Baked Cod with Lemon and Orange Recipe

Hola Amigos: Today I'm sharing with you a recipe using a sometimes overlooked fish, Cod! This mild flavored fish is so  inexpensive compared to others and rich in vitamins A, C and D as well as Omega 3's that we should all included on regular basis as part of our diets.

Back in my country is very popular in it's dried salted version. I remember the semi lengthy process my mom used to go through every time we had it for dinner. It was well worth the effort,we loved it there,  but oh boy, you won't find this girl doing all that work  now, just thinking of trying to "fish" for all the tiny needles even before starting cooking it, makes me want to open a can of tuna instead, also there is the matter of  the "fishy" smell salted dried cod has, that alone will make all my guys run out the door in panic,lol. Don't get me wrong, it's delicious just like lox, but it takes a lot of work to prepare.

No problem with fresh cod filet though, it's mild flavor allows this fish to wonderfully take any flavors you want to add. This time we added citrus notes of lemon and orange!

Also as you all know my favorite method of preparing seafood is to steam it in a bag and then quickly crisp it and brown it for  a few minutes outside the bag and preparing a little sauce with the delicious juices rendered in the cooking process.

The little sauce I created has a hint of tangy ginger to complement the citrus fruity flavors already in the fish.
A super quick and healthy recipe for times when we are all busy trying to catch up with office parties, hosting our own or just trying to get from one place to another with heavy holiday traffic! 20 minutes in the oven and enjoy!

Thank You for visiting the blog today! Hope you enjoy this quick and flavorful recipe and give it a try next time you see this nutritious and  tasty fish at a store near you! remember my friends, even the most humblest of foods taste better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Baked Cod with Lemon and Orange Recipe

Ingredients:

12 oz Cod Filet

1 TBSP Fresh Lemon Juice

1 TBSP Fresh Orange Juice

1/2 tsp Lemon Zest

1/2 tsp Orange Zest

1 tsp Seafood Seasoning

Onion Powder, Garlic Powder and Lemon Pepper to taste

1/2 Small Red Onion, Sliced

3-4 Thin Orange Slices

1/8 Cup Ginger Ale

1/2 tsp Cornstarch 

Directions:

Marinate your fish with the fruit juices, juice zests and seasonings. Let the fish marinate for 15 minutes only since we don't want to cook it in the citrus mix. 

Preheat oven at 425F. Cut a long piece of parchment paper and another one the same size of aluminum foil, to go right under the parchment one.

Remove the fish from the marinade, place on the parchment paper sheet. Add sliced red onions and orange slices to cover the fish. Wrap the parchment around the fish and seal this inner bag with an aluminum foil one. Bake for 15 minutes. When time is up, open the bags and bake for another 5 minutes so the fish browns.

Remove from oven. 

For the sauce, place rendered juice on a small saucepan, add cornstarch dissolved in ginger ale and cook for a few minutes until it coats the spoon. Serve over the fish and enjoy!

Prep Time 15 Minutes                               Cook Time 20 minutes                       Serves 2

Sharing my easy and frugal fish dinner at these Fabulous Parties:

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Recipe

Hola Amigos! This is the season for shorter days, long lines, big traffic jams, hustle and bustle, so why not take it easy in the kitchen and make a delicious easy dinner to feed our families with as little effort as possible. But don't get me wrong, not because it's easy means tasteless, au contraire mon cheri, lol! Since we are using just a few ingredients we are going to use good quality and get the best flavors out of this meal!

This is basically a deconstructed classic, chicken cordon bleu we all love but sometimes we don't have all the time in the world to prepare, roll the chicken breast, breading it, browning and baking.

All the ingredients are present on this dish, and if you are missing the carbs from the breading, you get the pasta to complement it.

It's creamy and cheese, no room for dry chicken here! And of course, since everything tastes better with bacon, it has a bit of the good stuff to gives us some unexpected flavor and crunch.

I hope you enjoy this dish, it gives you plenty of time to cook it, enjoy it and head out again to join the shopping crowds, hanging decorations or enjoy a nice relaxing evening by the fire. Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Ingredients

6 Slices Bacon, Chopped

1 Lb Chicken Tenders, chopped

1/4 Lb Smoked Ham, cubed

1/2 Cup White Wine

8 oz Sliced Mushrooms

2 Cups Bechamel Sauce

1/2 Cup Peas

1 Cup Shredded Swiss Cheese

Your favorite Pasta

Directions:

In a large hot skillet brown chopped bacon until fat is rendered. Add chopped chicken and saute until cooked and no longer pink, like 8-10 minutes. Add ham and mix. Add white wine and let the alcohol evaporate, like 3 minutes. Add bechamel sauce and mushrooms, mix well until everything is coated with the bechamel sauce. Remove from heat. Before serving, add peas. Serve over pasta and top with shredded Swiss cheese. Enjoy.

