Foil baked fish and lemonade cake, yum!

This week I decided to do something light and fresh and summery, and some of the first things that came to mind were fish and lemonade. I miss the days when I was younger and would go out to my grandpa's and go fishing off his dock. I have this cook book that I bought before our wedding that I used as one of our guest books (the other was a calvin and hobbs book, my husbands choice!) that has this delicious recipe for Foil-Baked fish with Black Beans and Corn, and I've made it once before, with rave reviews from everyone who had it, even though it was a little bit too spicy for my tastes. So fair warning, I have cut down on the spicy already, but if you and your family aren't fans of too much kick, feel free to omit the adobo chiles altogether, it'll still taste great. I don't live near my family anymore, so I wasn't able to go fishing and had to settle for store bought, but if you get good flash frozen or fresh fish from the store it'll taste just as good. Foil baking is a great way to cook, allowing the food to steam in it's own juices, keeping it nice and moist. Though I haven't tried it, I suppose this recipe would go well grilling or over a fire for some fancy camping food, don't even really neat plates! To follow it up I had seen this awesome looking lemonade cake on pinterest and thought that would go well to keep things light, bright and summery. Enjoy!


Foil-Baked Fish with Black Beans and Corn

• 4 skinless white fish fillets (6-8 ounces each), 1 inch thick (You can use halibut, cod, haddock or most other white fish fillets. I used cod cause I found it to be the cheapest)
• salt and pepper
• 4 T unsalted butter, softened
• 1 t minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo 
• 1/4 t grated zest, and 2 T juice from 1 orange 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (16 ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups corn kernels
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (my local grocery store doesn't carry cilantro and I forgot to pick some up on my big trip into town, but I have this cilantro spray. Not as good as fresh but it helps when I'm not able to get any fresh)

Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Pat the fish dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Beat the butter, 1/2 t of chipotle, orange zest, half of the garlic, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper in a bowl until combined. Spread the butter mixture over the top of the fillets. Combine the beans, corn, 2 T cilantro, orange juice, remaining chipotle and garlic, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper in a bowl. Lay four 14-inch lengths of heavy duty foil on the counter (regular will work, but it might leak and thats never fun for the cooking or clean up) Divide the mixture evenly over the lower half of each piece of foil, and then top with the fish. Fold the foil over the fish, folding edges to seal. 

Arrange the packets in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the fish is just cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Carefully open the packets and sprinkle with the remaining cilantro. 

Lemonade Layer Cake

Cake

• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 T butter, softened
• 1 T grated lemon zest
• 3 T thawed lemonade concentrate
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 1/4 cups fat free buttermilk (if it's not something you use often, you can freeze the rest in 2 T servings in an ice cube tray, transfer them to a zip log bag, label and store for the next time!)
• Cooking spray

Frosting

• 2 T butter, softened
• 2 t grated lemon zest
• 2 t thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare cake, place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
2. To prepare frosting, place 2 tablespoons butter and the next 4 ingredients (2 tablespoons butter through cream cheese) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, and beat at low speed just until blended (do not overbeat). It'll be quite thick but don't worry, it spreads very well. Chill 1 hour.
3. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Garnish with lemon slices if you would like. Store cake loosely covered in the refrigerator.