The Utterly Distracted Cook: Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
Now that my diaper bag obsession is temporarily satisfied, I’m on to the next project: finding new recipes to add to our sadly limited repetoire of weekly favorites. This is not easy; Frances eats only a handful of foods and spends most dinners fidgeting, jumping out of her chair, feeding Cheerios to Gloria, and asking if everyone else is finished eating. Not the most appreciative audience. I’m pretty much cooking for myself and my husband, and if Frances happens to taste a bite of something in between jumps and fidgets, I’ll be happy. Incidentally, if I used Frances’ technique to eat my own dinner, I would probably drop ten pounds in a week.
Requirements for new recipes: They must be easier than easy, require almost no hands-on time, and be able to be prepared one-handed if necessary. (No stir-frys or anything that requires standing over the stove for the duration.) They can involve some pre-prep and assembly, as long as that can take place the night before. This is because at 5 p.m., Gloria is demanding her own dinner, crawling around the kitchen trying to get to the hot oven, crying if I attempt to contain her in the highchair, unravelling the family room rug, putting pieces of lint in her mouth, and disappearing if I take my eyes off of her for less than a minute. She would probably attempt to juggle knives at this hour if given the opportunity. (Thus, the Utterly Distracted Cook.)
First on my list of new dishes to try: Broiled Tilapia Parmesan from Allrecipes.com. I found this dish by clicking on the “top 20 recipes” list; it happens to be #1. With 5 stars and 1,856 reviews, I figured this would be a safe bet; even better, it satisfies my requirements for prep time (like 10 minutes) and difficulty (dead simple).
I was able to whip together the highly caloric butter-mayo-parm mixture while Gloria was playing on the floor, and did most of the actual broiling while she was in her high chair eating Cheerios. On the side: leftover asparagus risotto (gluey glue, alas) and steamed baby carrots with a touch of brown sugar in the hopes that Frances would eat one. (She did. Just one.)
I think the recipe turned out just exactly right; the fish was cooked perfectly and the topping was nicely browned. It looked very pretty on the plate and I had a moment of feeling like Supermom when I served an actual dinner with fish and risotto and a vegetable. And you know, it was… pretty good. Good, but not great. Not five-stars, two-thousand-raving-fans great. It was somehow a little bit too inoffensive, or something. Fabulously easy, but not so memorable. I will probably forget this recipe in a week and never make it again, just because it failed to be compelling. But it was quite tasty, and probably worth trying one more time at some point. Unfortunately, I think it lacks the personality to make it into our regular cast of favorites.
Next up: A Moosewood Cookbook casserole. Hopefully I’ll have time to cook it tomorrow.
Add comment April 9th, 2007
