Showing posts with label lime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lime. Show all posts

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Gin Lime Coconut Truffles #GalentinesDay


Tart and sweet with the zip of a little gin, these white chocolate and lime truffles are rolled in coconut for a little trip down the islands.

Happy Galentine’s Day! Yep, you read that right. Galentine’s Day: The day women celebrate women, breakfast style, inspired by this scene in Parks and Recreation.


Our smart and lovely organizer, Nancy from gotta get baked, is in charge once more this year, along with her co-host, Courtney from Neighborfood. Their invitation to join the fun said we must also write about a woman who inspires us. I’d like to write about 43,990,000. Give or take a few.

Many years ago, when I was living in Brunei with my father, we had a sweet lady from the Philippines working for us. She cooked, she cleaned and she helped look after my little baby half sister. I was surprised to learn that she had been a schoolteacher in her home country but could make more working as a housekeeper in Bandar Seri Begawan than she could teaching school in her village. So she applied for a job through a maid service, left her own children behind with their grandparents and moved to a foreign country to raise other people’s children.

Lirio was one of an estimated 83 percent of 53 millions domestic workers worldwide, who are women. (Source: International Labor Organization) Millions of whom leave their own families behind, to make a better living elsewhere, so that their own children will have better lives. The sacrifices they make, living with strangers, in strange lands, caring for families other than their own, are deemed worthwhile, because the support money they send home each month is crucial to the wellbeing of their families.

Here in the UAE, it is common practice to hire maids from overseas. I see them in flocks at bus stops on Friday morning, often their only day off, headed to the malls or beaches, to spend time with friends. They are laughing and smiling, enjoying their freedom and a day of rest and recreation. But I know they must miss their children, all the day-to-day milestones of skinned knees and spelling tests, afterschool snacks and goodnight kisses. I admire their work ethic, their dedication and their sacrifice. It’s never an easy job but they are doing what mothers the world over want to do, care for their children, in the best way they know how.

To read about the women who inspire the rest of our Galentine’s Day group and to check out the other wonderful recipes, make sure to scroll down to the link list below.

Ingredients
For the truffles:
10 1/2 oz or 300g good quality white chocolate – I use Lindt bars.
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup or 150g butter
Zest 1 lime
2 tablespoons lime juice
5 tablespoons gin

For rolling the truffles:
1 cup or 85g desiccated coconut (Not sweetened coconut flakes)
Zest 1 lime

Method
Zest your limes and then juice them, keeping the zest and juice separate.



Add the cream and the white chocolate, broken up into squares, to a heat resistant mixing bowl. Place the bowl on top of a pot about one quarter filled with water. Bring the pot of water to a slow boil, stirring the chocolate and cream in the bowl above, until the chocolate is completely melted.



Add in the butter, cut into pieces and stir until it is melted.

Remove the bowl from the heat and add in the zest of one lime, 2 tablespoonf of lime juice and the gin. Stir until completely combined.

Leave the mixture to cool and then place it, covered, in the refrigerator until it turns solid.



Mix the zest from the second lime with the desiccated coconut.

Use a teaspoon to scoop out small amounts of the firm mixture and roll them into balls between your clean palms. Place the balls in the dry coconut and roll them around until they are well covered.



Place them directly on a serving plate or use little paper candy cups. If you are living in a warm climate, keep the truffles refrigerated until you are ready to serve. These also freeze beautifully!



This made 33 truffles but you would probably get more if you can control yourself and make them all as small as the first ones. Mine tend to get bigger and bigger as I go along.


Enjoy!

And now, as promised, the other Galentine's Day recipes with inspiring stories. Make one for a special woman in your life! 

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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Paloma Naranjada Cocktail #BloggerCLUE

This refreshing cocktail is made with sparkling orange soda, tequila and fresh lime juice, served over ice. Add a rim of salt crystals and an extra slice of lime and it’s party time. 

It’s funny what you find out you have in common with folks when you just meet them through the internet – and no, I’m not talking about the dating sites – but through blogging and social networking. If you’ve been reading this space for a while, you know that my friend, Heather, of girlichef is fond of garlic. I mean, really, really fond of garlic. We cohosted the National Garlic Day celebration last year and gave away a few sweet (and smelly) prizes. We have bonded over raising multicultural children as well, discussing the challenges we face trying to make sure that they know where they come from, on both sides of the family. And, we love cocktails! When she posted this Paloma Cocktail,  I was determined to make it because I love grapefruit but I struggled to find grapefruit soda. I finally decided that for Blogger C.L.U.E. this month, I was going to use orange soda and drink these babies as I watched the glamorous folks saunter down the red carpet at the Grammys. So I did. You should make them for Oscar Night! Or because it’s Wednesday.

