Sea Bass Baked on a Bed of Herbs with Sautéed Spinach or Any Other Green You Like!

Tonight it is New Year's Eve and just like the several New Year's Eves previous, I go to my local fish monger and buy a few nice pieces of expensive sea bass.  After the Christmas holidays, I want simple and succulent.  I will be serving the sea bass tonight with some buttery sautéed garlic and spinach together with a plate of boiled potatoes and French bread that we can dip into a pot of cheesy fondue.

That together with a St. Germaine cocktail and I am set for the New Year baby! 

It doesn't have to be sea bass, it can be any nice piece of fish you enjoy be it salmon or cod.

Ingredients:

Fish of your choice, 1 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. olive oil, handful of your favorite herbs (suggestions below), 1 large lemon, sliced, salt and pepper.

4-8 cups fresh spinach leaves, salt, pepper, 1 clove minced garlic or 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. olive oil.

1. Season your fish with salt and pepper. Get out a heavy based frying pan, turn the heat to medium-high and add 1 tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil.  Once the butter and oil are melted and hot, sear each side of your fish until crispy, about 30 seconds on each side.

2. Now take the fish out of the pan and set on a piece of aluminum foil.  Over top of your fish add a handful of your favorite herbs, ie. basil, sage, thyme, rosemary sprigs.

3. Drizzle with a bit more oil and add a few lemon slices around the fish.

4. Cover the fish loosely with another square of foil and fold the edges together well to seal.

5. You can if you have time, set the fish aside in a cool place to infuse for 1-2 hours.

6. Then in a 350 degree oven, put the fish in a roasting pan in the center of the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the fish is just cooked.

7. Remove from the oven and leave the fish to rest still wrapped for 5- 10 minutes.

Spoon cooking juices over the fish and serve it with wilted buttery spinach!

Spinach:  Simply add more butter and oil to a pan, garlic powder, salt and pepper, or mince 1 clove of garlic, then add 4-8 cups of spinach and cook until wilted as you like.  Taste and add more seasonings. Serve with your fish!

Tara's Make Ahead Turkey Gravy

 

This recipe is helpful providing you have the turkey broth base.  Every Thanksgiving or Easter, I make a huge pot of turkey broth to use as a gravy starter for special occasions, including, Christmas! ****I did provide Ina Garten's make ahead gravy link though, so you can absolutely still make your gravy in advance.

When You Have a Left over Turkey Carcass

When you want to make turkey broth, simply fill a large pot with water and season it with herbs and spices (sage, thyme) you like that go well with turkey, put the turkey carcass in the pot together with the wings, the drumsticks, skin  - everything!  Bring to a boil and then turn the temp down and let simmer for 3 hours or more.

Once the broth has finished simmering, cool it down and then remove any scum from the top as well remove the carcass and any other large parts you can take out.  Then put a colander over another large pot and strain the turkey broth through it.  Put the strained turkey broth into freezer safe containers and pop them into the freezer.

On the big day, you will finish off your gravy with a few easy extra ingredients.  Having the turkey broth however, makes it all so easy and really flavors up your gravy quickly.  This way,  you won't be stressing at the stove with your family hovering trying to get the turkey gravy just right.    

Here is my recipe for Tara's Gravy:  

Defrost 3 1/2 - 4 cups turkey broth.

In a pot add defrosted turkey broth, 4 ounces of red wine (or if you like white), 1 Tbsp. soya sauce and turkey drippings.  Bring to a soft boil and then add 1/4 cup gravy thickener, Bisto powder, my absolute favorite.  Continue adding Bisto until you get the right consistency you like. Taste test and add anything else you might like such as a spig of rosemary, a bit of salt and pepper, more wine, you name it.  

If you don't have turkey broth, Ina Garten has a great make ahead turkey gravy recipe: Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy with Onions & Sage Recipe | Ina Garten | Food Network

Make Ahead Updated Green Bean Casserole with Onion Rings (Side Dish)

2 lbs. green beans trimmed, 1/2 large onion, diced,  2 tbsp. olive oil.

