October 5 Meal: Rest Stop

This night was kind of a rest stop in the week.  We just had spaghetti the night before and were planning a full roasted duck the next day.  The recipe was Trout Fillets with Mint Pipian from the Fast, Easy, Fresh section.  It promised to be a quick dish.  In preparation for the next night's feast I also prepared Maple and Chocolate Chip Shortbread from the Mad for Maple section.

Trout Fillets with Mint Pipian
 This was the least impressive dish so far, but that may be my fault.  Last week I went on a reconnaissance trip to a few grocery stores to figure out where I was going to get everything for the month.  Whole Foods had trout fillets, so I went back there the day I made this dish.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any trout because the farm was cleaning their tanks over the next two weeks.  I was too lazy to stop at another store, so I went for tilapia.  I think that may have been a mistake.  The fish didn't have a very good texture once it was cooked, however the flavor was OK.

The mint pipian was just alright, as well.  A pipian is a ground Mexican sauce characterized by pumpkin or squash seeds.  This one had pumpkin seeds, poblano, onion, tomatillo, mint, and lime juice.  After the ingredients were sauteed I blended them in the food processor.  The sauce ended up pretty thick and the predominant flavor was mint.  Shaun and I just aren't huge mint fans with main dishes.

Yumminess: 5 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $9 for 2 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 30 minutes for prep and 40 minutes total, but I spent maybe 15 minutes in prep and 5 minutes cooking, so my total time was around 20 minutes.

Was it worth it?: The price wasn't bad and the taste wasn't bad, either.  Trout would probably be better.

Maple and Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Even though I made this one for the next night, we snuck a little slice.  The maple in this recipe cuts the saltiness of the butter really nicely.  Ground maple sugar gave the maple flavor in this recipe.  Maple sugar is "what remains after the sap of the sugar maple is boiled for longer than is needed to create maple syrup or maple taffy."  Buying maple sugar is a bit of a commitment.  Whole Foods has a jar that contains about a cup and half of the large granuled sugar for $12.99!  With an entire article on maple desserts, looks like I'll have to get a couple jars... and maybe substitute some regular sugar.  However, for the shortbread I used the right amount of maple sugar, no substitutions.

Putting together the batter was easy, just beat butter with maple sugar, salt, and flour.  You spread that in a tart pan with a removable bottom and then press chocolate chips on the top.  My favorite chocolate chips are the Ghirardelli bittersweet big chips.  Last, just spread a little maple syrup (Grade B) on the top and bake.

Yumminess: 10 out of 10

Cost: Approx. $5.50 for 16 servings

Time: Bon Appetit said 25 minutes for prep and 2 hrs.total, but I spent maybe 15 minutes in prep, 55 minutes cooking, and 30 minutes cooling, so my total time was around 1:40 hrs.

Was it worth it?: Yes!  This was a great dessert and easy to make.  I wouldn't buy maple sugar just for this, so have a plan for what you want to do with the rest of it since it's expensive.