Fourth of July Worthy Dessert Pizza

There are a lot of patriotic themed desserts out there for you to bring to your BBQ. I have a simple solution that will be a show stopper as well. It is dessert pizza.
I love dessert pizza because it is easy and you can use whatever fruit you have on hand to make it.

Here is how to make your fourth of July themed dessert pizza.

The first thing you need to do is make a batch of your favorite sugar cookies or to save some time just use a sugar cookie mix. The sugar cookies mixes are one of those things that I have found turn out just as well as sugar cookies that were made from scratch.

Once the sugar cookie mixture is all mixed up; roll out the mixture out flat on a baking sheet or a pizza stone (if you want to continue the pizza theme). While the cookie is baking, take a 8oz. container of cream cheese and allow it to soften. If you want a lower calorie option just use the 1/3 less fat cream cheese-there does not seem to be a huge flavor difference. 

Once the cookie has cooled and the cream cheese has softened, mix 1/3 of a cup of sugar into the cream cheese. Mix with an electric mixer until the cream cheese is completely mixed and slightly fluffy. Spread the cream cheese mixture across the cookie. 

Now comes the fun part-decorating the pizza. To keep a patriotic theme, I would use blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. I placed the berries in a circular pattern but you could easily create the American flag with fruit-using the blueberries as the stars and either strawberries or raspberries as the red stripes.

Take this fun dessert pizza to the picnic to have after the hamburger and hotdogs this July 4th. This dessert is easy to make and will allow you to enjoy some sunshine and other festivities. Enjoy!

Lucy Lemon Squares

If you want a perfect dessert for summer- lemon squares are the way to go. I love anything in a bar-who doesn't love desserts on the run. These bars are great to have around the house or they are awesome for something to bring to BBQ. Everyone will love them but they stand out from the brownies and chocolate chip cookies that everyone has had at a picnic before.
My family calls the lemon squares Lucy Lemon Squares because we used to have a Peanuts cookbook and the lemon squares were named after the Lucy character. My father loves lemon and I used to make the squares for him all of the time.
These bars just remind me of summer. If you like lemon-you will love these sweet and tart treat.
Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, melted

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5/8 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon of lemon peel

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 2 cups flour and confectioners' sugar. Blend in the melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour so there will be no flour lumps. Stir the sugar mixture into the eggs. Finally, stir in the lemon juice. Pour over the prepared crust and return to the oven.
4. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or until bars are set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Side Notes: I love to top my lemon squares with powdered sugar for a nice touch.

These bars are super easy to make. I hope you enjoy them as much as me!

White Chicken Chili

During this weird weather time we call Spring where it can be 85 degrees one minute and 32 degrees the next-I find it hard to make something that can works for both. So the other day when it was chilly but the sun was shining bright I decided to make White Chicken Chili. This is a great recipe because it is light but full of rich, hearty flavor. Naturally it is perfect for this crazy weather.

Another reason why this recipe is so nice is that it can be made for the amount of people that you have to feed from two to twenty. It can also have the heat level adjusted to your liking.


Here is the Recipe:


White Chicken Chili (This is enough for 2 to 4 people)


1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken
1 can of white beans (drained and rinsed)
1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
1/2 of a beer (I used PBR)
1 can of chopped green chilies
1 tablespoon of hot sauce
1 teaspoon of adobo seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
salt and pepper to taste


In a medium size pot or dutch oven cook the onion and garlic with some oil until the onion is translucent. Then add the green chilies and saute for about two more minutes.


Then add the shredded chicken, beans, and spices. Once you have mixed this mixture together you can add the chicken broth and beer.

Bring the chili to a boil then let the mixture simmer for ten to twenty minutes. The liquid will  reduce some. You can use this time to adjust the seasoning to your preferred spice level.


The longer you simmer the chili, the better the flavor. While letting the chili simmer- I made tortilla bowls. To make the bowl just take oven-proof bowls and put place a medium size tortilla shell in the bowl and fold it so it fit in the bowl. Bake the bowls in the oven at 400 degrees for about ten minutes or until the bowl is crisp.

When the chili is done, serve in the tortilla bowls and top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.


This recipe is so very yummy and very healthy for you. If you do not like spice cut back on the spices and green chilies. And if you want more spice just add another add another can of green chilies. It is just that simple.

