also be melted in the microwave, just stir after every 30 seconds being careful not to let it burn. The microwave version worked very well when using my ceramic bowl. Very easy to clean. Also the heavy cream made the caramel stay perfectly gooey for days.
5. Remove pan from the oven, immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the crust. Pour warm melted caramel mixture over the chocolate chips and crumble remaining cookie dough on top.
6. Return to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.
7. Once removed from the oven, allow them to completely cool and the caramel to set up. The caramel is like molten caramel right out of the oven and you want to let it cool. You can speed up the cooling process by putting it in the fridge if needed.
8. Gluten Free Version: Use gluten free flour.
9. Use certified gluten free oatmeal, can be found at Trader Joe's

TRICKS & TIPS

1. This was so easy to make using my Cuisinart. I have both an 11-cup and the 2-cup mini prep. 

2. Can be made Gluten Free when using Gluten Free Flour and Gluten Free Oatmeal

Thank you This Grandma Is Fun for the recipe. 

Mamas Corn Patties

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup corn
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients and fry on pan patties the size of a cup cake circle size. Taste good when served hot or cold!

Chocolate Spread

Yummy chocolate spread that brings me back to childhood.

INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 & 2/3 margarine
3 tablespoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon coffee
drop of vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Put all in a food processor. Once mixed, refrigerate.

Quinoa Salad with chickpeas, lemon and mint

Image from original recipe posting on Food52

Serves 4-6

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 a large shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
3 cups cooked quinoa (from 1 cup uncooked)
1 stalk celery, in 1/4 -inch dice
1/4 cup raisins
1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup finely sliced mint leaves
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped.

In a large bowl, combine the lemon juice, shallot, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and let stand while you pull together the rest of the dish.
Add the quinoa, chickpeas, celery, raisins, mint and olives, if using. Toss together.
Taste for seasoning and add remaining salt and pepper, or maybe lemon juice, if needed.
Serve at room temperature or place in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
If serving from the refrigerator, let it sit for a few minutes to shake off the chill - this salad is best at room temperature.

Recipe from Food52.

Quinoa Salad with Hazelnuts, Apple, and Dried Cranberries

Serves 4

1 cup quinoa, rinsed well (any other grain will do as well. I used farro)
1 1/2 cups water, for quinoa
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
2 stalks of celery, finely diced
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, de-skinned and chopped (or use any nuts you have - I used almond slivers and raw cashews)
1 bunch (about 5 to 6) green onions, chopped (green parts only)
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped * see note
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
1 gala apple (really, any kind of apple will do)
1 large lemon, juiced
Generous drizzle of any kind of oil (I like hazelnut)
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 325F and toast your hazelnuts for about 7-10 minutes. Let them cool completely. You should begin to hear their skins crackle while cooling; this is a good sign!  Skip this step if you don't use hazelnuts.
2. Meanwhile, cook your quinoa. Importantly, rinse it well! Boil the water with a pinch of salt, and add your rinsed quinoa. Turn your stove down to medium-low and let it cook for roughly 15 minutes, or until the water is absorbed. Fluff quinoa with a fork, and let it cool in the fridge. 
3. Going back to the cooled, toasted hazelnuts; remove the skins. Chop the hazelnuts up, leaving them in large pieces. Skip this step if you don't use hazelnuts.
4. Preheat a skillet with 1 tbsp of oil and soften your finely chopped onion and celery. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Try not to brown them, 5 to 7 minutes on medium - low heat should do the trick. Set aside in a large salad bowl. 
5. Rinse your parsley well and chop it finely followed by your dried cranberries and green onions. Add all this to the onion and celery mixture. 
6. Core and dice the apple, put your apple chunks in the bowl with the other ingredients. Squeeze the entire lemon over the apple to season the salad and prevent the apple from turning brown. 
7. Add your quinoa and hazelnuts to the mixture, drizzle with the oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Season with more lemon juice if you like. Mix well and cool completely. Allow the flavors to meld for 20 minutes before serving! 

Recipe is from Food52. They recommend using good quality dried cranberries. Craisins work but they tend to turn the salad a pinkish hue after a few hours, and may be too sweet.

Almond Chai Moon Juice

At night, fill a pint sized mason jar 3/4 full of water.  Then add the following ingredients:

Small Handful of Almonds

2 dates (pits removed)

1 fig

2 black peppercorns

1 cardamom pod

1 Tbs. pumpkin seed

1 tsp. poppy seed

1/2 piece of ginger (optional)

Allow it to soak overnight, preferably in the moon light.  In the morning there are two options:

A) Gently warm all the contents (not to a boil), then put them in a blender and mix them up at a high speed.

or

B) Strain out most of the water, boil 1 cup of milk with all the contents, then blend at a high speed. 

We have been doing option one and also using more water, about three cups. We use our Vitamix blender.

Future Moon Juice recipes to try: at Well and Good.

*Note: some of the links in this post are associate links (if you click the links I might get commission). Opinions are my own. You can click the links in the ingredients to add them all to your Amazon cart.

Vitamix Wild Rice Soup

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp butter
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup cooked wild rice, divided use
1/4 sliced almonds, divided use
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half
1/3 cup fresh parsley
6 ounces cooked chicken, diced
1-2 tbsp dry sherry

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small skillet, melt butter.  Saute mushrooms and onions (5-6 minutes).
2. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring, to create roux (1 minute).
3. Add onion mixture, half of rice, half of almonds, chicken broth, and half and half to the Vitamix and secure lid.
4. Select Hot Soup program.  Start machine and allow to complete cycle.
5. Select Variable 2. Start machine and remove lid plug. Drop in remaining rice, almonds, parsley, chicken and sherry.  Blend 5 more seconds.  Serve immediately.

Makes 4 cups.

COMMENTS
A little too blended, thick and creamy for my liking. Also even though it's a quick soup to make, it requires a lot of clean up because of the prep for the mushrooms, onions, rice and chicken.