Prep Time: 10 minutes                               Cook Time: 20 minutes                     Serves  4

Sharing my tasty  quick meal at these Fabulous Parties:

Smart School House, Hun..what's for dinner?, Our Table for Seven, Kleinworth & Co, Homemade Ginger, The View from 510, Lady Behind the Curtain, All She Cooks, Ducks'n a Row, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Pink Box Recipe, The Best Blog Recipes, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Sweet Haute

Tropical Pork Steaks Recipe

Hola Amigos! When the weather turns cold I can't but to mentally transport myself to warmer places and one of the best way to do it is through food.

I got a couple of beautiful Pork Steaks at the butcher the other day and in my opinion nothing goes better with pork than the taste of the tropics and it's fruits. Passion fruit, pineapple and oranges are some of the tropical fruits used one way or another to prepare this steaks.

And if you are thinking it's too cold to light the grill. not to worry, these are baked!

They are extremely moist and tender the way they are, but you know me, I need to have some gravy with my meats! My gravy has all the flavors of the steaks and the sweetness of the fruit.

The kids love the sweet taste of the steaks and just to make it even more kid friendly, this time we just had them with some Mac n Cheese! It was a hit alright!

Thank You for visiting today, this recipe shows us that when we don't have the money to buy a plane ticket, we can still travel everywhere we want with food! Remember my friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Tropical Pork Steaks

Ingredients:

2.5-3 Lbs Pork Steaks

1 Cup Orange Juice

2 Envelopes Sazon  with Coriander and Tomato

2 Chipotle Bullions

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste
2 TBSP oil for frying

1 (8 oz) can Crushed Pineapples drained (save juice)

1 Cup Passion Fruit Juice ( I used Welch) 
1 TBSP cornstarch

Directions:

Prepare the pork steaks to be marinated either in a zip lock bag or a baking dish. Pour the cup of orange juice and sprinkle the Sazon and crushed chipotle bullions, salt, pepper and garlic powder and rub them with these seasonings until they are all covered, there is plenty for both sides. Put in the refrigerator and let them marinate for a couple of hours. 

When ready to cook, Pre-heat the oven at 365 degrees. 

In a large skillet, 2 tbsp oil, heat up. Place pork steaks, one at a time if they are too big, and seared and brown on both sides. Like 3-5 minutes on each side (again it will depend on the size of the steaks). Once browned place on a baking dish.

Pour the cup of passion fruit juice and the saved pineapple juice. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, uncovered and spread the crushed pineapple over the steaks bake for an additional 5 minutes or until pork is completely cooked, (internal temperature of 145 degrees according to the new USDA guidelines). Once time has elapsed, remove from oven and let the steaks rest.

For the gravy, mix drippings with 1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in a little bit of orange juice and cook until thickened . Serve on top of pork steaks and enjoy.

Prep and Marinating Time 4 hours                   Cook Time 25 minutes                 Serves 4

Sharing a taste of the tropics at these Fabulous Parties:

Craft Dictator, Tatertos aand Jello, Skip to my Lou, The Chicken Chick, Say Not Sweet Anne, Alderberry Hill, Boogieboard Cottage, Mad in Crafts, Frugality Gal, Carrie This Home, Create with Joy, Feeding Big, Smart School House, Hun...what's for dinner?, Our Table for Seven, Kleinworth & Co, Homemade Ginger, The View from 510, Lady Behind the Curtain, All She Cooks, Ducks'n a Row, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Pink Box Recipe, The Best Blog Recipes, Artsy Fartsy Mama, Craft Dictator, Sweet Haute

Combination Stir Fry with BBQ Peanut Sauce Recipe

Hola Amigos! I guess at this moment we are clearing the fridge to make room for our 18 pounder bird and pies and everything we can possible prepare ahead of time. But what to eat before Turkey Day  arrives? well, just check among the "forgotten" items while making that needed space, put them all together and make a delicious stir fry.

