Blogcritics Article & Guest Post Spotlight Thursday

New article up on BC...Thank you Caitlin!  This article explores whether vegetarian food can be sexy.  I highlighted 3 dishes that proves it can be...One by Nancy, One by the incomparable Silvia at Citron et Vanille, and one by me.  Here's the linkage...

Dirty Sexy Vegetarian


Now time for an awesome guest post spotlight....

I am proud to welcome Tanantha author of the creative blog, I Just Love My Apron. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her witty writing style and fantastic recipes. A resident of the Pacific Northwest, she preaches the importance of supporting sustainable fish. That is reason enough to read her blog.

Thank you Tanantha, for sharing your gifts with us!

Tilapia in a Silver Pouch

Hi Lazaro Cooks’ readers and followers! My name is Tanantha from I Just Love My Apron, nice to meet you all. When I got a request from Lazaro to guest blog on Lazaro Cooks, I thought he was joking! Not that he wasn’t serious, but it was beyond my expectation to be asked from someone like him to guest blog. I had to ask him again if he was serious..hahaha. I was thrilled, honored and super excited to be a part of his creative, informative, and wonderful blog. I have to admit that I’m a bit nervous…I just don’t want to ruin his wonderful blog and I hope I won’t!

I picked this dish (especially the tilapia) because it was way back when that Lazaro wrote about sustainable fish. Because of that post I got a chance to read more on his blog and became one of his readers. Not only are there his wonderful posts he offers, but also his kindness and encouragement. If you’re reading this, you probably couldn’t agree with me more.

Consequently, I somehow have a link map in my mind between tilapia and Lazaro. Funny huh? This dish will remind me of him and I hope you all will like it too.

I came up with this dish idea when Seattle was nice out over a particular weekend and it was perfect for a grill day. Instead of grilling steak, I was craving for savory fish. My old past memory and new experience were put together here. Traditionally, it should be steamed in a steamer but having it in a pouch is just so cute and mysterious. Your guests won’t know what is in there and what it’s going to look like. It’s a fun dish for a party! It also won’t trouble you to prepare ‘coz it’s real simple and rich in flavor—both the sauce and the fish. You’re ready to roll. The pouch also helps for aroma.

Since Asian cuisine is my expertise, I couldn’t miss adding an Asian twist to this dish. This tilapia pouch requires a special sauce. It’s a seafood sauce with South East Asian style. For full ingredients and directions are posted on my blog. Seafood Sauce-Asian Style

I had to post it on my blog because it can be used in multiple dishes—all kinds of seafood. You will probably see some more future posts with this sauce. However, I will put the ingredients and brief directions on here as well.

If you don’t have a grill, you can put this in a broiler on hi heat. It works fine.

Tilapia and Asian Seafood sauce in Silver Pouch

Yield: 1 individual serving - - you can double proportion to the number of guests

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of special seafood sauce**

• 1 tilapia fillet

• 1 teaspoon match stick peeled ginger

• Salt and pepper

• 16-18 inch in length of aluminum foil wrap

Special Seafood Sauce-South East Asian Style

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons fish sauce

• 4 tablespoons sugar

• 3 limes, juice

• 4 big garlic cloves

• 1-1 1/2 tablespoons chopped ginger

• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

• 4 Thai Chilies

Directions for the sauce:

You basically blend everything together to form a liquid sauce

Directions for Tilapia in a Silver Pouch:

• Use paper towel to dry fish fillet

• Place each fillet on foil paper (shiny side down)

• Sprinkle with salt and pepper over the fish

• Pour 1 tablespoon of the seafood sauce over the fillet

• Place match stick gingers on top. This will help with aroma sense which will tie with ginger in the sauce

• Crease the foil first from the top, then roll it down. Then, fold on the sides to seal the pouch

• Grill it on medium high heat (400 F) for 10 mins or your desire of doneness

• The fun part is when you open to see it! The aroma from ginger and sauce will rise before you can take a peek. Enjoy!

• Optional: Pour another 1 teaspoon of the seafood sauce over the fish or steamed rice for more flavors. Serve with steamed rice and vegetable