The Last Menu Monday

...That means this is the last day of January! It was a good month for me, how about you?

Here's what I made for supper.

*Moroccan Fish Stew

(It was very good, maybe a few minor improvements, but it was very good!)

*Oven-crisped Green Beans

*Fresh green salad with Citrus dressing

*Fresh Pletzlach

(a really yummy Jewish bread)

Living on a tropical island has provided several new foods readily available. Living in Arkansas all my life where there is very little fresh fish has made it quite new to have fresh fish available! We all like it and I'm discovering that it's quite easy to make fish in a variety of ways. Haven't tried fish stock yet...that'a little scary to me!!

Last quiz question: what do you prefer to cook- Breads, desserts, main dishes or vegetables?

Thanks everyone for joining me on my Menu jaunt!

Menu Monday

Happy Monday!

Today, Miles, my 13 year old brother helped me pick out the menu. He wanted something pork, so that's what I did. We sat and looked at recipes and got really hungry, then I went in and made barbeque pork instead!

Just a little note about my brothers: they are half carnivores, one quarter FHB-ivores (Fresh Hot Bread) and one quarter herbivores. Especially if that includes green beans, brown beans, corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes! Hehe...I love them! They make cooking so much fun! :)

So my menu for tonight was:

* Barbeque Pork

* Steamed mixed greens

* Candied sweet potatoes (Ok, I splurged and made them candied...I love sweet potatoes!!)

* Fresh fruit salad (pineapple, oranges and bananas)

* Irish Soda Bread

If you hadn't noticed, I love to bake bread. And Irish Soda Bread is a favorite! I tried this one tonight and it was great!

Brown Butter Soda Bread

Makes 2 loaves

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups buttermilk

One beaten egg

Poppy Seed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to blend.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring, until it begins to brown {about 3 minutes}. Add the melted butter & buttermilk to the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until the flour mixture is moistened.

Dump the dough out onto a floured work surface & knead gently, until the dough just comes together {about 7 turns}, do not overwork the dough! Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball. Place the rounds on an ungreased baking sheet, sprinkled with cornmeal, spacing about 5" apart. Brush the tops with the egg & sprinkle with poppy seeds. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1/2" deep X in the top of each loaf.

Bake until the bread is golden brown & a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack & cool for 30 minutes before serving.{I served it warm and it was great.} Serve the bread warm with butter.

Very tasty and very easy! Enjoy!

Menu Monday

For the month of January I'm going to post our evening menu every Monday night. Or it might be Tuesday! Ha! Anyway, feel free to post yours too!

Menu the first:

*Pampano Fish in Ginger Sauce.

(Sounds fancy, but it's not. It's super easy!)

*Steamed pumpkin with cinnamon sugar

(The pumpkin here is totally different then the pie pumpkins in the US...not sure what to compare them too, but they are very good and most people here will eat them! Since we are a little shy on the orange vegetables, this is great! )

*Green Beans

(Just plain: I was in a hurry, but they were fresh and tasty all the same.)

*Fresh Lettuce Salad

(With homemade Lemon Basil Dressing, another super easy fix!)

*Focaccia Bread

(My latest favorite bread to bake and I can't wait to try some different flavours!!)

*Coconut Star Fruit Salad

(Emily and I concocted this up this very evening!)

Aaand....here you go!

Coconut Star Fruit Salad

Slice 6 star fruit, 3 bananas and 2 oranges into a glass dish.

Sprinkle with sugar to taste.

3/4 cup coconut milk (we used powdered coconut milk and water)

1/2 cup water with 4 teaspoons cornstarch mixed in.

Heat milk and water mixture till thick.

Let cool and mix into fruit. Best served chilled.

This made 9 small servings. Based on how well people like it, we'll make a little more next time!

Please excuse the un-scraped bowl...we should remember that next time....

Star fruit is a beautiful fruit! I didn't get a chance to play with my camera with them, these are Emily's pictures. Maybe next time! :)

I hope your evening meal was delicious and have a great week!

Oh and a fast quiz: The evening meal- Dinner or supper?

:D