Cheers and thank you to all of the members of our military, past and present!
I attended one of my favorite Williams-Sonoma technique classes this weekend, which featured recipes for Memorial Day. They are free cooking classes held almost every Sunday before the store opens, and you get to taste the creations after they are made. I would highly recommend checking them out! I had a whole Memorial Day menu already figured out, but the samples were so tasty at the class that I changed my mind. We had lime marinated pork tenderloin medallions over a tomato, mint and watercress salad and lemon blini with raspberry sorbet. A very summery menu to kick off the unofficial start of summer! 🙂 This is my take on the recipes I learned. As usual, I tried to make them a tad healthier. For example, I used less salt in the marinade, quite a bit less olive oil for the dressing and more veggies than called for. In the dessert, I used skim milk instead of whole.
Lime Marinated Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Tomato, Mint and Watercress Salad
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of any excess fat
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons light olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
2 oz chicken stock
1 oz red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 oz extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups cubed tomatoes (bite size)
2 cups watercress
2 tablespoons fresh mint
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
Cut the pork into uniform medallions, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, and place in a baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk the coriander, cumin, lime zest and juice, olive oil, salt, garlic and onion. Pour the marinade over the pork, mix well so every piece is coated, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 375
Preheat an oven proof grill pan over medium heat. Remove the pork from the marinade, and reserve the remaining marinade. Grill the pork on the preheated pan, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the pan to the oven, and finish cooking for about 6 minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the pork to a platter to rest under a tent of tin foil. Add the remaining marinade, stock, vinegar, and honey to the pan and simmer together until it is reduced by one third on the stovetop. Whisk in the extra virgin olive oil.
Mix the tomatoes, watercress, mint and almonds in a large bowl. Toss the warm dressing into the salad and serve with the pork on top.
Serves 2
Lemon Blini with Raspberry Sorbet
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
1 full egg (separated) and 1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
Two pinches of salt
Store bought raspberry sorbet
In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta, milk, egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until the mixture is smooth. Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt over the ricotta mix and stir until everything is combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are frothy. Add one more pinch of salt to this, and continue whisking until you have soft peaks.
Fold 1/3 of the egg whites with a spatula into the ricotta mix, and then gently fold the remainder of the whites in.
Preheat a pan over medium low heat and spray with cooking spray. 1 tablespoon at a time, drop the mixture onto the preheated pan. (This will make each blin about 3 inches in diameter.) Make sure not to crowd the pan. Cook about 2 minutes per side, until golden on the outside and cooked through.
Serve with small melon ball sized scoops of raspberry sorbet for a nice compliment to the mildly sweet lemony pancakes.
Serves 2, with leftovers
By the way, I’d like to note that I’m normally not a huge watercress fan. I find it too peppery and strong for my taste. But this dressing mellows out the flavor, so I actually enjoyed it! I think I’ll be eating more of this vegetable in the future with this new recipe. I’d recommend trying it if you find you steer away from peppery greens like I do.
I should also mention these aren’t technically blini, which are made of buckwheat flour and often served with caviar. But these are sweet little dessert pancakes along the same lines as that classic. Whatever you call them, I hope you enjoy!
Enjoy a virtual trip to the tropics…Individual Key Lime Cheesecakes
/3 Comments/in Dessert, Summer /by LauraI am reading a summery beach book that is set in the Florida Keys called Happiness Key by Emilie Richards. It’s such a good book that it inspired me to make a recipe with some Key limes! One of our favorite summertime desserts is a strawberry cheesecake tart (I promise to add that recipe soon), so I decided to put a spin on that with limes. I also thought it would be cute to make individual cheesecakes instead of a big one. Tiny little cheesecakes for tiny little fruits. 🙂
Individual Key Lime Cheesecakes
4 ramekins
Cooking spray
1 oz vanilla wafers
1 8-oz package of Neufchatel reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoons Key lime juice (preferably fresh squeezed)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped topping such as Reddi Wip
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Grind the vanilla wafers in a food processor until they are the consistency of sand. Wipe out the food processor well for the next step.
