Tartar sauce

Ingredients

    1 cup mayonnaise
    1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
    1 tablespoon minced onion

    2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
    salt and pepper to taste 

 

Original recipe yields 1 cup
 

Directions

    In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, and minced onion. Stir in lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Pan Fried Fish

Yield: 2 servings
 

Ingredients
1 large or two small skin-on fish fillets, about 8 ounces (rainbow trout, small salmon, brown trout)
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Flour for dredging
2 tablespoon Canola oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons capers, drained
1 lemon, juiced
Directions

Heat a heavy pan over medium high heat.

Season fish on meat side with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge fish in flour and shake off excess. When pan is good and hot, add Canola oil followed immediately by 1 tablespoon butter. As soon as foaming subsides, place fish in pan with the skin side down. Jiggle pan for the first 10 seconds to keep the fish from sticking. Cook until golden crust forms on meat. Carefully turn fish away from you and again jiggle pan for the first few seconds. Cook until skin turns golden brown. Remove to a warm plate.

Pour out the cooking fat, add remaining butter and quickly fry the capers. Remove pan from the heat, add lemon juice to pan and swirl. Pour sauce over the fish and serve.

Celery and Carrot Tossed with Sesame

Instead of the sesame oil, use chile oil or go neutral with canola or vegetable oil. This is a recipe that can easily be doubled.

Yield: 2 servings as a nibble or side

• 4 large ribs celery, cut on the diagonal into thin pieces, each a generous 1/8 inch thick and 3 inches long
• 3 inches carrot, halved lengthwise and cut into thin piece, about half the thickness of the celery
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 pinches ground, toasted Sichuan peppercorns

Instructions

1. Put the celery and carrot into a bowl. Bring half a kettle of water to a boil, turn off the heat. After the boiling subsides, pour enough water over the vegetables to cover. Set aside for 2 minutes, until you can bend a piece of celery so the ends nearly touch.
2. Drain the vegetables, flush with cold water, and set aside to drain. Wipe the bowl dry, then stir together the salt, sugar and sesame oil in the bowl; don’t worry about dissolving the sugar and salt. Shake excess water from the vegetables before adding them to the bowl. Stir to coat. Set aside for a couple of minutes to develop the flavor. Taste and add extra salt or sugar.
3. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle on the Sichuan peppercorn. Serve.

From: http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2012/07/celery-and-carrot-tossed-with-sesame-recipe.html

Mini Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

• 1 15oz can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 C Brown sugar
• 2 Large eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3/4 C evaporated milk
• 2/3 C all purpose flour
• 2 t pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t baking powder
• 1/4 t baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Grease 12 muffin cups. 

Mix the first 6 ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients. Fill each muffin cup 1/3 C of mixture. Bake for 20 minutes; remove cupcakes from pan and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with more pumpkin pie spice on top and serve.

Au Gratin Potatoes

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs red potatoes or 1 1/2 lbs potatoes
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour (suggest reduce by 1/6)
2 cups milk (suggest reduce by 1/4)
1 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 dash cayenne pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 350°F.
2 Boil potatoes until just tender, 20-25 minutes; drain.
3 When cool enough to handle, peel and dice into 1/2 inch pieces.
4 Put potatoes in 3 qt round casserole or rectangular baking dish.
5 In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
6 Add flour; stir while cooking, 1-2 minutes.
7 Whisk in milk and add garlic.
8 Season with salt and cayenne pepper.
9 Stir in cheddar cheese and all but 2 tbs parmesan cheese.
10 Add potatoes to sauce and stir to mix evenly.
11 Pour into casserole dish.
12 Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over top.
13 Bake casserole 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and dish is bubbling and lightly brown on top.
14 Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Read more: <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/au-gratin-potatoes-29286?scaleto=4&mode=null&st=true&oc=linkback">http://www.food.com/recipe/au-gratin-potatoes-29286?scaleto=4&mode=null&st=true&oc=linkback</a>

Cobb Salad

Ingredients
For the Dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:

Cooking spray
1/4 pound sliced Black Forest or other smoked ham
2 hard-boiled eggs
6 cups romaine lettuce (about 6 ounces) coarsely chopped
2 cups watercress, thick stems removed
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced (about 2 cups)
1/2 avocado, diced (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup cooked diced chicken breast 1 (6-ounce) breast
1/2 cup crumbled Roquefort or Blue cheese (about 2 ounces)

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/healthy-appetite-with-ellie-krieger-/cobb-salad-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Tofu Strip Salad

Add some celery & carrot strips

Shred a package of dried tofu sheets into very fine noodle-like strips. You may have to peel the strips apart. Then cut half a clove of garlic into minute dice; mix it with 3 tablespoons of sesame oil, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 or more tablespoons of (homemade) chili oil to your liking. 

Add cilantro