Showing posts with label low fat. Show all posts

Monday, February 20, 2023

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.

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Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Foolproof Mushrooms Stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach: A Tasty, Healthful, Low-Cal Snack or App from Cleo Coyle #Vegetarian

Today I'm sharing a recipe for Foolproof Stuffed Mushrooms. Why are they foolproof? Because you won't have to worry about under- or over-cooking them. Ever.

You can certainly switch up the filling if you don't like my ricotta-spinach combination. You can try almost any combo of soft and hard cheeses and sprinkle on breadcrumbs, if you like. For meat-lovers, you can add crumbled (cooked) bacon, or cooked sausage, or chopped pepperoni, or any type of cooked and seasoned ground meat. Whatever you choose as your filling...

🍄 Here is my easy, foolproof method

for cooking stuffed mushroom caps:

(1) Place empty mushroom caps (open sides down) on a baking sheet or pie plate and cook for 10 minutes in a pre-heated 400 degree F. oven.

(2) Using two forks, flip the mushroom caps and fill them.

(3) Place the filled caps back in the 400 degree oven for 10 minutes more, and they're done!

Now for an example of said method in action...

🍴

To download a free PDF of this
recipe that you can print,
save, or share, click here.

Click for a Free Recipe PDF.

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

🍄 A Recipe Note from Cleo

Mushrooms are a great inspiration for a murder-mystery writer, which is why I eat them often. :) They're also incredibly low in calories. Five medium mushrooms clock in at about 20 calories with 3 grams of carbs, and they're fat free.

The health benefits are many: Mushrooms are a source of vitamin D, three essential B-vitamins, calcium (for bones), iron, potassium (which can help regulate blood pressure), and selenium, an antioxidant that's also great for the health of bones, teeth, nails, and hair, and is believed to help fight cancer, especially prostate cancer.

Because selenium is primarily found in animal proteins, mushrooms are one of the best choices for vegetarians to obtain it. (Click here to read more about the health benefits of the humble 'shroom.)

Ricotta and spinach, of course, have amazing health benefits, too, and they're my favorite combination for this recipe. May you eat with joy and in good health! ~ Cleo

I made this batch of mushrooms on
a simple glass pie plate. Easy! ~ Cleo

🍄 🍄 🍄

🍄 Cleo's Stuffed Mushrooms
with Ricotta and Spinach

Ingredients:

1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
8 to 10 fresh, white button mushrooms (medium to large)
1/4 cup ricotta cheese (whole or part-skim)
2 tablespoons strong, salty grated cheese (I use Romano)
1/4 teaspoon white (or black) pepper
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese (whole or part-skim)

Step 1 - Make the stuffing: Thaw your chopped frozen spinach (but do not cook). Place the spinach in a colander over the sink and gently press out as much liquid as you can. (I do this hours in advance or even an entire day before. Then I place the spinach in a bowl, loosely cover it with foil and keep it in the fridge to dry it out even more.)

After your spinach is well drained, measure out 1/4 cup of it and mix it in a bowl with the ricotta, the grated Romano cheese (or your favorite hard, salty cheese), and the ground pepper. Do not add the mozzarella yet.

Step 2 - Prep the mushroom caps: Clean your mushrooms and remove the stems. Lightly scrape the inside of the caps with the tip of a small teaspoon to hollow them out a bit more. Place the mushrooms, open side down, on a baking sheet or pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes in a well pre-heated 400 degree F. oven.

Step 3 - Fill and bake: Remove the pan from the oven and, using two forks, flip over the caps. Now their open sides should be up. Fill each cap with the spinach-ricotta stuffing, garnish with a bit of shredded mozzarella and return the mushrooms to the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove the pan, plate the caps and enjoy!

Click for a Free Recipe PDF.

Eat (and read) with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries &
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

Alice and Marc in Central Park.

Together we write as Cleo Coyle.

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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Low Fat Peach Muffins from Coffeehouse Mystery author Cleo Coyle

Summer is almost gone, but its sweet, juicy peaches are still here. At my local market, they're piled high and priced low.

My low fat muffin recipe makes great use of these luscious orbs. I bake these up every year in early September when the peaches are ripe and plentiful...

Cleo Coyle has a partner in

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here and here.

Cleo Coyle's (low fat)
Peach Muffins

These tasty muffins are packed with fresh peach flavor. Marc and I often eat them drizzled with a little honey. They are truly amazing that way.

If you prefer them low fat, use 1% or 2% milk. For a richer tasting muffin, go with whole milk, half-and-half, or cream. The higher the fat content of your milk, the richer your peach muffins will taste. Either way, bring out that local, raw honey (the best tasting and best for you), put on a pot of coffee or tea, slip a pan of these babies in the oven, and get ready to...

Eat with (end-of-summer) joy!

~ Cleo

To download a free PDF of this recipe that you can print, save, or share, click here.

Click here for the
free recipe PDF.

Cleo Coyle's (low fat)
Peach Muffins

Makes 6 standard muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup diced ripe peaches (for yellow peaches that’s 2 medium or 1 large)
1 egg
1/2 cup low fat milk (1% or 2% milk gives us good results;
for richer muffins use whole milk, half-and-half, or cream)

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

5 tablespoons white, granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/8 teaspoon table salt)

(optional) ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

(optional) A little "Sugar in the Raw" (aka turbinado or demerara) or another coarse finishing sugar to sprinkle on before baking

Directions:

Step 1 - Prep oven, pan, and peaches: Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit. Line six muffin cups with paper holders and lightly coat them with non-stick spray. Choose ripe peaches. (The flesh should be soft in your mouth, not crunchy.) Peel the peaches and dice the flesh into small, uniform pieces (as shown below).

Step 2 - Create batter with one bowl mixing method: Crack egg into a mixing bowl and gently beat with a whisk. Add milk, oil, sugar, vanilla, and salt and whisk until well blended. If adding cinnamon, whisk in well. Now add baking powder and whisk very well, until dissolved. Switching to a spoon or spatula, mix in the flour until all the raw flour disappears into the batter and a lumpy batter forms. Do not over-mix at this stage or you will develop the gluten in the flour and your muffins will be tough instead of tender. Finally, fold in the diced peaches.

Step 3 - Bake: This batter will make 6 standard muffins. Divide it up evenly among your paper-lined (and lightly sprayed) muffin cups. If using a finishing sugar, sprinkle it on the unbaked muffin tops at this time. Bake in a well-preheated 375º F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Remove the muffins from hot pans as soon as they leave the oven. The muffins will be pale. If using a finishing sugar, the tops will be more golden brown.

Toothpick method for de-panning hot muffins: If you leave fresh-baked muffins in their hot pans, the bottoms may steam and become tough. Here's an easy way to remove hot muffins fast. See my photos below...

Gently insert a toothpick on each side of the muffin. Take care not create visible holes. You're inserting them in the muffin sides, below the visible muffin tops.

Use the toothpicks as handles and carefully lift the muffin from the pan. This is a fast, efficient way to get the muffins out of their hot pan without squishing or flattening them. Place on a rack to continue cooling.

Storing: Once the muffins are completely cool, wrap them in plastic and store them in the refrigerator. A little honey, a cuppa joe or tea, and you're set to eat with joy.