Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Ginger-crusted Halibut

May 24, 2021 by Mary 4 Comments

I adore halibut. And I love ginger. So I made up this dish of Ginger-crusted Halibut, not sure how it would really work and it was amazing!

You must have super fresh ginger. Slice a big three-inch knob lengthwise on a mandoline. Then wrap that ginger around, covering both sides of your filet, pan sauté in grapeseed oil and butter and voila! Total deliciousness.

You see, I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to cut through the ginger and just desecrate the beautiful fish while eating it but no, as long as your ginger is super fresh, creamy yellow in color, sliced very thin, this worked. And it was not overly spicy, which was another concern. It was just right with the butter mingling in.

Ginger-crusted halibut cut with arugula and tomato salad. — So very moist and flakey.

Halibut, although expensive, is such a delectable fish. Creamy white, solid but flakey tender – big flakes.

Make sure not to overcook it – 118 degrees F on the internal temperature is perfect.

Quick and easy is this recipe of Ginger-crusted Halibut. I really wouldn’t call it a recipe so much as it is an idea – that I think you will LOVE.

Ginger-crusted halibut with rice and salad. — A super easy lovely dinner!

I served this with steamed Jasmine rice and a little tomato and arugula salad. Total yumminess.

Make and serve with LOVE.

I’m sure you’ll make this again and again.

GINGER-CRUSTED HALIBUT – serves 2

One 3” long knob of super fresh ginger
1 lb.piece of Halibut fillet
1 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1 Tbs. butter
Extra virgin olive oil – a few drops
Salt
Pepper

Peel the ginger and thinly slice it lengthwise on a hand mandoline.

Wash and pat dry your fish fillet. Put a few drops of olive oil on and rub it all over. Follow this with salt and pepper and then wrap the ginger crosswise around the fillet. Do this on both sides of the fillet, carefully wrapping the ginger and patting it down so it sticks.

Heat grapeseed oil and butter in a cast iron or non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Carefully place the ginger-wrapped fish fillet in. Saute for about 4 minutes. Carefully loosen it on the bottom, gathering all the ginger and flip it over, being careful not to splatter yourself.

Saute on the other side for about another 4 minutes. Test with a thermometer – it should register about 118 F degrees.

Carefully remove, cut in half, serve and enjoy!!

I know you’ll LOVE this!

Ginger-crusted halibut sautéing in a black cast iron skillet. — Be sure to flip over ever so carefully.

Grilled Flounder with Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney, Rosemary and Sage

September 3, 2020 by Mary 9 Comments

How many of you adore eating fish but are longing for ways that are quick and easy and would love to add a new zing to just a regular old piece of grilled fish with EVOO, salt and pepper? And how many of you have a refrigerator full of various condiments that take up too much room? I know. So this simple recipe of Grilled Flounder with Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney, Rosemary and Sage delivers on taste and ease all in one!

You don’t necessarily have to go out and buy The English Provender Co. Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney. Although this is very tasty with a savory sweet hot vibe, I say you should try to use up something you already have that has the same vibe. Wouldn’t that be even better?

Of course you could also dress up a piece of fish with my versatile Green Sauce, but that takes more work than I was willing to do last night. ( I can be so lazy…)

Think of flavors you LOVE…

Since it is only me eating now, I am trying all kinds of flavor combinations and I have been fascinated by mixing up sweet summer fruits with meats and fish. I mean, why not? I want to eat something new, surprising and different. After all, being totally alone in this Covid time, cooking and eating (and drinking wine) are the highlights of my day, so I love experimenting.

And I have made a commitment to myself to clean out the fridge of all of these jars! You see, my kids stayed in my apartment in the city for nearly seven weeks and cleaned out that fridge of outdated things and used the others, so now I want to do that here, upstate.

I have tons of jam that I never use on toast. I want to attack those – maybe on grilled pork chops soon…

Get creative!

I hope this post will spur some creativity on your part. Go ahead and try an unusual combination. Have fun! Experiment and enjoy. But remember to always make it with LOVE.

