Fresh Key Lime Tartlette

Mike and his best friend Jon are out sailing to Anacapa Island today. After a day of sun, fun & hard work, I thought it would be nice if they came home to a delicious summer dessert. Lucky boys.

Key Lime Tartlette with Roasted Macadamia Nut & Coconut Crust

Crust
1 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup organic unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup organic brown sugar
1 tbsp organic sugar
1 tbsp organic butter
2 free range organic egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toast macadamia nuts and coconut until both are browned, about 5 minutes. watch closely to make sure they don't burn. Combine nuts, coconut, brown sugar, sugar, and butter in a food processor. In another bowl whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, this will take about 10 minutes of continuous whisking. Slowly add egg whites to the nuts mixture, gently folding them to mix together.Press mixture into a lightly buttered small tart ramekin. Cook for 10 minutes. Let cool. Keep oven on.

Fresh Key Lime Filling
(adapted from Epicurious)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 free range organic egg yolks
1 tbsp key lime zest

While tartlette crust is baking. Squeeze key limes until you get about 1/4 cup of juice (about 20 key limes.) Strain to discard seeds. Combine condensed milk and egg yolk, mix together. Add key lime juice and mix till smooth. Grate lime zest into mixture.

Once the tartlette crusts are cooled, fill the crusts with filling. Bake for 15 minutes. The filling will begin to set in oven but will still be soft. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. This will set the filling. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving. Top with coconut whip cream, a raspberry, and fresh lime zest.

Coconut Whip Cream
whipping cream
sugar
unsweetened shredded coconut
vanilla extract
vanilla bean seeds

Combine ingredients to match your preference of sweet & coconutty. Whip until soft peaks form. Cool.

California Wine Festival

This weekend Mike and I went to the California Wine Festival in Santa Barbara on the beach. There were tons of wineries, breweries, and restaurants serving up tastings of their finest products. Bacara had a booth offering the most amazing petite four display I have ever seen. Little cakes, chocolates, nut brittles, profiteroles, it was the full spectrum of sweets. I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of these delectable desserts. I cheated and got in line twice for a double dose of the Bacara tasting. Shhhhhh, I couldn't help it. You can imagine my sheer joy when on Monday my boss told me that my going away party (I got a new job) would be held at Bacara. SWEEEETTTT. I am pretty excited, I'll let you know how it is.

I also enjoyed the Wilson Creek booth. They were serving a unique Almond Champagne with a splash of chocolate liquor. I couldn't drink a lot of it, but it was delicious. I may just order a couple bottles of the Almond Champagne the Wilson Creek website.

Mike was quite impressed by the tequila tasting...I stayed far away from that one...something about mixing wine, beer, and tequila doesn't sound appealing.

A wine, beer, tequila, appetizer, and dessert tasting festival on the beach in Santa Barbara, what a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Vegan Blueberry Ice Dream

Blueberry Ice Dream
2 c. organic unsweetened soy milk
2 c. organic blueberries
3 tbsp organic agave
2 tbsp lemon, juiced

In a large skillet, heat blueberries, agave, and lemon juice until the blueberries are soft. Blend the mixture with a hand blender till smooth and slowly add soy milk. (you can strain the mixture to remove the blueberry skins, but the skins have tons of antioxidants, so i keep them in.)

Cool mixture in refrigerator for 1 hour.
Add mix to ice cream maker to manufacturers instruction.

This is a delicious fresh summer treat. I am seeing blueberry ice cream & gelato all over the place. This recipe at Coconut & Lime looked delicious and inspired me to try a vegan version of my own. I am still having difficulty using soy milk in the ice cream maker. It freezes like ice milk, instead of ice cream, but it is what it is and it is still yummy. I read recently that using coconut milk yields a creamier texture, I will try that next time.

Summer Strawberry Salad

I spent last weekend in LA catching up with old friends and spending time with my sister Tracy and her boyfriend Brian. Tracy and I made a healthy delicious dinner on Saturday night, Caprese Pizza on whole wheat crust and an Arugula Strawberry Salad... sadly, I didn't have my camera. Last night I recreated our fresh healthy salad for Mike to try. I didn't have arugula but i did have some frisee greens, yum. Thanks Tracy for this lovely salad idea.
















