Baked Parmesan Pesto Tilapia #giveaway #recipe Kim Davis

 

KIM DAVIS: I don't know about you, but after the indulgences of the holiday season I'm ready for simple, yet healthier meals. Eons ago when my granddaughters were very young, we'd have family meals together with their mom at least twice a week (their dad traveled all the time for business). It was a good opportunity to introduce the girls to something other than fast food or convenience products like mac & cheese, which seems to be a staple when both parents work long, full-time hours on top of commuting. Don't misunderstand me, there's nothing with either types of food in moderation. But since I had the time and the inclination, I tried to make meals that they wouldn't normally get. Enter fish. It's easy to prepare, it's quick to cook, and easy for young palates to become accustomed to if you choose mild fish, such as tilapia. Although we were lucky that they both loved salmon from the start too, and I often received requests to cook the "pink" fish for dinner. Starting out I didn't use the pesto sauce base called for in this tilapia recipe, but as the girls grew older and their tastes more sophisticated, I added it. Everyone agrees that the "original" and the pesto-flavored fish is a keeper and I'm happy to serve often! 

Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page for a giveaway to celebrate the new year! 

Baked Parmesan Pesto Tilapia

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets (or other mild white fish) 2 tablespoons pesto sauce 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese 2 tablespoons mayonnaise 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning 1/8 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (F).

Line a broiler safe pan or baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pat the fish fillets dry and place on the prepared pan. Brush the pesto sauce over the fillets.

Combine the panko crumbs, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, Italian herb seasoning, salt, and garlic powder together. 

Divide evenly over the fish fillets, and press the crumbs to adhere.

Bake on the middle rack for 10 minutes, or until the fish begins to flake when tested with a fork.

Turn the oven to the broil setting.

Move the pan to the top rack and broil for 1 to 2 minutes until the crust is golden brown, rotating pan as necessary. Keep a close watch so that the crust doesn’t burn.

Remove from oven and serve with your favorite rice and a vegetable side.

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF of the recipe!💕

Books available at most online retailers

 

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * Apple

 

Cupcake Catering Mysteries * Essentials of Murder

 

About the Author:

Kim Davis writes the Aromatherapy Apothecary cozy mystery series, and the award-winning Cupcake Catering cozy mystery series. She has also written several children’s nature articles published in a variety of magazines. For ten years she’s written the Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder culinary cozy mystery blog, in which she features reviews of cozy mysteries along with a recipe from the book, and photos of the prepared dish. And now she’s a member of Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen!
Kim Davis is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

She lives in Southern California with her husband and rambunctious mini Goldendoodle, Missy, who has become an inspiration for several plotlines. When she’s not spending time with her granddaughters or chasing Missy around, she can be found either writing on her next book, working on blogs, or in the kitchen baking up yummy treats to share.

Click here to sign up here for Kim’s newsletter: Newsletter
Connect with Kim on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Bluesky, Bookbub, Goodreads, and website
 

To celebrate the New Year, I'm giving away an ebook copy of Essentials of Murder, open to US residents only.

Readers, do you have favorite dishes that you make after the start of the new year? 

Comment below and include your email (yourname at yourserver dot com) for a chance to win Essentials of Murder. (Contest ends 11:59pm on Wednesday, January 14, 2026.)

Salmon with BBQ Sauce & Peaches #recipe from Korina Moss

Korina Moss: I used to like the Firecracker Salmon at Outback Steakhouse, so I attempted to recreate it. But since I like to make everything easy peasy, this one is only 5 ingredients. As always, you can add or subtract ingredients to suit your taste. The first time I made this, I didn't have peaches, so as you can tell, they're not in the photo above. But I knew it would add a lot to it, so you'll see it in the later photo when I made it a second time. I think mangos would also go well with it. 

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh salmon filet (if you use frozen, thaw first)

2 TBL your favorite jar BBQ sauce

1 tsp Brown sugar 

1 tsp garlic powder

peaches - I used packaged, sugar free. You can also used canned or fresh.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 500°

Put foil on baking sheet or pan

Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray

Put salmon on top

Mix bbq sauce, brown sugar and garlic. The bbq sauce I used this time is quite sweet already, so I didn't use the brown sugar. If you use a tangy bbq sauce as I've used in the past, then I suggest using some brown sugar. 

