Category: Recipes

Re: Happy National Doughnut Day!

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, RecipesLeave a comment

 

zeppoles with granulated white sugar and coconutsRound, fluffy, sweet and oh so yummy, doughnuts are one of my guilty pleasure treats! So for National Doughnut Day, I decided to experiment by making some coconut cream zeppoles. If you’re not familiar with zeppoles, they are doughnuts or fritters typically found in Italian cuisine. The coconut custard inside the zeppole is inspired by an experience I had with a Tim Horton’s doughnut. I should correst myself, a *disappointing experience eating a “coconut cream” doughnut from Tim Horton’s. I wanted to make a true coconut custard made of coconut milk or cream and fold in some unsweetened shredded coconuts. Let’s start, shall we?

Ingredients:

Dough: store bought pizza dough

Coconut custard: 1 can coconut cream (or milk), ¼ cup all purpose flour (sifted) & 3 egg yolks

Coconut topping: shredded coconut & 1 tbsp. granulated white sugar

*vegetable oil for deep frying

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Procedure:

  1. After lightly dusting my board with some flour, I rolled the pizza dough and cut them into small pieces with a knife
  2. After cutting the dough in smaller pieces, I set them aside to prep the custard
  3. Crack & separate 3 eggs then place the egg yolks in a medium size bowl
  4. In a small saucepan, pour an entire can of coconut milk/cream. If you are using cream, you may not need to use as much flour; reduce it to 2 tablespoon
  5. In medium heat, let the coconut milk/cream simmer.
  6. Once you see bubbles consistently forming on the side, add the sifted flour and mix well. Reduce the heat
  7. You’ll notice that the coconut milk/cream will start to thicken up, turn off the heat and keep mixing
  8. With your spoon, add a small portion of the coconut milk mixture into the egg yolks then mix. Make sure that the coconut milk mixture is warm not hot
  9. Gradually keep adding the coconut milk mixture in the bowl and keep mixing to avoid lumps
  10. Fold in shredded unsweetened coconut into the custard to fortify the coconut flavour
  11. Cover your bowl of custard with plastic wrap and let it set in the fridge
  12. Bring your vegetable oil up to 375 degrees (Fahrenheit) before starting to fry your dough. A trick that I learned was taking a pinch of flour and flicking it into the oil to see if the oil is ready. The flour should bubble up and immediately disappear
  13. Start frying your dough and make sure that the your deep fryer is not too crowded
  14. While the dough is frying you can take your granulated flour and put it in a bowl to prep when the dough pieces are ready to be coated. I lightly pulsed the excess shredded coconut to make it finer then added it in with the sugar
  15. When the dough pieces are fried to golden brown in all sides, take it out and dump it in the bowl with the sugar and shredded coconut. You’ve made zeppoles!
  16. To inject the custard, let the zeppoles cool down and make a small hole with a knife OR you can cut the zeppoles in half
  17. If you decided to make a small hole, I used a piping bag and nozzle OR if you cut the zeppoles in half, you can spread the custard with a bread knife and make a little sandwich
  18. Enjoy!

You don’t have to use a filling, like custard, for these zeppoles. Try using powdered sugar, cacao powder or sugar & ground cinnamon. Give this recipe a try and share with us your thoughts! 🙂

 

 

Always,

–K

 

P.S. Laura from Laura in the Kitchen has awesome Italian pastries and other Italian recipes! Aka she’s your girl if you’d like to explore more of Italian cuisine J

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Re: Turmeric Tea Recipe

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, RecipesLeave a comment

I’ve been sick for about 4 days now but it wasn’t until yesterday evening that I finally gave in to drinking turmeric teas. My mom has been telling me to drink it since she was so impressed with how fast she recovered from a sore throat. After telling me the ingredients in the tea I decided to add raw garlic into the mix since it’s going to taste a little funky anyway.

IMG_7894Ingredients:

  • turmeric powder
  • raw honey (or any kind of honey you have)
  • lemon juice
  • black pepper corns
  • cinnamon (I used sticks but you can use ground)
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ginger
  • water

In a small saucepan, put all of the ingredients one by one before adding the water. I bruised the ginger and garlic before putting it in the saucepan to help release the oils. Then pour in about 3-4 cups of water and let it simmer. Stir the mixture a few times then turn off the stove once the water reaches its boiling point. I mixed in the honey individually every I poured in some of the mixture in my mug.

Just to warn you guys, it’s quite pungent BUT it was a great immune system booster and sore throat healer! After drinking a couple of mugs of the tea, I went to bed and woke up feeling much better. Also, I was a little concerned at first that the turmeric would stain my teeth but it hasn’t.

Do you have a secret recipe for fighting colds, flus and sore throats? Feel free to share with us by leaving a comment below! 🙂

Always,

–K

P.S.

