Honey Mustard Glazed Tilapia with Sauteed Spinach

Last week's barbeque ribs made me feel pretty confidant about trying new recipes, so I tried another one this past weekend. It was kinda my own concoction. I was inspired by a honey mustard chicken recipe I got from Q's mom. I used her glaze from that recipe on some tilapia, and it turned out pretty good. I paired the fish with garlic-sauteed spinach! To complement the flavors from the glaze and the spinach, I added lightly-seasoned white rice.

Honey Mustard Glaze
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard
2 tbsps lime juice
1 tsp salt
Scotch bonnet peppers (to taste)



I mixed the glaze first and then put it to the side. I used salt, black pepper, scotch bonnet peppers, scallions and garlic to season the fish and put them into a glass baking pan with some vegetable oil. I baked the tilapia at 400 degrees for 20 min. I poured the glaze on top of the tilapia and then let it cook for an additional 20 minutes at a lower temperature (I think 300). I didn't want to overcook the fish--that's always such a deal-breaker on Top Chef.

In hindsight, I would have poured off the "juices" from the tilapia before adding the glaze. The glaze didn't get very sticky because all the juice in the pan diluted it. I also could have pan-seared the tilapia first, then put the pieces into a pan covered with the glaze, and broiled the fish at a high temperature until the glaze had set. I'll try one of those options next time.

I love sauteed spinach. This was my first time making it myself. First I made my own garlic-infused oil by sauteing some minced garlic in a pan with oil until the garlic was brown. Then I removed the garlic pieces and sauteed the spinach in the garlic oil until they just started to wilt. It doesn't take very long to do this at all. Just note that what seems like a lot of spinach at first isn't really that much once it's sauteed. I used about 1/2 a bag of spinach to make one serving, so plan accordingly. I seasoned the finished spinach with Adobe Salad & Vegetable Seasoning and some black pepper.



Everything turned out pretty good. Another edible meal! I congratulated myself with a glass of Gavi. Nice

Little Miss Knight

Barbeque beef ribs - Take 1

This recipe wasn't entirely a fail, but it didn't come out the way I wanted it to. I bought some beef back ribs at Walmart, and they didn't really have a lot of meat on them, but i figured that's just how they were supposed to be. Of course I was wrong.


I coated the "ribs" with Worcestershire sauce to tenderize the meat and get the seasoning to stick. I seasoned with salt, pepper, minced garlic and scallions. I baked the ribs with barbeque sauce at about 300 and kept it in the oven for just under an hour to ensure the meat stayed tender.


It tasted really good. I enjoyed it a lot. There just wasn't enough of it! I made six pieces, but there was BARELY any meat on the bones! Q and I could only laugh. LOL we were definitely still hungry after eating dinner. Then I called my brother to tell him what happened, (he is a beef ribs junkie) and he told me that I should have gotten the ribs on the rack! Of course! All in all, it was a pretty entertaining experience. I'm excited about using the right cut of meat and actually feeling FULL the next time I use this recipe...

Little Miss Knight

This is what happens when I watch Top Chef

I have a new "something" on my 30 by 30 list: Make 30 new meals. I'm really excited about it. I can do a lil' sumn sumn in the kitchen, but I cook the same things all the time. YAWN! So I'm branching out so I can have a decent recipe repertoire.

I was watching Top Chef last week (love that show) and felt inspired to start cooking...right then. It was almost 11:00 PM, and I should have been getting ready for bed. Instead I made my own buttermilk and started a brine for fried chicken. I modified the recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen, which is a great blog (and she's coming out with a recipe book. Yay!) Now I've definitely made fried chicken before, but I've never soaked my chicken in buttermilk brine. I've never used buttermilk. As much as I was raised in Florida, the city where I grew up is more Caribbean island than Dirty South, so maybe that's why? At any rate, peep the recipe:




Buttermilk Fried Chicken Brine
5 chicken legs (or approximately 1.25 lbs of other chicken pieces)1 1/2 cups buttermilk (add 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk to make your own buttermilk)1/3 cup Kosher salt (I used sea salt...that's all I had)2 tbsp chicken bullion (the recipe calls for paprika...and that's it? Nah son...)1/4 cup brown sugargarlic (to taste)   

I let the chicken soak almost 24 hours. When I got home from work on Friday, I took the chicken out of the brine, dried it, and then rolled it in some flour mixed with just a pinch of salt and pepper. I fried the chicken until it was a nice brown color (lighter than what you see in the photos above). I was so excited to try it! I'd been thinking about frying that chicken all day at work.

Too bad I had to throw all the chicken away. It was sooooooo salty!!!!! I'd either used WAY too much salt in the brine or let the chicken soak for WAY to long. Regardless, I couldn't eat any of it. I was so disappointed. I forced down one piece because I hate wasting food, but then I realized it would suck more to die from high sodium intake.

Sigh. I think I ended up having peanut butter & jelly for dinner that night. What a disaster. The rest of the recipe was perfect, so I think I'll reduce the amount of salt and use only 1/3 of what I used (so that would be 1/9 a cup? What does that even mean?). I'll try again eventually. I haven't tried anything new since this debacle, which was a few weeks ago now. I'm literally discouraged. Bleh.

Little Miss Knight

Uh yeah...scratch that.

An earlier version of this post divulged WAY TOO MUCH information. LOL I promise not to hit you over the head with any more of my in-depth self-actualizations -_______-

When I was putting together my "30 by 30" list, I was in a weird place with someone I'd considered a close friend. So on my list, I added "Make another best friend" because at the time, I felt I was losing one. Fast forward a few months and I've realized--I don't need any more besties. LOL. Or at least, I'm not going to seek them out. Relationships are hard work! I have a few really close friends, but most of them live in different parts of the country, and it's hard to keep up with them all and check in and be that good friend. Friendships are emotional, and while they can bring joy, there are times when they bring pain.

Instead of looking for another friend, I'm putting that energy into the friendships that have proven true for years, and it's been WONDERFUL! I feel like I'm rediscovering the people that have always been there for me, some of them for over half my life! I want to spend my time showing them how much I appreciate the fact that they've been good friends and have always acted unselfishly. They've been supportive. Most of all, they've been honest and open. My friends have shared the best of times and worst of times with me, and they've trusted me enough to be transparent. I will always love them for that.

Alright so enough of the sap -____-

I've decided to add "Make 30 new meals" to my list. I am so tired of cooking the same things over and over again. Part of that is because I grew up Adventist, so I don't eat pork, most seafood, or anything that doesn't chew it's cud AND have cloven hooves (yes, those are real guidelines. Read Leviticus...it'll make you appreciate Christ for putting us under grace and NOT under the law). I rarely cook red meat because I won't buy it unless it's organic, and honestly, I've gotten comfortable with spaghetti and texas toast for dinner.

No more! Now that Q has moved closer, I'm excited that I actually get to cook for him when he comes to visit. It'll be fun to choose new recipes and share them with him and with my friends in the area. I foresee a lot of potlucks...and a chubby boyfriend =)

Little Miss Knight