Baked Trout with Lemon Dill Linguine

Sunday dinner is a must at our house and I always love having guests. It seems the only way I am able to get one of my best friends over on occasion is if I tempt him with food and a few cocktails of course. This weekend was a full blown Midwest summer meaning hot, humid, and muggy! Like when you step outside you start to sweat! After a day of baseball all I could think about making for dinner was something light, refreshing, and simple.
I decided on some Steelhead Trout since it was on sale at Kroger. I figured I would cook that up and serve it over linguine tossed in a lemon dill sauce. I threw in some sugar snap peas for some texture and I also served a caprese salad with ripe tomatoes from my dads garden. Needless to say this dinner hit the spot and my dinner guest left full and satisfied.

For the Trout
1 1/2lbs Trout
2 diced scallions
1 bunch fresh chopped cilantro
2Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
S&P

Bake 375
Place Trout in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Pour 2Tbs Olive oil over the trout and rub. Sprinkle the fresh herbs all over the top of the trout. Pour in your white wine. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

For the Linguine
1lbs linguine
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 cloves garlic minced
S&P
Fresh Dill
Grated Parmesan

Get a pot of boiling water going and season with salt once it comes to a boil. Cook your linguine until al dente, in the final 2 minutes of cooking your pasta throw in your snap peas for a quick blanch then pour out and strain with your pasta. (reserve a cup of pasta water)
Meanwhile in a large sauté pan heat up a 2 count of EVOO and add your garlic. Cook until fragrant, add your lemon zest and juice, white wine, cream, dill, and salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes until your sauce thickens.  Add some grated parmesan at the end.
Turn off your heat and toss in your pasta and snap peas. Add some pasta water if needed.
Serve immediately with the trout and fresh grated parmesan on top.

This whole dish takes about 25-30 minutes to cook and it's totally YUMMY!

Happy Eatings!
Krystal

Charred corn chowder w Shrimp and Poblano Quesadillas

Sweet summer corn is in full effect and I can't get enough of it. While running errands the other day I made a stop at a local farm, I picked up a dozen cobs of sweet corn. I only need to feed a family of 4 so I thought I would use some of the cobs for soup. It was a great idea if I don't say so myself.
I always tend to go towards more of a Mexican flavor when I make corn chowder so to go along with our soup I decided on shrimp quesadillas. I picked up some fresh cilantro, raw shrimp, a couple poblano peppers, avocados, and I swung by my dads house to pick a couple fresh vine ripe tomatoes from his garden. I knew I had everything else at home to whip up this delicious meal.
Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as our family did!

Charred Corn Chowder                                                    

6 ears sweet corn
2 yellow onions sliced
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
1 cooked Poblano pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
S&P

Set oven to broil
Shuck your corn and clean it thoroughly. (Let soak in water) Once your corn is clean, dry it and place on a baking sheet with your poblano. Rub your corn with a little olive oil just to coat. Place in oven under the broiler. Continue to check your corn turning each cob when one side starts to brown. For your poblano, you want it to blacken on each side. Once your corn is lightly browned on each side take out of the oven and let cool. Once your poblano is charred on each side place in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile in a soup pot sauté your onions and garlic until translucent. Pour in your chicken broth, cumin, and bay leaf. Let simmer. Take 5 ears of corn and cut the corn off of the cob and add to the soup. Cut the corn off the last cob and set aside for the end. Take your poblano pepper and peel off the skin. It should be very easy to do at this point. Take out the seeds and place the whole pepper in the soup. Continue to simmer for another 25 minutes.
Take the soup out of the pot a few cups at a time and place in a blender. You need to puree your soup. Be very careful with this part. Blend your soup in small portions until it is all smooth. DO NOT blend hot soup with the entire lid on or it will explode from the steam. Take the middle part of your blender lid off, letting the steam escape. Use a kitchen towel to cover the whole while blending.
Once all your soup is smooth, place back in your soup pot and season with salt and pepper and add the remaining whole corn kernels.
Garnish your soup with fresh cilantro, sour cream, avocado, fresh diced tomato, and lime juice.

Shrimp Quesadilla's

1/2 lbs.  raw shrimp
16oz bag Monterey Jack Cheese
Small Flour tortillas
1 can unseasoned black beans
1 can Hernedez salsa verde
1 poblano pepper

Peel and lightly chop your shrimp. Mix with the salsa verde and  then place in a sauté pan and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through.
Do the exact same thing to your poblano pepper as you did for the soup. Once it is peeled and seeded dice it up and set aside.
To assemble: In a large skillet on med high heat, place one tortilla in the pan, add your cheese (I use a lot) then spoon on some black beans, then your shrimp and some of the poblano, add a little more cheese and then top with another tortilla. Flip your quesadilla over and brown the other side. When your quesadilla is golden brown on each side and your cheese is melted take out of the pan and cut into to four's.
I serve my quesadillas with the same garnish as the soup!

Happy Eatings!