Pan Seared Tilapia with Chili Lime Butter and Corn Relish

Tilapia filets, lightly seasoned then pan seared. Served on top of a bed of sauteed spinach, topped with a chili lime butter sauce and corn relish, this dish will have your taste buds doin' the happy dance. All fresh ingredients and it tastes like summer on a plate. It may sound like a lot but it is in fact quite simple to make. The brightly flavored corn relish can also be used on chicken, pork or other kinds of fish. Serve it at your next dinner party and your guests will be amazed.

For this recipe, you’ll need the following:
 

Corn Relish:

• 2 strips of bacon, chopped small
• 2 ears of yellow corn, shaved
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/3 of a bunch of cilantro, chopped
• Zest from a lime
• Salt and pepper to taste

Chili Lime Butter Sauce:

• 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
• 1 medium shallot, chopped fine
• 1 serrano chili, finely chopped (if you don’t like spicy, substitute a jalapeño)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lime

Tilapia:

• 2 tilapia filets
• Seafood seasoning (I prefer equal parts of coriander and fennel, lightly toasted in a dry pan and ground to a powder)
• Flour for dredging
• Oil for frying
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 4 cups fresh spinach

Begin by making the corn relish. In a hot pan, add the chopped bacon and brown it until its crisp, about 5-8 minutes. When the bacon is done, remove it from the pan and place it on paper towels to drain, reserving a tablespoon of fat. To the bacon fat, add the corn  and sauté until its done. Once the corn is cooked through, remove it from the heat and add the bacon back to the pan along with the tomato, cilantro and zest. Season it to taste with salt and pepper then set it aside.

 Now we will make the chili lime butter sauce. To a small sauce pan over medium heat, add the unsalted butter, shallot, chili and salt. Add the zest and juice from a lime and stir until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and set the chili lime butter sauce aside.

Now its time to pan sear the tilapia. Heat about 1/3 cup of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Season the tilapia filets with your favorite seasoning (or mine). Dredge them in flour knocking off any excess. When the oil is hot, carefully add the tilapia filets. Cook them for about 2-3 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the filet) until they are a light golden brown on both sides.

Sautéing the spinach. Place a little olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) in a hot pan. Add the garlic and sauté for about a minute. Do not let the garlic brown. This will result in a bitter taste. Add the spinach, tossing it in the hot oil and garlic until it is lightly sautéed.

 

 Now lets assemble our dish. Place some of the sautéed spinach on a plate. top the spinach with one of the tilapia filets. Next, drizzle a little of the chili lime butter over the filet. Finally, top the filet with some of the corn relish.

Enjoy!

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Labor Day 2013

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. We had our annual Labor Day barbeque. This was our tablescape for casual dining alfresco.

The runner is made from silk Philodendron leaves glued together using a hot glue gun.

The flowers are red orchids with variegated ginger leaves.

We broke out our Island Palm plates, tiki glasses and rum punch and a good time was had by all!

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Sarah's Baby Shower

Hey Everyone. Last weekend, my wife and I catered our niece Sarah's baby shower. Here's some of the food we made. 

 

 

This was the fruit plate. The baby's head was made from a cantaloupe. The eyes are red grapes and the blanket is thinly sliced cucumber woven together.

 

These are Chinese soup spoons filled with Vietnamese chicken salad. 

 

These are Zuni rolls. Flour tortillas filled with mesquite smoked turkey, bacon bits, green onions and Havarti with dill. Fried to a golden brown, sliced and served with a roasted raspberry chipotle sauce.

 

These are mini tomato cheese herb tarts made with mini heirloom tomatoes.

 

These are crab puffs. Choux pastry dough (profiteroles, eclairs, etc) is baked into little puffs then filled with a crab salad.

 

This is a french herb potato salad.  Multicolored fingerling potatoes tossed in a vinaigrette with basil, dill and cilantro.

Now for the desserts!!!

 

Here we have a tropical lime mousse pie. A light and refreshing lime mousse flavored with just a hint of dark rum and served on a toasted coconut and graham cracker crust.

 

Who can resist the good ol' rice krispy treats?!?! These are served on a stick, dipped in white or dark chocolate and accented with sugar candies. These were a hit!

 

Red velvet cupcakes. A specialty in the south but right here at home in sunny SoCal.

 

PB&J bars. A nutty spin on your traditional peanut butter cookie with a red raspberry jelly filling.

 

Nutty Chocolate Chip/Chunk Cookies. Need I say more?

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Creative Corn Bread

Moist cornbread with various toppings. Goes great with chili, football or just by itself with a little honey butter. Adding cream corn is the secret here. The cream sauce makes it extra moist and the corn gives it extra texture. I top some of them with bacon (you can't go wrong there), some with jalapenos and some I keep traditional.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 TBS baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 15 oz. can of creamed corn 
• 3/4 cup of whole milk (approximately)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 TBS melted butter
• 6 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
• 4 jalapeno slices (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place a colander or seive over a bowl and pour the creamed corn into it. Using a spatula, work the to extract as much liquid as you can. Set both the corn and liquid aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt. Whisk to blend. Pour the reserved creamed corn liquid into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add enough whole milk to make it 1 1/4 cups of liquid. 

To the liquid, add the eggs, oil and butter. Whisk to blend. Add this liquid to the flour mixture and stir until just blended.Finally, fold in the reserved corn.

Pour into prepared muffin cups (coated with cooking spray) filling each cup 2/3 to 3/4 full. As a variation, you can top some of the muffins with crumbled bacon or jalapenos. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place the muffin pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Remove the muffins from the pan and allow them to cool on the rack. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

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