Whole Grilled Bluefish and Fried Corn Fritters

I ate a fish cheek.  And it was amazing.  This is not some X Factor bologna, this is the real deal.  I’ve been wanting to roast a whole fish for a while but I’m SO glad my first experience was on the grill.  Also made some grilled broccoli and homemade coleslaw to go along with the fish.  Then, because I can’t have a meal without grain/carbs/fried things, I whipped up some corn fritters to round out dinner.

Let’s start with the fish because they’re so easy.  You can apply this recipe to other types of fish too.  I just went with bluefish because they looked the freshest and most cost effective at my local grocery.  Their eyes were nice and bright, their skin still looked shiny and they smelled briny and fresh.  One per person was perfect.

Begin by seasoning the pre-gutted and scaled fish (make sure your market does this for you before you buy) by stuffing their bellies with fresh parsley, garlic, green onion, and lemon slices.

Ok just one more photo so you can see how beautiful these little babies are…

We slapped them on a high heat, lightly olive oiled grill for about 5 minutes.  At that point, check to see if they are sticking to the grill.  If not, they are ready to flip.  Another 3-5 minutes on the second side finishes them off.  That’s IT!

This was seriously SO good.  Cut behind the gill and down the spine with a butterknife and choose your own adventure as you devour.  Just skip the little bones.  The little nugget of flesh under each cheek is the best to dig into that first or last, depending on your style.

Now for the fritters…

I wanted something hushpuppy-ish to go with the fish because fried things, duh.  I started with the kernels of 4 cooked corn cobs shaved off and into a bowl.  Add corn meal, AP Flour, seafood breading, and spices.

This is the seafood breading I have, but you can use whatever is local to you.

Add eggs and milk and give it a mix.

Heat a half inch of oil in a skillet to fry.  The oil is ready when droplets of water sizzle when dropped in.  Fry on one side for about 3 minutes until brown, then flip.

Remove and drain fritters and mix up whatever sauce you like.  You could do plain ketchup, tartar sauce, or even a honey butter.  I mixed together equal parts Duke’s mayonnaise, ketchup, and Mumbo Sauce, then added a hefty squeeze of lemon.

Last step: FEAST! (with bourbon, of course)

Recipes

Grilled Bluefish
Recipe is for 1 fish.  Scale up to make 1 fish per person

1 whole bluefish or other similar snapper
2 thin slices lemon
1 clove garlic
2 sprigs parsley (or other aromatic of your choice)
1 green onion, cut into pieces
Salt and pepper to taste

Rub outer skin and cleaned belly with salt and pepper.  Insert all other ingredients into the belly.  Heat grill to high heat and clean and oil the grill to prepare.  Lay on each fish and leave for 5 minutes.  At 5 minutes, check to see if fish is stuck to the grill.  If not, flip to other side and continue to cook for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from grill, top with a pat of butter and a squeeze of lemon to serve.

Corn Fritters
Makes 4 servings (about 16 small fritters)

4 ears of corn, shucked, cooked, and kernels shaved off
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup seafood breading mix (can be replaced with more corn meal and flour if unavailable)
3 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon Old Bay
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
Skim milk as needed to thin batter

Canola or vegetable oil for frying

Combine corn and dry ingredients.  Add eggs and milk as needed.  You want the batter to just barely stick into balls without being too thick.  Drop tablespoon-fulls of fritter batter into hot oil and brown each side for about 3 minutes.  Drain on paper towel and serve with dipping sauce of your choice.

Roasted Chicken and Potato Wedges

Early in the week seems timely for a big dinner recipe.  Other than the results being DELICIOUS, my favorite part about this recipe is that I could transform its leftovers 3 or 4 different ways before they were gone.  Those leftovers recipes will follow this week!

You will need a roasting pan or other broiler pan for this recipe.  I suppose a sheet pan would work but be careful because this stuff is heavy.

I should also mention that this recipe is adapted from Mike Isabella’s “Crazy Good Italian: Big Flavors, Small Plates“.  You can also find the full recipe here on food.com.

