Tilapia

We had dinner at the architect’s house the other night and she made pan fried tilapia with sautéed fennel and wild rice. As usual, it was delicious…she coated the tilapia with a bit of flour and cornmeal then lightly pan fried it in a bit of olive oil and butter. Tilapia cooks up quickly and is not too fishy so it’s a great way to serve fish to those finicky family members or guests who claim not to like fish! *** BoNuS *** tilapia is a lower-fat fish than some oilier companions but still provides high levels of protein and heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). This is a familiar trio of letters to those of us you who take a fish oil tablet every day to control cholesterol!

Tilapia is a fresh water fish -- shallow streams, ponds, rivers, lakes – and China and Egypt are the largest producers in the world although most of the fresh tilapia fillets consumed in the US are imported fresh daily from South America.

Some of you are probably thinking...gosh, that girl is smart (humor me)… she sure knows about a lot of stuff. And while I certainly do know a lot about some stuff, I am very grateful to Wikipedia, my cookbooks, and knitting books for providing the information to make these posts (loosely) informative and accurate. I try to learn something new each time I write a post so maybe I can FINALLY Go To The Head Of The Class.

Remember that game? We used to sit on our concrete landing and play for hours. When Trivial Pursuit was first introduced I remember thinking it’s just a fancy-schmancy version of the beloved game kids have been playing since 1936! The game offered junior, intermediate and senior level questions in subjects such as science, math, history, literature and geography so that kids of all ages could play against one another. Below is a sample game card…do you know the answers? If so, post a comment!

Don't you just love memories!

Back to tilapia.

There are many ways to prepare tilapia and since Architect pan fried hers, I offer a baked recipe that I found on all recipes.com.

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Rinse tilapia fillets under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels. Place fillets in baking dish. Pour lemon juice over fillets, then drizzle butter on top. Sprinkle with garlic, parsley, and pepper. Bake in preheated oven until the fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with a fork, about 30 minutes.

No dessert this week but we had a delicious field green and grapefruit salad in the lovely traveling salad bowl.

Ice Cream Thyme

Speaking of comfort food, let’s talk ice cream. I’m sure we all remember hearing the familiar music-box-type-tune of the ice cream truck as it traveled through our neighborhoods.
On queue, we immediately stopped what we were doing (probably playing Mystery Date…I thought the dud was kind of cute) ran in the house to ask for money and, after a brief “you’ll spoil your dinner (yeah, in five hours!)” protestation from a parent, and watching through the window during the entire negotiation to make sure the truck didn’t leave, we finally happily snatched the money, probably 25¢, said thank you (to ensure future monetary assistance), and ran out to purchase a coveted treat – mine was always an ice cream sandwich. Now that we’re all grown up (well, sort of), our ice cream preferences are a bit more refined than Jack & Jill, Mr. Softee, or Good Humor.

Maybe.

A few years ago (ok, 6 or 7 years ago), I received an ice cream machine for Christmas and, I am embarrassed to say, that it has never been out of the box….until now! The “Scoop It Up” from Cuisinart is a handy-dandy “simple to operate…fully automatic…easy and mess free” device that streamlines the ice cream making process and promises “pure indulgence in as little as 20 minutes" (I could say something, but I won’t). A recipe book was included and I decided to make a plain-Jane vanilla, BUT, not wanting to be conventional, I decided to add stuff, not predictable stuff like chocolate chips or nuts, but unexpected stuff, like an herb, specifically, thyme.

Don’t say “yuck.”

Yesterday morning, I put the mixing bowl in the freezer to ensure that it “was completely frozen before beginning” my little experiment. Ingredients for Vanilla Ice Cream: 1 cup whole milk, ¾ cup of granulated sugar, 2 cups of heavy cream, well chilled, 1-2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. 2-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme (from my garden) will do nicely (very hopeful that the ice cream doesn’t taste like a pork tenderloin). I took the well-chilled mixing bowl out of the freezer, I followed the other instructions precisely – remember the checkerboard cake fiasco – and turned the machine on.

8:20 a.m. …wait 25-35 minutes.

8:45 a.m. … it’s churning . While I waited I cleaned the kitchen; I am a good, but messy cook.

8:55 a.m. …. Needs a little more churning time but almost done. I felt like an expectant father.

9:04 a.m. ...this is best damn ice cream I ever tasted. The savory thyme blends so nicely with the sugar and cream.