Ingredients 
2 oz or 60ml tequila
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
6 oz or 180ml real juice orange soda (I used San Pellegrino Aranciata.)

Optional: For the rim and garnish
Coarse salt
Slice of lime or wedge



Method
Wet the rim of the glass with lime juice and press it into some coarse salt spread on a small saucer then fill your glass with ice.

Mix tequila and lime juice together and pour into the glass.



Top off with orange soda.


Garnish with a slice or wedge of lime.


Enjoy!

Check out all the other Blogger C.LU.E. participants this month!

If you'd like to stalk - I meant meet -  Heather on the internet too, check out these links:

Facebook    Twitter   Instagram   Pinterest


Thursday, November 13, 2014

Spicy Asian Noodle Salad with Lobster

With spicy dressing, juicy lumps of lobster and fragrant bean thread noodles this Spicy Asian Noodle Salad is like a vacation in your mouth.

AKA Vacation in Your Mouth
There’s just something special about lobster but you can also sub tiger prawns or shrimp.

Yes, please to Comfort Food
When someone offers to send you a copy of a cookbook called Adventures in Comfort Food: Incredible, Delicious and New Recipes from a Unique, Small-Town Restaurant, you do not turn them down. You say, “Yes, please!” After all, here we are coming into the cool season and comfort food is what it’s all about. This particular cookbook is full of recipes from chef and owner, Kerry Altiero, of the small town award-winning Maine restaurant CafĂ© Miranda, which brings comfort food up a whole bunch of notches, serving favorites like Lobster Mac and Cheese and Brussels Sprouts in Cream and dressed up hot dogs.

As Chef Altiero says in the introduction; “We offer a huge menu that mixes traditional American fare with Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Thai, vegan . . . whatever strikes our fancy. Our motto is “Because We Can.” We serve wonderful, surprising, innovative food that defies expectations and wins over all kinds of eaters. This cookbook will help you do the same at home, whether you are cooking for world-weary sophisticates or picky toddlers. Your kitchen may never be the same.”

And while I am under no obligation to tell you only nice things about this book, I must admit that I have only nice things to say. Most of the recipes have just a handful of ingredients and the simple preparations let the freshness and quality of those ingredients shine through. If that appeals to you as much as it appealed to me, I am pleased to tell you that I also have one copy to give away! Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post and enter the drawing.

Vacation in My Mouth
How these cookbook blog tours work is that we are given a list of recipes that can be shared. I was most intrigued by the dish called Vacation in Your Mouth, from the Party Food chapter, so that’s the one I chose. I mean, really. With a title like that, how could I resist?

Years and years ago, when I was living in Brazil, a dear Burmese friend taught me how to make a fresh and refreshing salad with softened bean thread noodles, crispy fried ground pork and dried shrimp, all tossed in a lime vinaigrette with chilies and cilantro. I used to make it all the time in a great big bowl, because it was a family favorite and then, because I struggled to find the dried shrimp, it got out of rotation.

This beautiful dish from the Adventures in Comfort Food cookbook reminded me of what we had been missing, albeit it on a fancier, smaller scale. And I realized that the dried shrimp are not absolutely essential. Lobster works too! Okay, I admit we may not have it with lobster every time, but I will definitely be serving this again, perhaps with shrimp or even crab meat.

I made the recipe pretty much as written, except for substituting a spicy pepper for the poblano, which was one of the chef’s suggestions, and I couldn’t find baby romaine so I bought a local green for scooping up the salad.

Serves 2

Ingredients
For the salad:
4 oz or 113g cooked lobster meat
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced (Or sub a spicy pepper of your choice.)
2 scallions, green and white parts, sliced on the bias
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons or 30ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon or 15ml Thai fish sauce
6 leaves basil, preferably Thai, shredded
4 sprigs cilantro
1⁄4 cup or 44g Thai bean thread or rice vermicelli noodles, soaked and chopped (I about doubled this because I couldn’t for the life of me get the bean thread noodles apart to weigh out only 44g.)

For garnishing:
Pinch kimchi flakes
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds
2 sprigs cilantro
2 thin rounds of lime
10 leaves romaine lettuce

Method
Mix together everything but the garnishes.



Spoon the mixture into martini glasses.

Make sure to include all the good limey, salty juice. Sprinkle with the kimchi flakes, black sesame seeds and cilantro.


