I Love Food – Do You?

Depending upon which calendar you use, on the National Front today is Care Bears Share Your Care Day (yeah, a mouthful), National Teddy Bear Day, National Wiener Schnitzel Day or I Love Food Day. With the exception of Wiener Schnitzel and a love of food, the other National Days aren’t exactly edible.

I do love Wiener Schnitzel. And I’m not talking about the Hot Dog Chain here in America. I’m talking a milky veal cutlet perfectly breaded and lightly fried. Yeah, oh so good. However; today is Friday. If you’ve been around a while, you know we are Old-School Catholics. And that means no meat on Fridays.

Which brings us to I Love Food Day. Fortunately, that leaves us with an endless assortment of delicious fish or seafood dishes. Anything meatless – no pork, poultry or red meat. Everything else is up for grabs. One of my favorite Friday night suppers is fish – tilapia in particular. Tilapia is light, flakey and lends itself so beautifully to whatever seasonings or sauces your heart desires.

As long as we are loving food, we just had to have dessert in the menu. One of my favorite desserts is a Traditional Tiramisu. Whenever we eat at a good (and I stress good) Italian restaurant, I’ll order the Tiramisu for dessert. Hubby is not a fan. It’s the coffee flavoring, be it strong coffee or a coffee liqueur. Now a Lemon Tiramisu might not be traditional since there isn’t a hint of coffee, but it has just about everything else we look for in a Tiramisu.

Here’s to I Love Food Day! Enjoy!

For the Love of Food
Spicy Lemon-Garlic Baked Tilapia
Jasmine Vegetable Rice Pilaf
Skillet Asparagus

Luscious Lemon Tiramisu

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Spicy Lemon-Garlic Baked Tilapia
4 Tilapia Fillets
4 tablespoons Butter, melted
2 Lemons, divided
4 Garlic Cloves, diced
1/4 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper or to taste
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Fresh Black Pepper to taste
Parsley for garnish

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Rinse fillets, pat dry. Place fish on a rimmed baking pan, set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Zest 1 lemon over the melted butter. Cut lemon in half, squeeze juice into the same bowl.

Roughly chop garlic, add to the bowl. Season with Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, salt and black pepper. Whisk to blend.

Drizzle half of the seasoned butter over the fish to lightly coat. Turn fish and drizzle with remaining butter.

Cut remaining lemon into rounds. Arrange slices over the fish.

Bake uncovered in the heated oven for about 15 minutes or until the fish is flaky and fork-tender. While the fish bakes, snip parsley for a garnish.

Remove fillets from oven, scatter parsley over the fish and serve warm.

Jasmine Vegetable Rice Pilaf
1 small White Onion
1 cup frozen Peas and Carrots Mix, thawed
2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic from a jar
1 cup Jasmine Rice
1-1/2 cup Chicken Stock

Peel and finely dice onion, set aside. Place peas and carrots in a strainer. Rinse with cold water to gently thaw, drain and set aside.

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, season with salt and pepper. Sauté onions for 4 minutes, or until tender. Add minced garlic and cook another minute.

Add rice, stirring often, cook 3 minutes. Stir in peas and carrot mix. Add chicken stock, bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, simmer for about 20 minutes or until liquid has adsorbed and the rice is tender. Uncover, fluff with a fork. Serve and enjoy.

Skillet Asparagus
1 bunch Asparagus
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Lemon
Salt to taste
Fresh Black Pepper to taste

Trim woody ends from asparagus. Rinse asparagus under cold water, pat dry and set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add olive oil, swirl pan to coat. Spread asparagus out in the pan. Cover and cook for 6 minutes, shaking pan occasionally.

Cut lemon in half. Squeeze the juice from half of the lemon over the asparagus. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and continue to cook, uncovered, another 6 minutes or until asparagus is tender but firm.

Serve with remaining lemon half and enjoy.

Luscious Lemon Tiramisu
1 (8 oz) carton Mascarpone Cheese
1 (8 oz) package softened Cream Cheese, softened
1 (3.4 oz) package Instant Lemon Pudding Mix
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
2/3 cup Lemon Juice
3 tablespoons Sugar
24 crisp Ladyfinger Cookies
2 teaspoons Zest from a fresh Lemon

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together Mascapone cheese and cream cheese, Add pudding mix, milk and lemon extract. Beat for about 2 minutes. DO NOT OVERBEAT.

In a shallow bowl, whisk lemon juice and sugar together until the sugar is completely dissolved. Quickly dip 8 ladyfingers into the sweetened lemon juice, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Arrange ladyfingers in a single layer in an 8-inch square dish.

Spread a third of the mascarpone mixture over top of the ladyfingers. Repeat layering two more times.

Zest lemon, sprinkle zest over the top of the Tiramisu. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.