Spray the ramekins with cooking spray. Sprinkle the crumbled vanilla wafers into a thin even layer on the bottom of each.
In the cleaned food processor, blend the cheese, sugar, eggs, juice and extract until very smooth. Spoon the cheese mixture evenly between the four ramekins, covering the cookie crumbs.
Bake until set, about 20 minutes.
Cool for about 10 minutes, and then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours until they are very cold.
Serve with a little dollop of whipped topping and lime zest grated over the top. Maybe even add a couple of the cute little limes on the side of the dish to display what’s inside.
Now I can curl up with my book out on our deck in the sunshine and virtually escape to a beach on the Florida Keys with a mini Key lime cheesecake :). I hope you’ll join me!
PS. You can also make a smaller version of these cheescakes in a muffin tin with aluminum baking cups. Follow the same recipe, but just cook them for a little less time until they are set. After chilling, take them out of the baking cups, and they look like miniature tarts. (Below)
Make an ordinary summer night special ~ Steamed Clams
/1 Comment/in Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Seafood, Snack, Summer /by LauraRob and I have started a new little tradition that makes an ordinary evening feel like a special occasion to us. We light some candles and our tiki torches outside, have a glass of wine and enjoy this steamed clam dish together. We used to go out for a similar dish at a nearby restaurant called BluWater Bistro, but I figured out a comparable recipe that we like even more at home. I don’t use nearly the amount of butter they use, but I think it still needs a tiny bit for flavor. I also think half the fun of clams is watching them pop open as they cook…Something we miss when we go out to eat. Not to mention, it is much less spendy to make at home :). This is not a strict recipe. Just taste as you go to make sure you have the flavors you like.
Steamed Clams
1 or 2 cloves minced garlic (depending on how much garlic you like)
1/2 tablespoon butter
2 cups low sodium free-range chicken stock
Splash of dry white wine, such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc
About 2 lbs of farmed clams
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley (optional)
French bread (optional)
Scrub your clams very well and discard any that are cracked or open. (If any clams are just a tiny bit open, tap them on the counter…If they close, they are still alive and good to use. If they don’t, they are not safe to eat, so toss them.) Melt the butter in a large pan (one that has a lid), and sauté the garlic for a minute or until fragrant. Pour the chicken broth and white wine into the pan and bring to a boil. Taste for seasoning once it is hot, and add salt if you desire. When the mixture is boiling, put all of the clams in the pan and cover with the lid. Watch them closely. When all of them have opened, take the lid off and take the pan off the heat. (If any did not open, discard them.) Spoon the clams and broth into two big bowls. If you desire, finish with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley and serve with slices of French bread to soak up the extra broth. Also, be sure to serve with an extra bowl for the shells.
Celebrate Farmer’s Markets ~ Cantaloupe and Spring Green Salad
/0 Comments/in Salad, Summer /by LauraNow that the weather is getting warmer, farmer’s markets are in full swing again. I love to try the different foods they carry that I can’t find everywhere. Plus I’m helping to support local farmers, which is a big added bonus. Last week I bought homemade raspberry vinegar and I tried a cut of goat meat. We’ve never tried goat before and would have to say we really enjoyed it! It’s a little culinary adventure right in our backyard. I can’t wait to see what I can find next week.
The raspberry vinegar made its way into a recipe based on one I found in a cookbook called Giada’s Kitchen. It’s a recipe that includes ingredients you can find at farmer’s markets right now.
Cantaloupe and Spring Green Salad
Vinaigrette
¼ cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 ½ tablespoons raspberry vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Salad
1 cantaloupe, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups spring greens, such as baby romaine or arugula
Whisk the ingredients for the vinaigrette together in a small bowl and toss with the salad. Enjoy!