Enjoy!

Rocky-Road Bars

This week the weather was dark ad raining, so instantly I decided to make a nice comfort food. I decided to make Rocky-Road Bars. This recipe is so scrumptious and relatively easy to make.  


Here is the recipe:
 Rocky Road Bars
1 cup of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
3 cups of chocolate chips
1 cup roasted salted whole almonds-chopped
1 cup mini marshmallows


Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9x13-inch pan. Cream the butter with the sugars, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Then beat in the eggs. Lastly stir in the flour, cocoa, the almonds and two cups of chocolate chips. 


Pat the dough into the pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are set and center is still soft. Then add additional chips and the marshmallows to the top of the bars. 


The recipe says to place back in the oven for three minutes to soften the marshmallows but I feel that it needs more like six minutes.

Side Notes: I would not go out and buy special mini marshmallows for this recipe. I used some leftover snowman marshmallows from this winter, just use what you have. 

This recipe is a total crowd pleaser- I mean how could it not be! I mean I could not even get a picture of the bars before someone had to take some. Try these soon!

Black and Bleu Potato Salad

Now that it is starting to get warm outside and the sun is out my longer I feel like making summer-time food. Which for me that is picnic and barbecue food.
 So this past weekend I thought it would be good to make some potato salad. Now I am not the biggest fan of potato salad but my fiance is. Well let's be honest here, he is obsessed with anything from that realm from coleslaw to pasta salad to potato salad. He may just be obsessed with mayo.
But back to the potato salad. I feel like potato salad is one of those things that an exact recipe does not work. I mean everyone has their  own idea of what is needed to go in to make the perfect salad but they vary so drastically and people seem to be very opinionated on the matter. Since I am not the biggest fan of potato salad I decided to mess with the original and make a Black & Bleu Potato Salad with bleu cheese and bacon. Go big or go home, right?

This recipe did not have exact measurements-I played it by pretty fast and loose. 

Here is the general idea of what I did to make my salad-I started by I cubing up some Yukon gold potatoes (what I had leftover from St. Patrick's Day-lets say half of a bag) and boiled them until they were super soft. I chose to not peal them because I enjoy the taste and the look of the potato skins. You can peal them if that is what you prefer. 

Once I had boiled my potatoes, I let them cool off in the sink while running cold water over them.

Once the potatoes had cooled, I added 3 to 4 large "glops" of Miracle Whip. Now I know the debate between mayo or miracle whip is very controversial-use what you like best. After all you will be the one eating it!

Then I added about a 1/2 cup of horseradish sauce, 1/2 cup of bleu cheese, and 1/2 cup of crumbled, crispy bacon.

Side Note: I cooked my bacon in the oven. This is a just an easy, mess free way to crisp up your bacon. I mean even Rachel Ray does this.

This recipe can easily be tweaked to just how you like your potato salad-that is the beauty of it.

I served my potato salad with London Broil because I love steak. So enjoy your potato salad and the warm weather. Keep an eye out for future summer-time recipes.

Happy Saturday with Almond Cheese Danishes

Saying "Good Morning" can be a challenge sometimes. But when this cheese danish on your plate it will be a whole lot easier. This idea came about because I was going through cupboards and  realized that had some leftover puff pastry and a can of almond paste. So I thought why not put them both to good use? 

 I kind of came up with this recipe on my own out of basic baking knowledge but I real think you could really play with this recipe to make what you would like. I choose almond because it it truly my favorite.

Here is the recipe:

Almond Cheese Danishes

1/2 can of almond paste

1 sheet of puff pastry

1 8 oz Cheese Cheese softened (or I use the 1/3 less fat stuff)

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest

Take the sheet of puff pastry and cut into nine squares. The whip together the cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. You can place a thin layer of almond paste on each of the squares of puff pastry and then spoon the cream cheese mixture over the almond paste. Once you have done this and fold two corners over lapping the cream cheese mixture. Then bake the danishes in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

This is what the danishes will look before you but then in the oven.

These danishes can really be made with anything. The almond paste can easily be replaced by lemon curd or raspberry jam or anything that floats your boat. You could also make a quick icing with some milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar to add something extra to these danishes and then sprinkle with slivered almonds. The wonderful thing about a danish is that there are so many possibilities.