Summer Strawberry Salad

frisee greens (or arugula or spinach)
organic strawberries, sliced
roasted almonds, sliced
organic avocado, sliced

Simple Dressing

2 tbsp organic olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
sea salt
pepper

4th of July Surf & Turf

Mike and I spent the 4th of July this year in my hometown and Mike's college town...Santa Cruz,Ca. We had great day hanging out with our Santa Cruz friends and family. We started out the day at Harbor Cafe, no surprise there. It's our favorite Santa Cruz spot. Our friend Dan owns the cafe, he bought it from my Stepdad Jerry two years ago. This cafe is our version of Cheers. We run into so many friends when we are there, it's so much fun. they have a huge, beautiful patio and the best breakfast in the West. If you are ever in Santa Cruz, stop by Harbor Cafe for breakfast, you won't be sorry...tell them Jenn sent you.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach with friends. We went to our friends Chris and Caroline's for a Surf N' Turf BBQ. WOW. Amazing friends, Amazing food. We were lucky enough to get lobster tails and marinaded skirt steak for a great price from the Fish Lady. I don't have much of a recipe to offer you all for this delicious meal because it was so so simple.
Here's the menu:

4th of July Surf N' Turf
Steamed Lobster Tails
BBQ'd Skirt Steak
Fruit Salad

Caroline steamed the lobster tails, husked the shell off, squeezed some lemon over them, dipped them in browned butter, and ate them. It was our intention to serve the skirt steak and the lobster together, but the lobster was ready a couple minutes before the steak, and we couldn't resist eating them right then. It was decedent, so delicious.

As for the skirt steak, we threw it on the grill, and brushed it with it's marinade, that's it!


The fruit salad was simple too. It consisted of Mango, raspberry, blueberry, kiwi, and nectarines.

The end....

Corn Cakes with Grilled Shrimp & Roasted Guacamole

I love this blog. It has been so fun to post recipes and learn food photography. One of my favorite aspects of blogging is the amazing community of food bloggers. I had no idea there were so many people doing the same thing I am doing. It is my new favorite past time to look at the food blogs I have bookmarked and search for new fun food blogs. The other day I found this hilarious blog, Average Betty, she combines cooking with sketch comedy and she cracks me up. Her unicorn fritters jumped out at me...YUM, corn cakes with shrimp and mashed avocado...sounds like my perfect meal. I made them last night and they rocked my world. They were so good and really easy to make.

Corn Cakes with Grilled Shrimp and Roasted Guacamole

Corn Cake
(adapted from Average Betty recipe)
2 c. organic roasted corn, removed from cob
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1/4 c. organic cilantro
1/4 c. white onion, chopped
1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1/2 small organic red pepper, chopped
1/2 c. organic almond flour*
2 organic & cage free eggs
1/2 tsp. honey
dash garlic powder
dash cayenne pepper
dash chili powder
dash salt

Combined roasted corn, red bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, almond flour, and honey. Crack eggs into mixture and stir together until well blended. Add garlic powder, cayenne, chili powder, and salt.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Scoop corn mixture into small patties and place on skillet, let brown about 30 seconds and flip with a spatula.

*almond flour is a substitute for flour. Regular flour works great too, I'm just trying to stay away from white starchy food. You can make almond flour really easily by throwing almonds in your food processor and grinding them until fine, about 20 seconds. Be careful not to grind almonds for too long or it will begin to turn into almond butter.

Grilled Garlic Shrimp
10 jumbo raw shrimp
2 tbsp organic olive oil
1 large clove garlic
1 lime, juiced
salt

Marinate shrimp for at least 30 minutes in a mixture of olive oil, pressed garlic, and lime juice, and salt. Skewer shrimp and place on grill until shrimp turn pink.

Roasted Guacamole
1 organic avocado
1/4 c. organic cilantro
1/8 c. roasted tomato salsa (I like Trader Joe's Salsa Del Cabo)

Mash avocado and mix in cilantro and roasted salsa

I absolutely loved this dinner, and so did Mike. I had two corn cakes left over and turned it into an amazing breakfast. I heated up the corn cakes, poached an egg, made some more guacamole and topped it off with a chipotle raspberry BBQ sauce. It was delicious. I love when leftovers become a whole new fabulous meal. Try this recipe out, you won't be sorry you did. Thanks Average Betty!

Raw Cookie

I saw this amazing recipe on the beautiful blog taste memory. I love the idea of the raw food lifestyle. I thought I didn't have the patience to put the time into preparing raw food meals. This recipe proved me wrong. It took me 5 minutes to prepare, that's it. What a treat. These cookies are healthy and delicious, not necessarily low-fat, but very nutritious. I love that you can virtually throw anything into these cookies. I'm not putting a measurements for this recipe because you don't really need to follow any sort of recipe, just toss in nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate, virtually anything you have on hand in your cupboard. You can play around with the portions too, I'll just post what I used. Just know that honey and nut butter is what binds the cookies together, the honey especially. After you mix the ingredients together, it will stick together, but it takes chilling in the fridge for them to really set and bind together. Give them a good 6 hours or more to set. Thanks so much taste memory!

