I swear I can cook...

even though all my postings have been about dining out.

I was professionally trained to be a chef a few years ago. I thought I was going to be a culinary goddess until I started my first internship. I saw a stock pot that was the size of me and thought.. " this isn't going to work". I wasn't built for hard labor. Basically, I chickened out. So now I just cook for fun.

I've been feeling a little insecure about my culinary skill so I decided to cook one night. This is what I made....

Oven Roasted Orata with Shallots, Olives and Tomatoes

Recipe:

1.5 lbs Orata

4 plum tomatoes sliced

1 lemon * cut half for juice and the rest sliced to bake with fish

4 gloves of garlic thinly sliced

1/4 black olives rough chopped

1/4 cup each of rosemary, thyme and marjoram

3/4 cup of chopped shallots

4 tbsp of olive oil

salt

pepper

Use everything fresh!

Preheat oven at 350. Season fish with salt, pepper and lemon juice. In a pan, sweat garlic and shallots about 3 minutes, add in the rest of the ingredients and sauteed about 4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat. Add sauce to fish, on top and inside. Cover and bake for 35 mins. Drizzle with olive oil.

Isn't that pretty??? I served it with mashed lemon potatoes and sauteed swiss chard. I think I'm going to keep cooking.

Try it!