New RecipeAugust 14th, 2009 @ 9:56 pm
Company’s coming… what are your go-to dinner recipes? I usually serve Asian grilled salmon or lasagna (Both Ina Garten recipes. Actually I don’t think you can go wrong with any of Ina’s recipes. She rocks!). I like making the salmon dish (sometimes as often as once a week), because it’s easy and tastes great. Plus, I’ve found that a lot of people don’t cook fish at home and are really impressed if you can cook it well. Little do they know how stinking easy it is to cook fish. And the lasagna? I’m not a huge fan of Italian food, but lasagna or other casseroles (like a King Ranch chicken) seem to be a safe choice for entertaining or potlucks. And Ina’s recipe is good, I think it’s the goat cheese that makes it, although I do make my own sauce from scratch.
And as of last week, I added another somewhat fancy/suitable for company dish to that list. Baked grouper with a sundried tomato/crab topping. We were at our local grocery store (HEB) waiting at the fish counter for some tilapia filets, when the chef in front of the counter offered me a sample of this grouper dish. I’m not usually a fan of crab, or toppings on fish, but this dish really worked. It was fab! The next week I tracked him down and made him give me the recipe. Here it is:
1 lb. grouper filets
Lemon juice, olive oil and salt/pepper
4 or 5 T. of sundried tomato butter (this was a seasoned butter available near the fish counter, but I’m sure it would be really easy to create your own version at home)
2 T. minced garlic
1/2 lb. crab meat
1/4 to 1/2 c. heavy cream (hey, I didn’t say this was low calorie)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub grouper filets with lemon juice, olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 min (ours took a little longer). While the fish is baking, melt sundried tomato butter in a saucepan, then add garlic and crab meat. Cook until it’s a light golden color, then add heavy cream until you get the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once the fish is done, plate each filet and then top with the crab mixture. Easy peasy! And really, really, really good. But, I’d make a few changes. I’d grill the grouper until it was almost done, place it in a baking dish with the crab mix and broil it for a few minutes until everything is hot and bubbly. And with the butter and the crab, this is a VERY rich dish. I bet you could use half and half instead of heavy cream. Yum, yum, yum.
What are your favorite recipes for company?
Food
Toni
said,
August 17, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I am on weight watchers and there is a basic pizza dough recipe but instead of all 7 cups of flour you can substitute one of those cups with cornmeal. The recipe makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas or 4 individual ones. We usually do the 4 individual ones and let everyone make their own pizza. Everyone really likes it. The cornmeal makes it taste really really good. You would never be able to tell the dough is from a WW recipe.
admin
said,
August 17, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Toni, that sounds good! I’ve been looking for a good pizza dough recipe. And I almost picked up a WW cookbook last weekend. I have some really good recipes given to me by friends that turned out to be WW.
tash
said,
August 17, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Since we live on a farm and run lots of sheep and cattle, we butcher our own meat. We love to BBQ.
A favourite of ours is lamb chops marinated in mint sauce and garlic, cooked on the bbq (you have to be careful not to burn the marinade). We serve it with mash potatoes that are topped with caramelised onions (we just slowly cook the onions in nothing but lots of brown sugar)and a dollop of sour cream and occasionally a wedge of camenbert cheese and green veges.
Another favourite side of ours that always gets rave reviews is my warm pumpkin and sweet potato(yams)salad. This is great served with a roast dinner along side roast potatoes, or as a bbq side. Its really simple…cut up your pumpkin and sweet potato into about 5cm chunks and roast in the oven til brown(i cheat and steam first in the microwave, then brown them off in the oven). Next you mix in a mixing jug…. salt and pepper, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil,2 cloves mined garlic (or more) 2 fresh sprigs rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped. (sometimes i also add 1/4 cup finely chopped red (spanish) onion.)) Whisk all that togther and toss through the pumpkin and sweet potato when ready to serve.
And lastly, the easiest potato bake you will ever make to accompany your bbq, chop in to cubes or slice up the required amount of potatoes.(assuming you are feeding 4-6 people you will need…)add to the potatoes a cup and a half or so of thick/heavy cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, and approx a cup and a half of raw bacon chopped. Mix all up and put into your casserole dish(uncovered) allow atleast an hour and a half to cook(potatoes should be tender)…yummo
I’d love to know some more of your staple recipes!
admin
said,
August 18, 2009 at 8:22 am
Tash- those all sound awesome!! I’ve never cooked lamb before, I might have to give it a try.