Tilapia - a new addition to Soren's palette. I just read a wonderful book on feeding children and 'opening' tastebuds at an early age - French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon. A very interesting read - I highly recommend it. Inspired by the book and my own travels to Europe (and of course with the support of Rick), we are adjusting some of our own eating habits. Rick and I decided a year ago to become vegetarians. Not just the mac and cheese - scrambeled eggs kind (although, Soren does really enjoy scrambled eggs in the morning...), but the lentil, bean - balanced diet kind. And so far - so good. But what I realized when reading the book was how little fish and seafood we had on the menu (um... like non. Seriously). Since we are pescetarian, technically (the type of vegetarian that eat fish, milk and eggs), our lack of fish on the menu was really, tastefully (literally), unsatisfactory. Today - I joyfully snagged some tilapia from Whole Foods and dove right in! I mean, really - how hard could it be? And honestly - it wasn't. I was afraid, after not cooking meat for a year I would be wreck, worrying if the fillet's were cooked all the way - but fish is a bit simpler than the other meats. Maybe that is why our bodies digest it with more ease... who knows?
Either way - tilapia was a hit with our wee man and I have to say - I'm hooked! Since we have been experiencing some very chilly, hot cocoa inducing weather I quickly opened up a nostalgic oldie, my mother's very own Betty Crocker Cookbook. Soren and I fixed the best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER and this very simple, very delicious Oven-Fried Tilapia (served with spinach puree and fresh corn).
Oven-Fried Fish (tilapia for us!)
1 pound fish (makes about 5 servings - our's six. I cut the fillets in half, easier for wee fingers)
1/4c milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2c breadcrumbs (ours were whole-wheat)
2 tbsp butter
Lemon wedges for garnish and extra flavor
Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees and place a rack just above the middle. Mix the milk and salt in a bowl. Dredge the cut fillets in the milk/salt mixture - then toss with the breadcrumbs covering the entire fillet. Melt the butter. Put a small amount of the butter on a pan (I used a cookie sheet with ridges that would fit all the filets) to keep the fillets from sticking - spread around evenly. Place the breaded fillets on the pan. Pour the rest of the butter over the fillets equally. Place in the oven for 10-12 minutes. The top meat should be very flakey, our tilapia only took about 10 minutes. And voila! quick and easy meal for the whole family! Serve with lemon wedges and dig in!
Enjoy! (Soren and I did)