Okay, start with the potatoes.  Peel ’em and wedge ’em.

I chose to break down a whole chicken (by myself!) so I started with this…

Then I made up the paste as directed in the recipe.  I didn’t have a lemon so I just used lime zest.  Worked just fine!  This part was messy but I wouldn’t recommend any other method than just using your hands.  Plus it was pretty fun.

Here’s all the pieces arranged in their pre-roast snuggle.

Not sure whether my chicken was bigger than the recipe or I stuffed too many wedges in, but my chicken took almost double the time as indicated in the recipe.  Just be patient and wait until the skin is golden and your thermometer in a thigh reads 165 degrees or more.  This is the definition of GBD right here!

I tossed the potatoes to flip them and put them back on to broil while the chicken rested for about 5 minutes before serving.  I like my wedges crispy though.

Not cute photos for this one but what this recipe lacks in aesthetics, it makes up in flavor and style.

Now eat it while it’s hot!

Confetti Cookies

Need some sweet stuff?  Full disclosure: this is not even close to my own recipe.  I have been pretty much exclusively baking out of Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar Cookbook since I got it for Christmas and I’ve been working on getting these to taste just like hers before I posted them.

They are deliciously more natural tasting than box mix, but maintain that true funfetti flavor.  The secret is clear vanilla extract and the cookie crumbs you bake up and mix into the batter.  If you make them for anyone’s birthday they will love you forever.

You can find the recipe here on Serious Eats.

A couple notes about the recipe:

1. Don’t take the beat for 7-8 minutes instructions lightly.  It makes all the difference in the texture of the cookies later.  You want light and fluffy?  Beat it!

2. I divert from the recipe on cookie size.  I make them smaller (golf ball size) so that they chill and bake faster.  I don’t have patience when it comes to warm cookies.  Give ’em to me now!

3. Freeze the the batter balls.  If you don’t your cookies will become burned puddles of caramel mush.  The dough looks like ice cream when it’s ready so stave off your cookie craving by sneaking a couple bites of raw dough.

4. Along those lines, I’ve developed a trick for getting all those frozen dough balls in the freezer and cycling into the oven without using a thousand baking sheets and a whole roll of parchment paper.  I line all the dough up on one cookie sheet so that it will fit into the freezer.  Then I stick them all in a gallon freezer bag and make as many as I want at a time.

Have fun with this one and I promise it will be worth all the effort!

Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

It’s summer, y’all!  That means backyard BBQs, cookouts, fiestas, pool parties and everything in between.  Whether you’re hosting or need a crowd pleaser for a pot luck, this side dish is the JAM.  Summer is all about fresh vegetables, so where better to begin that with seasonal favorites corn and tomatoes?

I’m also trying a new blog format to make it easier for you to follow along if you’d like to use the recipes.  As you’ll see below, I’ll guide you through the steps, provide a little banter to get you through any hard parts, and insert a recipe card at the bottom.  This card can be saved just like any image for your later use!

Method

Begin with fresh corn.  I bought in-husk *gasp* real corn from the grocery.  It’s cheap in the summer, yo!  Hot tip I learned from youtube — cut the bottom off the corn, stick it in the microwave for 4 minutes (no less, trust me), then shake it!  The corn comes out of the husk flawlessly.  Don’t burn yourself doing it either!  Check out the method in detail here…

Anyway, start with your freshly shucked corn and saw off all the little kernels.  Prep your tomatoes by slicing them in half and giving them a quick toss in balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Then toss those on a sheet pan and prepare to roast.

 

Add diced bell pepper to your corn.  This adds a little flavor and a little spice.  Add olive oil and season, then toss the corn onto the roasting pan.  Here’s the corn before it went on its oven journey.

 

 
POST-ROAST!