Tropical Banana Coconut Bread
/2 Comments/in Bread, Breakfast/Brunch, Snack /by LauraI have a tendency to buy a bunch of bananas that we can’t finish before they get really really ripe. That’s why I make a lot of banana bread and banana muffins! Peeling and freezing them stops them from ripening too far, and then I always have some ready to grab whenever I want. One of our favorite recipes for these bananas is banana coconut bread. As the weather gets warmer, I get more and more in the mood for something tropical, so I’ve made quite a few loaves so far this spring :). The original recipe was from Cooking Light magazine, and it can be found at MyRecipes.com. I changed it slightly to make it a little simpler (using things I usually have in the kitchen) and to make it a little healthier. For example, I substitute one more banana for the yogurt, since I usually have a lot of bananas to use. I also substitute canola oil for the butter, and it works just fine. This bread recipe is pretty forgiving, so you can add some extra goodies if you like, such as chopped macadamia nuts. They are one of my favorite additions.
Banana Coconut Bread
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup granulated sugar (a little less if the bananas are very very ripe)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 bananas)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut, plus a little more for the top
Cooking spray
Preheat your oven to 350. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and oil until they are well blended. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add the mashed banana and vanilla, and whisk until they are incorporated. Add the flour mixture, and mix until everything is moist. Stir in 1/2 cup of coconut and any other dry goodies you think would be yummy. Spoon the batter into a 9×5 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little coconut on top. Bake for about 1 hour and 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
A slice of this bread goes very well with a cup of coffee in the morning, since coffee is tropical too! 🙂
PS. Our backyard squirrel, who is a frequent visitor, also enjoyed a little of the stale end of one loaf. So cute!
Memorial Day ~ Lime Marinated Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Tomato, Mint and Watercress Salad and Lemon Blini with Raspberry Sorbet
/0 Comments/in Dessert, Dinner, Lunch, Main dish, Memorial Day, Pork, Salad /by LauraCheers and thank you to all of the members of our military, past and present!
I attended one of my favorite Williams-Sonoma technique classes this weekend, which featured recipes for Memorial Day. They are free cooking classes held almost every Sunday before the store opens, and you get to taste the creations after they are made. I would highly recommend checking them out! I had a whole Memorial Day menu already figured out, but the samples were so tasty at the class that I changed my mind. We had lime marinated pork tenderloin medallions over a tomato, mint and watercress salad and lemon blini with raspberry sorbet. A very summery menu to kick off the unofficial start of summer! 🙂 This is my take on the recipes I learned. As usual, I tried to make them a tad healthier. For example, I used less salt in the marinade, quite a bit less olive oil for the dressing and more veggies than called for. In the dessert, I used skim milk instead of whole.
Lime Marinated Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Tomato, Mint and Watercress Salad
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of any excess fat
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons light olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
2 oz chicken stock
1 oz red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 oz extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups cubed tomatoes (bite size)
2 cups watercress
2 tablespoons fresh mint
2 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds
Cut the pork into uniform medallions, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, and place in a baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk the coriander, cumin, lime zest and juice, olive oil, salt, garlic and onion. Pour the marinade over the pork, mix well so every piece is coated, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 375
Preheat an oven proof grill pan over medium heat. Remove the pork from the marinade, and reserve the remaining marinade. Grill the pork on the preheated pan, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the pan to the oven, and finish cooking for about 6 minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the pork to a platter to rest under a tent of tin foil. Add the remaining marinade, stock, vinegar, and honey to the pan and simmer together until it is reduced by one third on the stovetop. Whisk in the extra virgin olive oil.
Mix the tomatoes, watercress, mint and almonds in a large bowl. Toss the warm dressing into the salad and serve with the pork on top.
Serves 2
Lemon Blini with Raspberry Sorbet
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup skim milk
1 full egg (separated) and 1 egg white
2 tablespoons sugar
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
Two pinches of salt
Store bought raspberry sorbet
In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta, milk, egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until the mixture is smooth. Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt over the ricotta mix and stir until everything is combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are frothy. Add one more pinch of salt to this, and continue whisking until you have soft peaks.
Fold 1/3 of the egg whites with a spatula into the ricotta mix, and then gently fold the remainder of the whites in.
Preheat a pan over medium low heat and spray with cooking spray. 1 tablespoon at a time, drop the mixture onto the preheated pan. (This will make each blin about 3 inches in diameter.) Make sure not to crowd the pan. Cook about 2 minutes per side, until golden on the outside and cooked through.