Spread sauce on salmon 

Drain peaches

Dot peaches on top

Bake for 8-12 minutes until salmon is at 145°. Enjoy! 

Readers: What's your favorite kind of fish? 

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop cozy mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner of the Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Listed as one of USA Today’s Best Cozy Mystery series, her books have also been featured in PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, and Writer’s Digest. Korina is also a book coach and freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. 

Korina’s latest book, Fondue or Die, is one of the current nominees for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. The awards will be announced at the Malice Domestic fan convention on April 26th. If you’d like to attend, more information may be found here. 

Her next book, Bait and Swiss, is available on April 29th and may be preordered from your favorite bookseller through Macmillan Publishers. To find out more about the Cheese Shop Mystery series and subscribe to her FREE monthly newsletter, visit her website and follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

Korina is also a book coach and freelance developmental editor specializing in cozy and traditional mysteries. Using her experience writing her award-winning series for a Big 5 publisher, she has the inside track on what editors, agents, and readers are looking for in a mystery.  Whether you're a new writer hoping to be traditionally or independently published, or you're an established writer wanting some guidance with a manuscript, she can help you strengthen your book. You can find more information on her website and contact her at korinamossauthor@gmail.com. 

Baked Catfish #Recipe by Maya Corrigan #vegetarian #glutenfree

Catfish is a mild white fish, popular in the South, where it is usually served breaded with cornmeal and deep fried. I don't deep fry anything, so I don't go looking for catfish, but I couldn't resist the meaty fish fillet (if that isn't a contradiction in terms) at our supermarket's fish counter. I found a simple baked catfish recipe online and adapted it to share today. The original recipe came from Lana's Cooking: https://www.lanascooking.com/baked-catfish.

Catfish prepared this way is quick to make and tastes delicious. The recipe would work with fillets of other kinds of fish as well. 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt or less
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
10-12 ounces catfish fillets
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the first seven ingredients in a small bowl.

Place the fillets on a lightly oiled baking pan.

Sprinkle the herbs and spices you mixed over both sides of the fish.

Mix the melted butter, lemon juice and garlic powder in a small bowl.

Drizzle the mixture over the fillets.

Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until the fish flakes.

Remove it from the pan and serve with your preferred sides and salad.

READERS: Do you like to try new recipes or do you prefer to make your tried-and-true dishes most of the time?

📚

Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. It features a young cafe manager and her young-at-heart grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. Maya has taught college courses in writing, literature, and detective fiction. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.

Visit her website for book news, mystery history and trivia, and easy recipes. Sign up for her newsletter there. She gives away a free book to one subscriber each time she sends out a newsletter. Follow her on Facebook.

A PARFAIT CRIME: Five-Ingredient Mystery #9

Set in a quaint Chesapeake Bay town, the latest novel in Maya Corrigan’s Five-Ingredient Mysteries brings back café manager Val Deniston and her recipe columnist grandfather – a sleuthing duo that shares a house, a love of food and cooking, and a knack for catching killers.

At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn the victim is known to him, a woman named Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in Jane’s freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice?

After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at Granddad’s house to get to work—and enjoy his five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Granddad retrace the victim’s final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler.

Read an excerpt and see where to buy A Parfait Crime.  

Praise for A Parfait Crime

📚

Branzino with Citrus Sauce Maya Corrigan #Recipe

Branzino is a European sea bass, a white fish with a delicate flavor. I first tasted it fifteen years ago in Italy and loved it, but I couldn't find it in the U.S. until recent years. It's usually sold as a whole fish weighing a bit over a pound, but when I saw branzino filet (or is it fillet?) in the supermarket today, I snapped it up. No bones to deal with--yay! 

Branzino (plural: branzini) is a sustainable farmed fish low in mercury. A sign at the fish counter where I bought it said it came from the Greek island of Kefalonia. 