Health Food Facts about the ingredients in this tea:

  1. Garlic
  2. Turmeric
  3. Cinnamon
  4. Raw Honey
  5. Ginger

 

Re: Green Eggs & Bacon?

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, RecipesLeave a comment

IMG_7202.JPGIn honour of the literary genius who captured our imagination in his books, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat and so on, I created a recipe inspired by one of the most iconic dishes from Dr. Seuss’s stories-green eggs and ham! For this recipe, I will be using bacon instead of ham to add that salty crunch, eggs and spinach to turn the eggs green while adding that healthy boost.

Ingredients: (green eggs)

  • 3 large eggs
  • dash of hot sauce
  • chopped garlic
  • salt & pepper
  • handful of spinach
  • dried/fresh parsley leaves
  • butter

Side dishes:

  • crispy bacon
  • fresh diced tomatoes
  • toast/toasted buns

IMG_7199Procedure:

  1. To make the eggs, I roughly chopped the spinach and garlic before putting it in a blender (food processor works too)
  2. In the same container, I cracked 3 eggs, added the hot sauce, salt & pepper and parsley leaves
  3. Blend/pulse the ingredients gradually
  4. In a skillet, put the stove in medium to high heat and wait for the skillet to get hot before putting a tablespoon of butter
  5. Make sure that the skillet is evenly coated with butter by swirly it around before pouring in the egg-spinach mixture
  6. Cook normally like a scrambled egg
  7. Once the scrambled eggs are cooked, you can put it on a plate and start cooking the bacon
  8. (Optional) While you’re waiting for the bacon to crisp up, dice some ripe tomatoes
  9. Then put the tomatoes in the same plate with the eggs
  10. Once the bacon is cooked, put it on the same plate with the eggs and tomatoes
  11. I added little dollops of cream cheese with the scrambled eggs BUT that’s optional
  12. Enjoy!

This might not be the original green eggs and ham, but surely bacon is a good substitute! Also, you might have some froth when you pulse or blend the eggs and spinach together and that’s ok. You can skim the froth off or pour everything in the skillet; it will eventually evaporate.

Give this recipe a try and share with us what you think by leaving a comment below! I’m always looking for suggestions, improvements or if you just want to say hi! 🙂

 

Always,

–K

 

Re: Dark Chocolate + Peanut Butter Icing Cake Truffles

On By Kaye Ann C.In Food, RecipesLeave a comment

IMG_7288_edited.pngI’m not entirely sure what it is about peanut butter but I love that stuff! Crunchy, smooth, with chocolate, EVERYTHING! So of course I planned on making a peanut butter lover inspired recipe :). Coincidentally, my uncle made some tasty dark chocolate cake. Why not put them together? The dark chocolate compliments a subtle sweet taste from the peanut butter icing, while adding some ground cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract make these cake truffles a cohesive indulgent treat! Excuse the unusually large portions of these cake truffles. I love chocolate AND peanut butter…maybe a little too much haha

Ingredients:

  • chocolate cake
  • 1 cup peanut butter (I used unsweetened organic but you can use whatever you have at home)
  • 3 tbsp. milk
  • 6 tbsp. icing powder
  • 1 ½ bars (~15-20 oz.) dark chocolate
  • ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • splash of vanilla extract (~1/4 tsp.)
  • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter

Procedure:

  1. Using the chocolate cake my uncle previously made, in a bowl I used my hand to crumble the cake; you can use a food processor by pulsing it gradually
  2. I combined the peanut butter with the salt, ground cinnamon and vanilla before adding 2 tablespoons of sifted icing powder
  3. Alternating between the icing powder and milk, I mixed the peanut butter well with a rubber spatula (or you can use a hand mixer); make sure that there are no icing sugar lumps!
  4. Once you’ve made your peanut butter icing, add the icing into the bowl that the crumbled cake is in
  5. Gently mix the peanut butter icing with the cake crumbs
  6. Then melt the dark chocolate using a small sauce pan or in the microwave (for 1-2 minutes, medium-high power) with 1 tablespoon of butter
  7. Once the chocolate is melted, set it aside. You can start making small ball with the peanut butter and chocolate cake crumble mixture
  8. When you’ve made all of the cake-peanut butter icing into balls, place them in a cookie sheet lines with parchment paper
  9. Using a spoon pour in some of the melted chocolate on top of the cake-peanut butter icing balls until there are coated. Do the same for all of the balls
  10. Chill the chocolate cake truffles in the fridge for at least 2 hours before eating; the dark chocolate coating should be hardened by then
  11. Enjoy!

The thin chocolate outer layer adds a nice texture contrast from the soft chocolate and peanut butter center. A seductively rich treat for Peanut Butter Lovers Day!

Give this recipe a try and let me know how it goes! I’m always open to suggestions and improvements. Feel free to leave a comment below 🙂

 

Always,

–K