Simple Baked Fish

Ingredients
◦ 1 -1 1/2 lb tilapia fillet ( or cod, haddock, or any other mild fish)
◦ 4 tablespoons butter, melted
◦ 2 teaspoons lemon juice (I use lime juice)
◦ 1 -2 garlic clove, minced
◦ 1 teaspoon sugar
◦ 1/2 teaspoon pepper
◦ 1/2 teaspoon thyme
◦ 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
◦ 1/3 cup breadcrumbs ( I use the Italian style bread crumbs)  
Directions
1 Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease or spray a 13" x 9" (or larger) baking dish.
2 Rinse fish filets and pat dry. Set them in a single layer in the prepared baking dish.
3 In a small bowl, combine melted butter, lemon juice, garlic, sugar, pepper, thyme and parsley. Stir well. Pour evenly over fish filets.
4 Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.
5 Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes or until filets are opaque and flakey. (internal temperature reaches 145 degree F)

Our friend brought over some fresh caught fish this morning.  I decided to look for a different simple recipe to cook the fish and I found this recipe on the food.com website.  I didn't have any parsley or thyme on hand, yet it still tasted delicious.  

Tuna Cottage Cheese Casserole

Click on above picture to read recipe or read below

1 can tuna
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 lb. cottage cheese
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
3/4 t. celery salt
1/2 t.  worcesteshire sauce
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 T. butter

Mix tuna, oil from can, cottage cheese, seasonings, and 1/4 cup bread crumbs into beaten eggs.  Turn into oiled 1 quart casserole and top with remaining crumbs, buttered.  Set in pan of hot water and bake in 375 degree oven about 35 minutes or until mxture is set. 

Yesterday as I was leaving Costco after my shopping trip, I ran into Larry and Corinne Steimle.  As we were visiting, the topic of my recipe blog came up.  Larry told me about one of his favorite  recipies.  It sounded like a very interesting recipe....Tuna and Cottage Cheese Casserole?!?    I said if he'd send it, I'd post it on my blog. 

Unfried Chicken (or Fish)

1 cup bread crumbs

1 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-3 Tbs vegetable oil
2 1/2 - 3 1/2 lbs chicken pieces, or one medium chicken cut up

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a plastic or paper bag combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano, salt, and pepper. Hold the top of the bag shut and shake to mix everything together.

Pour the vegetable oil into a small bowl and, using a pastry brush (or clean paintbrush), brush the chicken pieces with the oil. Put 2 or 3 pieces of chicken at a time into the bag, and shake them until they are well coated with crumbs. Take them out of the bag and put the pieces on a rack that has been placed on a baking sheet. (The rack allows the fat to drain away from the chicken.)

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, turn the pieces over and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. You can be sure the chicken is done if the juice runs clear (not pink ) when you poke a for into it.

Makes 3 or 4 servings

Fish option: Use 1 lb fish fillets instead of chicken pieces in the above recipe. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes until the fish flakes when you try to pry it apart with a fork.

This recipe is from the cookbook “Clueless in the Kitchen” by Evelyn Raab. That is why the directions are in such detail. Scott’s mother gave this cookbook to the girls as they left for college. It is a great cookbook to give as a gift to someone who is leaving home and cooking on their own for the first time.

Rachel made this recipe the other day for dinner. She served it with rice cooked in chicken broth, and garden fresh tomatoes. Yum! She made it out of chicken tenders that we had on hand in the freezer. Before she coated the chicken with the breadcrumb mixture she defrosted them in the microwave by placing them in a microwave on a plate on high for one minute. Then she ran the pieces under cold water to finish the defrosting process. She also used Italian style seasoned bread crumbs that we had on hand in our 3 month food storage.

Tuna Tomato Pasta

3 cloves garlic, chopped small
2 TBS oil
1-2 cans stewed tomatoes
1 can tuna, drained
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

In a large skillet, saute the garlic in the oil for a couple minutes, until softened. Dump in the tomatoes, juice and all, and mash them up with a fork or potato masher. Add the tuna and seasonings. Stir. Bring to a boil, them lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Toss with hot cooked pasta and sprinkle with lots of grated Parmesan cheese.

Makes enough sauce for 4 servings of pasta.

It sounds really weird to have tuna in a pasta sauce, but it really is pretty good. You can hardly even tell that it's tuna. This is a good recipe for when you need a fast meal (you don't have to spend time browning hamburger) or for when you are feeling poor and can't afford hamburger. Like most of my recipes, this was discovered and loved in college. From the cookbook Clueless in the Kitchen.