Strawberry Gelato

With strawberries in season, I couldn't help but try this quick and easy recipe for strawberry gelato. It was the perfect sensation of tangy and sweet and delightfully smooth and cold! Here goes:

1 lb. fresh strawberries
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1.5 cups cold whipping cream
1.5 cups cold water
dash of lemon juice

Clean and cut washed berries into quarters. Put berries, sugar and water into blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add a dash of lemon juice. Add the cold whipping cream and blend until recipe thickens slightly (consistency of buttermilk). Put the mix in an ice cream maker and freeze for 25-30 minutes or until perfect!

The recipe suggested adding 2Tbs. vodka to keep the ice-cream from freezing too hard after you put it in your freezer. I tried it and it worked like a charm! If you're not planning to eat your gelato right away, I'd suggest doing this to keep it soft enough to scoop later on.

This recipe is great by itself, but even more delicious when used as an ice-cream cake filling.

Tilapia Salad that satisfies like a T-bone

You'll never believe me until you try it yourself. This salad may be the best meal that I've ever made. I stumbled on it by accident, but I know for sure that it's going to be a staple in my recipe book for the rest of my life. The picture may not look great but I promise it's delish! You say you don't really like fish? Neither does my husband... but he LOVES this! Try it!

The best salad I've ever made

2 Tilapia fillets

1 large lemon juiced and zested

1 medium shallot (diced finely)

1 can mandarin orange wedges

1/2 clove garlic minced

salt & pepper to taste

romaine lettuce, torn into salad pieces

1/4 cup slivered almonds (toast on stove top with a tsp. of butter and sugar)

dried cranberries

breadcrumbs

mayo

olive oil (or blood orange infused olive oil if you want extra credit)

Step 1: Partially assemble dressing: Mix lemon juice (2-3 Tbs), zest, shallot, salt, pepper, and about 6 orange wedges. Whisk together, crushing oranges and releasing juice. Pour half the mixture over the fish fillets and keep the other half for the dressing.

Step 2: Add additional salt/pepper to fillets if needed. Add the 1/2 clove garlic and set aside to marinate 20-30 minutes.

Step 3: Finish dressing: Add 1 tablespoon mayo to the dressing mixture, whisk until creamy. Then drizzle in olive oil while you whisk until dressing reaches desired consistency-- should be similar to creamy ranch dressing.

Step 4: Assemble salad: Prepare salad plates with romaine lettuce, toasted almonds, cranberries and the rest of the mandarin orange wedges. Set aside until fish is ready.

Step 5: Finish fish: Remove fillets from marinade and set marinade juice aside for later. Rub fillets with a small amount of mayo (1/2 tsp each) and then dredge them in the breadcrumbs until coated. Heat olive oil in pan on medium to medium-high and then sear fish 2-3 minutes per side until cooked. After you've started searing the second side of the fish, toss in the leftover marinade and cover-- it will add some steam and a nice flavor.

When the fish is ready, place one fillet on top of each salad, give it a squeeze of lemon juice and then drizzle your finished dressing on top. Delicious!

This is a Katie original!