Mar-a-Lago's Famous Key Lime

Now this is more like it...  I usually use my powers in the kitchen for good, when asked to help pull of  some sweet revenge I really couldn't resist.  When that 3 o'clock craving hits at work we all struggle, running past the vending machine, trying got ignore the peanut M&M's, but yesterday Amanda wanted company in her misery and took it upon herself to deliver a handful of white chocolate to each of our desks in hopes to have us all fall off the wagon with her.  SMH, big mistake. 

As soon as the opportunity presented itself myself and my co-workers Nicole and Chelsea decided to give Amanda a taste of her own medicine... which involved Red Velvet Cupcakes, Brownies, and Key Lime Pie.  Oddly it didn't take too much convincing before we were all googling at our desks trying to come up with the easiest last minute recipes.  We had the best/worst breakfast this morning. 

 Definitely not proud... but it was worth it to see the look on Amanda's face this morning when all her faves were lined up on the kitchen counter.  There's no way to resist temptation of that magnitude, there is no will power great enough, not to mention the whole office smelled like a damn bakery.  Ruined my day.  Note to self: A breakfast of cheese-cake brownies, key lime pie & red velvet cupcakes will give you a stomach ache, I must be getting old. 

I honestly don't even like key lime pie, it always tastes too sour for me, but in the spirit of conquering something new I accepted the challenge and settled on a recipe which is supposed to be the best/most ordered desert on the menu at Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago Club.  According to the Key Lime Connoisseurs I did alright for my first attempt.  For my own taste I'll definitely be adding more sugar or condensed milk to the filling, and adding a thicker layer of whipped cream on top to cut the tart lime flavor. 

Surprisingly my new "guinea pig" ate it up while I boasted about my homemade graham cracker crust and almond whipped cream while we watched Terminator last night, i think he's sold on the Key Lime craze.

 If you're a Key Lime lover or you're just adventurous here's the recipe, let me know what you think. http://www.oprah.com/food/Mar-a-Lago-Key-Lime-Pie-Recipe

Thanks for stopping in.  Be Safe.  Be Blessed. Smooches

Brussels Sprouts... Blah!!

As I sit down to write to you I realize this is a guilt post.  After the response I got from the Cronut experiment to make more and more and try different fillings it hit me that I don't want to become a Cronut expert.  While I definitely indulge in the buttery-sugary treats more than the average person I don't want to become the pusher!!  Unless someone wants to pay me, that's a different story.  So I'm saving the next Cronut experience for a special occasion where they won't all be consumed by the same handful of people.  Although I hate to admit it there is such a thing as too much butter.. :(

So here goes... a post to make me feel better about all the deep-fried, sugary goodness I really want to write about.
After picking up a freakishly large bag of Brussels sprouts at Sam's over the weekend it occurred to me that no one in my house would actually take the initiative to cook them, we never really ate these growing up, I actually only ate them for the first time about a year ago when Brookey brought them over for a dinner party.  I didn't mind them when she made them (the recipe probably involved bacon), so I figured I'd try them in the spirit of trying something new.  No new friends... All new foods!!

Considering I wasn't super excited about the outcome of this side dish, and I could tell by the screw-faced looks I was getting as I washed and prepped them that I'd likely eat them all alone I decided not to put myself through too much.  I settled on roasting them, hoping the high heat would bring out a surprise flavor, like grilled broccoli or asparagus.  I also decided that instead of the minced garlic I usually use I'd actually slice up a whole head, tossed in with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper and hope for the best.  I will say, there must be some way better recipes for Brussels sprouts, ways to make them taste less like crud... but I honestly didn't think I needed to devote any more time to this.

                      

I'm sure you can tell by now I really wasn't impressed.  I actually liked the flavor of the final product, but somehow these shrunken heads of cabbage just don't do it for me.  Brooke loves them, I even saw June Ambrose post an IG pic of them a few weeks back, I don't get it.  The only thing I could think of to salvage these suckers is to throw them in the pot the next time I make a corned beef.  Kind of like a corned beef and mini-cabbage.  We'll see.  For now dear Brussels sprouts, we must part ways, I tried.

