Tag: recipes

Re: Summer Recipes with Grapefruit

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

IMG_8296The very first recipe I posted back in the day was a trifecta of watermelon recipes for the summer. It was a really long blog post, subdivided in 3 sections for the three recipes. I won’t be doing a blog post that long anytime soon, but I definitely wanted to share with you a recipe I’ve been thinking about making for the summer months. They are, Pink Grapefruit Lemonade and a refreshing Grapefruit Summer Salad.

Ingredients for the pink lemonade:

  • 2-3 grapefruits
  • water
  • ½ cup white sugar

IMG_8317.JPGProcedure:

  1. Depending on how big your pitcher/container is for the lemonade, the number of grapefruits will vary. I only used two since my glass pitcher is not large
  2. Squeeze 2 grapefruits in a small-medium size bowl before pouring it in the container. This will help you with catching the seeds from the grapefruit
  3. Add ½ of water and ½ white sugar in a small saucepan (medium heat)
  4. Once the sugar is fully dissolved turn off the stove and stir the liquid around
  5. Pour the water and sugar mixture (aka simple syrup) in the pitcher once it has cooled down for 2-3 minutes
  6. Using a long spoon, stir the grapefruit juice with the simple syrup
  7. Add more water and ice
  8. Enjoy!

*I froze some cut up strawberries and lined the cup with sugar for presentation

Ingredients for the summer salad:

  • 2-3 grapefruits (or more)
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1-2 oranges
  • 4 fresh mint leaves
  • fennel (bulb)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • pinch of sugar

IMG_8306_Procedure:

  1. Using a small paring knife, peel the grapefruits and oranges to prepare for segmenting
  2. When the grapefruits and oranges are peeled, carefully segmented the fruits into wedges or ‘supremes’
  3. Cut the supremes into smaller pieces then put them in a medium size bowl
  4. Roughly chop the tomatoes to the same size as the grapefruit and oranges
  5. Then cut the fennel in half; we will only be using a quarter of the bulb so cut it again to make a quarter
  6. Thinly slice the fennel, as thin as you can using a knife or a mandolin food slicer
  7. Add the fennel slices into the same bowl with the grapefruit and oranges
  8. Roughly chop fresh mint then add it on the bowl. You can use some of the fennel leaves in the salad as well
  9. Add a pinch of sugar, salt & pepper
  10. Pour in about 1-2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
  11. Mix the salad together and check for seasoning
  12. Enjoy!

*You can also try adding cucumbers in this salad for crunch!

Paired with your BBQ creations, these recipes will help cool you off with the up-coming summer heat! Do you have a favourite food to eat over the summer months? Share with us by leaving a comment below! 🙂

Always,

–K

P.S. Really hoping we get a proper summer in Toronto this year! Pack on the heat and sunshine! 🙂

 

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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

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

 

Faux Champagne & Virgin Mojito Mocktails

On By Kaye Ann C.In RecipesLeave a comment

 

IMG_6379.JPGMr. Ko and I were talking last night about a much needed tropical getaway next year. We’ve been working pretty hard professionally and personally. It would be quite nice to spend some time not doing work…even though work does follow me wherever I go. A tropical vacation may just be what we need to reboot. Our countdown begins! For now, we’ll just settle for these tropical inspired mocktails: Faux Champagne and Virgin Mojito. The best part about these mocktails is that I used fruits that are high in vitamin C. Perfect for an immune system boost with the weather gradually getting colder.

Virgin Mojito:

Ingredients:

  • 1 lime (cut in quarter wedges)
  • fresh mint leaves
  • crushed ice/small ice cubes
  • honey
  • soda water
  • ½ clementine (cut in quarter wedges)

IMG_6363.JPGProcedure:

  1. In a tall glass or a mason jar, ad 6 lime quarter wedges, clementine wedges, honey and fresh mint leaves
  2. Using a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon, gently pound the ingredients to help release their juices and oils
  3. With a spoon, you can mix the ingredients even more, especially the honey. The original mojito recipe calls for refined white sugar, and you can use that as well. I wanted to use honey to add more nutrients
  4. You can transfer your mixture in a different glass. If you are transferring your mixture in a different glass make sure that the glass has been cooled before pouring in the mixture. You can cool the glass by leaving it in the fridge before using or leaving some ice before pouring the mixture (replace the ice before pouring the mixture)
  5. Add your ice cubes or crushed ice
  6. Pour the soda water in the glass to top it off
  7. Garnish with some fresh mint and a wedge of lime

Faux Champagne

Ingredients:

  • Papaya/papaya juice
  • ¼ wedge clementine
  • ¼ wedge lime
  • gingerale
  • frozen grapes
  • ice cubes
  • soda water

IMG_6376Procedure:

  1. If you’re using fresh papaya, mash a slice before combining it with the lime and clementine
  2. In a shaker or a mason jar, combine the papaya juice, lime and clementine with some ice
  3. Shake the ingredients well
  4. Once the ingredients are shaken well, pour in some soda water and gingerale
  5. Stir the mixture well
  6. In a cool champagne glass place 2-3 frozen grapes
  7. Before pouring in your faux champagne mixture, strain it or use the strainer if you are using a cocktail shaker

 

You can use pineapple juice with the papaya or use it instead. These are just a couple of tasty alternatives to alcoholic cocktails to drink while ringing in the New Year. Feel free to leave me a comment, questions or suggestions. They are always welcome J

 

Please drink responsibly.

 

 

 

Always,

­-K