This is what the danishes look like when they come out of the oven. These danishes are very delicious and helped to coax my fiance out of bed this morning. I would suggest making these for a special breakfast, a brunch or even as something quick to grab on the way out of the door to work. I hope you enjoy this recipe and let me know how your danishes worked out.

From Hangovers to Leftovers: Dealing with what St. Patty's leaves behind (Part Two)

Now that it has been a few days since St. Patrick's day and for your sake I hope everyone is feeling back to normal. But you may still have some leftovers from the festivities. I have a ton of leftover Irish Soda Bread even though I have been grabbing a piece every time I go by the bag.

I decided since the bread is starting to get dry, the best solution is to whip up some bread pudding. I came up with this recipe on my own-it just spoke to me. The soda bread is perfect for bread pudding. It is a sturdy and will hold its shape in the custard but it has some nice flavor profiles that will shine through.

So here is my recipe for My Irish Soda Bread Pudding:

• 1/2 of a loaf of few day old Irish Soda Bread (cubed)- Here is the Irish Soda Bread Recipe I used
• 2 cups of buttermilk (which  used up the leftover buttermilk from making the bread in the first place- this can easily be replaced with milk or cream)
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• a few dashes of nutmeg

Set the oven at 350 degrees.  Place the cubed bread in a greased 8x8 baking dish. Whisk the remaining ingredients together and then pour evening over the bread. Then bake for 45 to 55 minutes; until the custard has settled and the top is golden brown.

I decided to top the bread pudding with a little hair of the dog and added a rum glaze. To make the glaze melt 3 tablespoons of butter, a generous splash of spiced rum and about a cup of powdered sugar. Then apply glaze while the pudding is still warm.

This was a simple recipe and a wonderful way to use up left over Irish Soda Bread. I think this recipe is perfect as dessert or brunch. Hope you enjoy this recipe.

From Hangovers to Leftovers: Dealing with what St. Patty's leaves behind (Part One)

Whether it is a pesky hangover and/or tons of leftover potatoes, corn beef and Irish soda bread. I will help by dealing with the leftovers may help nurse you back to health from your hangover. 


Here is a recipe for Corn Beef Hash to have with eggs to drive your headache away and use up your abundance of potatoes and corn beef.


INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2-3 cups finely chopped, cooked corned beef
• 2-3 cups chopped cooked potatoes, preferably Yukon gold
• Salt and pepper
• Chopped fresh parsley

METHOD

1 Heat butter in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) on medium heat. Add the onion and cook a few minutes, until translucent.

2 Mix in the chopped corned beef and potatoes. Spread out evenly over the pan. Increase the heat to high or medium high and press down on the mixture with a metal spatula.

3 Do not stir the potatoes and corned beef, but let them brown. If you hear them sizzling, this is good. Use a metal spatula to peak underneath and see if they are browning. If nicely browned, use the spatula to flip sections over in the pan so that they brown on the other side. Press down again with the spatula. If there is too much sticking, you can add a little more butter to the pan. Continue to cook in this manner until the potatoes and the corned beef are nicely browned.

4 Remove from heat, stir in chopped parsley. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and add salt to taste.

Serve with fried or poached eggs for breakfast.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

Side Notes: This seemed to go over very well with my fiance. I used the leftover roasted potatoes with my corn beef. I did cut back on the salt and pepper as my roasted potatoes were well seasoned. This is also a good recipe for any big breakfast.


I hope your hangovers are better and you have fewer leftover.


To follow soon: Part 2- Irish Soda Bread Pudding

I'll drink to that! My first Irish feast.

I have always loved to participate in St. Patty's day festivities but the traditional food have never been on the menu. It has always been much more a  liquid-based holiday f0r me. But as per the request from my Irish-blooded fiance I was willing to give it all a shot.

My family never cooked corn beef and cabbage. I actually have never had it before-I know, crazy! I mean I was not even sure what corn beef was-thank you google for clearing things up. So since this was going to be my first time making this traditional dish, I decided to take a side step away from the norm and do it Anna's way.

I started by cooked my corn beef in a crock pot. First I rubbed the corn beef in brown sugar and the spice packet that came with the beef on all sides and then poured in a beer (after all it is St. Patrick's Day).  The recipe I saw called for Guinness, which would be good but I was not going out of my way to buy a Guinness, so I used a Narraganset. Now just let this cook for 5-6 hours on high or 10-12 on low and when it pulls apart it is ready to go.

