Cedar Plank Baked Rainbow Trout

I have had these cedar plank and have been wanting to try using them with salmon for sometime now. They were tucked away somewhere and still wrapped in the plastic wrapper when Wade found them for me. They have a Florida "Gator" carved in the other side...I must of picked them up on clearance after football season.

I ran across these beautiful fresh rainbow trout, and bought some because they looked so good and they just came in. "This would work great for the cedar planks" I said to myself! So when I got home I search for the planks...I looked with my grilling supplies, then in the bin where I keep my cooking twine (I still have a lot of cooking twine if anyone needs any). I found some cookie presses that I will finally use this year (let's hope). I looked in my laundry room (which is where my pantry is). Then My husband finally found them in the garage of all places. He said he didn't know what they were but knew he should keep them because they were wrapped and the Gator symbol was on it! So here we go...it was very easy and I will try it again soon with some salmon.


It really doesn't need any recipe it is very simple, but you do have to plan a little bit ahead to soak the cedar planks for an hour or two. The fish was already cleaned, and ready to go. I made one with fresh rosemary and lemon and the other with fresh sage and lime...that what I had in my garden.


First rinse the fish...or I should say soak the cedar planks first....after the fish are rinsed, rub with a little vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle a little garlic powder, onion powder, you can use any herbs you like maybe dill, or herbes de provence, then some Old Bay Seasoning or you can use chili powder. I used chipotle chili powder to keep with the smoky flavor going on here. Then like I said I then laid some rosemary on one and fresh sage leaves on the other. Place some lemon slices over the rosemary and lime slices over the sage leaves.

In a hot oven 375 - 400 degree F, place the fish on the planks and then in the oven...you can put a pan or foil under it to catch any drippings. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the fish is done.


The trout held up to the seasoning well I really like the flavor, and it was nice and moist.



I had the one with sage, but I was able to get a taste of the one with rosemary. They were both excellent!

Fruit with Honeyed Yogurt

This weeks Martha Mondays recipe is Melon with Honeyed Yogurt was chosen by Ana from Sweet Almond Tree. With the farmers markets full of fresh ripe fruits and summer heat in full swing this was a great choice. It was nice making something that we would be sure to eat and enjoy...and being so easy to make sure didn't hurt. Ana posted her post yesterday and to find out she picked it because it was one of her father's favorite night-time snack, and it reminded him of his childhood in Greece. Sadly he recently passed, and she made it a fruit platter the way her father liked it so I decided to do the same...one of his favorite things...

I had a lot of fruit already being the season and all...my mint is hanging in there, so fresh picked it is...and I have a few of my mangoes from my tree I was able to get to ripen.

Here is how you can enjoy this simple and delicious snack...

Arrange some of your favorite fruits (or what is in season) on a platter.

2 cups Greek yogurt (2% is good)
1/4 cup mint leaves
2 or 3 tablespoons honey


Place yogurt in a serving bowl, top with mint, and drizzle with honey. Serve melon and fruit with the yogurt.


Even though this is a simple way of enjoying fresh fruit or melon. I was surprised on how good it was...the mint really popped and was so fresh tasting and the slight tang of the yogurt, yum! I used some local, raw, organic honey which was well worth it. When you have few ingredients, it is a good idea to make sure you have the best quality ingredients.



Now for the mangoes....



Each morning when I water the bananas...this is our rainy season and we still haven't gotten much rain....it will rain all around us, but not in our neighborhood. I think we have a blue hole over us (my husband said black hole, but I said then that would mean we had rain). We really need the rain our lawn is crunchy...

...anyway each morning I check to see what is left on the ground from the squirrels. Sometimes if I am out on the lanai and I hear a mango fall I'll run out and get it. My mango tree is ready to pick in July, so to get tree ripe mangoes (which is the best) I want to keep as many on the tree as I can...


At least the squirrels are enjoying them...

...and will usually come back to finish them off.

They look innocent enough but when you turn them over you'll see a bite, except the one in my hand that one's okay and will sit on the counter for a bit. This is a Kent mango and it doesn't show much color when ripe. So I guess we'll just have to go on sharing.

