Sounds Good: Parm Crusted Tilapia

Parm Crust: Equal parts Panko Bread Crust and parmesan cheese. For 2 filets of Tilapia use:

1/8 Cup of Panko Bread
1/8 Cup of Parmesan

Mix thoroughly

Simple Béchamel Sauce: You need just barely enough to cover both filets.

1-1/2 teaspoons butter
3/4 teaspoon grated onion
3/4 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons chicken broth
2 tablespoons half-and-half
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 pinch dried thyme
1/8 pinch ground cayenne pepper

This recipe should just yield a few ounces of sauce, about 3 ounces.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place filets in a non stick oven pan. Cover filets in béchamel. Cover béchamel in Parm crust completely. Cook in oven until fish is an internal temp of at least 145 and parm crust begins to brown.

Recommended sides: Rice and some sauteed vegetables (julienned carrots with broccoli)

Photos coming soon: I will show you how to make this delicious dish from a well known restaurant chain.

Sounds Good #7 Homemade Mac 'N' Cheese

Tired of Kraft Mac 'N' Cheese?? Make your own! This recipe certainly takes longer and more patience but ohhhh the taste is awesome!

You need to do several things for this recipe: 1) Make a Roux, Cook Pasta, and Make Béchamel Sauce. 

1) Make a Roux: Equal parts flour and clarified butter (melt butter and pour through a strainer to remove milk solids) 2 Tablespoons clarified butter and 2 Tablespoons of flour. Heat butter and mix in flour until it thickens into a paste make sure not to burn by using a medium heat. 

2) Start a pot of salted water and boil. Add enough pasta when water is boiling for quantity of people going to eat. Cook pasta until done (au Dente) 

3) Make Béchamel Sauce: To make about a quart (liter) of béchamel saute a few ounces of small cut onions in a saute pan until the onion becomes translucent. Add a pint (16 ounces) of milk and a pint of heavy cream to the pan and bring to a low simmer (not a rolling boil or simmer) just barely bubbling. Allow the liquid to simmer for about 20 minutes occasionally whisking it to make sure it doesn't scald. After it has simmered mix in roux and whisk until roux dissolves and mixture visibly begins to thicken careful not to boil, burn or scald. IF mixture becomes TOO THICK add more milk in small amounts until it thins out slightly. 

4) Turn Béchamel into a Mornay sauce by adding cheese. If you want your Mac 'N' Cheese to be the typical Kraft yellow then use all yellow cheese. If you want your dish to be AWESOME mix small amounts of 4 to 7 different cheeses. I went and bought a blend from my local grocery store and added some cheddar at the end so our had 7 kinds. OHHH NELLY IT WAS GOOD!  

Pour pasta into cooking pan after it has been drained. Pour Mornay over pasta into pan and then pour bread crumbs over mixture, Panko Bread crumbs work best. Bake in oven at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until bread crumbs start to brown. Serve it up with a protein such as beef pieces or shredded chicken.