2 strips bacon cooked.  (I actually used that already made bacon and put into the white sauce once it was done.)

Cream Sauce 

1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup flour, 2 cups milk, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1 cup panko, 1/4 cup powdered Parmesan cheese, 1 package frozen onion rings or freshly made homemade onion rings.

In a large pot of boiling salted water (1 tsp. salt), add green beans and cook for about 10 minutes, drain and blot out any excess water.

In a separate pot, over medium heat, add olive oil and onions.  Cook until just translucent.  Keeping onions in pot, add butter and once melted, add flour and whisk until all the flour is absorbed, turn down heat and add milk, whisking vigorously so no lumps form.  Once all smooth all the heat to thicken up your cream sauce.  Add salt and pepper.

Special note - with respect to your white sauce, a tad thicker white sauce is better because it will keep super well in the freezer.  Think of a thicker pancake batter.  You can always add a couple more tablespoons of flour if you need.

Put green beans into a Pam sprayed casserole dish and pour the onions and cream sauce over.  Top and sprinkle with panko and Parmesan cheese. 

To Freeze

Cool down and wrap in both Saran Wrap and Aluminum Foil.  

Pop into the freezer for up to two weeks, but no longer.

Defrosting and Reheating

When you want to get the casserole ready for your dinner, take the casserole out to defrost first - will take about 1 hour depending on how big your casserole is.  Once it has defrosted,  pop into a 350 degree oven.  There will be a little liquid in the bottom of the casserole, but if you cook for up to 1 1/2 hours, it will evaporate and a delicious little crust will form on the bottom too.  At same time you are warming up and cooking green bean casserole, pop in your frozen, preferably panko onion rings and cook those until done.

Once the green bean casserole is warmed through, cooked and browned, top with onion rings or top with canned French Fried onions 15 minutes before casserole is done.  Enjoy!

   

Make Ahead Christmas - Fig, Pear and Boursin Crostini (Appetizer)

 This is beyond delicious and is a recipe I found in Chatelaine magazine many moons ago.  You can make the fig and pear concoction and put into the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also freeze the fig and pear port mixture and then defrost and reheat until desired consistency.

1 cup (250 ml) of chopped dried figs, 1/2 cup (125 ml) of Port or Marsala (use any wine you like), 2 tbsp. (30 ml) of granulated sugar or Splenda, 5 slices of peeled ginger, 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary or or 1/2 tsp. of crumbled dried rosemary leaves, 1 firm ripe pear, 1 baguette sliced 1/4 inch slices, 1 50 g. pkg. of Boursin cheese (Boursin is a soft creamy cheese you can get in the deli section of your grocery store), or use a soft goat cheese if you'd rather. 

Place the figs, port, sugar, ginger, and rosemary in a small saucepan, set over medium high heat and bring to a boil, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes. Meanwhile peel and core pear, then chop. Stir into fig mixture and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed, 2-4 minutes. Refrigerate to cool quickly. Discard ginger slices. If making ahead, turn into a jar or plastic container. Seal tightly and refrigerate up to 1 week Then make the crostini. Preheat the oven to 400 F (200C). Slice baguette into 1/4 inch thick rounds and spread out on a baking sheet. Toast in oven until edges are golden tinged 5-6 minutes. If making ahead, store in an airtight container at room temperature. Spread baguette toasts with a heaping tsp. of Boursin. Top with fig mixture. Delicious with a glass (or bottle) of bubbly.

Make ahead for Christmas: Pesto and Sundried Tomato Cheese Tort (Appetizer)

 This is an old school, back to the 1980s recipe my beautiful friend Joanne gave to me.  She got it from a friend who got it from a chef at the Wedgewood hotel.  It's super delicious and easy to put together.  The best part is that you can cut it into wedges, and then freeze each wedge until you want to serve to company.  It's perfect to serve with crackers, baguette and of course some good drinks.