GRILLED FLOUNDER WITH SWEET TOMATO AND CHILI CHUTNEY, ROSEMARY AND SAGE – serves 2

1 lb. fillet of flounder
Extra virgin olive oil
½ TBS. The English Provender Co. Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped
1 sprig of fresh sage
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your grill or oven to 425 F degrees. Use a grilling vegetable pan for the grill.

Thoroughly wash and pat dry the fish. Coat both sides with a thin film of olive oil. Salt and pepper on one side only. Then spread on the Sweet Tomato and Chili Chutney. Top with chopped rosemary and lay the sage sprig on top.

Spray the grill pan with high heat grilling spray or if using the oven, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Grill or roast for about 5 minutes.

Use 2 spatulas to remove the fish to a platter. Cut in half and serve.

Enjoy!

My dinner – with 1/2 sweet potato and fresh cut arugula and tomatoes from my garden!

Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava & Hell Fire Jellies

October 13, 2015 by Mary Frances 14 Comments

When actress Hillary Danner had an overabundance of peppers in her organic garden in LA, what did she do? Make jellies silly!! Made in small batches, with no preservatives, artificial flavorings or colorings, these Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava and Hell Fires Jellies are sweet, hot and delicious!! Hillary teamed with longtime friend Maria Newman and concocted these spicy gems.

Loved by many famous chefs, Mario Batali described it perfectly when he said, “… it dances right on the edge of spicy and sweet in a delicious tango of provocation and pleasure.”

He likes them with cheeses and warm bread. I used both of them as a glaze on roasted fish to make a super special, easy and quick weeknight dinner. This will taste more time consuming than it is as both jellies add a ton of flavor in a jiffy!!

As I write this post, I am flying home on a plane from Florida and this quote from Mario made me laugh! “One warning…. it is highly addictive and I would like to suggest 3 ounce packages so that we may improve the airline meals we suffer as we flit about “

Take a look at this video of me turning this gorgeous piece of salmon into pure deliciousness with the Guava Brava.

JENKINS JELLIES GAUVA BRAVA ROASTED SALMON – serves 3 – 4

1 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1.5 lbs center cut salmon fillet
French Grey or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1.5 Tbs. Jenkins Jellies Guava Brava

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and dry the salmon and season with salt and pepper. Spread the mustard on top. Spread the Guava Brava on top of the mustard.

Heat oil in skillet until nearly smoking. Sear salmon in skillet skin side down for 3 minutes.

Place skillet in oven for fish to roast for 8 -10 minutes.

Carefully remove fish from the skillet – use a hot pad on the handle – (too many times I have grabbed that) – and remove the fish, cut into serving pieces, serve with LOVE and enjoy!!

I served this with some blanched sugar snap peas tossed with some toasted pecans, orange pepper, one chopped tomatillo and a champagne vinaigrette.

This next recipe used the Hell Fire jelly. Again, this was easy peasy and so totally delicious. I made this with Basa and Tilapia, and really, I imagine any fish will work, so you get to choose.

Combining the jelly with butter was a splendid way to make a glaze which then got me thinking that this glaze would also work on butternut or acorn squash for a kick!

And then with the holidays coming, I see cheddar cheese coins with a dab of either jelly in my future. It would be amazing!

Experiment, have fun and have a party – invite your friends over and share the goodness!!

JENKINS JELLIES HOT BASA – NOVA! – serves 3

3 fillets of Basa
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1.5 Tbs. Jenkins Jellies Hell Fire jelly
French Grey or Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Olive oil to slick the pan
Fresh lemon wedges

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Wash and dry your fish fillets.

Oil slick a small rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the baking sheet with some salt and pepper. This will season the underside of the fish – clever eh? Place the fish on the pan.

Melt the butter in a butter-warming saucepan. Add the jelly and use a small whisk to combine.

Brush this glaze on the fish fillets being sure to spread out the wonderful bits of pepper.

Sprinkle the top of the fish with a little crushed French Grey salt.

Roast for approximately 12 minutes until done.

Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon. You will LOVE this!!