 
Now toss all this back in a bowl, add cilantro, and serve!  Though this was intended to be a cold dish (which was great), I made it so close to picnic time that by the time I arrived it was still warm.  It is up to you whether or not to refrigerate before serving.  I would also recommend at least doubling my measly recipe as it made far less than I intended.  Now get-ta-roastin’!

141st Kentucky Derby Party

As other folks who live away from Kentucky know, there is no other time that makes you wish you were home like Derby weekend.  Especially now that social media updates you every second about how much fun your friends at home are having, it is hard to muster all your home state patriotism without a little help.  Last year, Derby snuck up on me so I grilled and slung together a few mint juleps with friends.  This year, I vowed to do this thing right and keep the homesickness at bay.

Formulating a menu was difficult.  I’d already made KY classics like mini hot browns, chicken and waffles, and beer cheese for our KY themed housewarming party, so I (gladly) had to dig a little deeper on this one.  I ended up heavily referencing Edward Lee’s Smoke & Pickles because of its home town status and exciting new recipes.  I landed on the following items to serve:

Pulled Pork with Black BBQ Sauce

with homemade Butter Buns (or Camelot buns as Louisvillians know them)

WTF Potato Salad

Pimiento Cheese

Yellow Cake with Caramel Frosting

Not Derby Pie Bars

All of these items used borrowed and tweaked recipes and ended up being serious crowd pleasers.  Read on for more on how I adjusted each recipe to be party-ready on time and to fit the budget.  In the meantime, check out my sweet friends who joined in the party!  For some, it was their first Derby!

Pulled Pork with Black BBQ Sauce

This recipe is pulled straight from Smoke & Pickles.  I’ve been itching to try this since I got the book this summer, but the LONG ingredient list intimidated me.  Here’s the recipe for reference.  I’ve slowly worked up to having most of these ingredients around and just had to buy black bean paste, raisins, and the pork shoulder.

I made the sauce first, which I later realized didn’t matter.

Isn’t that beautiful?!  It tastes SOOO good and I promise it is worth all the fuss of ingredients.  After searing off the shoulder, we let it braise in the oven all day.

This is how it turned out.  Fall apart goodness right here.  It isn’t glamorous but it tasted amazing.

Butter Buns or Camelot Buns

I can always remember having these buns around at Mawmaw’s family gatherings.  Of course they came to mind when putting together this meal.  After a little research I found some history about them and tried my hand at making them from scratch.  You can find the recipe here.

They tasted just like I remembered.

WTF Potato Salad

This is another from Edward Lee.  You can find the recipe here.  We also ate it so fast I didn’t get any pictures.  It was truly next level as far as potato salads go.  I made a few tweaks by leaving out the mushrooms, snap peas, and ham but I didn’t miss them!

Pimiento Cheese

Again, I was in too big of a hurry to snap any photos but this stuff was so easy and delicious.  Here’s the recipe I used.  This recipe added some kick and spice to the way I have made it in the past according to dad’s recipe.  Trust me on this: the Duke’s Mayo is totally worth it.  It really made all the difference.

Yellow Cake with Caramel Frosting

Since I was thinking about Mawmaw so much yesterday, I decided to try my hand at making her favorite cake.  Let’s just say I’ll be tweaking this recipe a lot before it tastes like hers.  Mine was pretty good but it wasn’t pretty.  Not bad for a first shot though!  Here’s the recipe I used but check back to the blog later because now I’m determined to get it just right.

Not Derby Pie Bars

I borrowed this recipe from another food idol, the Smitten Kitchen blog.  I pretty much followed right along, but doubled everything for my 9×13 pan.  Again, they were almost gone before I got a good photo.

I mean, isn’t it more important to fully enjoy the moment than worrying about the blog pictures?  I say yes.  To my friends who joined us yesterday, I can’t thank you enough for being my new family and celebrating this tradition with me.  I had a blast yesterday and can’t wait to eat, drink, and laugh again with you soon.

P.S. The drink table with pre-mixed Lilies and Juleps was a total hit!  Everybody likes self-serve drinks.