Serve with small melon ball sized scoops of raspberry sorbet for a nice compliment to the mildly sweet lemony pancakes.
Serves 2, with leftovers
By the way, I’d like to note that I’m normally not a huge watercress fan. I find it too peppery and strong for my taste. But this dressing mellows out the flavor, so I actually enjoyed it! I think I’ll be eating more of this vegetable in the future with this new recipe. I’d recommend trying it if you find you steer away from peppery greens like I do.
I should also mention these aren’t technically blini, which are made of buckwheat flour and often served with caviar. But these are sweet little dessert pancakes along the same lines as that classic. Whatever you call them, I hope you enjoy!
Happy Easter! Homemade Bread
/0 Comments/in Bread, Easter /by LauraHappy Easter! This Easter Sunday I decided to try my hand at a homemade loaf of bread since bread and Easter naturally go together. My first try with a different recipe didn’t go so well, but my second with the recipe below turned out better than I had hoped! It still amazes me when I put something in the oven and it transforms into something yummy. The wonders of cooking science! We really thought it tasted like something from a fine artisan bakery. This recipe is adapted a little from Bon Appétit magazine. The original can be found at Epicurious.com. It really isn’t that hard to make…Just a little bit time consuming. But really, is there anything quite as inviting as fresh baked bread? 🙂
Sesame and Sunflower Whole Wheat Bread
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 envelope dry yeast
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 egg (separated)
1/2 cup cracked wheat (also called bulgur wheat) or bran
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (approximately)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (shelled)
2 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons rolled oats
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
(Or whatever other seeds you have on hand that you think might go well on top of the loaf)
Combine 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour and the yeast in a large bowl. Heat milk, honey and sesame oil in a saucepan over medium heat until it feels very warm to the touch, but not too hot to put your finger in. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in egg yolk, remaining 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, bulgur wheat or bran (whatever choice you are using), and salt. Mix in enough all-purpose flour a little at a time to form a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface about 10 minutes, adding more all-purpose flour if it is very sticky.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Add the dough, turning to coat the entire surface. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm draft-free area until it has doubled in volume. (About 1 3/4 hours).
Grease a cookie sheet. Punch the dough down. Mix in the sunflower seeds and 2 1/2 tablespoons of sesame seeds. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is smooth. Divide the dough in half. Pat each half into 1 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Place on the prepared cookie sheet. Cover and let them rise again in a warm draft-free area until they are almost doubled in size. (About 1 1/4 hours).
Preheat your oven to 375. Beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the mixture over the loaves. Sprinkle oats, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, or whatever seeds you choose to use on top.
Bake until the loaves are brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 40 minutes.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
/1 Comment/in Cupcake, Dessert, St. Patrick's Day /by LauraHappy St. Patrick’s Day! I made a batch of festive chocolate Guinness cupcakes to celebrate one of my favorite holidays. I started with a recipe from the Food Network, and I switched it up a bit to make it a little healthier. These make a lot of cupcakes, but this recipe also divides in half nicely. Then you’ll just have half a bottle of beer to finish while you bake. 🙂 (If you decide to go this route, use a full egg and one egg white.) Or, the cupcakes also freeze well, so you can keep them for quite a while if you decide to make the full batch. These have actually become a favorite at our house even when it isn’t anywhere close to St. Patrick’s Day. I hope you like them as much as we do!
Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes
3/4 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 cups sugar
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 bottle or can of Guinness
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 cup non-fat sour cream
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, blend the Guinness, oil and vanilla. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and blend until incorporated. Then mix in the sour cream. Gradually mix the dry blend into the wet blend. Spray 24 muffin tins with cooking spray and divide the batter equally. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotate the pans, and bake for another 12 minutes. They should have a nice little dome and be set in the middle.
Sprinkle with a fine dusting of powdered sugar if you wish.
These go very well with a glass of green sparkling wine. 🙂 Again, we chose what has become our sparkling wine of the year, Sofia Blanc de Blancs. It is so fun to be able to pick up just one or two little individual cans at the store when we are having a festive moment. Sláinte!
