Beer battered lemon peppered halibut burgers.

Funny thing about PNW weather lately, we've enjoyed 90 degree weather all weekend and as soon as Monday hit we were back down to 75--today it's been overcast and 68! Yesterday I went to the grocery store at 7am; turns out that's the best time to shop; I almost had the store all to myself and easily got out of there within 15 minutes! I spied yellow and white peaches on sale for .88 per pound and picked up enough for a peach pie, also some yummy halibut for dinner. I thought about making a Panko breaded fish & chips but settled on the beer battered lemon peppered burgers instead. If you've tried my other batter recipe, this one is very similar but the batter is heavier. For a twist I served it with horseradish tarter sauce. Totally satisfying. 


Ingredients (serves 4 people):
8 pieces of Halibut (pieces should be at least 2 1/2" wide x 3" long x 1/2" strips)
3/4 cup of amber/pale beer
1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh dill 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning (I love the Costco Kirkland brand)
1 egg
1 lemon cut into wedges
Horseradish Tarter Sauce
Oil for frying (canola or vegetable)

Directions:
Wash and pat dry the fish (if using frozen cod, defrost and gently squeeze out excess water). Cut into strips. 

In a medium sized mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix in the beer and egg. The batter should be thick like pancake batter, add more flour as needed. Add the fish pieces and thoroughly coat each one with the batter.
Heat oil in frying pot or pan to 375 degrees. Fry each piece until golden brown and drain the excess oil by placing in metal drain basket or with paper towels. 

Serve with salad or fries and your favorite horseradish tarter sauce and lemon wedge. Or serve on toasted buns with lettuce and tomato - easy fish filet sandwich. 

If you would like to make your own horseradish tarter sauce, here's my recipe: 

Ingredients (makes 2 cups):1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon minced onion (sweet or red)

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/2 teaspoon parsley

1-2 Tablespoon hot horseradish paste (to taste)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
salt & fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in small mixing bowl by hand until well blended. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before using. Store excess in airtight container. 

Sun-dried tomato, jalapeno & garlic hummus

I can't help it, I'm addicted to hummus and it's even healthy! Yes I know I made a batch the other week but this past weekend there was a sale on tortilla chips. . .poor things needed some dip and I needed another excuse to create. Here's a much milder hummus recipe that even your 7 year old will enjoy. For hot hungering cravings, check out my 5-Alarm hummus. 

Ingredients (makes almost 3 cups)
2 cans of Gabonzo beans, drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato with its oil
1 small jalapeno, stem removed and chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
5 sprigs of cilantro (approx. 2 teaspoons chopped)
2 rounded tablespoons peanut butter or tahini 
1/2 a medium lemon, squeezed


Directions
Place all ingredients into food processor and chop on high setting for about 5 minutes, stop the processor and scrape down the sides and pulse for a few more minutes, repeat as necessary or until creamy. Add more olive oil as needed. 

Refrigerate for 3 hours and serve with chips, pita wedges etc. Store in a airtight container in refrigerator.  

Honey Lemon Cheesecake with Morello Cherries and Honey Cream Sauce for National Cherry Day

On Sunday I discovered it was National Cherry day on July 16th. What a perfect excuse to make Cheesecake and use up the rest of my Trader Joe's jar of Dark Morello Cherries. Forgive me for not posting this in time for the actual day but we had company and well. . .life happens. :D 

This recipe is adapted from my basic cheesecake recipe using Philadelphia cream cheese and not homemade ricotta (didn't have the time). It's one of those recipes from long ago that I think pairs well with cherries. Friends have said it's pretty close to The Cheescake Factory's cake. . .hmm I don't know about that! I prefer to bake cheesecakes in a modified water bath to avoid cracking the top, but you can certainly skip that step if you prefer. I'm always a bit of a sauce fiend and prefer to keep my cheesecakes pretty plain so that I can easily serve up many types of cheesecake slices all week by just changing out the toppings and sauce. For this adaptation I simply added some honey my mother gave me from her friends hive. Made some honey cream sauce and viola! 

Ingredients:

Crust

2 1/2 cups honey graham crackers

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoon brown sugar

Cake Filling

3 packages of cream cheese, softened to room temp.

1 cup white granulated sugar

5 large eggs

2 cups sour cream

1/4 cup flour

4 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 10 seconds.

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons lemon juice from a Meyer lemon

Honey Cream Sauce

4 tablespoons honey

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

(Cook over medium heat stirring constantly adjusting heat until thickened to an almost caramel sauce. Refrigerate.)

Topping

Trader Joe's Morello Dark Cherries in Syrup (or any brand you like)

Directions

In a food processor add the graham crackers and pulse for about 4 minutes to create crumbles. 

Add the melted butter and brown sugar and pulse to blend.

Cover a 10" Springform pan with at least 3 layers of tin foil. Lightly butter the bottom of pan and firmly press the graham cracker crumbles to bottom of the pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl add the softened cream cheese (very important to have the cream cheese at room temp. to avoid lumps), sugar and eggs. With a hand mixer, blend well until creamy. Add the flour, sour cream, vanilla and lemon juice, blend. 

 Add the warm honey and incorporate well. 

Slowly pour the filling onto the graham cracker, scraping the bowl to get all that yummy goodness out. Shake the pan to level the filling. 

Time for the water bath. Now my technique is a bit different then what is commonly known as a "water bath." I don't take any chances of water invading my precious crust! In a large size pan (I used my turkey roaster) lay a pie or cake dish down in the center of the roaster to form a lift. Place the onto the middle rack of oven. Add boiling hot water to the pan until the water is 2" below the top of the cake/pie pan lift. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and boil a kettle of water if you are baking in a water bath).

When your oven beeps indicating it's preheated, slide out the middle rack and gently place the springform filled pan on top of the cake/pie pan. Carefully slide into oven and close the door. 

 Bake for approx. 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown and the filling no longer jiggles. :) Let the cheesecake chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight before serving--the colder the better. Once chilled, unlatch the Springform Ring and remove the cake WITH the tin foil from the bottom of the pan base. 

Now carefully remove the tinfoil and gently place the bottom of the pan base back under the de-tin foiled cheesecake. You may need help with this step. 

Cut into serving wedges. Before serving, drizzle with a spoonful of honey cream sauce (the sauce is quite sweet and 1 spoonful is usually enough) and top with spoonfuls of cherries with a little of the cherry syrup. Ahhhhh how satisfying was that? And you have enough cheesecake for at least 12 generous servings!