Georgia Cupcakes

I’ve been making these little babies so long I can’t remember where the recipe really originated.  Call it Georgia cake like Homemade Pie and Ice Cream Kitchen does, call it Hawaiian Wedding Cake without the coconut, call it whatever you like.  The name doesn’t matter because each time these show up at a birthday, potluck, or cookout they are an instant hit.  They are warm weather in a wrapper.

Method

Start with *GASP* a box of yellow cake mix.  Please understand I am giving away a family secret with what I am about to say next.  If I disappear, check with the bakers in my family.  Here it is: to make any boxed cake mix 100 x better, add an appropriately flavored box of instant pudding mix and an extra egg.  For this cake, I use yellow cake and vanilla pudding mixes.  Like magic!  Oh and preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set your whipped topping out to thaw if frozen.

This recipe is so easy, I don’t even get out the stand mixer.  After the batter is mixed add a drained, small can of mandarin oranges.  You don’t have to be gentle.  Just mix ’em in and break ’em up a little so you get some orange in each little cake.

I use a couple family tricks to get the batter into the cupcake wrappers as efficiently as possible.  First, I line the biggest cup in the pantry with a gallon plastic bag and fold the edges down.  Then use a ladle and/or spatula to empty the batter bowl into the bag.  Press out the air, zip it up, and snip a SMALL hole in the corner of the bag.

As you can see, this is still somewhat messy business but it beats portioning batter with a spoon.  Now pop the tray into the oven.  My mini cupcakes took 9 minutes per batch, but take them out of the oven when a toothpick inserted into the biggest ones comes out clean.

Here they are all puffed to perfection.  While you let them cool, start on the frosting.  While you can get by with a smaller tub of whipped topping, I always get the big one so the proportions are right and I can dip strawberries in the leftovers… or eat it with a spoon.  Anyway, here goes.

We’re going back to our magic ingredient here- vanilla pudding mix.  Put a whole box in.  Then add a drained can of crushed pineapple.  The technique here is crucial.  Don’t stir, FOLD.  After you ruin your first batch of frosting with your impatience and crazy stirring, you’ll know.  Now fold in the pudding mix and pineapple with a bunch of letter J shaped moves with the spatula.

Now there’s no cute way to frost the cupcakes with this stuff.  What it lacks in presentation it makes up tenfold in flavor.  Ta da, they’re finished!

Recipe

Cupcakes
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box vanilla pudding
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
Eggs, water, oil as needed according to box

Frosting
Large tub whipped frosting
1 box vanilla pudding
1 can crushed pineapple, drained

Boston Cream Donut Holes

I didn’t learn to cook from my mom but that doesn’t mean she didn’t cook!  As many of my childhood friends can tell you, she definitely has a signature dish.  Donut holes.  Every sleepover morning she got out the canned biscuits and fry daddy while my friends and I bellied up to the counter to help roll and drop little biscuit balls into the fryer.  Then she’d give us each individual bowls of powdered sugar to roll the donuts in before inhaling them by the pound.  That’s not to be confused with inhaling the powdered sugar on accident, which friends who were amateur donut hole-ers found was a painful mistake.

My mom’s favorite dessert is Boston Cream Pie and she admits that donuts are her biggest weakness (I wonder where I get that?).  What better way to make a mom-inspired recipe than to combine the two classics?  Here’s my take on a Boston Cream Donut Hole mashup.

Method

Start with the filling.  Though I could make homemade pastry cream, I was hungry so we went the quick route.  I whipped up a packet of sugar free vanilla instant pudding and let it set up as I made the donuts.

To get the donuts started, heat vegetable oil in a deep pan.  Open the can of biscuits and cut each in half.  Roll each half into a little dough ball.  Once the oil is hot (toss droplets of water in to test- if they sizzle, you’re all set), begin to drop about 5 biscuits at a time into the oil.  Keep and eye on them and make sure they brown on both sides if they don’t flip themselves.

Once they are golden brown, take them out with a slotted spoon or metal spatula and place into a paper towel lined bowl and cool.

