Sea Bass in Parchment Paper

I've been on a little bit of a health food kick recently.
















This is usually a cyclical thing for me and you may start to notice a pattern with the kind of recipes I post. 
















It tends to go like this:  eat healthy for about 2 weeks, make a dessert for a get together or an occasion, consume way too much of the dessert everyday until it is gone.
















Then I go back to eating pretty clean and well-balanced meals.   It seems to work for me.
















I'm proud of this entree because it is very tasty for being such a healthy meal.  It's also simple to make.  The hardest thing is having access to fresh fish.

This could be difficult to do when living in Northeast Ohio, but I happen to live near Bay Lobster Fish Market which has a great supply of seafood!

I barely have to do anything to the fish and it comes out delicious!

Sea Bass in Parchment Paper
(serves 2) 

2 6-8 oz sea bass fillets
1 Tablespoon olive oil
salt + pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, sliced
a couple of sprigs of thyme

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper large enough to completely fold over and crimp.  Crease the parchment papers down the middle and place them on a baking sheet.  Put a sea bass fillet on one side of each piece of parchment.  Split 1/2 Tablespoon of olive oil on each piece of fish and season with salt and pepper.  Layer 2 slices of lemon on top of each fillet and pour a quarter cup of white wine on each as well.  Top with the sprigs of thyme.

Starting at the crease, crimp and roll the open pieces of the parchment paper together to completely seal it into a package.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets.  Mine were relatively thin so it took only 15 minutes.  Use scissors to cut open parchment paper. Enjoy.

Proscuitto, Sage, Goat Cheese, Honey Chicken

It seems like the titles of my posts are super long.

I guess I feel the need to list every ingredient so that you know exactly what you are looking at, even before reading the recipe.

I could add that there is a little olive oil, salt and pepper used as well... but I didn't want to go overboard.

This chicken has it all though: salty, sweet, creamy and crisp.

It is a pretty simple to make so I foresee having the meal again in our near future.


Proscuitto, Sage, Goat Cheese, Honey Chicken
(serves 2)

Ingredients
2 chicken breast, butterflied
4 pieces of thinly sliced proscuitto
8-10 sage leaves
2 oz goat cheese
1 Tablespoons honey + some for drizzling
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Take the butterflied chicken breasts and lay 2 pieces of proscuitto on the inside of each.  Layer the sage leaves and 1 ounce of goat cheese for each breast.  Drizzle 1/2 a tablespoon of honey on each as well.  Fold over and secure with a toothpick.

Place on a oven safe dish and bake for 25-35 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.  Remove toothpicks, drizzle some extra honey on top and then serve.

Blue Cheese & Bacon Bison Burgers

This is a healthier alternative to your normal burger.

Well maybe not with the addition of bacon, but the bison meat is said to have less calories and fat than your normal ground beef. 

And it tastes about the same as the ground beef as well.

Just make sure you oil your grates before putting them on the grill.  I did not and lost valuable meat to the fiery pit below.

Blue Cheese & Bacon Bison Burgers
(makes ~5 burgers)

Ingredients
2 lbs ground buffalo (bison) meat
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper

Bacon, cooked
Crumbled blue cheese
Hamburger buns, toasted

Direcions
Beat the egg in a large bowl then add ground meat, bread crumbs, worcestershire sauce and garlic powder.  Combine ingredients then form 4-6 burgers depending on your preferred size.  Salt and pepper both sides of the patties.  Oil the grates of a grill on medium-high heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side.  Assemble burger with blue cheese and bacon on a toasted bun!

















Mmmm... yum

Caramelized Onion, Asparagus, and Pancetta Pizza

It took me four tries to finally get this pizza right.

 

The first time I was in a rush and I burned the caramelized onions.  I am too impatient to do caramelized onions the right way.  I'm working on it.

 

I blame the second failure on the Olympics.  I put the pizza on the grill, watched some beach volleyball, then went back to find myself with a blackened pizza.  It actually didn't taste that bad.

The third try was when I took all the ingredients over to Suzi's house to make the pizza there.  Third time's the charm, right?  Nope, forgot the pancetta.

Finally I did it!  And it was good!  Joe and I finished off the entire thing in one sitting.

 It's a lot of work but if you can get it right, it's delicious and worth it.

Caramelized Onion, Asparagus, and Pancetta Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza dough of your choosing

Garlic infused Olive Oil (roast a head of garlic in olive oil in a ramekin for about 45 min)

Asparagus, roasted and cut into bite sized pieces

Caramelized Onion

1/2 Cup of Pancetta, cut into small squares

Pecorino

Directions

Roll out your dough on a pizza peel.  Use flour or cornmeal under the dough so it will slide off easily.  Turn all the burners of your grill on high, put a pizza stone on the grates and close the lid to let it heat up. In a small skillet, heat the pancetta over low heat until some of the fat is rendered and they brown up a little bit.

Assemble the pizza:  Brush on some garlic infused olive oil and top it with the asparagus, caramelized onions and the pancetta.  Once the grill reaches 500°F (or hotter!), slide the pizza onto the stone and close the lid.  It should take about 5-6 minutes but keep an eye on it.  Once the sides and bottom have browned, slide the pizza back onto the pizza peel.  Let it cool for a few minutes before slicing and devouring.