Potatoes are traditional Irish fare but boiled is not my style. I roasted my yukon gold potatoes with olive oil, salt, pepper and adobo seasoning. Then Iput them in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes and I flipped the potatoes. Then baked the potatoes for another 15 to 20 minutes until brown and crispy.

And of course I needed to bake some Irish soda bread to finish off this feast. I used Ina Garter's recipe from Food Network. For some reason I feel like I have heard that soda bread is hard to make. This could not be farther from the truth-it is a quick bread (super simple.)  

Here is Ina's recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
• 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 cup dried currants

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Side Notes: I swapped the currants for dried cranberries-I just think that the cranberries go wonderfully with the orange zest. I also did not have any parchment paper in the house, so I sprayed the baking sheet and covered with corn meal. This seemed to work very well and I enjoyed the corn meal on the bottom of the bread.

This feast went over very well with my red head who was craving a St. Patty's feast. I hope your St. Patrick's Day was wonderful!

Got old brown bananas? Anna Banana to the rescue!

Everyone has been plagued with a plethora of bananas that have started to get brown age spots like your grandma. You buy a bunch of bananas at the store with the good intention of throwing  one in your purse each day for a health snack. Either this simply just does not happen or you find a brown hot mess in the bottom of your purse a week later. So the real question is how do we fix this situation.

The most obvious solution is banana bread. I love banana bread-it is easy to make and it is a crowd pleaser. Here is my recipe:

Banana Bread 

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1cup chopped walnuts

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour and walnuts last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Side Notes: These could easily be made into muffins. I actually made mine in a bunt cake pan.


So yes banana bread is great but can get a bit mundane if you are making it every time your bananas get old. So I thought of a few ways to spice up.
 The first is Banana Bread French Toast.
To make this treat- mix a few eggs and milk with about a tsp. of vanilla and a few dashes of cinnamon. Slice the bread to your desired thickness and dunk the slices in the egg mixture. Then cook in a frying pan as you would any french toast. This is a great way to shake up a breakfast favorite.

Another banana bread option is to make a bread pudding. Here is my Banana Bread Pudding recipe:


1 loaf of banana bread (cubed)


2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.


So now there is no reason to throw away your old brown bananas. And if you do have time make these delicious recipes, you can always freeze the bananas for a later date. Let me know what you think and enjoy.

Drunkin' Beef Stew: Spicing up a classic with red wine

People think soups, stews and chowders are very impressive feats but I love making them and taking credit when others are impressed. But to be perfectly honest they are really quite simple-for the most part you just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and let it all do its thing. This winter my soon to be sister-in-law served us Beef stew with red wine-it was delish and was just so lovely on a cold night. 

Here is the recipe:

1 1/4 beef check in 2-in cubes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon oil

3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-in pieces

8 ounces frozen pearl onions (thawed)

2 garlic gloves chopped

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups red wine

1 cup beef stock

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 sprig rosemary

Start by seasoning the beef with salt and pepper, Turn the heat on a dutch oven on high.

Then brown beef on all sides 3-5 mins; reduce heat to med-high, Then add carrots, onions 

and garlic,  Cook for about 2 mins; stir in flour and cook 1 min; add wine and stock, 

Then add tomato paste and rosemary and bring to a boil. Cover, place in 350 oven and braise 

for 1.5 hours or until meat in knife tender and sauce thickens.

Side Notes: The red wine that you use should be dry (sweet would not be great).

Wish List: I cooked my stew in a plain old pot. So I would like to add a dutch oven to my wish list. A beautiful one that is enamel and in a funky bright color- perhaps  lime green or orange.

Once this stew is all cooked, I would serve it with mashed potatoes.  Enjoy this comfort food on a nice cold night and let me know what you think. 

And thank you Heidi for this recipe!

Twice Baked Potatoes

I love potatoes...personally I do not know how anyone could not. There are so many to prepare potatoes but one of my favorite ways is to make Twice Baked. I was introduced to this lovely potato variation from my best friend Shawna's mom. She makes amazing potatoes. The wonder of the twice baked potato is that it combines two potato classics: mashed and baked.