This dish came about  because in one of my shopping trips I noticed this perfectly delicious 16 oz of stir fry mix for only $1.69!!! that is a bargain! Most of the time I stick to my rule of buying each veggie by itself because it's usually cheaper, but this one was a no-brainer, just the broccoli alone was $1.99 per head and I just needed a few tops and stems. Same with everything else.

In my fridge I found 1 lonely chicken breast, left from a package of 5, a handful of shrimp and 2 thin cut boneless pork chops, I already had a supply of sauces and condiments from previous visits to take outs ( I know laugh, but they come in handy sometimes) and who doesn't have peanut butter in the pantry?

After a 30 minutes you end up with a flavorful stir fry for almost nothing! You have used some of your leftovers without repeating a meal and creating something worth of the best take out place in town!
The peanuts were an impulse buy at the dollar store, saw a bag of BBQ peanuts and bought 2 for $1 never knowing what I was going to use them for...perfect crunchy element for my stir fry!

Do you check the "manager's special" at your local grocery store? How often do you buy or do you just pass them? I'm  thinking of doing this more often if the value and quality are there and try to create something good for almost nothing.

For this dish the only thing I bought was  the stir fry mix for $1.69!!! Score!

Thank  You for visiting the blog today! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend in anticipation to the big day to come. Remember friends, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Combination Stir Fry with BBQ Peanut Sauce

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp Sesame Oil

1 Chicken Breast, strips
2 Boneless thin cut pork chops, strips

1/2 lb Cooked Shrimp or use any meat you have handy

1 (16 oz) package Stir Fry Mix

1/2 Cup Onion, chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 inch piece Ginger, ground

3 TBSP Peanut Butter

1 TBSP Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Hoisin Sauce
Thai Spice or Pepper Flakes to taste
1/4 Cup BBQ peanuts, chopped
Noodles or Rice to serve with your Stir Fry
Directions:
In a skillet heat up the  1 TBSP sesame oil and fry your chicken strips and pork chop strips until cooked. Set aside. Coat the skillet with the remaining 1/2 tsp of sesame oil add onions, garlic and saute until for 3 minutes. Keep moving constantly not to burn the garlic. Add the Stir fry mix, chicken and pork chop strips. Mix until everything is well combined about 2 minutes, finally add the shrimp. Remove from heat. 
In a separate small sauce pan, on low heat,  mix peanut butter, soy and hoisin sauce until everything is smooth, add Thai Spice Mix or pepper flakes to taste. 
Pour this sauce over stir fry mix coating everything and serve your creation on top of rice noodles or white rice. Enjoy!

Prep Time 10 minutes                            Cook Time 20 minutes                       Serves 4-6 

Sharing my Quick and Delicious Stir Fry at these Fabulous Parties:

Today's Creative Blog, Cheerios and Lattes, Made from Pinterest, Twigg Studios, Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, I Should be Mopping the Floors, Will Cook For Smile, Titi Crafty, 2 Crochet Hooks, My Mixing Spoon, Under the Table and Dreaming, The Chicken Chick, Coastal Charm, Between Naps on the Porch, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Cooking for the Seven Dwarfs, A Pinch of Joy, Create with Joy, The Tumbleweed Contessa, Kathe with an E, Feeding Big, Home Stories A to Z, Hun...What's for dinner, Out Table for Seven, The View from 510, Mandy's Recipe Box, Chef in Training, Nap-Time Creations, Pint Sized Baker, Lady Behind the Curtain, Ducks' n a Row, Fluster Buster, The Taylor House, Ginger Snap Crafts, Diana Rambles, Sweet Haute, Juggling Real Food and Real Life, My Turn (for Us), Craft Dictator, Tatertots and Jello, Rain on a Tin Roof, Huckleberry Love, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to my Lou, Say Not Sweet Anne, Alderberry Hill, Boogieboard Cottage, Mad in Crafts, Frugality Gal, Carrie This Home, Smart School House, Kleinworth & Co, Homemade Ginger, Memories by the Mile, All She Cooks, Kitchen Meets Girl, My Girlish Whims, Pink Recipe Box, Artsy Fartsy Mama, The Best Blog Recipes, Craft Dictator

Stuffed Chicken Medallions Recipe

Hola Amigos! sharing with you today some comfort food now that the sun disappears early in the evening and the nights turn cold. This recipe have all those flavors and textures to keep us satisfied and will have everyone in the family coming for seconds.

Looks fancy and tastes wonderful, as anything with cheese and bacon! but is done in no time!

A great way to sneak some greens into the diet of your picky eaters and keeping the chicken moist through the baking process.