Garnish with a lime round on the edge of each glass. Place the glasses on a plate and arrange the romaine leaves around them, attractively.



Fill leaves with mixture—crunch!

The chef’s drink suggestion: A nice Moscato with a little bit of sweet goes well with the spicy flavors. Or perhaps enjoy with a nice simple beer such as a Sebago Saddleback Ale.

Tell me that doesn't look like a Vacation in Your Mouth?! 

Enjoy!

Buy your own copy of Adventures in Comfort Food: Incredible, Delicious and New Recipes from a Unique, Small-Town Restaurant by following this link.




*This post contains affiliate links. I received a copy of the cookbook for review purposes with no other compensation.*



Sunday, February 17, 2013

Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup

Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is light and flavorful with a kick of chili that clears your head and warms your body. Also, evidence may be merely anecdotal, I do believe that chicken soup is the best treatment for colds and coughs and general weariness of winter.

Food Lust People Love: Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is light and flavorful with a kick of chili that clears your head and warms your body.  Also, evidence may be merely anecdotal, I do believe that chicken soup is the best treatment for colds and coughs and general weariness of winter.

After last week’s indulgent recipes, #SundaySupper is focusing on healthy meals today!  Our host, the lovely Sunithi from Sue’s Nutrition Buzz is all about good food, made healthier.  I chose to make chicken noodle soup because it’s one of the comfort foods of my childhood.

Make sure you scroll on down to the bottom of this post to see what other wonderful healthy dishes my fellow bloggers have cooked up for you this week.  There are even some fabulous, guilt-free desserts!

Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup


Ingredients to serve four
4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts – about 1 lb or 500g
Sea salt
Black pepper
8 cups or almost 2 lt chicken stock
One stalk lemon grass
6-7 stalks green onions
1-2 red chilies (depending on your heat tolerance)
Large thumb fresh ginger
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 medium carrot
5 1/4 oz or 150g (or more if you love them) snowpeas or mange-tout
200g fresh baby corn (about 12 little ears)
6 oz or 170g bean thread noodles

(Note: Feel free to substitute your preferred vegetables, sliced thinly.  Just about anything fresh would taste good in this soup.)

For serving:
Small bunch fresh cilantro or coriander leaves
1 lime

Method
Start by slicing your chicken breasts thinly, then sprinkle them with some flakey sea salt and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.  Put them into a bowl and give them a good stir.  Cover with cling film and pop the bowl in the refrigerator.



Put your chicken stock in a large pot.  Bring it to the boil and then turn the heat down to simmer.

Cut the root ends off of the lemon grass and the green onions and slice the white parts very thinly.  For the lemon grass discard the hard green part of the stalk or have a read here of some ideas to use it.  Cut the green part of the onions into 1 inch or 2cm lengths and set them aside to use later for garnish.




Chop your red chilies.  Peel and mince your ginger. 



Add the white parts of the lemon grass and green onions, the ginger and the chilies to the gently simmering stock.  Add in the two tablespoons of fish sauce.



The longer you simmer, the better the soup will taste, but ideally this step should take a minimum of 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, pull the tough threads off of both sides of your snowpeas and cut your baby corn into short lengths.



Cut your carrot into little matchsticks using a sharp knife, or if you have a handy tool like mine, (a gift from a dear friend who knows me very well – purchased at Lakeland) use that. (Update: Since a few people asked, I found a Google Affiliate ad for a similar julienne peeler from SurLaTable and I've added it at the bottom.  I think I earn a few cents if you buy through the link.)



Some recipes call for the chicken to be added to the stock a few minutes before the vegetables but I find that makes for a cloudy soup.  So, pan-fry your sliced chicken with a little drizzle of olive oil over a high heat until it is just cooked, possibly still a little pink inside.  It will finish cooking as it sits in the pan.  (If cloudy chicken soup doesn’t bother you, feel free to add the chicken straight into the pot.)



Cover the bean thread noodles with very hot water in a heatproof bowl and allow to soften.  This takes just a few minutes.  Drain in a colander and then cut the noodles with a pair of sharp, clean scissors.  This will make them way less messy to eat.  Set aside until ready for serving.



When you are almost ready to serve, chop your cilantro and slice the lime into wedges.


About five to 10 minutes before you want to eat, depending on how crunchy you like your vegetables, add the carrot, snowpeas and baby corn to the pot.  Turn the fire up slightly and cook until the vegetables are your desired doneness.