To make twice baked potatoes you need to bake four potatoes as you normally would for plain baked potatoes. You want the potato to be fully cooked, so the potato insides are easy to mash and work with. Once the potatoes are baked you need to cut the potatoes in half the long way. I do this while they are still hot, so if you hold the potato with an ovenmit and cut with the other hand this works well. After they are cut in half, spoon out the filling.
In a bowl combine the potato with sour cream, milk, salt, pepper and 1 1/2 cups of your desired shredded cheese. I am always a fan of extra sharp cheddar cheese. Use the same amount of these ingredients as you would to get your desired mashed potato consistency-if you like lumpy have it be lumpy or if yo like creamy and smooth make it smooth (your choice.)
These ingredients are the basics, you can add anything you want to spice up the from garlic to spinach (whatever floats your boat.) I like theses potatoes with steak, so I like to spice my potatoes up with horseradish sauce. Once you have mixed everything up, spoon the filling back into the potato skins. Lastly top your potatoes with shredded cheese. Place potatoes back in the oven at 350 and bake until the filling is hot and the cheese is lightly browned.
These are a crowd pleaser so enjoy!

My Valentine's Day Present

I have so many things on my kitchen wishlist....some more practical than others. This Valentine's Day my fabulous fiance checked off one of the things on my list. I wanted these every since I saw Sandra Lee using them in one of her cocktails. For this Valentine's Day I got Ice Balls.

These are balls used to make solid ice balls. They are perfect for cocktails because they melt slower do to their surface size. You can also put fruit or juice or really anything you wanted. I am so excited to use it for my next speicalty cocktail. Thanks Kammy!

Chocolate Chip-Coffee Muffins

I love love love muffins! But lets be honest, they are really just cupcakes that we have allowed ourselves eat for breakfast. Here is a wonderful recipe that I found in Cooking Light that any muffin lover will enjoy.

Ingredients 

• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 
  
• 1. Preheat oven to 400°.
• 2. Combine first 5 ingredients.
• 3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in center of flour mixture. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
• 4. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 18 minutes or until done. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack.
•  Side Notes: In this recipe I used skim milk instead of whole milk. If any of you out there are Weight Watcherers' this recipe is 6 points which is pretty good in the muffin realm.  Once when I made this recipe with chocolate covered espresso beans that I ground up; it was a nice twist. 
• This muffin work well for a weekday quick breakfast or if you are having people over for a brunch. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Blackened Tilaplia with Garlic & Lime Butter

So I get recipes from all over the place but this one is from my fiance from his Men's Health. It is Blackened Tilapia with Garlic & Lime Butter. I love tilapia and we keep a huge bag of individually frozen pieces, so it makes it very easy for us to pull out what we need. This recipe is pretty simple and full of flavor. Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

2 tbls.  butter, softened at room temp.
2 tbls. chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp. lime zest, plus juice of 1 lime
1 tbls. canola oil (I use grapeseed oil)
4 tilapia fillets (6 oz. each)
1 tbls. Blackening Spice

DIRECTIONS

Combine the butter, cilantro, garlic, lime zest, and lime juice in a small mixing bowl and stir to thoroughly blend.  Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet or saute pan over high heat.  Rub the tilapia all over with the blackening spice.  When the oil in the pan lightly smokes, add the fish and cook, undisturbed, for 3-4 minutes on the first side, until the spice rub becomes dark and crusty.  Flip and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, until the fillets flake with gentle pressure from your finger.

Transfer the fish to 4 serving plates and immediately top each with a bit of the flavored butter.

Side Notes: When making the butter, I found it hard to completely mix in all of the lime juice. It is just not in the nature of butter to peacefully mix with lime juice. I just spooned the entire mixture (excess juice and all) onto the fish and it came out wonderfully. Personally I believe the mixture minus the butter would be just as good but you have to love butter!
Also Blackening spice is not something that is readily available and Men's Health did not include what goes into it; so here is a recipe for Blackening Spice:
2 tbls. paprika (smoked or sweet) 
1 tbls. salt
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. cayenne
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme or oregano leaves

This recipe can be tweaked to your own liking.

Also as this is a Men's Health recipe and is good for you I have included the nutritional facts:

4 Servings
Calories:  300
Carbs:  5.4g
Protein:  32g
Fat: 14g (6 Sat)
Sodium:  510mg

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is not time intensive at all and can be made in about 15 minutes. I also suggest washing this down with a nice margarita!