Prosciutto Wrapped Tilapia

Picture by: Evan Sung, New York Times

OK, I was tired of my usual go-tos like tacos, fish and rice, tacos, spaghetti, burritos...you get the idea. So, while I was in line at the deli department I decided to buy a few thin slices of prosciutto (all $2 worth!). Then bought a jar of pesto and a bag of frozen tilapia fillets (because I am too cheap to buy fresh stuff...and KS hasn't wowed me with it abundance of fresh fish) and headed home. This recipe took about 22 minutes only because I was waiting about 10 minutes for the frozen tilapia to defrost a little, about 3 minutes to wrap up the fish and place it in the skillet, 2 minutes to cook the wrapped fish in butter, and 7 minutes waiting for it to bake. At the get go, I also started the rice cooker so the rice was done within 20 minutes. While I waited for fish to bake I made a quick tossed salad. Easy!!!

Prosciutto Wrapped Tilapia with Pesto

(inspired by http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/dining/051mrex.html)
Ingredients:
4   4-6oz thick fillets of white-fleshed fish (I used tilapia)
2 or 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto (I used one slice each-- depends on how wide slices are that you are 
     buying...I bought Boar's Head brand from the deli section and its was wide enough to wrap all the way  
     around--second slice not needed)
2 tablespoons butter, or more oil. (butter makes it brown so nicely)
1 jar of pesto (or make your own, but for $5 a jar, you'll save time AND have more for later!)

Cook:
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Season fillets with salt and pepper (I did NOT add salt as the prosciutto and pesto are both pretty salty). Lay two slices (one, in my case) of prosciutto on a board, slightly overlapping like fish scales. Smear prosciutto with a layer of pesto, then lay fish in center and wrap it up.
3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes; add butter. When foam subsides, cook fish for a minute on each side, then roast (in oven...in the same skillet) until tender, 5 to 10 minutes depending on thickness. Fillets are done when a thin-bladed knife will pass through their thickest point with little resistance (tilapia cooks quickly, so 6-10 minutes was enough!). Serve.
Yield: 4 servings.

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies



Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hey, why not?! Armed with the Google and some inspiration (thanks Ann and her cookie bake sale cohorts!), I stumbled across a recipe for these cookies. Sounded delightful. This is somewhat of a repost from http://www.beantownbaker.com/ with some minor changes that I made...and easier options for those of you that just buy cookie mix.

 

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

For the Candied Bacon:6 slices of thick-cut bacon (or do entire package and save 1/2 for another batch!)

1/2 cup brown sugar

For the Cookies:2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bacon in single layeron foil lined sheet. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of bacon. Bake 18-25minutes, or until crispy (I cooked mine until it was consistency of

shoe leather--your choice). Turn bacon after 10 minutes. When cooked, remove from oven. Let cool, then chop it finely.

For the cookies:Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter with the sugars. Add vanilla, egg, and yolk to bowl and beat untillight and creamy. Add flour mixture which is sifted flour and baking

soda (I have no patience for this, so I dumped in all together and mixed well!). Add diced candied bacon (I dredged mine in flour before adding them) and chocolate chips and stir until just combined.

Place Tbsp sized balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet (I got these awesome professional cookie pans from Williams and Sonoma that kick butt and don't need parchment...nothing sticks to them!) and bake 13-15 minutes or until edges are brown. Remove from oven and let sit on pan for a few minutes before placing them on a wire rack.

**Little Red's note: OK, I also wanted to see if this recipe would work with sugar cookie mix--AND YES IT DOES!!!  In fact, I liked it almost better as they were a little sweeter. So, its okay to cheat on this

recipe. Just be sure to dredge diced bacon in flour (so bacon won't stick in a glob) and add 1 egg yolk extra (my Betty Crocker Cookie Mix called for 1 egg...I added 1 egg and an egg yolk). These are even better after they've cooled (refrigerated) the next day!



Color Blocks Inspired by Ellsworth Kelly

Using some ideas I gleaned from http://www.projectnursery.com/ and some imagination and patience, I turned my daughter's room in to a vibrant and fun space to match her personality. I'd never worked with "color blocking" before so I did some research on how to proceed successfully. I came across this other website on "How to make crisp tape lines". So, armed with that knowledge, paint, and some Frog Tape (yes, this had the BEST success at perfect tape lines...its worth the extra $1-2!) off I went to design a wall.

To choose color, I went off some inspiration from a South American pillowcase (see colorful pillow on bed), the bedcover (a dark sage), and the color of the current chest-of-drawers (brighter sage and red). From there, my daughter and I went to Home Depot and just started pulling color samples (she, of course, veered immediately to the Disney brand). After 6 colors (one for background "grid"(pint) and 5 "square" colors (sampler containers, $3ea) were selected, HD just color matched our paint chips and mixed up little sampler containers of each (about $20). Grabbed 5 cheap foam brushes (so I could just toss when done -- $5) and 2 rolls of Frog Tape (about $8).

To mark grid I measured the section of wall to paint (I did entire height of wall, but not entire width) making each square 1 foot and sure to add a 1 inch tape line between each square. Since I only bought 1 pint of grid paint (and didn't want to paint ENTIRE wall), I painted grid lines first. Once dry, I measured out the grid and placed the tape over the grid (light aqua color in pic).  Then painted more grid (aqua) paint over the tape edges. That way, if the paint bleeds under tape edge, it won't show...and now the tape line is sealed! That's the cool trick I learned from http://www.houseofhepworth.com/. This trick works like a champ! Next, just paint each square with color.

Peeling the tape to revel crisp paint lines was incredibly enjoyable. The big mess of colors turns into an amazing "art" piece...might even make Ellsworth Kelly proud (your art is the whole wall AND abstract!).



http://www.houseofhepworth.com/



close-up of my paint edges

Welcome to my picnic!

This is a blog about random things that happen in my life that were inspired by things around my life. Mirriam-Webster defines picnic as "a pleasant or amusingly carefree experience". Sort of a Pinterest meets Facebook meets the paint can.

Horseshoe Plateau, Grand Canyon photo by JM