When I moved to Massachusetts I was totally shocked that few of my New England friends knew how to cook fish.

Before I moved here I assumed that everyone in New England owned a yellow foul weather coat a la the Gorton’s fisherman and that they could not only pluck their dinner out of the ocean, but they could clean and cook it too.

As it turns out, that isn’t the case. Apparently being born on the ocean does not guarantee that you will cook or even like fish.

I love it. And if it weren’t for the price, I’d eat it every day. But once in awhile I get lucky and score a decent price for some of my favorite types of fish.

This week wild Alaskan cod is only $6.99 per lb at Shaw’s. So, I figured now would be a good time to share a very simple fool proof fish dish with you.

One of the things tourists love when visiting these here parts is the crumb topping that restaurants put on white baked fish dishes. Baked stuffed shrimp also sports the same type of buttery salty crumbly topping.

What the restaurants don’t want to tell you is that this tasty topping is made of the humble Ritz cracker. Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s true.

But the good news is that you can easily replicate this in your own kitchen. No yellow coat needed.

First salt and pepper your fish filets and place in a lightly oiled baking dish. Then crush enough crackers to lightly coat however much fish you have.

Up above is two pounds of fish and I needed one half sleeve of crackers to coat it.

Heat two teaspoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add four cloves of sliced garlic. Saute until fragrant. But for the love of Pete don’t let it get brown. Bad things happen to brown garlic. Trust me.

Add two bags of baby spinach (buy one get one free at S&S this week), and cook just until wilted. I know that sounds like a lot of spinach, but look what happens to it….

I served this with Zatarain’s Garlic Rice Pilaf, which goes very nicely with fish I’ll have you know. And I know you most likely have Zatarain’s in your stockpile.

A simple recipe that yields an extraordinary meal. Fast enough for a weeknight dinner and fancy enough for your most discriminating guests. You really can’t get much easier than this.

Unless of course you consider fish sticks. But why would you do that when you can have this?

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Blueberries and summer. You could have one without the other, I suppose. But it just wouldn’t be the same. Biting into a blueberry you can almost taste the sunshine. Don’t you think?

When my boys were very little they used to love listening to me read the book Blueberries For Sal. Do you remember it?

 It was about a young girl who friends a little bear while they’re picking berries with their mamas. A McCloskey classic that was read til the pages plum fell out of the book. A family favorite.

Whenever I eat blueberries I think of my sons giggling while I read that story to them in my king sized bed, all snuggly buggly together.

Their warm cheeks pressed against my arms, rapt with attention while I read about that little girl and bear stuffing their own cheeks with succulent sweet berries. It seems like light years ago.

So, in honor of that memory, I have a delicious blueberry recipe to share with you. And the timing couldn’t be better because it seems like every store has a sale on blueberries right now.

Now, let me tell you something about this recipe. It comes from my mother-in-law. It’s her signature dessert, but she can’t quite remember where she found it.

All I know is that it was immensely popular during her bridge playing years. And this probably means that it came from the Betty Crocker or Good Housekeeping cookbooks of that time.

Or heck, it might even be your Aunt Edna’s recipe. Who knows? All I know is that it’s not a Coupon Goddess original and I can’t take credit for it, but it’s dang good.

Batter

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups blueberries

Topping

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 butter, softened

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9x9x2 or 8x8x2 pan with butter. Mix together the first four ingredients. Then add the oil, milk, and egg. Stir well until combined. Gently fold in berries. Pour into greased pan.

In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Using your fingertips, pinch the butter into the flour mixture until little pea shaped streusel bits form. Scatter over top of batter. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Note: I always double this recipe from the get-go. When doubling, you want to use a 9×13 baker. Or, if you have a Pampered Chef deep dish baker, you can use that too. That’s what I used for this post.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I’m no cake baker. Sure, I can make a delicious cake, but there are no promises on how it will look in the end. Decorating cakes is not within my skill set.

That said, I wanted to at least try to make Jeff a nice Father’s Day cake. Considering that the man is impossible to buy a gift for, I figured this was the least I could do. He doesn’t wear ties. Nor does he grill.  So, all of those manly barbecue tools wouldn’t do.

He doesn’t have time to golf, fish, or do anything else that would be classified under recreation, so what’s a woman to do?

One funny side note. While trying to figure out a nice gift for Father’s Day, I shared my frustration with the kids. What do you think he’d like, I asked. Leela blurted out, I know, a chameleon!

And she was right. He’s always wanted a big chameleon that changes color when it steps on things. Just like this one…

This cake isn’t particularly complicated, but it does take time. As far as decorating goes, it couldn’t get much easier. There’s no frosting on the outside, which is by design. My design because I can’t properly frost a cake to a smooth finish which makes me unhappy. Someday I’ll figure it out.

Mint buttercream frosting studded with dark chocolate chips, sandwiched between layers of rich dark chocolate cake. It couldn’t get much better, could it?

I wish I had gotten a better final picture because this picture does not do this cake justice. I took it when we got home from Boston yesterday and the light just wasn’t there.

It was incredible. And it tasted just like a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone minus the cold and the cone. But you get the idea.

The cake layers are rich and moist, which goes without saying when you read the ingredients list. Buttermilk, eggs, sour cream, chocolate. You just can’t go wrong with that lineup.

The frosting is just a simple buttercream with the addition of mint extract. And the ganache couldn’t be easier to make. Dark chocolate chips and cream. Super simple ingredients that lead to extraordinary results.

This is the cake to make for a chocolate lover. Not as good as a chameleon, but pretty darn close.

Cake Layers

2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/4 cups sugar (sounds like a lot, but this is a huge cake with 3 massive layers)
1 cup cocoa powder (I used dark chocolate powder)
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh brewed strong coffee
1/2 cup sour cream
5 tbsp vegetable oil
2 dark chocolate bars, grated (like the ones you’d eat, not the “baker’s chocolate”)

In a large bowl, combine first six ingredients. In a stand mixer, mix the next six ingredients. Once thoroughly combined, slowly add the dry to the wet and beat over medium speed until well incorporated.

Pour into well greased and floured (I used cocoa powder to coat pans) 8″ pans. This made enough batter for three full layers. Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.

Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting

6 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup butter, softened but not melted
2 tsp mint extract (this makes it quite minty. use less if you’d like)
4 Tbsp milk (this depends on humidity. use more or less milk to make it fluffy)
1 10 oz bag dark chocolate chips (I used Nestle)

In a stand mixer, combine sugar, butter, and mint extract until creamed. Add just enough milk to make it light and fluffy. Add a tablespoon at a time until it reaches that fluffy state. Mix in chips gently by hand.

Using a pastry bag with the widest tip you can find, pipe circles of frosting between each layer. This simple decorating tip (the only one I know), will make a huge difference in the finished cake.

Pipe frosting between each cake layer and on top. Make ganache…

Chocolate Ganache

1 10 oz bag of dark chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream

Pour chocolate chips into a bowl. Heat cream just until boiling. Pour over chips and stir until smooth. Let this sit for five minutes. Give it another stir until glossy and pour over the top of the cake and let it do its thing. Free form chocolate is a very good and natural thing.

Ideally, this cake should sit for a few hours in the fridge to solidify. Take it out one half of an hour before serving for it to soften up a bit. If there is any left after serving, store in fridge. Although I doubt that there will be any left.

Enjoy!

Be Sociable, Share!

•