Football Feast Part 1

If there is one thing you should know about my husband and I, it's that we're big NFL fans. Huge. His team is the San Francisco 49ers and my team is the best team in existence, the Pittsburgh Steelers. As such, I love to use Sundays as an excuse to watch football and make a huge feast to go along with it. A few weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers (booooo) were playing the 49ers and since my bro-in-law and a few of our friends are Packers fans (boooo!!!) I thought what a perfect excuse to have people over and spend all day in the kitchen! I made deviled eggs (which will be featured in this post), Mediterranean wonton cups, Chicken Parmesan Bites, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cookie sandwiches, and just because, Cherry Chip Cupcakes (all of which will be featured in subsequent posts).
I will begin with the deviled eggs which were a product of my own brain :)

My husband and I had recently gone out for our anniversary (and for those of you who know when our anniversary is, you will see how far behind I am in my blogging!) and at the restaurant we went to we ordered an appetizer that consisted of three different types of deviled eggs and oh my word were they good. It inspired me to make my own version for our Sunday afternoon football extravaganza.
I boiled and peeled my eggs the night before as that was definitely the part of all of this that was the most time consuming. I think I boiled about 16-18 eggs. I had about 30 halves in the end and some of them I had to get rid of because the egg didn't peel nicely and it just wasn't up to my standards. As I was cutting the eggs in half, I divided the yolks into two bowls as I was making two kinds of deviled eggs...

Horseradish Deviled Eggs

3 Tablespoons creamy horseradish (enough for the distinct flavor)

4 Tablespoons Miracle Whip (I figured the zest of Miracle Whip would work well here)

1 teaspoon celery salt

Paprika and Green Onions for garnish

Smokey Bacon Deviled Eggs

4 slices of bacon, diced really small

6 Tablespoons Miracle Whip

1 teaspoon Epicure Louisiana Hot and Spicy Seasoning

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire

Paprika and Green Onions for garnish.

For each of these, I added the ingredients (except for the paprika and green onions) into the bowls along with the egg yolks and mashed until very smooth. Once smooth, I put each of the egg yolk mixtures into a Ziploc bag and cut off a little corner of the bottom of the bag. I squeezed the rest of the air out of the bags and then started piping the egg yolk mixture into each of the egg white halves. Once I had all of the egg white halves filled, I sprinkled a little bit of paprika on each and then topped with the green onions.

Look at how cute those are! They turned out exactly how I imagined they would! Hooray!

Next up on Food Talk at Five, Mediterranean wonton cups AND Chicken Parmesan Bites.

xoxo

-A

Trout with Avocado Mango Salsa, Rice and Parmesan Zucchini Sticks

For those of you who have been following my blog, you will know that I have been trying to eat more fish. I'm still not a big fan, but if it's dressed up right, I usually enjoy it. It's been a journey (re: fish is a whole food group, schemas of myself as a foodie, too many psychology courses, etc.) but I have found another recipe that I enjoy and it's only right that I share it with you, dear readers. The original recipe (http://www.tastespotting.com/features/salmon-with-avocado-mango-salsa-recipe-canyon-ranch) called for salmon but we only had trout in the house at this point. So here goes...

Trout (or Salmon) with Avocado Mango Salsa

 For the salsa:
half of a large avocado, peeled, diced
1/3 cup peeled, diced mangoes
2 Tablespoons minced red onions
2 Tablespoons minced red bell peppers (I had a yellow one in my fridge)
1 Tablespoon cilantro (I'm not a fan so I used parsley instead)
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice (about half of a small lime)
1/2 teaspoon minced jalapeno peppers
1/4 teaspoon salt

Basically all you need to is chop everything up, chuck it in a bowl and give it a good stir to combine everything nicely. Voila.

Once your salsa is made and the flavours are combining, start sauteing your fish. Remember, fish doesn't take very long to cook at all so if you're making multiple dishes, maybe cook your fish last.

For the trout:
1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
trout (or salmon) filets
salt and fresh ground pepper

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper then place in pan and sear each side for about 3-5 minutes, or until cooked through.

With this dish, I also made zucchini sticks. My neighbour had given me an obscene amount of zucchini from her garden and since I hate to waste perfectly good vegetables, I decided to try something different with them. I had made zucchini sticks once before but they were blech. This new recipe I found seemed to be much  more promising. Here's the recipe I found (http://www.closetcooking.com/2009/02/parmesan-crusted-baked-zucchini-sticks.html) and we're off!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used panko, like I do in everything)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1 teaspoon oregano
1 pound zucchini (I'm sure I had more than this so I just adjusted and made a little more of everything)
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
Mix the bread crumbs, parmesan and oregano in a small bowl. Season the zucchini with salt and pepper. Dip the zucchini in egg, then dredge in the bread crumb mixture. Place zucchini on a baking sheet in a single layer with the skin side (the dark part) down. Bake in an oven preheated to 425F for about 20-25 mins, or until golden brown. Like this...

These were good dipped in marinara sauce. I don't think they would be very good the next day if you had left overs as I think they would get pretty soggy. So the moral of the story is that they are best if eaten right away. For the rice, I cooked it in my trusty rice cooker and added seasonings (salt, powdered chicken bouillon).

 And there you go. A perfectly easy and delicious meal.

Much love,

- A