Rosemary Skewered White Fish with Prosciutto and Bread

I've made this recipe twice and it's so amazing that I had to share it. The first time I made it I didn't take any pictures because I had no idea how it was going to turn out, and the second time I made it I did it a little differently, but I'll explain later.

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef with a few of my own changes.

What you'll need:

• 1 lb meaty white fish (I used tilapia)
• 1 artisan loaf of bread such as ciabatta or sourdough, crusts removed
• fresh rosemary twigs with leaves attached (can you even buy them without the leaves? I don't know why you would want to, but just to cover my bases)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• a few slices of prosciutto or bacon
• 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar (optional) 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut whitefish into 1-inch cubes and place in a large bowl

Remove crust and rip up bread into similar sized pieces. Add to bowl with fish.

Keeping the top inch or so of rosemary leaves, run your fingers down the stalk, removing the leaves. Set stalks aside and place leaves into bowl with chopped garlic. Add 5-6 tablespoons of olive oil and mix together. Pour this mixture over the bread and fish, stirring gently to make sure everything is covered.

Here's where I did it differently this time. You are supposed to skewer the fish and bread onto the rosemary stalks, alternating fish, bread, fish, bread, etc. I did this the first time and it was amazing. The second time (when I took the pictures) the stalks kept breaking on me, so I said forget it and threw it all into a pan, casserole style. While still delicious, I would definitely recommend skewering the bread and fish. The flavors blend better, and the fish keeps the bread softer than it did just sitting in a pan.

(If they were on skewers) wrap the prosciutto around each kabob, weaving it in and out of the fish. Or if you're doing it in a pan, throw some randomly on top. Make sure it looks pretty. Sprinkle with any leftover rosemary/garlic/olive oil mixture and bake for 15-20 minutes until the bread is crisp and golden brown.

*before baking you can season with salt and pepper, however I found that the prosciutto gives plenty of saltiness and that more salt wasn't needed. You can also drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar on each piece of fish. I forgot to do this the first time, did it the second time, and decided I liked it better without the vinegar, but it's a personal taste thing.

To eat, simply slide off the skewers (or get a large spoon and heap it onto your plate if you're cooking it in the pan.)  So yummy, I think I'm going to have to make it again after writing this and staring at the pictures. Excuse me while I go stuff my face...

Style This: Tulip Skirt

Haven't done one of these in a while! I love this skirt because there are so many ways to wear it. I probably wear this once a week, and I had a fun time coming up with 2 different ways to style it.

All Dressed Up:

All dressed up

Lexie had an art show coming up and already had a million ideas bouncing around in her head. A trip around the city was just what she had in mind. Pulling on her comfy knit skirt she added a fun ruffly tank and a her favorite leather jacket to guard against the fall weather. A chunky necklace, some fun bracelets, and bright yellow purse finished off her look. Grabbing her camera and slipping on some heels she ran out the door, hailed a cab, and was off to create masterpieces.



Relaxed Riviera

Relaxed Riviera 

Sophie couldn't wait for her vacation in Italy. She had been saving for months and tomorrow was finally the day! Stripes and comfortable clothing were the first thing she packed. Her favorite black skirt with pockets for keeping treasures went in, as well as cute sandals, a straw fedora to protect her from the sun, and a large canvas bag to hold everything she needed for a day of sightseeing. 

End of Summer Sale

Going on now! Up to 50% off summer merchandise!

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes of Deliciousness

My office decided to hold our very own Iron Cupcake contest once a month and the first theme was "Fruit".  I was short on time the day before so I didn't make my cupcakes from scratch, but the box mix I made (with a few additions) turned out amazing, if I may say so. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake Recipe:

1 box Devil's Food Cake mix

1 pint raspberries (fresh is preferred but frozen can also work)

1 can fudge frosting

~Take all but a few raspberries and let sit in a bowl with a tablespoon of water and a tablespoon of sugar

~Strain raspberries and keep the syrup for later 

~Freeze raspberries 

~Prepare cake according to box 

~Add frozen raspberries to batter and use a hand mixer to mix until just blended

~Spoon batter into baking cups and bake according to box directions

Frosting:

~Mix syrup from raspberries with frosting and frost cupcakes

~Top with a whole raspberry

Enjoy!

Returning

Hi everyone. It's been a bit longer than I expected, but I'm back to blogging again. It probably won't be as often as I used to for the next few weeks, but I do have some posts that I would like to get up here.

Thank you so much for all the emails, facebook messages, and support, it really does mean so much to me. It's been a really bumpy road for my grandma. She went to the hospital 3 weeks ago because she couldn't keep food down and was diagnosed with colon cancer. They did surgery to remove the tumor and found that it had spread to her liver. Still, they were hopeful she would recover from the surgery and could start chemo soon. Last week she suddenly crashed and doctors couldn't figure out why, they didn't think she would survive the night. She did, however, and they were able to do another surgery and was able to fix the problem. As of today she is recovering from the surgery, although she is definitely not out of the woods. It's been such an up and down experience but we are cautiously optimistic that she will recover enough to eventually undergo chemo.

Hopefully posting will go back to normal in the next few weeks.