Easter at the Jacksons + Recipes

This past Easter weekend was exciting for J and I because we were the hosts this year. It was our first big holiday gathering that we led and it was quite successful. :)

The recipe was all J's idea, and a good one. It's actually adapted from a dinner he made me in the latter half of 2008 as a surprise when I came home from a shift at Starbucks (see below). He had adapted it from Rachel Ray (the fish and gnocchi). We also made the veggie and salad.

Yummy!

So without further ado...the recipes as made for Easter 2011:

• Salad with Fresh Veggies
• Baked Tilapia with Roasted Tomatoes
• Gnocchi with Tarragon and Chive Sauce
• Peas with Pearl Onions

Since I'm not trying to make this a 30 minute meal or anything I am going to break the recipe down and add the baked fish variation. :) We also added a simple spring greens salad, because J and I love our salads.

The link to Rachael Ray's Recipe.

 Baked Tilapia with Roasted Tomatoes

• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), divided
• Salt and pepper
• 4 fillets halibut or sea bass (6 ounces each)

Preheat oven to 425. Spread tomatoes onto a cookie sheet and combine with garlic, shallot, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper. As Rachel Ray says "the tomatoes will burst" after 10 minutes. Continue cooking another 10-12 minutes to concentrate flavor. Remove from oven. Mash tomatoes roughly.

Turn oven temp down to 400. I prepared the tilapia fillets by placing them in a baking dish on top of aluminum foil. I used some oil and fresh lemon juice to lightly season and keep from sticking at all. bake the fillets for 20-25 minutes. Since I live at a funky altitude I used the aluminum foil as a cover first so that the fish didn't crisp in some areas while just finishing cooking in others. I uncovered with five minutes of time left. It worked, and the fish we perfect!

Serve with roasted tomatoes on top.

Gnocchi with Tarragon and Chive Sauce

• 2 packages fresh gnocchi
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 6 sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves stripped and chopped
• 3 tablespoons snipped chives

Place a large pot of water on the stove to come up to a boil. Add salt to boiling water and drop in gnocchi. Cook for 2-3 minutes until they begin to rise.
Melt the butter in a skillet over low heat and add herbs. Toss cooked, drained gnocchi with herb butter, salt and pepper.

Peas with Pearl Onions

I don't have exact amounts because if you buy the standard sized bag of everything it should be perfect.
I started with a large bag of frozen peas from the grocery (I think it's 10 servings or something) and then bought a bag of the fresh pearl onions. Preparation is easy: place them in boiling water for two minutes and then plunge in to an ice bath. Cut off the root end of the pearl onion and then squeeze them out! Combine prepared pearl onions and cooked peas. Salt and pepper to taste.

Beautiful elm tree seeds, still on the branch. Spring!