Easy Grilled Whitefish

Growing up in Northern Michigan, whitefish is a special at just about every restaurant you go to.  It is one of my favorite fish to eat because of its mild flavor and flaky texture.  There are many ways to prepare it, but this is a great way to serve whitefish during the summer.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 lb of whitefish, cut into 4 filets
4 square feet of aluminum foil
4 tbsp of butter
half of an onion, sliced thin
2 lemons, sliced thin
salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

1. Take one piece of aluminum foil and spread butter on the bottom
2. Layer sliced onions and lemons on the butter
3. add fish filet and season with salt, pepper, and paprika
4. layer more onions and lemons on top

5. Heat grill to about 350 degrees
6. Wrap the tin foil packets up and put on the grill
7. Leave them there with out opening or flipping over for about 10 minutes.
8. Open up and check to make sure fish is cooked to you liking.  And enjoy!

Mushroom and Crispy Sage Risotto

Risotto is one of my favorite dishes.  I love it as a side dish.  I love it as a main meal.  Combine it with mushrooms and fresh herbs and you can't go wrong.  I must warn you, making risotto from scratch is a very time consuming thing, but oh so worth it.

Recipe (serves 4-6 side dish portions)
1 package of fresh mushrooms (slice them up)...you can be flexible here.  I used portobella.  You can do a mix of different kinds or just one of your favorite.  All will work :)
4 cups of chicken broth (I make my own using Better Than Boullion)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic gloves, minced
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay because it was in my fridge...feel free to use any other )
1 cup of arborio rice
10-12 sage leaves
sea salt to taste
butter to taste
Parmesan cheese to taste

1. Warm up your chicken broth, then set to low.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large sauce pan, then add thinly sliced mushrooms.  Cook for 3-4 minutes or until slightly browned and tender.
3. Add another tbsp of olive oil and the garlic.  Let cook for another minute or so.
4. Add the rice.  Cook until completely coated with oil, and the rice begins to turn into an opaque color, about 4-5 minutes
5. Add the wine, stir constantly until liquid has evaporated.
6.  Add a half cup of chicken broth and stir constantly until liquid evaporates.  Continue adding broth a half cup at a time, stirring constantly the entire time.  This process should take 20-25 minutes and rice should be al dente.
7. Cover risotto and set aside.
8. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small sauce pan.  Add sage leaves. Cook about 1-2 minutes on each side or until they are crispy, without being too dark. Let dry on a paper towel and sprinkle with sea salt.

9. Garnish the risotto with butter, salt, cheese, and sage leaves.  Whatever suits you!

I served mine as a side dish with salmon topped with my homemade pesto recipe and asparagus.  Such a fresh, healthy summer dish!

Tostadas...

Here in the Kloss house, we love Mexican food.  So a good friend (thanks Laurie!!) made tostada's the other night when we were over for dinner.  Here is my modified version, with my own take on the chicken.  We LOVED it, and I hope you do too!

Chicken Recipe
1 1/2 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup of chicken broth
2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 tbsp of chili powder (more if you like it SPICY)
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 minced garlic glove (I'm a garlic lover...feel free to omit this)
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (once again, more if you like spicy)

1. Set your slow cooker to warm.
2. Mix all the spices together in a bowl

3. Add spices to to chicken broth, then squeeze in lime.
4. Put chicken into crock pot, then pour the spices over them.
5. Let everything cook on low for 4-6 hours (mine only took about 3...but my crock pot has a mind of it's own).
6. When you're done, you'll need to shred the chicken.  My favorite way to shred chicken is by using my kitchen aid mixer...mainly because it's the easiest way :)  Just cut the breasts in halves or thirds.  Place them in the mixer with the paddle attachment on.  Turn mixer on to 3 or 4 until the chicken is shredded...so easy!

7. Make sure you put the shredded chicken back into the crock pot full off broth and spices.  I kept mine on low for another 30 minutes, but warm is also just fine.
8. Now for the shells...Take a small skillet and hear about a quarter inch of oil in the bottom (I used canola). 9. Place the shell in it and let snap, crackle, and pop for about 3 minutes.  Flip over and let the other side do the same.
10.  Remove from pan, sprinkle a little sea salt on it and let some paper towel soak up the rest.

11. Put together your tostadas and enjoy!!  I usually put re-fried black beans on the bottom to hold it all together :)

Homemade Pesto

Last summer, I started a little herb garden on my back deck.  This year, I've expanded the number of herbs I've planted and my husband started a vegetable garden.

Hopefully our harvest out plentiful!  While we wait for our veggies to pop up, I decided to make a little homemade pesto.  I use this stuff on just about everything: sandwiches, salad, pasta, fish, you name it!

Recipe:
 1 1/2 cup of packed FRESH basil
1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp of pine nuts
1 tsp of sea salt
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
1. After I picked my basil from the pot, I soaked it in cold water for about 10 minutes, rinsed each leaf off, then let them dry on the towel until mostly dry.

2. Get the rest of your ingredients ready...

3. dump EVERYTHING in a food processor...

4. Blend everything together and BOOM...pesto :)  You can store it in the fridge for about a week...otherwise, if I make a big batch, I like to freeze it in little individual containers.

After playing around with different amounts of each ingredient, this is how I like it best.  It tends to be a little "crunchy," which is how I like it, so feel free to adjust according to how you like your pesto!