Pan-Glazed Fish with Citrus and Soy

I've been missing fish in my diet and I needed an opportunity to check out Santa Monica Seafood in the new location. I headed out to gape in awe at the selection of fresh fish, bread, and *oysters* at the oyster bar at this unique so-cal fish store. I chose a nice oily black cod for the dish tonight. The recipe was initially given to me by my family but I also found it online at epicurious.com

It turned out fantastic and was really easy to make. I did sides of amaranth (our favorite grainy side dish that has forever replaced rice) and steamed green beans from a frozen Trader Joe's bag. For those of you who haven't tried amaranth, I highly recommend it. It tastes nutty and has a consistency similar to cream of wheat. It is prepared similarly to rice - start with cold water and bring it to a boil with the grain in the pot, simmer for 20 minutes. It's so yummy! I also discovered you can pop it just like popcorn. You can add it to salad dressing or have it for breakfast. The Aztecs used it to make beer. You can add it to bread or cookies. It's really healthy too - high in iron and protein, it has three times the calcium of milk.

Oatmeal Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Needed to bake tonight. I had this recipe and hadn't tested it yet. Its okay, nothing special. The cookies are moist and bake out flat to a substantial, textured cookie.  I didn't use reduced-fat sour cream either. I probably wouldn't make it again but the reviews on the Cooking Light website are pretty mixed.

Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients

• 1  cup  whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
• 3/4  cup  regular oats
• 1  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1 1/2  cups  packed brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1/4  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 2  large egg whites
• 3/4  cup  sweetened dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
• 1/2  cup  semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Place sugar, butter, and sour cream in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until smooth. Add vanilla and egg whites; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring until blended. Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until edges of cookies are browned. Cool on pan 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Sticky Buns

Now *these* are sticky buns! I was reading a entry on a friend's Facebook page about how she made sweetbread in her bread machine...and I had never thought of using it for that. I've made plenty of dough for pizza and lots of bread over the years, but for some reason that use never occurred to me. Well it works pretty damn well. Recipe to follow...

Grandma T's Peanut Butter Cookies

On Easter Sunday I had to work for a few hours, but then we went to our friend's house to celebrate. I had just enough time to pop these into the oven to bring with us.

This is certainly the most baked cookie in our house, and X's favorite (besides the Guinness Brownies). They are dense, peanut-buttery, and not too sweet.


Makes 24

1/2 C CRISCO
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1C peanut butter
1 1/2C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine Crisco, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg & vanilla. Add peanut butter. Beat until blended.

2. Sift together flour, soda, & salt. Blend into creamed mixture.

3. Roll into small balls about the size of a walnut. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press with fork to flatten (but not too hard).

4. Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Remove to cooling rack.