Grilled Whole Bronzini with Spiced Up Lemon Molho

We have a little Mediterranean seafood restaurant in town where we have always enjoyed grilled bronzini (sometimes also referred to as branzini or Mediterranean sea bass). The waiter always looks at us a bit funny when we stop him from filleting it for us at the table. Why order the whole fish if you don’t enjoy all of the perks of it?! The little morsels of meat that get stuck to the bone are scrumptious, and the itty bitty “cheek” is the best part of the whole meal!

Luckily, we were able to sample some bronzini while on our Mediterranean honeymoon of a lifetime, which makes it a romantic dish for us. I was thrilled to see it at the Portuguese supermarket today (on the way back from Social Security Administration… Changing your name is NO fun) and immediately knew I wanted to surprise my hubby with it tonight! I am adding a Portuguese twist by creating a piri piri molho (directly translated means “gravy” but could also mean “sauce” or “juice”) to drizzle on top of the fish and serving with a fresh crispy salad.

Ingredients:
2 whole Bronzino – gutted and scaled
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil + a drizzle
Juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup white wine
1 small onion slivered
1 tsp. piri piri (or substitute chili powder)
1/4 cup chopped parsley

1. Rinse fish, pat dry, drizzle with olive oil, and rub with kosher salt.
2. Preheat grill to medium high heat. Grill for 5-7 minutes per side.
3. While fish is grilling, heat olive oil and onions over medium high heat in a small saucepan until fragrant. Add remaining ingredients except for parsley and simmer until fish is cooked.
4. When fish is done, remove from grill, and plate. Stir parsley into molho and pour over each fish.

Grilled Whole Fish Topped with Caper Oregano Sauce

This sauce was SO good! I made the recipe with fluke that I caught fresh that day, but any whole fish would be delicious with this sauce!

Here’s my catch:

Ingredients:
1 whole fish – gutted and scaled
1/2 cup olive oil + a drizzle worth
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
3 cloves garlic – minced
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
2 Tbsp. capers
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Drizzle olive oil on fish and rub with kosher salt.
2. Preheat grill to medium high and grill fish for 8 minutes per side or until cooked through.
3. While fish is grilling, heat oil in a saucepan over medium high heat, and sauté garlic until fragrant. Add white wine and lemon juice, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add capers and oregano, and cook for 5 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Remove fish from grill, remove skin if desired, and pour sauce over.

Grilled Fajita Smothered Buffalo Steaks

In an attempt to keep up with the garden, I was trying to think of a dish that uses peppers. I wrote the recipe for two bell peppers, but don’t be afraid to try different combinations of smaller ones! My version actually had 2 Italian roasters, an Anaheim, a Serrano, and a habanero.

Ingredients:
2 buffalo medallions
1 medium onion – chopped
2 bell peppers
1 ear of corn – husked
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder

1. Preheat grill to medium high heat. Grill peppers and corn until browned on all sides.
2. In a small bowl, mix dry spices. Use about half to rub the buffalo steaks. Grill for about 7 minutes per side.
3. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the onions. Cook until browned.
4. Cut the peppers open and remove the stems and seeds. Cut the corn off the cob. Add peppers and corn to the onions and add the remainder of the dry spices. Allow to cook for one minute to blend flavors.
5. Pile peppers, onions, and corn on top of the buffalo steaks and enjoy!

Fluke Puttanesca

There’s something glorious about finishing up a tough workout and getting a text from your dad with this picture:

It means two very good things:

1. My dad had a great time out on his boat today.

2. DINNER!

Growing up we always had fluke breaded and fried, but that doesn’t work out too well on the diet. I love a foil packet meal, and figured that would be a great way to keep my awesome new grill working for us! Creating a quick and easy puttanesca sauce also allowed me to use up some of our fresh produce out of the garden.

Ingredients:
2 large fish filets (I used fluke, but any filet would work)
1 tsp. olive oil
1 onion – diced
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. anchovy paste
4 plum tomatoes – chopped
2 Tbsp. capers
1/4 cup pitted olives – halved
1/4 cup chopped basil

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and brown. Stir in anchovy paste and allow to melt into the onions and garlic.
2. Add tomatoes, capers, and olive. Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 5 minutes, then stir in basil.
3. Place each fish filet on a large piece of foil. Top with puttanesca mixture. Seal by forming a packet with the foil.
4. Heat grill to medium high heat. Grill packets for 15 minutes.
5. Remove packets from grill and carefully open to serve.

Fire Roasted Spicy Salsa

My poor husband (used to be fiancé) had been putting up with my blogging for a couple of months now. I create a delicious meal and the force him to salivate over it while I take a whole bunch of pictures. It’s not easy photographing food with steam and glare and bad lighting!

Our garden has been blowing up with incredible produce, and Dave has been itching to make his super special salsa for me. Knowing that blogging has taken over my life, he decided to take some pictures of his creation….which means I need to blog it! Thanks husband!