Our Favorite Homemade Crackers
/4 Comments/in Cracker, Snack /by LauraOne of my favorite things to do with my husband is to make homemade crackers. We have a tag team system where I make the dough, he rolls it out and I apply the final toppings. Then we watch a movie while we wait for them to bake, savoring the aroma that wafts through the house. It’s a really cozy way to have a date at home on a cold and rainy night. 🙂
Our Favorite Tomato, Oregano and Parmesan Crackers
1 cup and 1 tablespoon whole-wheat pastry flour
¾ cup and 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon tomato paste
½ cup and 2 tablespoons water
Grated Parmesan and dried oregano for sprinkling on top
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together except for the Parmesan and oregano. (I find that kneading it together with my hands is a bit messy, but it works the best.) Then roll out little pieces of the dough as thinly as possible on a lightly floured surface. Place the very thin dough in a single layer on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. (This will make enough crackers to cover about 6 baking sheets, so we do them in a few separate batches.) Sprinkle the crackers with a little grated Parmesan and dried oregano to taste. Bake for 12-18 minutes, depending on how thin you were able to make the crackers and depending on your oven. (Just watch them very closely because they are easy to burn.) They are done when they are golden and crispy.
I hope you like them as much as we do!
Valentine’s Day/Chinese New Year ~ Moo Shu Pork and Homemade Fortune Cookies
/0 Comments/in Anniversary, Cookie, Dessert, Dinner, Lunar New Year, Lunch, Main dish, Pork, Valentine's Day /by Laura2 tablespoons sake
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 (1 1/2-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat, and cut into 1 x 1/4-inch strips
4 ounces sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced green onions
3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 12 cloves)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger grated on a Microplane
3 tablespoons sake
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage stalks
4 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage leaves
2 tablespoons sake
Hoisin sauce and flour tortillas for serving
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a zip top plastic bag. Add the pork. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator for about an hour, turning occasionally. Remove the pork from the bag, and discard the marinade.
Combine the sliced mushrooms, green onions, garlic, and ginger in a small bowl, and set aside.
Combine 3 tablespoons of sake and the next 4 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl. Stir well with a whisk, and set aside.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork, and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Remove the pork from the pan. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to the pan. Add the eggs, and stir-fry 30 seconds or until soft-scrambled. Add the mushroom mixture and stir-fry 1 1/2 minutes. Add the cabbage stalks and stir-fry 30 seconds. Add the cabbage leaves and 2 tablespoons of sake. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pork and the cornstarch mixture. Stir-fry 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.
Serve wrapped in warmed tortillas with hoisin sauce.
The second thing my husband and I made together was a batch of fortune cookies. I would recommend doing these with a partner, since they harden very quickly once they come out of the oven. We each filled out personalized little strips of paper for the fortunes, and then opened each other’s for a surprise. The original recipe was from the Food Network.
Homemade Fortune Cookies
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon water
Cooking spray for the pans
Write your fortunes on little pieces of paper before you begin.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch and sugar.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, vanilla, oil, and water. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
Working in batches of 4, drop the batter by tablespoons on a baking sheet covered with a silicone mat. Tilt the baking sheet in a circular motion (and use your finger if need be) to spread the batter into 4-inch diameter circles.
Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and working quickly, use a spatula to remove the cookies from the baking sheet. Put a fortune into the center of a cookie and fold it in half. Bring the points together with open seams on the outside. Arrange in muffin tins to help keep their shape while they are cooling.
Repeat with the remaining fortunes and cookies.
We paired the meal with Sofia Blanc de Blancs (the same kind of sparkling wine that we enjoyed on New Year’s Day, which seemed fitting) with mandarin orange slices floating in the bubbles for the occasion.
