Pine Nut and Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

Pine Nut and Parmesean Crusted Tilapia Coda Pic 4_5

For the Crust: 

1/4 c. Italian bread crumbs

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1/4 c. ground pine nuts. I used a mortar and pestle

1 tbsp. dried Italian herb mix. Mine had rosemary, marjoram, oregano and sage in it

1 egg

4 Tilapia filets

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Grind the pine nuts with a mortar and pestle till mostly ground. There will be big pieces of pine nuts and it will form somewhat of a paste.

Mix the first 4 ingredients together on a plate

Beat the egg and pour onto a plate

Dredge the the tilapia filets into the egg, then into the dry mixture (read more)

Pork Loin Chops with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

[jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”383″]

This luscious smokey sweet raspberry sauce was a spontaneous invention. Tom and I decided to make dinner an event with video instruction. Lights! Camera! Action! Check out our video and let me know what you think.

Ingredients for the marinade:

Juice and zest of half a lemon

1 tbsp. garlic paste (or finely minced garlic)

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the sauce: (read more)

Kale with Celery, Apple and Carrot

Celery Kale Carrot Apple

With the same bunch of kale I used in the angel hair pasta dish the other night, I was able to make this side dish for our pork chops. With the addition of green apples, it added an unexpected tart sweetness to the dish. The trick is to time when you put the different ingredients into the skillet. Experiment with different combinations of veggies with this. I used what we had on hand, enjoying the crunchiness of this combination.

1 Granny Smith apple, diced

3 carrots, peeled and diced (read more)

Beer Glazed Sausage, Apples, Cabbage and Beans

Beer Glazed Sausage, Apples, Cabbage and Green Beans

With fall in the air and the new October issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine to peruse,  inspiration was struck. The Cooking with Beer feature was just the thing to help use up some of the last cold hearty veggies from the garden, and of course enjoy some of my favorite beer. I did of course take some liberties with the recipe, omitting the crushed red pepper (didn’t have any) and adding more veggies (had a ton of those) . I think the results were both pretty on the plate and lovely for the palate as well. The kids thought I was crazy cooking with beer, but they actually enjoyed this dish quite a bit. (read more)

Caprese Chicken with Herbed Zucchini Bake

Twist on the traditional caprese salad

This chicken dish gets a fresh spin with the use of yellow tomatoes. We used fresh basil leaves and mozzarella cheese to complete the caprese chicken. Caprese is from the Campania region of Italy and is usually served as an antipasto with the addition of the fresh mozzarella. This simple week night dish really impressed the girls.  We accompanied the dish with a baked herbed zucchini side. This dish could easily be made vegetarian with substituting the chicken for portobello mushrooms. Gonna have to try it that way! (read more)