Sunday Night Dinner

While I figure out what interesting things I have to write about regarding FUN-Employment home in New York, I might as well report on a couple new recipes that I tried out for dinner last night.

Mustard-Roasted Fish
From Barefoot Contessa/Food Network

This dish was so easy - it was only about 10 minutes of active time and cooked quickly, too. Overall, quite successful.

Serves 4
4 8-oz fish fillets such as red snapper (which it what I used)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
8 oz creme fraiche
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp whole-grain mustard
2 tsp minced shallots
2 tsp drained capers

Preheat over to 425. Place fish fillets skill side down on a lined sheet pan or in an ovenproof baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Combine creme fraiche, both mustards, shallots, capers, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl. Spoon sauce evenly over fish, making such it is completely covered. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on thickness of fish, until it's barely done. Serve hot or room temperature with sauce from pan over the top.

My notes:
-For the two of us, I used 1.3lbs of fish and about 3/4 of the sauce recipe.
-We liked it very much, although it was definitely quite creamy. Next time, I might cut the creme fraiche. Also, could use more capers and maybe a squeeze of lemon juice.
-Mine took about 20 minutes to cook



Dessert!
Lemon-Glazed Butter Cake
From Gourmet Magazine

I LOVE lemon desserts! This was great and even tastes better the next morning (I just ate some for breakfast, too)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Garnish - confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour an 8- by 2-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir together milk, zest, and vanilla
Beat together butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
Pour batter into cake pan and smooth top, then rap gently on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes.
Whisk together confectioners sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
Turn out cake onto a rack set over a baking sheet, then reinvert. Brush top and side of cake with all of glaze. Cool completely.

My notes:
-The glaze - I used more like 1/3 cup lemon juice. I also used ALL the glaze to make it very lemon-y. It seemed like a lot but I wanted as much lemon flavor as possible.
-I used a 9 inch round springform pan because that's what I had - it baked for exactly 30 minutes and was perfectly done.

I'm realizing that I should have taken pictures of the dishes so I could post them - next time!