1 cup asiago cheese, shredded, 1 cup mascarpone cheese, 1 cup dry curd cottage cheese, 1/2 cup pesto sauce, 3/4 cup sundried tomatoes in brine, chopped fine or put into a food processor to whip into a paste (either is good).

1.  Drain most of brine off sundried tomatoes and put into food processor and chop very fine. Set aside.

2. Mix all three cheeses in the food processor, or hand and do not be afraid to overmix.  Set aside.

3. Divide the cheese mixture into 3 parts and set aside.

4. With first 1/3 of cheese mixture, mix thoroughly with sundried tomatoes and spread on the bottom of a 8 inch springform pan.  Set aside.  

5. Take next 1/3 of cheese mixture and mix with 1 tbsp. Miracle Whip.  Spread on top of the first layer of the cheese mixture in the springform pan.  

6. Take the last 1/3 of the cheese mixture  and mix it with the pesto sauce.  Spread that layer on the top of the other cheese layer in the springform pan.  

7. Put in the freezer to get pretty solid, but not frozen.  Cut into wedges and wrap each wedge with Saran Wrap and put in freezer. 

A delicious and impressive snack to feed all of your pals in a pinch!

French Onion Bread with Gruyere Cheese (From Bake from Scratch French Baking)

This is the perfect bread to make when you are just puttering around the house, perhaps doing your Christmas cards or just hanging out watching Netflix.  Making bread is therapy in the most sublime way.  Watching the simplest ingredients alchemize into a work of art is highly satisfying. This unique bread is filled with succulent buttery onions and gooey gruyere cheese! Oh, you will enjoy! XOXO

Special note. The original recipe calls for 4 1/4 cups of flour.  I personally found this to be too much, but it may depend on the flour we use.  So, add the extra flour if you need, if your bread seems too sticky.  Otherwise, I used the following recipe.

1.  3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided, 1/4 sugar, 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast, 1 tsp. kosher salt, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup water, 1/3 cup butter, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 large egg, caramelized onions (recipe below), 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, 2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded and divided.

2.  In a bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt by hand.

3.  In a medium saucepan, heat milk, 1/2 cup water, butter and sour cream over medium heat until an instant read thermometer registers 120-degrees F.  Add warm milk mixture to flour mixture; using the paddle attachment, beat at medium. speed until combined.  Add egg, beating until combined.  With mixer on low speed, gradually add the rest of flour, beating until combined.

4.  Beat at low speed until a soft, smooth, and somewhat sticky dough forms and pulls away from bowl, 9-10 minutes. 

5.  Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a smooth round. 

6.  Lightly oil a large bowl.  Place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place, until doubled in size - 1 to 3 hours.  (I actually put a little warm bean bag under the dough's bowl and opened the warm oven door near the dough to help with the rising process).

7.  Spray a 9-inch round cakepan with cooking spray.

8.  Lightly punch down dough.  Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 21X12 inch rectangle.

9.  In a small bowl, combine softened butter and thyme.  Spread thyme butter onto dough, leaving a 2-inch border on one long side.  Sprinkle and spread caramelized onions onto butter.

10.  Sprinkle 6 ounces cheese onto onions.  Starting with long side opposite border, roll dough into a log, pinching seam to seal.  Place log seam side down, and cut in half lengthwise, leaving 2 inches intact at one end.  Turn halves cut side up, and carefully twist dough pieces around each other; form into a circle.  Place cut side up, in prepared pan.  Cover and let rise in a warm draft free place until puffed, about 30 minutes.

11.  Put on middle rack in 350 degree oven and sprinkle any remaining cheese on top.  Bake bread for about 50 minutes.  Can cover with foil if it begins to get too brown.  You can put a knife in to see if cooked through.  It will come out clean if it is cooked.  Or you can pop a thermometer in center of bread to get a reading of 190 F.

Bon Appetit!