Author: Brent Evans

Bacon Spinach & 4 Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Third meal in and already I had no idea of what to choose for din-din. All my saved up recipes were not intriguing my significant other either, so I asked what upcoming meals that she had in mind. She mentioned this one and all I had to hear was Bacon. I’m in! Like the other challenges, simply click on the recipe title for the link of what was borrowed (adapted?). As always, I’ll lay out what we followed as well as a couple changes that were made along the way.

Meal prep music provided by Pandora and their 60s Oldies Radio. “Son of the Preacher Man” led it off – perfect.

The Line-up (Ingredients)
5 crispy bacon strips cooked

3 oz fresh spinach
1 large garlic clove
1 tbsp oil for cooking
16 oz whole baby bella mushrooms try to pick out larger mushrooms

4 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 cup Italian cheese mix
Salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 cup Italian cheese mix for topping
2 crispy bacon strips crumbled, for topping

Game Plan (Instructions)

1) Preheat the oven to 350.

2) Wash mushrooms and remove any stems. Toss mushrooms lightly in olive oil and then set aside.

3) Preheat a small cooking pan and 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat.

4) Chop spinach and add it to the pan. Cook covered over medium heat until almost cooked. Mince garlic and add it to spinach. Dice bacon strips and add it to spinach as well. Mix well and cook until spinach is done. Take off heat.

5) In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, bread crumbs, cheese mix, egg, salt and pepper. Mix very well until all combined.

6) Add spinach and bacon to the cheese mixture. Keep it going until it’s evenly mixed.

7) Place mushroom cups into a baking dish. Carefully fill mushroom cups with cheese mixture pressing down lightly to squeeze in a little more.

8) Sprinkle each stuffed mushroom with a little bit of cheese and bacon.

9) Bake about 17-20 minutes.

I was happy with the outcome of this meal. The kids (age 11 & 4) were not the biggest fans and simply split one of the mushrooms. In all honesty though, I was very alright with that sine then I had the remaining one the next day on the road with work. AND – Delicious again!

Oh – we did have beverage during the making of this meal – here’s the warm-up (beer) and then the meal beverage (wine).

Cajun Maple Mahi Mahi

Originally, this meal was going to be played out on Sunday night (6/28), but then my wife wasn’t feeling it. That’s cool. She wanted to make Cobb salad and we would save the Mahi Mahi dinner for another night. Unfortunately, we probably should have “swam” with the fishes (weak, I know) for dinner. Since it wasn’t the meal challenge dinner, I did have other husband/daddy duties to attend to and simply left her alone to prep this meal. But then, she cut herself – twice. Call was made to the bullpen and I stepped in for a lot of the preparation. We joked that I should have done this one for the Challenge instead. ANYWAYS – the fish was planned for the following night. BUT – again there was a delay, but this time with work & family “FUN” (sarcasm) made us go with the quick and easy pasta & sauce for Monday night. For Tuesday (6/30), it was our anniversary night, so we ordered a special dinner from Ole Tapas – Mmmmmm. Finally, on Wednesday (7/1), the Meal Challenge #2 occurred.

The Line-up (Ingredients)
* 1/8 cup maple syrup
* 3/4 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (can use more or less depending on whether or not you want a sweeter or spicier meat)
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 2 Mahi-Mahi fillets

** That’s it for the ingredients, but then within the very first direction, they suggest to saute with some onions. So, go get yourself an onion. But then, my wife said, “Hey, let’s add some of our cherry tomatoes from the garden, so, you might want to grab a handful of them as well.

Game Plan (Instructions)

1) Mix all ingredients together except for the fish (and onions and cherry tomatoes). Spoon mixture over fish.

2) Briefly, saute the onion and cherry tomatoes together. They suggest cooking spray, but we used butter. It was at this point that I proudly stated, “Ooo – I can melt butter!” As my wife cut up the onions and cherry tomatoes, she then joked, “And, in six months, you can change the batteries in the fire alarm.” Nice, huh. She’s obviously referencing our beloved Christmas movie that we watch every Thanksgiving weekend – Elf.