I decorated the table with red (the color of both holidays) and a blend of Chinese New Year and heart decorations for Valentine’s Day and our engagement anniversary. For example, I printed a Year of the Rat image and a Year of the Dragon image, since they were the years that Rob and I were born. That added a little personal romantic touch. I also printed a matching Year of the Tiger image for the middle of the table, which was the year we celebrated today.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
/0 Comments/in Anniversary, Valentine's Day /by LauraHappy Valentine’s Day! My husband and I are planning to celebrate a little belatedly this year since he’s out of town today, but I published a little article about some of my ideas for the holiday at this link –
Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year Celebration for February 14th
I hope you all have a good day!
Baked Coconut Shrimp
/0 Comments/in Appetizer, Seafood, Snack /by LauraOne of my favorite restaurants in town called Cactus used to have my very favorite coconut shrimp in the city. Actually, I would say they were my favorite coconut shrimp, period. I have tried them in quite a few places and nothing ever beat theirs, in my humble opinion. Their chef decided to change the menu recently, however, and they no longer serve them. Soo…That inspired me to try to figure out the recipe! I learned that baking them works really well, as opposed to frying them. This recipe is based on one I found in Cooking Light magazine (the original can be found at MyRecipes.com) with a few personal touches.
Baked Coconut Shrimp
30 large peeled and deveined shrimp with the tails still attached
1/3 cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3 egg whites
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
Cooking spray
Aluminum foil
Preheat oven to 400°.
Coat a baking sheet with aluminum foil and cooking spray. Rinse and dry shrimp. Combine the cornstarch and salt in a little dish. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl with a hand mixer until they are slightly frothy. Place the coconut in a third dish. Dredge each shrimp in the cornstarch mixture, the egg white and then the coconut. (Press gently to keep the flakes in place). Place the coated shrimp on the baking sheet, and spray the top of the shrimp lightly with cooking spray. Bake for about 20 minutes, depending on the size of your shrimp, turning once. (Watch them closely, so as not to over bake).
I also made a super easy salsa to go with them…Just a mix of crushed pineapple with jalapeno pepper jelly to taste.
A little side note is that I try to find farm raised or wild shrimp from the US or Canada instead of imported shrimp. I like this little seafood selector website (find a fish) since it’s sometimes hard to remember which choices are the healthiest when I’m at the store.
Happy New Year! Rice Pudding with Pomegranate Syrup
/0 Comments/in Dessert, New Year, Snack, Winter /by LauraWelcome 2010! To celebrate this day, I decided to make dinner with an array of lucky New Year dishes from all over the world. I got my inspiration from an article from Epicurious.com. We had thyme coated pork tenderloin, braised lentils with onions and spinach and rice pudding with pomegranate syrup (with an almond hidden in each serving for luck.) Of the three, the dessert was our favorite! Definitely a keeper to make again throughout the rest of the year. The original recipe was from Cooking Light magazine, and it can be found at MyRecipes.com. I followed the recipe pretty closely since it was already a lightened version of traditional rice pudding, but I changed a few little things to lighten it up even more. (For example, I used skim milk instead of 2% and I omitted the butter.)
Rice Pudding with Pomegranate Syrup
3 1/2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup uncooked Arborio rice, sushi rice or other short-grain rice
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 whole almonds
2 pomegranates
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
(Or you can cheat a tiny bit and replace one pomegranate fruit with a small bottle of pomegranate juice.)
Combine 3 cups of milk, rice and 1/3 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk 1/2 cup of milk and the egg. Gradually stir about one quarter of the warm rice mixture into the egg mixture. Add it all back to the pan, stirring constantly. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until the rice is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla.
To prepare the syrup, squeeze the juice from the pomegranate halves to measure 1 cup. (Or use a bottle of juice.) Combine the juice and 1/4 cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer until reduced to 1/3 cup, (about 20 minutes), stirring frequently.
Spoon the pudding into 6 individual dishes. (Martini glasses are an elegant presentation.) Drizzle the syrup evenly over the pudding, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. Also, don’t forget to hide an almond in them for luck in the New Year! 🙂
We also had the classic pairing for this day…sparkling wine. This year I chose cute little individual cans of Sofia Blanc de Blancs by Francis Ford Coppola Winery. They were a unique, economical and fun way to go.
Here’s to lots of luck in the New Year!