Week 22 - Orange Ruffy in Sherry-Herb Sauce

March 21, 2010 - Happy Birthday, Daddie!!! According to our family tradition, the birthday person gets to choose their favorite meal to be prepared at home. My dad is in Lancaster, so I'll just have to owe him a birthday dinner (with pinapple upside down cake for dessert) when he comes home.

While today's Sunday dinner was not a birthday meal, it did turn out really well! Here's the recipe (from Doreenbuch at Allrecipes.com)

Orange Ruffy in Sherry-Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup sherry
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives*
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 (4 ounce) orange roughy fillets
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tomatoes, peeled and sliced**

*If you do not have fresh chives, substitute 1 TB dried chives instead
** Didn't have tomatos on hand, but I'm sure they'd be delicious in this recipe

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.

2.Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in chicken broth and sherry. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Mix in chives, basil, and thyme. Remove from heat, and set aside.

3.In the prepared baking dish, arrange the orange roughy fillets in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange tomato slices over the fish. Cover with the broth mixture. 

4.Cover dish with foil and bake 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until fish is easily flaked with a fork.

My commentary:

I served the fish with brown rice.  It was a light, healthy meal that tasted great!  It was easy to make and didn't make many dirty dishes, which is always a huge plus in my book.  Jason wants this one again, which is also a good sign. 

To end tonight, here's a few photos to celebrate my wonderful father-

      

Week 21 - March 14, 2010 - Orange Chicken

What a lovely birthday weekend!  My wonderful friends at BES didn't forget my upcoming birthday and made me feel special from start to finish!  Thanks to all of the lovely ladies that made my day on Friday!  Jason and I went to the Headkeeper for dinner and it was delicious as always.   I can't recommend that place enough!  My actual birthday was on Saturday, and it was just as nice.  I must be getting old, because one of the most exciting parts about my day was the fact that I did not have to cook or clean at all.  We had a lovely dinner out at Atria's, another one of my favorites.  My wonderful hubby suprised me with a Wine Tasting Class in Philly (that will happen in early May).  I love presents that you have to look forward to. 

Today's dinner was nothing fancy, since I was easing back into having to cook after having the day off yesterday.   :)  I'll post the link to the Orange Chicken recipe here.  

Feeling grateful for my wonderful friends and family tonight. 

Eat well and Love much, until next week!

Week 20 - March 7, 2010

(A belated post from last week's dinner...)

This week is a first for my little cooking experiment.:  For this week's dinner, Jason was the chef.  Of course, there is a very good reason for this (other than the fact that he is a great husband.)  In my continued training for this lovely half-marathon, I logged a total of 11 miles this weekend.  Seven of those miles were on Saturday morning at Twin Lakes Park and four were the next day at Mammoth Park.  Now, allow me to remind you that as of about 2 months ago, I had not exercised at all in several years.  The thought of running 1 mile was intimidating...but 7 miles? All at once? Who would have thought that was even possible?  I would guess that it was around the 4th mile when my legs started to burn, but I kept going.  Somewhere around mile 5 1/2 I think I ceased to be able to feel my legs at all, which made the last mile and a half seem less painful.  For the rest of the day (and night) I was sore, but somehow I still convinced myself to wake up early on Sunday and run again.  I intentionally ran less mileage at a much slower pace that day, but the damage was done.  Adding that 4 miles after the 7 mile run the day before was not my best plan.  Every muscle and joint in my body disagreed with that decision, and decided to stop working after I got home.  Once I sat done, I actually struggled to stand up.  So Jason cooked.  :)

Here was his recipe (courtesy Jean Heady at Allrecipes.com)

Marinated Pork

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 Pork Chops

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat; cool slightly. Place 2/3 cup marinade in a bowl for basting; cover and chill. Pour remaining marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Cut pork into five slices, about 1 in. each; add to bag. Seal and turn to coat; refrigerate overnight.

Drain and discard marinade. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Broil 4 in. from the heat for 10 minutes on each side or until juices run clear, brushing with reserved marinade and turning occasionally.
 
It turned out pretty well!  Jason mistakenly added about 4 times the amount of garlic that it called for, so we'll definitely be trying this one again.  But I have to end this week with a big thanks to Jason for cooking dinner and not laughing at me as I was lying immobile on the couch.  :) 
 

Happy Cooking! (And Happy Running to my running buddies!)

Until next week!