Cheese It Baked Fish

This recipe is from a fishing website. I’m not sure who came up with it, but I like it, so here it is. Once again, quick and easy.

Cheese It Baked Fish

Ingredients:

• 1 lb fish fillets (I’ve had it with catfish and bass—both were good)
• 1 box Cheese It crackers (regular or spicy)
• 2 tbsp Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning (unless you use spicy crackers, then omit)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• cooking spray
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place crackers in a gallon-size ziplock bag and pulverize into a “meal”. Add seasoning (if applicable) and parmesan cheese. Roll each fillet in olive oil to moisten and place two or three at a time into the bag with the meal mixture. Shake until evenly coated.

Line a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Lay the fillets on the foil. Bake 25 minutes, or until fish flakes. Enjoy! Serves about four.

Mango Shrimp Pasta

This recipe is quick and easy. I made it last night with some boiled shrimp I already had in the fridge. I used HEB-brand Mango Pico de Gallo. Next time, I’ll start with raw shrimp, so if you go that way too, follow the following directions:

Mango Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. raw medium shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 8 oz. capellini pasta (angel hair)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 4 tablespoons Mango pico de gallo
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
• 1 tsp capers
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 2 quarts water

In a large Dutch oven, place bouillon cubes in water. Bring to a boil. When bouillon cubes are dissolved, drop in pasta.

In a large skillet, or wok, heat olive oil over medium heat. At the first hint of steam, add shrimp, seasonings, capers and pico. Sauté until shrimp are bright orange and the onions in the pico are translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.

When pasta floats, either taste a piece, or use grandma’s method and throw it up against the wall—if it sticks, it’s done. When done, drain in a colander.

Dole out pasta either in large soup bowls, or plates. Pour sautéed shrimp mixture over pasta. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese. Enjoy! Serves about four.

Potato Salad

With barbecue season in full swing, here’s a sure-to-please side dish for your next back yard get together. This is an old, handed-down German recipe. There’s a secret step for folks who say they don’t like onion in their potato salad. They’ll never know that this salad has onion in it, and what they don’t know won’t hurt them!

I got it from my mom, Molly, who got it from old friend, the late Melvin Menking. This will serve six.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium-size russet potatoes
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/2 onion (chopped fine)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped dill pickles (or, just dill relish)
• 1/4 cup chopped pimento (optional)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon bacon grease
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon

Thoroughly wash potatoes.

In a large stock pot, cover potatoes & eggs with cool water. Drop in a couple of chicken bouillon cubes. Boil potatoes (skin-on) and eggs until potatoes are done. Poke with a fork; if the potato is soft to the center, it’s done (by this time, the eggs are done too). Drain and set aside.

Sauté chopped onion in the bacon grease until translucent. Set aside.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them. Do likewise with the eggs. Dice the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Chop up the eggs and combine with all other ingredients in bowl.

This dish is always better the second day, after the flavors meld; I like to make it the day before I want to serve it, cover it and place in the refrigerator overnight and serve cold on day two, three, and beyond.

Barbecue Chicken

This recipe takes about three hours to prepare. It requires a great deal of attention—save it for a day when you can spend the necessary time to do it right, and it will be worth it.

What you’ll need outside:

I use a barrel-type smoker. It has an access door on one end, and a chimney on the other end. A thermometer is really handy, though not mandatory.

I use charcoal briquettes and store-bought mesquite chips. I light the charcoal with liquid charcoal lighter, but you can use a chimney type, or electric, or just whatever.

There are a lot of trips to the pit required, so, especially in the spring, I use Deep Woods Off to repel fleas, chiggers, and whatever else seems to savor my ankles.

First, position your pit with the access door facing in the direction of the wind, if any. This will allow the pit to vent properly.

Next, make a pyramid-shaped pile of charcoal on the access door side of the pit. It should be just a bit bigger than a dinner plate at its base. You don’t want too big a fire. Your mantra is “low & slow”.

(the glove is for size reference)

Half fill a bucket with water. Pour in about a pound of mesquite chips and let them soak.

Then douse the pile of briquettes with starter fluid. Cover it evenly for about 20 seconds. Let it soak in for ten minutes.

What you’ll need inside:

While you wait ten minutes for the coals to soak, prepare your mop sauce. It consists of one bottle of bock beer( I use either Shiner or Ziegenbock), one stick butter, ¾ cup vinegar, 2 tbsp granulated garlic powder, and 1 tbsp of granulated onion powder. Combine all in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer.

Now, ignite your soaked coals with a long match, or a long lighter. It helps to prop open the access door while the coals initiate their burn. Leave the lid open for this step.

While the coals start to burn, butterfly your chicken. Usually they put the heart, liver, gizzards, and whatever in the bird’s cavity. I discard; but you could put it in your mop sauce. To butterfly, cut the bird along the breast bone and spread it from side to side.

Rub with Tony Chachere’s all-purpose Cajun seasoning. I like to wear latex exam gloves for this step. Pour the Tony’s into a bowl so that you’re not touching the package with chickeny hands. Rub it all around the bird. Don’t be afraid to put it on thick, as some will be washed off by the mop sauce.

When coals have white around the edges, they’re ready to cook.

Place the chicken on the grill away from the fire (on mine that’s to the right, under the chimney).

Grab a handful of soaked mesquite chips and, through the access door, place them atop the hot coals. Be careful not to touch the coals!

After 10-15 minutes, mop on a little sauce, just to keep the skin moist. I use a small aluminum baking pan to hold the mop sauce. Just leave it right there on the pit alongside the chicken. That way, you don’t ruin a saucepan.

Mop every 30 minutes. Watch your thermometer. If it drifts below about 250, add some briquettes. Two hundred fifty to 300 is where I like mine. Whenever you want more smoke, throw on another handful of mesquite chips.

After two hours of smoking, twist a drumstick away from the body. If it easily pops out, the bird’s done. If not, let it keep smokin’. Remember, “low & slow”…

As soon as that leg bone pops out, remove from the pit, carve as usual and enjoy!!!

Garlic-Roasted Potatoes

Tonight’s side dish will be a super alternative to the local favorites, French fries, or boiled/German potatoes. Every once in a while I let fly with something a little different. I don’t know if I stole this recipe, or made it up, but it’s good.
Start with a bag of plain ol’ russet potatoes. Pull out one medium spud per person. I’m cooking for two. Adjust amounts accordingly. Other ingredients tonight will be:

2 tbsp Olive oil
Tsp Basil
Tsp Garlic salt (or to taste)
Tbsp Tony Chachere’s all-purpose seasoning (or to taste)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese (either fresh-grated, or in a can)


Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Wash them taters real good with a sponge or scrubber (do not peel). Cut into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, toss spuds, olive oil, garlic salt, basil, and Tony’s. Spread evenly in a single layer on a shallow baking pan (I line with foil, cause I’m not that into washing dishes). Sprinkle parmesan cheese over potatoes. Poke ‘em in the oven for ½ an hour. Check after 15 minutes to see if the olive oil is raising hell—that’s a good thing.

Remove when tender. Do not taste right away, or you’ll burn the crap out of the roof of your mouth!

Enjoy!