Finally if you are like me and think there is no comfort food if it doesn't has gravy, this creamy but light sauce will give the final touch to your medallions.

This is one of those recipes that there is really not much to say than to give it a try and enjoy it. With a green salad or pasta on the side, makes one delicious, healthy and economical meal! Thank you so much for visiting the blog today and having dinner with us! Always keep in mind my friends, that everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Stuffed Chicken Medallions

Ingredients

4 Boneless Chicken Breast (about 2 lbs)

1 (16 oz) Bag Spinach

1 (16 oz) Container Ricotta Cheese

1 ( 1 oz) Italian Salad Seasoning Mix

1 (2 oz) or 8 slices Pancetta

1 TBSP Butter

3/4 Cup Cream

Parmesan Cheese,

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Directions: 

Heat oven at 350 degrees.

Using a sharp knife, open each of your boneless chicken breast until you get sort of a butterfly out of each one. Between 2 pieces of parchment paper, flatten then a little bit so it's easy for you to stuff them. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine your ricotta cheese, spinach and salad mix. 

Take a flattened chicken breast on to a flat surface,season with some salt and pepper and  place 2 slices of pancetta on it, place some of the cheese and spinach mix, roll it a little bit and using some wooden toothpick pinch the sides together so the stuffing stays in place. Repeat the process with the rest of the chicken breasts.

Place in a bake safe pan and bake covered  for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken from the baking pan and let it rest before cutting it in the shape of medallions. 

To make the sauce, use the pan chicken drippings left on the baking dish. Place them in a small sauce pan with butter and cream, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a few minutes without letting it boil until it reduces. Remove from heat and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of the sauce and serve on chicken medallions. Enjoy.

Prep Time: 10 minutes                          Cook Time: 30-40 minutes                    Serves: 4

Sharing my comforting stuffed chicken at these Fabulous Parties:

Gingerly Made, Live Laugh Rowe, Made in a Day, Saving 4 Six, The Crafty Blogstalker, Creative Geekery, A Glimpse Inside, Sparkles and a Stove, Simply Dream and Create, Consider Me Inspired, The Mandatory Mooch, Artsy Fartsy Mama,What's Cooking Love, The Best Blog Recipe, Juggling Real Food and Real Life, The Girl Creative, Sweet Haute, Jennifer Rizzo, The Answer is Chocolate, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Rattlebridge Farm, Tidy Mom, My Turn (for Us), Craft Dictator, Becoming Martha, My Personal Accent, Living Better Together, The Jenny Evolution, 504 Main, Liz Marie Blog, Not Your Ordinary Recipes, The Pin Junkie, Diana Rambles, The Thriftiness Miss, Today's Creative Blog, Cheerios and Latttes, Angels Homestead, Too Much Time on my Hands, What's Cooking with Ruthie, SewLIcious Home Decor, Made from Pinterest, Lemon Paper Designs, Suburbs Mama, Twigg Studios, Nifty Thrifty Things, 2 Crochet Hooks, Flamingo Toes, Life on Lakeshore Drive, Serenity You, Everyday Mom's Meals, I Should be Mopping the Floors, My Mixing Spoons, Under the Table and Dreaming, This Gal Cooks, A Pinch of Joy, Lines Across, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, The Chicken Chick, Between Naps on the Porch, Feeding Big, Watch Out, Martha!, A Southern Fairtytale, The Gunny Sack, Our Table for Seven, Chef in Training, Home Stories A to Z, Nap Time Creations, Mandy's Recipe Box, Sugar Bee Crafts, Cozy Little House, Ginger Snap Crafts, Lady Behind the Curtain, Gina's Craft Corner, The Brambleberry Cottage, Lamberts Lately, The Mandatory Mooch, The 36th Avenue

Baked Pork Loin with Dried Plums Sauce Fall Recipe

Hola Amigos! Sharing with you today a recipe full of Fall flavors! Have you cooked with prunes before, how about prune juice! I happen to be one of those weird people who would sit in front of the tv with a can of juice prunes and eat them like crazy just to get a whole bunch of seeds at the end , crack them and eat the inside!!!! I know...I said it was weird, lol
Prunes are just Dried Plums! They are high in antioxidants, fiber and a mild natural "extra thing" to keep you regular.

Can you believe that people are so sensitive in a negative way to the word "prune" only associating it with old people and digestive problems? to the point producers changed their name to "Dried Plums" in order to commercialized them and  sell them.. Personally I don't care...let's call things for what they are..but since I want people to read this post I going to follow the masses this one time.

