I haven't been cooking much at home because I've been in Charleston visiting my Dad in the hospital where he had a triple bypass.

But, last weekend, at the restaurant, I made several really nice dinner specials, including this one: Mahi-Mahi baked with green chutney.

It is a simple recipe with very complex flavors, thanks to the many fresh ingredients in the chutney.

I baked the fish fillets over a bed of rice pillau, though one could use either plain cooked basmati or basmati cooked with chicken or vegetable stock instead. Or you could use chicken broth basmati layered with caramelized onions, garlic and chopped cilantro. The rice not only adds a starch component to the dish, but it also soaks up the fish juices and the chutney and keeps the bottom of the fish from getting soggy as it cooks. This also makes for very tasty rice.

The recipe is simple, but turns out looking fantastic.

Photo, recipe and story here.

Shrimp Stir-Fry:



He doesn't like mushrooms and seafood, among other things, so the rare chance that he will muster up the taste buds for seafood, I'm on a mad scramble to cook it before he changes his mind!  Haha.  [The recipe is available here]

Does your significant other, housemate, family, etc. detest/avoid food that you love?  If so, what are they?

Dinner tonight was pretty darn good. I made a french onion soup similar to this one, only I just used a sweet onion and gruyere cheese. I also made balsamic chicken with baby spinach, but I omitted the tomatoes and I didn't make couscous. Instead I made roasted tri-colored potatoes. The balsamic sauce needs a little help - it's not like my favorite at Cap City Diner, but it was pretty ok. If only we'd had some sort of awesome dessert and a better wine than Jacob's Creek - it would have been perfect, but as it stands, it was pretty damn tasty.

Hello all,

I was in a creative mood this week, and zucchinis were on sale at the store, so I made stuffed zucchini this evening for dinner. It was basically made up, with ideas picked up from other recipes here and there, so I can't take all the credit. It was really delicious, and even my veggie-suspicious boyfriend had several. I did have a bit of extra filling, so you might want to cut down the quantity a bit. I also just used the cheeses I had on hand, but any number of other varieties could be good. I was also instructed by above-mentioned boyfriend that more bacon would be good:)



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So I am going to a cabin with some friends, and in our time there one of my good friends is having his birthday.

I want to make him a special birthday breakfast, and I know he loves biscuits and gravy. He has a rating system from 1-10, and the highest he has ever given any establishment is, I believe, an 8. He says 10's don't exist. So, I am a bit intimidated, but I'm gonna do it.

Does anyone have any special tricks to make biscuits and gravy extra awesome? I'm making buttermilk biscuits from scratch, and what looks to be a pretty basic sausage gravy.

Any tricks I can put up my sleeve to get a 9 on my friends rating scale?

Thanks guys! :-)

I'll throw in a pic of something I have been quite enamored with lately: tea eggs! Such a wonderful way to start the day as I fly out the door to work and school. Hardboiled eggs steeped in black tea, star anise, and soy sauce.



x-posted

Questions about using up "Instant Oatmeal" and best recommendations on making a "White Chocolate Amaretto fondue"?

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So I'm participating in a Bake-Off for V-day. Any suggestions for what I should do? Right now the two top ideas are Chthulu cookies with royal icing or Flying Spaghetti Monster Cookies with googly eyes.

Anyone have any tried and true recipes they don't mind sharing? Anything that would turn you off as a customer at a bake sale? I'm going for easy individual wrapping and not too much money invested per cookie, as I'm not getting any of it back (all proceeds go to The Network La Red , a community organization to address partner abuse in the GLBT community, and provide support to abused partners regardless of orientation.

Thanks,

Amanda