Ingredients:
5 tomatoes
4 Anaheim peppers
6 Serrano peppers
1 habanero pepper
4 big cloves garlic
2 sprigs oregano
1 big yellow onion – thickly sliced
1 small red onion – thickly sliced

1. On the grill over medium high heat, blacken all ingredients (don’t forget to toast the oregano sprigs).
2. In a blender, combine all ingredients until it reaches desired consistency. If too thick, add water. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Chill to room temperature and enjoy!

Sweet Delicious London Broil

I love garage and estate sales! I scored big yesterday with a beautiful Char-Broil Commercial Series grill! The thing is gigantic and getting it home proved to be a much larger (and painful) task than anticipated. Blood, sweat, and tears later (yes, all three), the beast was in my Honda Pilot and we were on our way home.

We got it all set up today, which led to a very important question: now what do we grill?! London broil was on sale at our local supermarket, so it was an easy answer!

Please note the beautiful new grill!!
(and me in my hot pink breast cancer fundraiser outfit, wanna donate???)


Ingredients:
1 London broil
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup reduced sodium teriyaki sauce
1 Tbsp. horse radish
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. chopped ginger
3 cloves garlic – minced

1. At least an hour before cooking, whisk together all ingredients except London broil in a bowl. Place London broil in a large ziplock bag and pour marinade over. Refrigerate.
2. When ready to cook, preheat grill to medium heat. Carefully remove the meat from the bag (don’t spill the marinade, you’re going to need it!) and grill for about 8-10 minutes per side until slightly less cooked than desired doneness.
3. While meat is grilling, empty marinade into a small saucepan and reduce by half over medium heat.
4. Remove London broil from grill and cover with foil for 5 minutes before cutting (it will continue to cook a bit).
5. Thinly slice steak and drizzle marinade reduction over.

Crockpot Hawaiian Turkey Coconut Meatballs

Looking to change up the old fashioned turkey meatballs? This recipe is a nice twist to the classic that is bursting with flavor. Better yet, it’s best prepared in a crockpot which allows for an easy dinner on a busy schedule.

I love my slow cooker, but hate the recipes that essentially boil the ingredients for a long period of time. Yes,those dump and cook recipes are nice and easy, but adding a little extra TLC in the preparation really adds depth to the flavors.

Ingredients:

Meatballs:
1 package ground turkey (about 1.5 pounds)
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauce:
1 large onion – chopped
2 bell peppers – chopped
2 Serrano peppers – chopped (optional for added heat)
1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in 100% juice
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. corn starch

1. In a large bowl, combine all meatball ingredients. Mix with hands and form into 1 inch balls.
2. Over medium high heat, preheat a large skillet with a drizzle of olive oil.
3. Pan fry the meatballs turning frequently. Allow to brown on all sides, then transfer to crockpot.
4. In the same pan (with the meatball goodies), add onions and peppers. Sauté until tender and transfer to the crockpot.
5. Strain pineapple juice into pan, and place chunks in crockpot. Add soy sauce and orange juice to pan. Simmer over low heat until bubbling then whisk in corn starch. Pour into crockpot.
6. Set crockpot to low heat for 7 hours and wait for the yumminess!

Grilled Aubergine Dip

After sailing (and eating) my way through the Mediterranean on our honeymoon, I have come back inspired! One day at lunch, we were served “eggplant goop”. Sounds tasty, right? There was actually an Italian name for this hummus like dip made from eggplant instead of chick peas, but we can’t remember what it was to save our lives. Do you know? Please comment if so!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1Tbsp. Olive oil + 2 drizzles worth
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nuts (pine or walnuts)
1 tsp. lemon zest
Juice of one lemon
1 tsp. paprika + a sprinkle for garnish
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat grill to medium low heat. Drizzle eggplant with olive oil to thinly coat. Grill for 30 minutes while rotating frequently.
2. Cut up eggplant into 1 inch chunks and add to food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend on high for 3 minutes or until smooth.
3. Transfer dip to a serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Serve with veggies or other dippers.

Chop ‘n Stir Avocado Salad

When you have great ingredients, any salad instantly becomes better! Keeping with the theme of trying to keep up with my garden. This was a super easy and delicious side dish to our dinner tonight. Make sure to make the tomatoes and cucumbers in advance, but wait on the cucumbers so that they don’t turn brown.

Ingredients:
1 large tomato
1 cucumber
1 avocado
10 basil leaves – finely chopped
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

1. At least one hour prior to serving, chop tomato and avocado. Mix in a medium bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil, and basil. Stir, cover and refrigerate.
2. When ready to serve, peel and chop avocado and mix in with salt and pepper to taste.

Spicy Serrano Pepper Hummus

Our garden is pumping out produce faster than we can handle! The tomatoes and cucumbers are easy to use, but the spicier peppers are proving a bit more difficult. One Serrano pepper is all this simple hummus took to make it deliciously spicy and flavorful at the same time.

Ingredients:
1 can chick peas
1 Serrano pepper
1 Tbsp. tahini
1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup water
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Cut off the stem of the serrano pepper, and in a nonstick pan over high heat, brown on all sides.
2. Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend on high for at least 3 minutes until smooth. If too thick, add water until it reaches desired consistency.
3. Serve with veggie sticks and enjoy!