As with any recipe I started with a well seasoned piece of pork and let it marinate for a few hours. That I think is the secret of a tasty meal. I also bake it with a bit  the delicious marinade, to keep it moist while it's in the oven.

I'm aware that the perfect piece of pork should have a little pink in the middle...but..and this is a big But, no one in my family will eat any pork product if it's not cooked all the way through (read overcooked) , therefore this particular pork is on the well done side. I will suggest you cook it according to your family's taste as long as it's between the safe temperature of 140-150 degrees and everybody will be happy and healthy.

This is a savory sauce and it get even better with the addition of the sweet golden raisins! I believe I made a healthy recipe without even planning on doing so, ha! Love that!

Thank You friends for coming to the blog today...give good ol' prunes<----sorry, Dried Plums a try! They are good for you and they taste wonderful. All plates were licked clean after dinner and no one knew what was on the sauce! and remember, everything tastes better with a Pinch of Love!

Besitos,

Lizy

Baked Pork Loin with Dried Plums Sauce
Ingredients:
1 (2 1/2-3 lb) Pork Loin 
For the rub:
1 TBSP Curry Powder
1 TBSP Garlic Powder
1 TBSP Onion Powder
1 TBSP Celery Salt
1/2 tsps Tumeric
1/2  tsps Nutmeg
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 1/2 Cup Dried Plum  Juice
2-3 TBSP Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Golden Raisins
Directions:
In a bowl mix all the ingredients for your rub. Remove pork loin from refrigerator and rub it with your mix all over. Place it in a zip lock bag and add 1 cup of your Dried Plum Juice, refrigerate for a couple of hour or even over night. Once in a while during the marinating time, move it around in the bag to make sure every side gets permeated with the juice and spices.
Pre heat your oven at 450 degrees. Remove loin from the bag and place it in your baking dish, Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove aluminum foil and baste with some of the liquids coming from the pork and marinade. Cook uncover for another 15 minutes for a total of 45 minutes, 
With a thermometer take pork internal temperature and make sure it has reached 140-150 degrees. Remove from heat and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting it.
Save some of the drippings on the pan for the sauce. Place them in a small saucepan and add the remaining 1/2 cup of dried plum juice. brown sugar and golden raisins. Cook on medium heat for 5-8 minutes until raisins are fat and plump. Serve the sauce over you sliced pork loin and enjoy.

Important note about cooking pork : I want to emphasis the I've done a lot of research about for how long you should safely cook it regardless of what "chefs" say, I cook things the way I like it and the way I think is safe for my family and still comes out tasting good. The guideline I use is 20 minutes per pound if the pork loin is about 2 lb and a 15 minutes per pound if the pork loin is between 3 1/2-5 lb and always when the internal temperature reaches 145 and remains that way after 3 minutes. 

Prep Time: 4 hours (includes marinating time)   Bake Time 45 minutes    Serves 4-5

Sharing a slice of this loin at this Fabulous Parties:

The Mandatory Mooch, Sweet Haute,White Lights on Wednesday, Polkadots on Parade, Pink Recipe Box, House Wives of Riverton, Made in a Day, Creative Geekery, The Girl Creative, Love and Laundry, A Simple Five, Living Better Together, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, 504 Main, My Romantic Home, Tidy Mom, Home Maid Simple, The Best Blog Recipe, Craftionary, The Brambleberry Cottage, Practically Functional, Townsend House, Craft Dictator, Juggling Real Food and Real Life, Today's Creative Blog, Sara Howe, Six Sister's Stuff, The Answer is Chocolate, Cheerios and Lattes, Cassidy's Cooking Collection, Sewlicious Home Decor, Classy Clutter, Suburbs Mama, Twigg Studios, Life on Lakeshore Drive, The Tablescaper, Navy Wifey Peters, Titi Crafty, The Velvet Moon Baker, Your Home Based Mom, Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Things, My Mixing Spoon, VMG206, Huckleberry Love, Sumo;s Sweet Stuff, Under The Table and Dreaming, The Chicken Chick, I Should be Mopping the Floors, This Gal Cooks, Carrie This Home, Ms enPlace, A Southern Fairytale, Jam Hands, The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen, Feeding Big, The Gunny Sack, Our Table for Seven, Chef in Training, Memories by the Mile, Love Bakes Good Cakes, Between Naps on the Porch, A Peek into my Paradise, Lady Behind the Curtain, My Turn (for Us), Pint Sized Baker