I have to admit in the movie it mentions changing triple A’s, but since when? I only know the alarms taking the 9-Volt battery, which I believe keeps that part of the battery industry in business.

3) Add in the fish and continue the sauteing for about 3-5 minutes on the first side and 2-3 minutes on the second side. Add more of the syrup mixture if you want.

Recipe says: “Best served with rice” (but, we did couscous AND artichokes!)

Sadly, the linked recipe from above made this suggestion at the very end:

***Can also marinate fish for a few hours for maximum flavor.***

Thanks (more sarcasm). Nevertheless, here’s the final product!

Another side note – see that drink peeking in the upper right corner of the final picture. That was a concoction that my wife and I just randomly came up with (poor decision). For starters, we pitted some black cherries and tossed them in a blender. We then added vodka and blended away! We each had a glass of Butter Beer Soda aka butterscotch flavor soda. Our blended mix was then added to each of our glasses and stirred. Couple black cherries were tossed in as a final garnish. I wish I could say – “Mmmmmm”, but I can’t. In addition, I don’t know if I can even say “Mmmmmm” about the dinner, but maybe the drink was to blame. Nevertheless, I just want to be honest and state – neither one will occur in our kitchen again. Can’t wait for Meal #3!

Cuban Fish Tacos with Citrus Mango Slaw + Chipotle Lime Crema

First recipe challenge and I went with the longest name ever . . . don’t hold me to that, but it’s still pretty long. Click on the link above and you’ll see where this recipe was borrowed (adapted?). However, I’ll lay out what we followed along with a couple changes we made.

The Line-up (ingredients – not much changed from the original)

CUBAN FISH
1 pound skin on mahi mahi or salmon
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 cloves garlic
2 green onions
1/4 teaspoon paprika and cumin
1 teaspoon salt + pepper
corn or flour tortillas warmed (we did the corn tortillas but probably would have enjoyed the flour ones more)

CITRUS MANGO SLAW
1 grapefruit
1 cara orange or blood orange
(no fun oranges, we rolled with a basic navel one)
1 mango sliced or diced
1 jalapeno seeded + chopped
1/3 cup cilantro chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup red cabbage shredded
salt to taste

CHIPOTLE CREMA
4 ounces cream cheese softened
1/4 cup Crema or mayo
2 in canned chipotle chilies adobo finely chopped
(instead of this, we used green chiles and adobo seasoning)
2 tablespoons buttermilk
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste

Game Plan (Instructions)

Add the olive oil, lime juice, orange juice, garlic, green onions, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to a blender. Blend until chunky smooth. Place the fish in a 9×13 inch baking dish, pour the marinade over the fish. Allow the fish to sit in the marinade while you prepare the rest of the meal, at least 15 minutes. Do not let the fish sit longer than four hours in the marinade.

To make the slaw/salsa, cut off the peel and the white pith from all around the grapefruit. Working over a small bowl, use the knife to cut between the membranes to release the grapefruit segments into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the membranes into the bowl. Remove the grapefruit segments from the bowl and cut into bite size pieces; return to the bowl. Now do the same with the orange, but only remove the inside membrane if desired. Add the mango, jalapeno, green onions, cilantro and lime juice. Taste and season with salt. We went ahead and mixed in the shredded red cabbage here.

To make the crema, mix together the cream cheese, crema Mexicana (or mayo), chipotle chilies, lime juice, buttermilk and a pinch of salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Cover and place in the fridge until ready to use.
When ready to cook the fish, heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat (may also use an outdoor grill). Once hot, add the fish, skin side down, and sear for 3-4 minutes, brushing the fish with the marinade as it cooks. Flip and cook until your desired doneness. Don’t forget to remove the skin.

To serve, dice the fish into pieces. Warm the tortillas and fill with fish. Top with slaw, crema and shredded red cabbage (again, we actually added this already to the slaw itself). Sprinkle with cojita cheese if desired.