Ingredients 

1 branzino filet, 8 to 9 ounces

1 small lemon

1 orange

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Red pepper flakes

Optional: finely chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley 

Serves 2

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with with foil and light cover the foil with olive oil. Put the fish on the foil and drizzle some olive oil on it. Lightly season the fish with salt and black pepper. Bake until the fish is flaky, 10-12 minutes.  

While it's baking, grate the zest of the lemon and half an orange. Put the zest in a small bowl and with a pinch of salt and of red pepper, several grinds of black pepper, and the juice of 1/2 the lemon and 1/4 of the orange. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil and stir to combine. 

Slice the remaining lemon and orange to use as a garnish.

Take the fish out of the oven after 10 and check if cooked. The fish should be flaky and not translucent. If it needs more time, put it in for another minute and check it again. Return it to the oven for an additional minute if needed. 

Serve the fish on a platter with the citrus sauce over it. Garnish it with lemon and orange slices on top of or surrounding the fish.

Unlike fish sauces like almondine, this citrus sauce contains no butter, just a bit of olive oil, making it lower in fat. I liked it so much that I plan to make it again for other mild fish like rainbow trout or red snapper.  

Are you a fish eater? If so, do you have a favorite type of fish or way to prepare it?

📚

Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mysteries featuring café manger Val and her live-wire grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Maya lives in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Before writing crime fiction, she taught American literature, writing, and detective fiction at Northern Virginia Community College and Georgetown University. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.

Visit a mystery fan fest in the latest Five-Ingredient Mystery

Val and Granddad attend a mystery fan fest that features a bake-off between contestants playing the roles of cooks to fictional sleuths. As Nero Wolfe’s gourmet chef, Granddad competes against Sherlock Holmes's landlady Mrs. Hudson, played by Cynthia Sweet. Granddad blames her for ripping off the five-ingredient theme of his Codger Cook newspaper column to use in her own recipe column and cookbook. When she’s found dead in her hotel room with a whistling teakettle next to her, he and Val sort through the festival-goers to find the one with the biggest beef against Ms. Not-So-Sweet.

• Visit my website for easy recipes, mystery history and trivia, and a culinary mystery story. 
• Sign up for my newsletter. One subscriber wins a free book each time I send a newsletter.
• Follow me on Facebook.

📚

Welcome to Our Guest Cheryl Hollon!

Cheryl Hollon is waving HI!

Fall is a much-anticipated time here along the West Coast of Florida. The temperatures have dropped to long-pants season and you might even catch us wearing a jacket in the evening. Another reason to celebrate is the return of reasonably priced fresh fish. This is the easiest recipe for fish EVER!

Easy Baked Fresh Fish

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh white fish (like Grouper, Cod or Haddock)
4 tablespoons mayonnaise (here in the South, we use DUKE’S mayonnaise)
1/2 cup Italian Panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (any kind)
Fresh ground pepper (optional)
Tartar Sauce (optional)

Equipment:

Small baking pan
Aluminum Foil
Parchment Paper
Spatula


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Wrap baking pan in aluminum foil. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the baking pan.
Spread a tablespoon of mayonnaise on each fish filet making sure to cover the entire top of the filet as well as the sides. The bottom stays flat on the parchment paper. Shake a thin coat of the panko to cover the mayonnaise, then lightly sprinkle with the Italian seasoning.

Bake in the oven for 18-24 minutes. Do not turn fillets, leave them as they are. Check at 18 minutes. The fish is done when the meat is white and flaky. Serve over rice or my favorite, steamed mixed vegetables.

My husband absolutely loves this dish and in less than two minutes, here’s what that plate looks like. Then the gets another serving of fish!

The Webb’s Glass Shop Mysteries featuring new owner Savannah Webb are set in St. Petersburg, Florida. The series starts with Pane and Suffering, then continues with Shards of Murder and Cracked to Death. The fourth book, Etched in Tears, releases on November 28, 2017, and is available for pre-order at the following links:

Indiebound:  https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781496711755 
Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Etched-Tears-Webbs-Glass-Mystery/dp/1496711750 
Nook:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/etched-in-tears-cheryl-hollon/1125896984


Isn’t this a gorgeous cover!