Prepare the filling by putting the pudding into a pastry or ziploc with a Wilton frosting tip.  I used the #3 because it was good at puncturing the donuts.  To fill the donuts, you really have to fight for some real estate in there.  Dip, wiggle, and squeeze.

For the chocolate glaze, place butter, corn syrup, chocolate chips, and water into a bowl.  Microwave for 15 seconds at a time and stir.  When it all comes together in a glaze, it is ready to top some little donuts.

Dip donut holes into the chocolate halfway and let the frosting set on a drying rack.

Aren’t they cute?  Let me tell ya, they’re even more delicious.  Because they’re one bite, there’s no mess like with a regular sized Boston Cream Donut.  Best of both worlds.

Recipe

Makes 40 donut holes

Filling
1 packet sugar free instant vanilla pudding
2 cups cold skim milk

Donuts
2 cans plan biscuit

Glaze
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon water

Bacon Jalapeño Skillet Cornbread

We woke up this morning to dreary rain outside which was a perfect excuse to make an indulgent brunch.  It was Shane’s idea to go with cornbread so I have to give him credit for sure.  On top of that, I finished the first (very rough) draft of my capstone so I didn’t feel toooo guilty for making and eating this delicious skillet of awesome.  Treat yo self!  …and then go to the gym later.  Enough talkin’, more cookin’.

Method

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Now take your bacon.  Fry it.  Preferably in a cast iron skillet.  Savor the simmer and the scent.

While that is sizzling, mix up your cornbread.  Now, I KNOW cornbread recipes are hotly (pun intended) debated.  Sweet or savory?  Buttermilk or nah?  The subtopics go on and on.  I can’t get past the magic of Jiffy boxed cornbread.  This stuff is sinfully easy to make and equally as delicious.  Plus, you can still make it your own.  I buy these boxes by the 6 pack and just keep it around because it goes great with lots of meals.  If I could buy it at Costco I would.

Just add the egg and 1/3 cup of milk the back of the box calls for and stir.  You can add what you like, but I crumbled some of the bacon and chopped some pickled jalapeños for a little flair and mixed them in.

Be sure not to toss all of your bacon grease because it helps with most exciting part of this cornbread.  Leave enough to coat the bottom so when you pour the cornbread mix into the pan it helps it not stick adds the a crispy outer layer infused with bacon flavor which makes this cornbread special.

See the outer layer sizzling and caramelizing already?

Now toss it in the oven.  Ok don’t toss it because cast iron skillets are heavy.  Just carefully place it and distract yourself for 10 minutes while it bakes.  At this point I started some eggs to go with it for brunch.

After 12 minutes, or until the cornbread is no longer jiggly and doesn’t sink when tapped in the middle, take it out of the oven.

Slice and serve how you wish.  One option is to slide a hot pad underneath and go at it with a fork.  This would go really well in the center of a brunch table as a shareable dish.

I plated it up for you to see in all its glory.

Recipe

Cornbread 
Serves 4-8 depending on how hungry you are!

1 box Jiffy Mix
1 egg
1/3 cup skim milk
3 slices crispy cooked and crumbled low sodium bacon
1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeños

Grilled Lamb Sliders

It’s here, it’s here, it’s HERE!  Grill season has officially begun.  A week ago today we were preparing for snowpocalypse and tonight we ate on the rooftop… and I wore a tank top.  On top of that, these lamb sliders were perfect for breaking in the grill.  The pressure was on to choose wisely, but nothing felt more right than burgers.  These lamb sliders hit the freakin’ spot.  Plus, they were fairly quick and easy with about 30 minutes prep and cook time.

Method

I started by sending Shane up to the roof with 2 beers, a book, the bag of charcoal, and a lighter to get the grill hot.  In the meantime, I combined the ground lamb with greek seasoning and shaped the little burgers.  The pound of lamb made 6 perfect 2″ round patties.  Then I sliced the zucchini down the middle, sprinkled with EVOO, salt, and pepper.  Before I ran the grill items up to the roof, I started the tomato jam.  Just dump all the ingredients in a pan and simmer on medium low.