XO

The Attack of the Cronut!!

Pastry Heaven...




What better reason to start blogging again than a new pastry creation.  Just when we thought there was nothing new under the sun, the food artists are hard at work peaking the interest of Foodies everywhere.  In the words of one of my favorite people "Everything around me had me underwhelmed" and completely uninspired until this...





Its no secret I'm slightly addicted to Instagram, and this is exactly why.. While trying to kill time at my very hectic and demanding job I was perusing  pictures and landed on a page I don't usually follow after spotting what initially looked a little like a donut sandwich.

Turns out the sight before me was called a Cronut and curiosity sent me on a mad search for more information, a recipe..., a location..., anything that could bring me a little closer, LOL.  Introduced to NYC back in May to rave reviews, the Cronut now has my people (greedy/Foodies) lining up outside Dominique Ansel's Spring Street Bakery as early as 6am like straight crackheads.  I'm not judging at all.  I'm likely to be standing in that very line during my next trip home, possibly alone because my Kerr-Bear is not into sweets... not sure how we ever became friends HA!

In my research I found quite a few impostors of the Cronut (croissant/donut hybrid), however I chose this recipe because it doesn't seem to mimic Chef Dominique's creation, but rather offers a limitless alternative that leaves a lot of room for creativity.  Edd Kimber's recipe is available at http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/213189441.html if you want to check it out.

If you're considering trying this recipe be aware it takes at least a day for the dough to rise in the fridge, which is really good for my inner greed, I can't just make these every time I have a craving. 

So at 11 pm last night I remembered that I had this dough prepped and ready for Cronuts, although it was late, there was still a firework show visible from my kitchen bay window so I set up bakery and got to work on the final steps of Edds recipe.  Once the frying was almost complete (I burnt the 1st two) I got the family up to taste-test.  Once my audience arrived, donning their pj's and robes I quickly lemon-sugar-coated, vanilla custard filled, and lemon glazed each Mini-Cronut while they griped about being disturbed at bedtime.  Needless to say all that pissing and moaning came to a halt at the first bite, a sudden change of heart.  Of course everyone wanted seconds, they wanted the donut holes, they even ended up eating the burnt ones after I refused to roll out more dough for another batch. 

A few tips:  I used grape seed oil, which the original Cronut is cooked in, I also tried a small and large donut hole, mainly to get little bon-bon sized munchkins.  Next time I'll be trying some savory toppings, and maybe skipping the donut hole all together, we'll see... Thanks for checking in...stay tuned!! XO

Blueberry Coconut Tart

Happy New Year!!... I know I'm super late : |

I've been such a bad blogger... I'm not sure where the time is going, but I'm happy to be busy, not so happy that this is my first chance to blog but late is better than not at all.  I hope the New Year is treating everyone well so far.  I've had a few unexpected occurrences  but nothing I couldn't handle.  This recipe was actually one of two desserts I made for Christmas dinner, I literally had a bite of it, and as you can see I didn't get a pic of the final product before half of it vanished...

It's getting really hard to sit still long enough to finish a post, but here goes.  This Tart is one of Mario Batali's features from The Chew, which I rarely watch, but when I saw this recipe I decided it would be good for one of our Christmas deserts. Just a warning... this recipe has a lot of steps and three different components that come together at the end so only try this if you're feeling patient.

• For the Topping:
• 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
• 3/4 cup Unbleached all-purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup Unsweetened Shredded Dried Coconut
• 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

• For the Filling:
• 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup Confectioners Sugar
• 2 Large Egg Yolks
• Freshly grated zest of 1 Lemon
• Pinch of Kosher Salt
• 3/4 cup Unsweetened Shredded Dried Coconut

• For the Assembly:
• About 3 cups Fresh Blueberries
• 2 tablespoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cornstarch
• Confectioners' Sugar for dusting (optional)
• Tart Dough

Step #1 is to roll out the tart dough to about 1/8 inch thickness, (still not positive how the average Jane is supposed to measure that...), then neatly tuck the dough into the tart pan and place in the refrigerator until filling is ready.

