Chilean Sea Bass

We were shopping at Whole Foods and splurged on two filets of Chilean Sea Bass.  Those babies were pricey!  As in $12.99 each!  But looked delicious and so we bought them.  After reading several recipes and watching a chef on YouTube, we decided that pan searing would be the way to prepare the sea bass.

Well before time to cook, make some clairified butter which will be paired with olive oil to sear the fish.  If you are not familiar with clarified butter, just google it.  It does take some time to make clarified butter.

Coat one side of the fish with salt, pepper, and some flour. (this will make for a crispy crust on the fish).  Note, we chose to remove the skin from the fish.  Some cooks leave the skin on.

Get a non-stick skillet ready, add 2 tablespoons of light olive oil, and heat it up. 

Don't add the clarified butter yet.

Place the fish in the skillet, with the seasoned side down.

Here's where you will be tempted to move the fish around.  Don't!

Let the pan do the work.

While the first side of the fish is searing, sprinkle the other side with salt, pepper, and some flour.

This is my husband doing the cooking!

Add the clarified butter at this point.  About 2 tablespoons.

The clarified butter has a high smoking point,

and it won't splatter at you.

Looking for about 120 degrees before flipping and basting.

Flip the fish over, let it sear a bit, then start basting by tilting the pan 

and pouring the oil, butter over the cooked fish.

This is a fancy technique used by professional chefs!

Continue basting, check the temperature.  You want the fish to be at 130 degrees.

Look at the crisp crust!  Way to go, honey!

When the fish reaches 130 degrees,

remove the fish and place on paper towels.

Get ready to serve.  Chilean Sea Bass is a very mild fish, but also fatty,

in a good way!

We had french green beans steamed, then saute'd with butter, garlic, shallot, and panko.

Enjoy friends!  We will be making this again.

Classic Baked Chicken

Oh my!  

Winner winner, chicken dinner!  Thanks to Simply Recipes where I found this delightful baked chicken dish.  The only change was that I gave my chicken pieces an overnight bath in buttermilk!

Take a 3 to 4 pound young chicken and cut into pieces (2 legs, 2 thighs, 2 wings, 2 breasts -- which I cut down into 4 pieces.)  Rinse the chicken pieces, place in a large container, pour buttermilk over, cover and place in the fridge overnight.  The buttermilk bath will make a big difference in the finished product.

Next day, drain and rinse the chicken pieces, pat them dry, and place back in the fridge uncovered to dry some more.  This helps to ensure the golden brown finish on the chicken skins when they are baked.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Rub some olive oil all over the chicken pieces, place in a foil lined roasting pan.  Sprinkle both sides with sea salt and black pepper.  Arrange the chicken pieces skin side up and leave a little room between pieces.  (My salt and pepper shakers are made from little empty wine bottles, they are cute, don't you think?)

Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  At about 20 minutes into baking, I found that my chicken was steaming instead of roasting because of the juices that came off the chicken.  If this happens, just take it out of the oven, and drain off the liquid.  Return to continue baking.

After the 30 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake for another 10 -30 minutes OR until juices run clear, white meat temp is 165 degrees and dark meat thighs 170 degrees.  Let rest for 5 minutes after baking before serving.

Winner winner, chicken dinner indeed!  Tonight we also had creamy coleslaw and steamed green beans.  Wish I could have had a photo of the dark meat, but it was devoured so quickly that the photo opportunity was gone!

Enjoy friends!

Potatoes au Gratin

Meatloaf...humm side dish of potatoes?  I thought of mashed, but we like gravy with mashed potatoes, can't make gravy from meatloaf!.  A lightbulb came on and Potatoes au Gratin came to mind.  Gather up the ingredients and let's get cooking!

• Two russet potatoes
• 1 Tbl. flour
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C whole milk
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt & pepper
• Grated sharp cheddar cheese

Peel the potatoes and slice thinly using a mandolin--if you don't have one, just slice them thinly with a knife.

Flour,salt, pepper, and minced garlic go into a bowl.  Then pour in the milk and cream and whisk it all up!

In a foil lined baking dish, start layering 1/3 of the potato slices.  I like to line with foil because cleaning up a baking dish after baking these potatoes is too much work.  Pour 1/3 of the flour/milk mixture over this layer.

Continue layering like this until all of the potatoes are used up, and the last of the flour/milk mixture is poured over the top.  BTW, those aren't flour lumps, it's the minced garlic.  Cover with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take the potatoes out of the oven.  I decided not to use the grated cheddar, instead, I topped the potatoes with homemade bread crumbs.  (Go ahead and use the grated cheddar if you like cheezy potatoes)  Back into the oven they go uncovered for another 20 - 30 minutes.  Watch closely, if the bread crumbs start to brown too much, cover with foil.

When the potatoes are tender and the sauce is all bubbly, they are done!  Along the way, if the potatoes and sauce start to look too dry, just pour in a little more milk.  I ended up adding another 1/2 Cup of milk.

Dinner is ready.  The meatloaf baked along with the potatoes, we also had steamed green beans.

yum, Yum, and YUM!  Dinner friends!

Here's an easy meatloaf recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup dried bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
• 1/3 cup ketchup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, egg, onion, milk and bread OR cracker crumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and place in a lightly greased 5x9 inch loaf pan, OR form into a loaf and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. 
3. In a separate small bowl, combine the brown sugar, mustard and ketchup. Mix well and pour over the meatloaf.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour.