Garlic Mustard Encrusted Bluefish with Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Welcome back to the Tiny Ass Kitchen located in the lovely state of New Jersey near the Shore.



Today's dinner was so delicious and I hope you give this one a go....



I started out this dinner by peeling and cutting up enough potatoes for me and my husband, with some left over to make him some lunches for during the week. I put them all in a pot and began boiling them.



While that boiled I took some minced garlic and butter and put that in a sauce pan...



I then turned on the flame and let it all cook, warming the butter and releasing the flavors of the garlic. I then poured it into my kitchen aide mixer when I was done... this would make my potatoes nice and garlicky....



While the garlic is getting happy and the potatoes are boiling, I'm going to start to prepare my Garlic Mustard... with MAPLE undertones.... Don't make a face about the Maple... it makes it good. The Garlic Mustard I got from Otter Creek Brewing Co. in Vermont - where I just got back from.



You put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mustard into a small bowl and then add about a teaspoon of Maple Syrup. Mix it together and get it ready to put it on the fish.



You can be rather generous with spooning the mixture onto the fish. Today I'm using bluefish that my husband caught last year in the fall that I've had frozen. I did defrost it overnight and it was ready it go.



Next you'll want to get your pan nice and hot, when it is smoking you will go ahead and place the fish down mustard first!



While the fish cooks you can make your mashed potatoes. I add in a little extra butter, non fat milk and sour cream. Yum....



The fish cooks pretty quickly and then you can enjoy the smell of it... it may not look pretty but trust me, it's so good.




Then you just put it all together and ENJOY!

Not Your Usual Stuffed Peppers

Thanks for coming back to visit me and the cats in the Tiny Ass Kitchen - we're all glad your back, even though the images haven't improved, but are now back and ready to entertain you.



This weekend on a stop to the bookstore I picked up a new veggie cook book - this time written by a carnivore who owns a place called Greens - a veggie restaurant, in England. I was interested and laid out the 7 bucks, and I'm glad I did.

This recipe is a version on the Stuffed Pimentos with thyme and basil. Enjoy... And Scott - this one is for you. I hope you like this one.



I began this dinner by popping some yellow rice into my rice cooker - it took the longest and I basically started everything else once it was done, this way everything is nice and hot when you plate it.



Start this main dish by cutting 2 or 3 large peppers in half (depending how many people you are feeding - I made 3 so I'd have leftovers), seeding them and placing them on a hot cast iron skillet to char them slightly. Then you can lay them on a small baking sheet. Do this to all the peppers!




Now for the stuffing - I'm using ricotta cheese mixed with some thyme, pepper, garlic, and some shredded mozzarella. I made this mixture a few weeks ago when I made baked ziti but had some leftover. I froze it and decided to use it for this. I thawed it overnight and it was ready for tonight. A couple ingredients for this today are leftovers, so this could be something you make after you make a big thing of lasagna or baked ziti and you had a little to much.




Take that cheese mixture and put enough to fill in the pepper without over filling it.



When all the peppers are filled, you can sprinkle a little extra mozzerlla on it (I did!) and then add some parsely, garlic and pepper on the top. When your rice is done, pop it in the broiler for around 15 minutes...



When it's done it'll look like this.



As a side dish for this I made some boiled carrots. Husband/Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Wife/Lover HATES boiled carrots? Try my version. You can take some baby carrots and cut them into pieces, add them to some water along with a little salt and dried parsley, let them cook until the water is boiling but the carrot has some bite to it.



When they are cooked, drain them and put them in a bowl. Take a half of lemon and give a squeeze over the carrots...



And put a dollop of butter/margarine on the top.

Even Danny likes these.



When everything is done and ready to be plated, you can also take some tomato sauce and ladle it onto the stuffed peppers - it is super delicious and I do hope you give it a try.



It'll make sure there are full bellies all around.

Curried Noodles with Shrimp

Hello to all of you out in bloggerland! I know I've been gone for quite some time and I have some catching up to do, so I'm going to start tonight with curried rice noodles and shrimp! Thanks for waiting and coming back to visit us all in the tiny ass kitchen.

This is a quick fix dinner and can be done in under a half hour, it's great for people like me that come home from work late and don't want to spend their entire time home cooking to only eat later then you really want.



To start this recipe you'll need to dice up a whole pepper. I like the red ones.