Hint: Tart pan should have a removable bottom to make for easy removal for serving!

Step #2: Make topping... Melt butter in a saucepan, in a separate bowl add flour, sugar, salt, and shredded coconut, mix together.  Add vanilla extract to melted butter, then use a fork to blend the two mixtures together forming crumbles.

Spread crumbles on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator to harden for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, place topping in a food processor or mini-chopper and pulse lightly to make tiny crumbs and set aside until time to assemble.

Step #3: Make filling... Using an electric mixer beat butter and confectioner's sugar until creamy.  Next add one egg at a time beating just 30 seconds after each addition.  Add lemon zest, salt and coconut, mix well and set aside.  

Step #4: Prep Blueberries... Coat blueberries with sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch (after the fact I realized I should have added some triple sec or rum to the berries, will try next time), set aside for tart assembly.

First component into the tart shell is the butter/sugar filling, spread evenly along the bottom of the tart dough.

Next add the berries and any liquid remaining in the bowl, then top with tiny crumbs spread evenly.

Bake at 375 degrees on the center rack for 35-45 minutes, or until topping browns and is lightly golden and berries begin to bubble.

I won't lie and say it was amazing, I hardly ate any, but it was gone pretty quickly, I think it was a hit.

Thanks for Reading, staying interested, and following me into the New Year...

XO

Crustacean's Garlic Noodles

So... I'm always keeping an eye out for popular restaurant dishes and when I saw an Instagram pic of these noodles with Roasted Crab I was determined to try them myself.  Crustaceans is a really popular Vietnamese restaurant on the west coast and most of the reviews mention the Garlic Noodles as the best thing on the menu.

Every recipe I found called for MSG in some form, and although I know its not good for me, it makes food taste amazing.  We grew up cooking with it regularly, and eventually stopped for health reasons but I do occasionally indulge, and this dish was a good enough reason.

I didn't follow the recipe to a "T" because I couldn't find Maggi's Seasoning Sauce at the time so I had to improvise, we'll call this the hood version of Crustacean's Garlic Noodles.  This recipe is really about the sauce, which can be made in batches and kept refrigerated for a while.  Maggi's provided the touch of MSG I couldn't find so I created my own version of it by crushing a bouillon cube into soy sauce.  Considering I don't know what Maggis' seasoning sauce tastes like I was just trying to incorporate the bouillon cube so I'd have some MSG flavor mixed in.  

Before you read this recipe, try to remember, you shouldn't eat these noodles too often because of the MSG, plus they're kind of greasy because of all the butter, YUM!!

1 stick unsalted butter (same as 4 oz/110 g/1/2 cup/8 tablespoons)
2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic, or more to taste
1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

I replaced the Maggi's with my soy sauce concoction and it tasted great..

Just in case you couldn't figure it out: you need to boil and drain the pasta LOL

Once the pasta is almost cooked you can start the sauce, it takes very little time unless you're adding meat or seafood, keep that in mind.  Its always better to have the pasta waiting, heat from the sauce will warm it up.

First saute the garlic in the butter being careful not to let the garlic brown, if it does scrap it and start over, burnt garlic is not the desired flavor...

Next add the remaining ingredients and let simmer until all blended, then add any seafood or meat to the pan.

I used shrimp and lobster meat instead of roasting crab, sounded like a little too much work at the time.

Once the seafood was cooked I added the cooked noodles and tossed them in the sauce until coated.

The recipe calls for Parmesan cheese on top, it didn't really enhance the flavor to me, and I don't like cheeses in my Asian food, next time I'll skip it.

I've missed this blog, thanks for reading...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving Readers...

I'm gonna try to make this short and sweet, I know everyone has a ton of cooking to do.  I decided to make today about housework first, then relaxing, but I don't feel cheated on the festivities since my family got together to celebrate over the weekend and we had a ball.

This post is really about a discovery I made last weekend about my food obsession.  My sis and I were the last to arrive and I was afraid there wouldn't be any food left (my major concern) since we were late.  Luckily we caught the tail end of breakfast which was homemade bakes and saltfish, and someone saved a hard boiled egg for me which is all I need to really enjoy my saltfish.  It only took me a few minutes to survey the massive amount of food that was actually available, meaning I only had a few hours to fully appreciate everything in the fridge. If any of you have experienced my family first hand you know that this is no small amount of food I'm talking about.  There were options and large portions galore.

