Roasted Mediterranean Lake Trout and Shepard's Pie Potato

Alas! I've been wanting to cook a whole fish since we ordered a whole Mackerel on my birthday compliments of Publican. Cleaned and gutted whole lake trout, oiled and salted on the outside and inside. Stuffed with garlic, rosemary, and lemon slices. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes. The skin peels easily off and you have much meat on the fish. This is a dish that I would only serve with close friends and family because it requires a bit of picking at the fish. It is so much tastier and you get a lot more than if it were just a fillet or steak.

For the Shepard's Pie Potato I started with what would be a twice baked potato (see previous posts), but filled the boat part with a little sausage made up of ground beef, corn, chopped green pepper and spices. I liked it so much that I want to do more work with the meat stuffing next time. Topped it off with the removed and jazzed up filling.

Flair

More than one piece of flair can easily make it look like you're trying too hard, but just one can give a dish a little personality. Carrot flowers are easy to do (or in this case carrot snow flakes as it is December). Oh yeah, and I made a quick change of the background for the season.

I found a nice instructional video online that shows the method better than I can explain it in text and the guy took it a few steps further. http://youtu.be/PdIyyKiWsqI

As for the dish, it was just a chicken rice curry.

Chicken... Again

Super easy salad to start. Looks impressive and tastes even better. And as a bonus, it takes no time to make. You have nothing to lose to try it. Peeled carrot on a cucumber slice next to a basil leaf. Add a couple lines of honey (get the good stuff, not the cheap stuff), and put a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar on top and you will have the easiest and freshest salad you've ever tasted. 

Tried something a little different with the chicken. Marinated a chopped chicken breast in fresh squeezed lime juice (2 limes) with salt/pepper for 20 minutes. Added 2 Tbs of butter to a pan with onions, fresh green beans, and zucchini with the chicken and lime juice for a delightfully tasty dinner. Next time I think I will grill the whole chicken breast (butterflied) after the marinate (similar to the grapefruit chicken post) because the color was not spectacular and grill marks would of helped make it look more appetizing (that said I'd lose some lime flavor because it wouldn't actually be cooked in the lime juice). 

For the baked potato: poke holes in the potato, season with olive oil and salt, wrap in foil, bake at 375 for 1 hour. Remove top layer of potato and carve out a boat. Take the filling (remove skin first) and mash it with cheese, paprika, garlic, mayo (or sour cream), a small amount of butter, salt, pepper, and stick back in the oven for 30 minutes.