Saut�ed Tilapia with a Lemon Shallot Cream Sauce on a bed of Peppery Arugula

I was hoping to come back from my long summer hiatus with a gift giveaway, but I�m a little too anxious to post this delicious recipe for Saut�ed Tilapia with a Lemon Shallot Cream Sauce on a bed of Peppery Arugula. What a whirlwind of a summer! I never intended to put off my blogging as I did, but I�m happy to be back and happier yet to share some new recipes, and a special post from my travels to Chicago for the Outstanding In The Field event and .. a gift for a lucky winner of my first giveaway!

Fish has been the protein of choice for me this summer. You won�t even believe it.. but this recipe happened to be my Saturday morning breakfast! Figure that one. (I do have a typical waffle breakfast to post too. I�m not always out of the norm!) ? I hope you enjoy this.. for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner! Can�t wait to meet up with you all again on your blogs!

Ciao and hugs to you all,
Laurie

Saut�ed Tilapia with a Lemon Shallot Cream Sauce
on a bed of Peppery Arugula

Baby Arugula
4 pieces Tilapia
I whole Shallot minced
Olive Oil
Juice of half a small Lemon
2 � teaspoons Lemon Zest
1/8 cup White Wine (I used Black Box wine)
1/2 cup Cream or Half in Half

Plate dishes with a bed of the Arugula.

Season Tilapia with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Sear Tilapia in a drizzle of olive oil for a few minutes on each side. It doesn�t take long to cook. Remove from heat. In a saut� pan heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add minced shallot and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest. Saut� till translucent but not browned. Add white wine and lemon juice. Season with fresh ground black pepper and a dash of salt. Cook for a few minutes and then add the Tilapia back into the saut� pan. Simmer slightly and then add the cream. Move the pan around gently to meld the cream into the sauce. When combined turn off heat.

Lay a piece of Tilapia on each of the plated beds of Arugula. Drizzle sauce over each piece. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Buon Appetitio!
Laurie

Toffee Pecan Ice Cream and a Panasonic DMC-ZS1 LUMIX

In a family where both husband and wife find it necessary to keep a camera close at hand it was time to decide what second camera we would purchase while still allowing us to keep close tabs on our budget. A camera that easily transports in my purse and still takes quality photo's for using on my blog while my husband uses our semi professional camera on his job sites.

It was a really hard decision.. quite frankly I only wanted to buy "up", but desperate times mean desperate measures and while the Nikon D3 is still on my wish list it will have to wait for another time. We still have our D90 and I love LOVE the quality photo's I am able to get out of it. It's not quite a professional camera but recently I was able to use it for some professional Food Styling and Photography for Comali Foods, a company here in Southern California who hired me to do the photo's for their web site, packaging and literature. It was so exiting and totally unexpected. You can see them here at my SmugMug account. My viewing password is LaurieMariaVengoechea no spaces, exactly as typed.


So about this little Panasonic camera.. it's called the LUMIX ZS1. It has an impressive 12x Optical Zoom, it's slim and has AVCHD Lite High Definition Video Recording Capability. It has 10.1 megapixels and a 25mm ultra-wide-angle lens. I love the wide angle of this lens and the viewing screen.. it looks like my HDTV. It even has the same memory chip I use in my D90 which when inserted into my TV I can view my photo's on the large screen and if you have the Wii you can creatively edit your photo's with their fun photo tools. :) The camera was under $300.00 and well worth it!

Here are a few photo's taken of some yummy home made Toffee Pecan ice cream with my new LUMIX. Enjoy!!


This ice cream was delicious! Very simple indeed..
I used 2 cans evaporated milk, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 quart heavy whipping cream (whipped), Heath toffee bits and candied pecans, recipe can be found here for the candied pecans. Mix together milks and carefully fold in whipped cream, refrigerate for two hours. Freeze in ice cream maker as directed. When ice cream begins to firm up add toffee bits and pecans. Pack in an ice cream container and let harden. Yumm.. this is probably my favorite way to prepare ice cream, it is so creamy and rich and just as good as H�agen-Dazs'. :)


We always have candied pecans and walnuts on hand.. they make a great snack and a yummy protein pick-me-up!