I shared this with.... Just Another Meatless Monday

A Tale of a Sapodilla, my Garden Fruits, and Granola

I bought my sapodilla tree at the rare fruit and nut show that we had in town years ago. I planted it in our extra lot and pretty much forgot about it. The leaves are very pretty and it was a slow growing tree, so I just let it go. I had noticed that it did blossom a few times but I never saw any fruit on the tree...until this year.

I was walking around our yard...we have two lots, and the back boundary is all natural, where I have banana trees, bird of paradise, elephant ears, sea grapes and many more plants.

...then I spotted it, I have fruit on my sopadilla tree!! I immediately picked one and brought it inside. Oh sure then I check to see when the fruit is ripe...

I found a lot of information on sapodilla...I guess it is not unusual for a young tree to take around 8 years before you see any fruit...so there you go...right on time! Here is a little bit of info from Nutrition and you website about the fruit :

Sapodilla or Sapota or chikoo, a delicious tropical fruit is rich in vitamins, minerals and health benefiting anti-oxidant tannins. The fruit is soft, composed of easily digestible pulp made up with simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly.

Sapota is a tropical evergreen fruit bearing tree belongs to the family of sapotaceae of the genus: Manilkara. Scientific name: Manilkara zapota.

So I guess it's okay to pick it when I did...I just have to wait until it is ripe or soft before I eat it., kind of like an avocado. ..

This one was firm but when I scratched the skin it was white or cream color and not green, and it was okay to let it soften before I eat it.

So here it is after a few days on the counter to let it sweeten like it should before you cut into it's tender flesh and dig in.

It is described as brown sugar in flavor or caramel, and it was just that, they also said it had a pear-like texture which really worried me because I don't like pears or their texture, but I didn't see or taste any pear here. It was almost like dulce de leche, yum, more like caramel than brown sugar. Very good.

An up date on how far my pineapple has grown...

...and now for my mango tree... I have a big problem...squirrels! They are going after my mangoes!! I don't know how to stop them! If anyone has any ideas...I am all ears, please let me know...I need help!

One dropped on our pool screen.

This one was already picked by the squirrels and it is not big enough yet. I am going to see if it will ripen, but I was hoping for tree full of ripened mangoes this July when they should be ready.

They don't care how big or little, ripe or not...they dig right in...at least it looks like it did ripen a little...they better finish it. Nothing is worse than going to pick a mango right off the tree and turning it to find a bite out if it still hanging on the tree! darn squirrels!!!

Just noticed my bananas, kinda tiny too!


...and now for the granola...it is the 3rd Saturday of the month which means it's my turn to post on Our Krazy Kitchen so check out my post on...My grandmother's granola recipe.

Thanks for stopping by! Now hop on over for a Relax and Surf Sunday blog hop and enjoy!

Jason's Deli Style Fruit Dip

Now I am not one for fruit dip, it is always way too sweet for me. My mother always likes to derve fruit with a sweet fruit dip. In my opinion, fruit is sweet enough it doesn't need anything sweeter. My friend Kristy sent me some sour plumb powder which is fantastic on fruit! I love the tart-sweet that compliments the sweet fruit. The only other time I served a fruit dip was a whole milk lemon yogurt...that's it...just the lemon yogurt. It was from a health food store and everyone liked it.

Then a little while back my daughter and I were at the north end of town, and ate lunch at Jason"s Deli for the first time. It was wonderful. Very healthy and reasonable priced. The wrap we got came with a choice of sides, and fresh fruit with a wonderful dip was one of the choices (well they didn't call it a wonderful dip). I loved it and had to rush home and see if I could find out what else was in it (I knew it had brown sugar).

Jason's Deli-style-Fruit Dip

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 teaspoons Grand Marnier liqueur (I used Cointreau since I didn't have the Grand Marnier, I think you could use any orange liqueur)

Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl until sugar is dissolved.

Chill for an hour, then stir once before serving.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.



Mmmm...I could eat the dip alone. This came so close to how it tastes.

Have a wonderful weekend.