Then you need to grate about a cup worth of carrot, if you get some larger chunks it's ok, it's all going to cook down anyway.



In a large skillet you'll need to heat up a little bit of olive oil and throw about a teaspoon of garlic in, you can always put in more or less, to taste. If you have some ginger grate that in, otherwise add a teaspoon of powdered ginger, it works just as good.



Once the garlic is good a toasty you add in all your other veggies and sweat them, you want them to cook up but not brown/caramelize.

Now in a small bowl you add two tablespoons give or take of soy sauce. To this soy sauce you need to add:



2 teaspoons curry powder and a teaspoon of cumin.



a teaspoon of ground coriander...



And a half teaspoon of fenugreek and ground cardamom.



In a pot you're going to warm some water and add in your rice noodles, DO NOT let the water boil, just put the lid on the top and turn off the water - they cook themselves in about 10 minutes.



Now your veggies should be nice and cooked down. What you do next is add you cleaned deveined shrimp.



Next you pour your spice mixture over along with about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water and let all the shrimp cook till their pink.



What you get is a nice mixture of spice and savory to spoon over those rice noodles which should now be completely cooked. Enjoy and happy cooking!!

Christmas Dinner: Roasted Goose

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!

Sure it's a few days late for this but I thought I'd show you my special Christmas dinner that I made for my family....



It's Christmas morning, it's 7:00am and Gracie doesn't want me to just cook this morning, she wants to open her presents, especially the one from Auntie Lisa and Christian.



Today I'm making a Christmas goose, something my family hasn't had since my Oma passed away three years ago. And everyone is really excited about it being on the table when my family eats at 12pm.



As a forewarning before you think, "ooo let me buy a goose and cook it" it's really really expensive so it's not something you just go and get. Danny actually ordered this fresh from a specialty butcher in Toms River (a half hour away) and bought it the day before Christmas Eve.



You start this by getting the fat out of the ass end opening of the bird. Goose is a very fatty animal and you need to get some of it removed before you cook it.



And there is a lot of fat to get out of there.



When you have the fat cut out you need to take the giblets and put it in a saucepan along with a bullion cube (demonstrated by Danny) and boil them up, this will give you something to baste with later.



Then take the bird and but it in a roasting pan that is raised, this thing is going to give off alot of grease and you don't want it to sit in it. Also put some spices on it. I just did the standard salt, pepper, garlic and celery seed.



Then you need to get 2-3 apples (depending on size) and wash them...



And you stick it a few times with a fork and insert them into the cavity of the goose. These apples will suck up some of the grease as the meat gives it off. I also like to spread it on bread later on... but it's an acquired taste...



Then put some water on the bottom of the pan, since there will be so much grease you don't want it to cook to the bottom of the pan, this just makes clean up a little easier... then you pop it into a 350 degree oven.



You then take it out about every hour to baste it. You also should flip it for one hour so the grease is a little more even through the bird.



You'll also have to remove some grease from the bottom of the pan, I told you a lot will come out. You need to cook this bird until it reaches 180 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh, it should cook in 3 1/2 to four hours.



When it's done you load it up in the car and bring it to Mom's house! I forgot to take pictures when I was there, but just imagine it... it was THAT good.

Holiday Gloog

This is the first time I'm putting an alcoholic beverage on my cooking site, basically I don't make many drinks, I let Lauren do that or the nice guy at the bar. But this is a special drink!!



Gracie and I have had a busy last few days, so a drink is in order for her mommy!



While Danny and I were in Finland we purchased Gloog, a Christmas drink that is basically like a mulled wine. What you get in this bottle is just juice, and you mix it with alcohol. You can get other versions of Gloog off the internet and they also sell it in the foods sections of Ikea. I'm not sure if it tastes the same, but I'll let you know when I try my other bottle I got from there.



You put enough juice in a saucepan, I just filled the glassed we would be using and put it in that way. You then throw in a cinnamon stick and warm the juice up. Don't boil it.



While that is warming up you can add some vodka (I like Svedka Vanilla) into a glass. You can do it to taste. Taste to me is two fingers. You can also use wine with this as well, but vodka is my friend.



Then you ladle it into your glass and enjoy. But now you have to pay attention to the MOST IMPORTANT step... repeat.

Merry Christmas Eve!