To serve, add some of the noodles and chicken (if it’s not already in the stock) to the bowl.  Fill the bowl with hot broth and a share of the cooked vegetables.  Top with a little cilantro and green onion.  Each person should get a lime wedge for squeezing into the soup.  

Food Lust People Love: Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is light and flavorful with a kick of chili that clears your head and warms your body.  Also, evidence may be merely anecdotal, I do believe that chicken soup is the best treatment for colds and coughs and general weariness of winter.

Enjoy!


Finish up that box of Valentines’ Day chocolates.  Go ahead.  We’ll wait.  *drums fingers and whistles*  Okay, now follow these links to make something delicious and healthy for your next meal!


Sizzling Skinny Appetizers & Soups

Healthy Skinny Mains & Sides

Guilt Free Skinny Desserts & Snacks

Pin this Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup! 


Food Lust People Love: Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup is light and flavorful with a kick of chili that clears your head and warms your body.  Also, evidence may be merely anecdotal, I do believe that chicken soup is the best treatment for colds and coughs and general weariness of winter.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd for #BundtaMonth

Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

Food Lust People Love: Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

I’m just wondering if anyone out there still has lemon curd left over.  You did all make some, right?  Because I have one more recipe that calls for lemon curd.

Last year when I was still living in Cairo, I left a comment on someone’s blog about the cute paper cupcake liners she had used.  The author responded that they were Wilton and so, she was sure I could find them in a shop nearby.  It seems she lived in some remote area of Canada and, if THEY had them, my shop surely would.  When I wrote to back to say I was in Cairo, Egypt and there were no Wilton things, much as I wished there were, she was sorry for me.  And I was sorry for me.  And, then, and then!  We moved to Dubai and take a gander at just ONE SIDE of the baking aisle in my neighborhood shop.


Not even a specialty shop, lovely people, this is the grocery store just minutes from my house.  Which is dangerous.  They’ve got Wilton paper liners and gel colors and baking pans and decorating tips and, what’s more, they even have Nordic pans!  Woo hoo!  Which brings me to my recent purchase and the recipe at hand.  This month’s BundtaMonth theme is citrus so I decided to let what was available make the decision for me.  I came home with grapefruit, lemons, limes and large clementines.  And a mini Bundt pan.   And so, I give you Citrus Lust Mini-Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd.


Ingredients
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or 85g butter, room temperature
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons citrus zest (I used a 1/2 tablespoon each of clementine, grapefruit, lemon and lime.)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed citrus juice
(I used:
1/8 cup freshly squeezed clementine juice
1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/8 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice)

For topping:
About 1/2 cup or 115ml lemon curd
Powdered or icing sugar for sprinkling, optional

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Grease and flour a 12-cup mini-Bundt pan.  (I just used Pam spray because the Nordic pans release quite easily.  If your mini-Bundt pan sticks a lot, do use flour as well.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.


Zest your fruit.


Juice your fruit and transfer the needed amounts into measuring jug.

Juicing - the aftermath
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.


Beat in the eggs, one at a time.



Next add in the citrus zests.


Continue beating, adding in about one-third of the flour mixture and then one-third of the juice.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Continue beating and alternating until all the flour and juice is in the batter.



Pour the batter into your prepared pan.  I find it less messy and easier (aside from having one more thing to wash) to transfer my batter from the wide-mouth mixing bowl to a narrow measure vessel for pouring.  Or you could choose to ladle it in.



Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the mini cakes comes out clean.


Let the cakes cool for about five minutes, then turn out to cool completely.  There is an ad for the pan at the bottom of this post.  I am new to this (my first Google Affliates ad!) but I think if you buy one, I make some small change.


If yours have risen up over the top of the pan, as mine did, cut the bottoms off with a serrated knife so that the mini Bundts can stand upright.  Whatever you cut off is yours to eat immediately.  No questions asked.


Use a pastry decorating bag to pipe the lemon curd into the hole on the top of the little cakes.

Food Lust People Love: Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

Sprinkle with a little powdered or icing sugar, if desired.

Food Lust People Love: Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

Food Lust People Love: Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

Have a look at all of the wonderful Tangy January Bundts we’ve baked this month. You may notice that one of our wonderful hosts is missing this month. Sending love out to Lora from Cake Duchess whose family suffered a huge loss earlier this month. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Lora. XOXO


Pin these Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes with Lemon Curd! 

Food Lust People Love: Citrus Lust Mini Bundt Cakes are topped with homemade lemon curd for a gorgeous and deliciously sweet and tart dessert that will delight fancy guests and family alike.

 .