Down home dinner

Hi there!
Here's what we had for dinner tonight: breaded tilapia, black eyed pea salad, collards and herb bread. Here are the recipes so you too can have this for dinner!

For starters I thought I'd share a quick cost saving tip: make your own breadcrumbs. Bake bread that's getting a little old at 400 degrees for just a few minutes. Grind the toast in your food processor with whatever herbs you like. This time I made Italian breadcrumbs by including parsley, basil and oregano. Saves you from having to buy breadcrumbs and saves you from throwing away old bread!



Now with your handy breadcrumbs you can make this recipe for crunchy baked tilapia!

Crunchy Baked Tilapia
Baste the fillets with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Dredge the fish in your tasty homemade breadcrumbs and bake in a greased pan at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until firm and flaky.

Black Eyed Pea Salad
Combine 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup rice vinegar (alter to taste, more sugar if you don't like it too tart). Finely chop one tomato and 1/2 onion and combine with one drained can of black eyed peas. Combine with vinegar dressing and season with salt/pepper, 1 tsp cilantro, 1 tsp parsley. Let marinate for at least an hour.

Herb Bread
3ish cups flour
1 packet dry active yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tbs shortening
herbs of your choice
Combine 1 packet dry active yeast with 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 2 tsp salt in a large bowl. In a small saucepan warm: 1 cup milk, 2 tbs sugar and 2 tbs shortening. Heat until just warm (115ish degrees). Pour the heated mixture into the large bowl. Add 1 egg. Add 2 tsp celery seed, 2 tsp basil, 2 tsp sage (or the herbs of your choice). Beat on medium for three minutes. Add additional 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour, just enough to make a moderately soft dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth, about five minutes. Place in greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough and place in greased loaf pan or large pie pan. Recover and let rise until about double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.

See my previous entry if you want instructions on collards. Hope you enjoy!