Fresh Beets and Rutabega with a Prune Reduction

Wayne and I  went to Baltimore in March to "play" with Graham, Maren and Campbell while Blair was at a photography workshop and Tom was working.  While we were there Tom treated us to dinner at Woodberry Kitchen http://www.woodberrykitchen.com/ .  What a great restaurant!  It's got a really friendly, cozy, atmosphere with amazing service.  I had a very smooth grapefruit/pear martini...just yummy!  Most everything they prepare is made from local, in-season, produce with wonderful, fresh, seafood from nearby waters and locally raised poultry and beef.  We ordered several appetizers with one being roasted rutabega with a prune reduction.  I decided to try recreating this for a side dish with a combination of fresh beets and rutabega and we liked the result!

Ingredients:

2 Rutabega and 4 Beets

2 cups Bottled Prune Juice

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Wash beets and rutabega and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.
3. Bake beets for 50 minutes and rutabega for 1 hour 15 minutes and cool. (You can do this a day or two ahead and store in the refrigerator)
4. Reduce oven temp to 375 degrees.
5. Combine prune juice and vinegar in a small pan, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.  Simmer until reduced by half and a syrupy consistency is reached.
6. Cut ends off vegetables and peel.
7. Cut beets and rutabega into wedges, place on cookie sheet,season with salt and pepper, and drizzle reduction over all.
8. Bake for 30 minutes (stirring after 15 minutes) and serve hot with "drippings" drizzled over vegetables.

Wasabi Panko Crusted Mahi Mahi

I really got lazy with this blog...I've still been cooking, but was distracted from posting recipes.  I'll try to make up for the days I've missed! 

We are so lucky here in Washington, NC to be close enough to the salty waters of the Pamlico Sound and Atlantic Ocean to have access to some really great seafood.  I love going to the seafood market and seeing all the varieties of fish and shellfish displayed.  Last week I bought a large portion of Mahi Mahi, prepared half of it and put the other half in the freezer.  Today I defrosted the frozen portion and cooked it for our dinner tonight.  I try to use fresh fish I've frozen as quickly as possible, after 3 months fish I've frozen seems to get a musky taste. Last week I used a Gordon Ramsey recipe for a panko crusted rack of lamb. http://gordonramsaysrecipes.com/11/gordon-ramsays-herb-crusted-rack-lamb-f-word/  When I decided to cook the Mahi tonight I thought I could used the same technique in this great recipe for cooking the mahi....it worked with a few changes to the Panko crust.

Ingredients:

•  One Mahi Filet, skin removed
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 lime
• 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 cup panko
• 2 tbsp. wasabi paste (Wayne and I like the taste and heat of wasabi, adjust to your taste)
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1. Preheat ove to 400 degrees
2. Remove skin from the Mahi and salt and pepper both sides.
3. Squeeze the lime over the fish.
4. Combine Panko, Wasabi and 2 Tbs. Olive Oil in a shallow container (pie plate is perfect) well (hands work great for this!)
5. Heat 3 Tbs. Olive Oil in oven-safe skillet.
6. Sear fish on both sides in the oil (about 2 minutes per side)
7. Remove fish from skillet and coat with panko mixture, making sure the "top" is well coated.
8. Return fish to the skillet and place in the oven for 5 minutes (our fillet was about 3/4 inch thick)
9. Change oven to broil and broil until top is nicely browned.