I'll run down the list, and you can tell me if this is normal, considering we had a birthday party for my precious Alexis which consisted of way too much food in itself.

Curry Chicken
Curried Potato and Chickpeas
Dahlpuri & Roti
Hominy Porridge
Oxtail and butter beans
Bakes and Saltfish
Pepper Pot
Ham and Cheese Quiche
Pumpkin soup
Roasted Turkey
Baked Salmon
Spiral Ham
Candied Yams
Macaroni & Cheese
Corn on the cob
Corn Souffle
Green Beans
Stuffing
Pumpkin Pie and
Marscapone Cheesecake (Giada's recipe)

As if we didn't have enough food waiting at home we brought leftovers home from the party, bad idea!

This is possibly the worse picture I've ever taken, but I was way too busy trying to eat the cheesecake to get a good shot.  This was what Ebonee and I thought we left in the kitchen, only to find two tiny pieces shoved in a Tupperware after our Spades tournament. #disappointment

If you're not Guyanese, not sure you'll know or appreciate this picture, this was the most appetizing shot I could get of Gramps' plate, Pepperpot is pretty traditional, breakfast food served with bread, present at all holidays and special occasions   I'll try to describe, but I haven't touched the stuff in almost 20 years so... Its a meat stew, beef, pigtail, whatever you prefer, it has a sweet savory flavor of cassareep (black syrup from cassava root), cloves, cinnamon, very hard to describe, but if your feeling adventurous it won't disappoint. 

These are Auntie Girlie's famous quiche, one ham and cheese, one just cheese, for the non-pepperpot attendees, she always makes sure we have options lol.

This was the very well dressed dinner table for our early Thanksgiving, I wouldn't mind mimicking this next year, a lot less pressure on the actual holiday and all the stores were open for last minute ingredients.

To explain, I'm not complaining, I love my family, and love the stocked fridge, everything was great, and the leftovers were flowing, my kinda holiday.  I think it's pretty clear that my questionable devotion to food is and always has been totally out of my control, I never stood a chance of having an "I eat for sustenance" approach to food, I love it all, always have, always will...

Enjoy your turkey day folks, I'm taking the Italian route... smooches : )

Sautéed Citrus Crab Legs

Happy Thursday Folks,

I've only ever steamed crab legs, so I was intrigued by the saute idea.  Definitely less work and much more flavor.  I hardly eat crab legs because they're so messy, but I had a craving, as usual, and couldn't get rid of it.  I especially don't eat crab legs out in public, so these are good for sitting at home, lounging, where you can be gross and really enjoy them, with a glass of wine... HA!!

I got the idea for this recipe from Emeril's recipe on foodtv.com, but I wasn't feeling some of the ingredients so I improvised.

I started with clean crab legs in a medium-heated saute pan, let them sit for 2 minutes...

Then I added scallions, garlic, parsley, crushed red pepper to the pan and let simmer for another 2 minutes.  Seafood doesn't really require a long time to cook thoroughly, so you have to increase the flavor to get the best outcome.  I also didn't measure anything so just eye ball it based on how much sauce you want for dipping.

To evenly distribute heat and seasoning flip the legs over for another two minutes, then add lemon, lime and orange juice, not too much, just enough to get the citrus flavor, then add a couple tablespoons of butter, turn off heat, but leave pan on the burner and cover until ready to eat.  

Once the crab legs are out of the pan use a spoon to stir and taste the sauce and make any adjustments you like, I really didn't need any salt or pepper, the scallion, garlic and wine were savory enough for me.

I intended on eating these all in one sitting, but about halfway through I became disgusted with myself and decided to make two meals out of it. The flavor on these crab legs was so good I almost sucked the skin off my fingers PAUSE... and the second time I ate them I accidentally squirted the citrus sauce into my eye... #greedygirlproblems

Thanks for reading!