I threw the garlic aioli in the ninja to blend, then quickly got the rest of the burger supplies together to head to the roof for assembly and the best part- dinner!  The tomato jam is finished when the liquid is almost completely reduced.  This took less than 10 minutes for me.  I teetered up 3 flights with a tray full of goodies and found this.

Perfection!  Shane grilled the Hawaiian rolls at the last minute before we put everything together.  Before taking the zucchini off the grill, shave a little parmesan on top and let it melt.

Here’s the final spread.

And the final product.  I can’t put in words how yummy these were.  As Shane put it, these were “bougie burgers.”  I think that’s a good thing?  He didn’t say much else, but just kept eating and doing his good food neck dance.

We finished dinner to this view.  It doesn’t get much better.  Welcome, spring.  Thanks for showing up.

Recipe
Serves 2

Burgers

1 lb ground lamb
2 tbsp Cavender’s Greek Seasoning
salt and pepper
King’s Hawaiian Rolls

Tomato Jam

1 can fire roasted spicy pepper diced tomatoes
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Garlic Aioli

3 cloves garlic
4 tbsp light canola mayonnaise
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Additional Toppings
arugula
shaved or crumbled feta cheese

Zucchini

3 zucchini
1 tsp EVOO
salt and pepper
parmesan

Carrie’s Old Fashioned Oat Coffeecake

I woke up this morning to the wonderful news that today is the one and only Carrie Nath’s birthday.  Just last night I was thinking how long it has been since I made her coffeecake recipe and how very much I’d like to bake and eat it.  Then POOF!  Like magic I had a great reason to do just that.  This one is for you, Carrie!

This recipe she copied and gave me is more cherished than she knows.  It has survived my many moves since she gave it to me and hasn’t lost its sacred spot on the refrigerator.  It was exactly where I left it, somewhat buried under the GSA shrine I didn’t know I had formed with magnets.

I’ve made this 5 or so times in the last 3 years and still can’t get it to taste as good as hers.  Today was my best attempt yet and it was DELICIOUS.  Just not the same as I remember Carrie’s version.  Here is the charming little recipe sheet in all its messy glory.

I love this recipe because it is so quick and easy to whip together in the morning and calls for basic ingredients that I keep all the time.  Though the original recipe isn’t terrible for you, I did health it up a bit without detriment to the taste at all.  Here’s how I spun it.

Method

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another and streusel in yet another.  It will look like this!

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and prepare (grease) your pan.  For some reason I always bake this recipe in my heart pan.

The original recipe calls for layering the batter and streusel, but I never have enough patience to do that.  Plus, I like the extra gooey topping.  Here’s what it looks like ready to go into the oven at 350 degrees.  And yes, I added some more spots to my recipe sheet today on accident.  Oops!

I baked mine for 27 minutes, but checked at 20 and 25.  When a toothpick comes out clean, it is ready.

Isn’t that a thing of beauty?  You can let it cool before you cut it, but I don’t recommend it.  Warm coffeecake trumps cold coffeecake any day.  Plus the first piece out of the pan will never be pretty anyway.  Dive in!

Let’s just say I would vote the Nath | Coffeecake ticket for president any day of the week.  So by this point does everyone know what they’re making for breakfast this weekend?  Or, heck, for a snack now?!

Recipe

Dry ingredients

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3 tablespoons Stevia (you can stick with regular sugar if you’d like)
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
3/4 cup greek yogurt (I used Dannon Vanilla Greek Yogurt to add a little protein)
3/4 cup orange juice

Streusel

3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp Stevia (or other sugar)
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup butter or margarine (in this case, butter makes a difference so I kept it)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Some liberties I’ve taken with this recipe before are adding chopped nuts to the streusel or peeled, chopped apples to the batter.  Both are great choices.  Make it your own!