Pittsburgh Metro Realty Check

“M” and “M,” a really sweet young couple from West Mifflin, listed their house with me late last year. Well, when I walked into their house, the first thing I saw was lots of fish tanks—and I mean, LOTS. I’d never seen anything like it! But they LOVE fish. Tropical fish, goldfish, angel fish, all kinds of fish.

And I have to admit, after being there awhile and watching all those fishies swimming around and around, I started feeling pretty relaxed and happy. I guess owning fish makes a lot of sense!

So after I listed their cute house, I asked whether they had a favorite recipe they wouldn’t mind giving me for my blog. Without even hesitating, they said, “Sure! As a matter of fact, our favorite recipe is one for tilapia.”

I said, “Tilapia. You mean the fish.” They replied with a smile, “Uh huh!”

“So you don’t mind eating fish even though you’re both fish lovers?” “Oh no,” they replied. “We figure if fish eat other fish, why shouldn’t we? Besides, this fish tastes so good, you almost want to eat nothing but fish!”

Well, you know what? I tried the recipe myself a couple of weeks later, and if this isn’t one of the best fish dishes you’ve ever eaten, I’ll be even more amazed than I was when I ate this!

M&M’s Marinated Tilapia Fillets

4 tilapia fillets, approximately ¼ pound each
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 ½ cups stale bread crumbs, crushed fine
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tablespoons olive oil

For the marinade:
½ can evaporated milk
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half

Rub one of the garlic pieces on the inside bottom and sides of a glass or ceramic dish large enough to hold the tilapia fillets. Add the evaporated milk, the cumin powder and balsamic vinegar, blend well, and add remaining garlic.

Place the fillets in the dish, turn over each fillet, place in refrigerator for ½ hour. Turn fillets over and marinate another ½ hour. Meanwhile, prepare the flour mixture, the egg mixture and the bread crumb mixture as follows:

For flour mixture: place the flour, salt and pepper in a paper bag or plastic baggie and shake it to mix the ingredients well. For the egg mixture: mix the egg, mustard and brown sugar in a shallow bowl for dipping the fillets. For the bread crumb mixture: place the bread crumbs, thyme and marjoram in another paper bag or plastic baggie and shake it to mix the ingredients well.

When the fillets are ready to cook, heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat until the oil is fragrant (don’t burn the oil). Place each fillet, one at a time, first into the flour bag and shake well to coat evenly, then dip into the egg mixture, then place in the bread crumb bag and shake well to coat evenly. Then place each fillet into the pan and saute over medium-low heat for approximately 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and the bread crumbs are lightly toasted.

Serve immediately (we like this dish with red potatoes and asparagus with lemon sauce).