When a famous glass artist is murdered at his own exhibit, deadly secrets are put on display, and it’s up to glass shop owner Savannah Webb to see through a killer’s cover.

Celebrated glass artist Dennis Lansing is returning to St. Petersburg, Florida, for an exhibit at the world-renowned Salvador Dali Museum. His unique style of embedding document images in his art is at the vanguard of contemporary glasswork. But as Savannah’s first boyfriend and a former apprentice to her father, Dennis’s return home has her reflecting on the past—a trip down memory lane that takes a dark turn when Dennis is found murdered at the museum with an old reference letter from her father in his pocket. A search through her father’s records sheds new light on Dennis’s history, but it seems his present life wasn’t so transparent either. Now, with a gallery of suspects to consider, it’s up to Savannah to figure out who fits the mold of a murderer.



There’s a giveaway! Leave a comment to this blog and your email address in the form of name(AT)server(DOT)com to avoid the SPAM bots. This is a US only giveaway. Do this by midnight on November 7 for the chance to win a signed copy of your choice of one of the first three books in the series, Pane and Suffering, Shards of Murder, or Cracked to Death.

About Cheryl:

Cheryl Hollon writes full time after leaving an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and India. Fulfilling a lifetime dream, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind the house, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass and painted glass artworks.

Cheryl is Vice President of the Florida Gulf Coast Sisters in Crime, a member of Mystery Writers of America and Romance Writers of America. A mystery conference addict, she regularly attends SleuthFest in Florida, Malice Domestic in DC, Thrillerfest in NYC, and Magna Cum Murder in Indianapolis, IN . You will also find her at Left Coast Crime and Bouchercon, wherever they are being held.

Cheryl and her husband live in St. Petersburg, FL in a 1920’s Craftsman Bungalow.

The Easiest Baked Fish in the World

LESLIE: We usually eat fish once a week, and this is the easiest cooking method ever—except, of course, fish cooked by someone else! It checks all the boxes—it’s yummy, zesty, and pretty.

And it scores high on ease of prep and clean-up. It’s also a highly versatile method that works beautifully on just about any kind of firm white fish—cod, flounder, halibut, tilapia.

For some reason, as I was writing this, I found myself singing "'Swim,' said the mama fishy, 'fast as you can,' and he swam and he swam right over the dam!"

This is perfect with a green salad or asparagus, fresh rolls, and a glass of white wine! Singing optional.

(I seem to have misplaced the photo of the ingredients, so I'm giving you a shot of my new supervisor instead!)

The Easiest Baked Fish in the World

1-1/4 pounds firm white fish
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, thinly sliced.
1 tablespoon capers, optional
3 tablespoons melted butter
½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon Italian herb blend
(or substitute ½ cup Italian herbed breadcrumbs)
2-3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a glass or ceramic baking dish with parchment paper. Lay the fish fillets in the dish, in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange the lemon slices on top, add the capers if you’re using them, and drizzle on the melted butter. Bake 12-15 minutes, until fish turns opaque in the center and cuts easily. Remove from oven. Mix the breadcrumbs and herbs together and sprinkle over the fish, then garnish with the parsley and serve.

Bon appetit!

The lemon slices are the eyes, and a bit of parsley fell off just right to be the nose...

From the cover of TREBLE AT THE JAM FEST, Food Lovers' Village Mystery #4 (Midnight Ink, June 2017):  

Erin Murphy, manager of Murphy’s Mercantile (aka the Merc), is tuning up for Jewel Bay’s annual Jazz Festival. Between keeping the Merc’s shelves stocked with Montana’s tastiest local fare and hosting the festival’s kick-off concert, Erin has her hands full.

Discord erupts when jazz guitarist Gerry Martin is found dead on the rocks above the Jewel River. The one-time international sensation had fallen out of sync with festival organizers, students, and performers. Was his death an accident?or did someone even the score?

Despite the warning signs to not get involved, Erin investigates. And when the killer attacks, she orchestrates her efforts into one last crescendo, hoping to avoid a deadly finale.

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. The past president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher. 

Swing by my website and join the mailing list for my seasonal newsletter. And join me on Facebook where I announce lots of giveaways from my cozy writer friends.