MGFK: Parmesan Tilapia On My Mind

Their Description:
Lightly nestled beneath a light Parmesan coating of Italian seasoning, garlic and paprika, and drizzled with a lemon caper sauce. This eco-friendly fish will be forever in your thoughts, forever on your mind, forever in your dreams.

My Thoughts:
The tilapia was very moist, and most of the flavour was in the crust (which was fine by me!). I made the mistake of drizzling the lemon caper sauce on the fish (it was really tart!). It was probably better to serve the sauce on the side of the fish.

Ghetto Fried Rice

Many years ago, a friend once asked me if I've ever had 'ghetto fried rice'. Apparently, a 'Chinese' restaurant (owned by an African-American couple) in her neighbourhood serves a rather tasty version of fried rice made with bacon. Curious (as usual!), I prepped a batch to determine if the combination works. Since then, I've made this dish countless times (mostly when I run out of shrimp, Chinese sausages, ham, char siew, etc.).

MGFK: Lemon Herbed Pork Chops

Their Description:
The tree is very pretty and the blossom is flowery sweet. But the juice of that dear lemon makes this the perfect meat. Grilled lemon and oregano pork chops with garlic mashed potatoes. Pucker up for perfection.

My Thoughts:
Pork chops were tender, juicy and well-seasoned. The garlic mashed potatos was way too salty.

MGFK: All-Star Chicken

Their Description:
Six chicken breasts delicately flavored with walnut oil, cranberries and raspberry dressing for cooking by grill, broil or skillet with penne pasta on the side. Simple, classic, wonderful. Give 'em the red carpet treatment with this dinner.

My thoughts:
The chipotle and cranberry combination was surprisingly good. Spicy, with a sweet tang. Didn't need the raspberry dressing - it overwhelmed the flavour of the chicken breasts. The penne pasta was inedible. Ended tossing the lot even though I hated the thought of wasting food.

Homemade Pizza...

With a little help from Trader Joe's (i.e. the garlic herbed pizza dough). I skipped the red sauce and opted for an olive oil seasoning base, followed by salami, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. It smelled good as it baked in the oven!

The Transition From 2007 to 2008...

2007 ended with a post about a batch of delicious mandelbrots I received from my partner in a cookie swap. It is only fitting that my first post for 2008 shows a batch of mandelbrots I made from the very same recipe. Here's to a year of great food and new discoveries in the kitchen!