Raw Cookies
(adapted from the recipe on taste memory)

2 1/2 cups mixed nuts, seeds, & fruits
-almonds
-pecans
-pepitas
-pecans
-pistachios
-flax seeds
-dried cranberries
-dried apricots
-dried coconut
approx 1/4 cup almond butter, crunchy unsalted
approx 1/2 cup honey

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl, add honey until the mix sticks together. Spoon cookie sized portion onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. The mix will be sticky but not firm yet. Refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours until cookies are nice and firm. It's best to chill overnight.

Mean Cookies

I hate these stupid cookies. I made these cookies as a part of my menu for my Grad BBQ last weekend. This recipe didn't work out so well. The flavor was good, although a bit sweet for my taste, people really liked them...but the consistency totally failed. Out of the 30 cookies that I baked, about 9 made it. The rest crumbled when I took them off the cookie sheet.
I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's website. I should have known better. Every time I make anything using a Martha recipe, it doesn't turn out right. I think the lady is a domestic goddess, don't get me wrong, but her recipe's don't ever seem to work out for me. It's strange. I think it's a conspiracy, designed to make housewives feel inferior to Martha. Jerks. Anywho, here's the recipe. If I ever venture to make these cookies again, I will try to remedy the crumbly cookie problem by adding the full egg, maybe even 2 eggs. Egg binds the ingredient together, it's weird this recipe calls for egg yolk only........my conspiracy suspicion thickens.

Carrot Cake Cookies
(Martha Stewart)

1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
1/4 cup organic sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup organic rolled oats
3/4 cup organic carrots, grated & peeled
1/3 cup raisins
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grate carrots.
Whisk together butter, sugars, and egg yolk.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir together. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Place dough balls on a cookie sheet and gently press each one down with your palm. Bake until edges are crisp, about 15 minutes.

Rice Crispy Treat Cake

I put on a Beach BBQ this weekend to celebrate my Grad School Graduation. I know it's traditional to celebrate milestones with a cake, but I am not the biggest fan of cake. I mean, it's good, but it's not my favorite treat. I thought to myself, "It's my party and I should have a dessert I LOVE." At first I thought about trying to make an ice cream cake, but figured it would melt. Then it occurred to me that my favorite thing in the world is rice crispy treats. So, my rice crispy treat cake was born. It was really quite simple. Making rice crispy treats is a very personal thing. Some people like them gooey, others like them firm. I like them to have the perfect balance of gooey & firm. If you decide to make this cake, use whatever recipe gives you the type of rice crispy treat you like.

Rice Crispy Treat Cake

13 cups rice crispy's

6 cups chocolate rice crispy's

1 1/2 sticks of butter

4 bags of marshmallows (mini's melt faster)

Line a large stock pot with wax paper.

Melt 1 stick of butter in a large stock pot with 2.5 bags of marshmallows. Stir until marshmallows are melted into a creamy paste. Stir in regular rice crispies and stir until rice crispies are fully coated.

Transfer rice crispy mixture into the large stock pot covered with wax paper. Press mixture down VERY firmly with your fingers and hands. It needs to be compact. The mixture will be very sticky, take a butter and lather you hand in it, like you are putting on lotion...it's kinda gross, but it'll keep your hands from sticking to the rice crispies.

Melt 1/2 stick butter with 1.5 bags of marshmallows. Melt down then mix in the chocolate rice crispies. Transfer chocolate crispies into stock pot on top of the regular rice crispy mixture. Again, press down to make it very compact.

Let cool at least 30-40 minutes. Inverse the pot on to a cake dish. Cover in tin foil and refrigerate.

Everyone loved this rice crispy treat cake. It was awesome. I orgigonally wanted to make this cake 3 tiers with the bottom layer being strawberry rice crispy treats, but I failed miserably. I tried to puree 1 cup of strawberries and add the puree to the marshmellow mizture. BUT, when I mixed the strawberry marshmellow with the regualr rice crispies, the rice crispies got reallt soggy and teh marshmellows lost their elasticiy. It was wierd, the strawberry puree must have had too much moisture. OH WELL. The cake worked out well being only two layers.

A Cookie a Day Keeps the Psychiatrist Away

YUM YUM YUM! These cookies are amazing. They blow the ginger molasses cookies out of the water. I found the recipe for Cherry & Chocolate Chip Cookies in the new Bon Appetit magazine. I loved that the cherries were soaked in cherry liquor, i thought that sounded chic. I've been in cooking land the past week preparing for my Grad school graduation BBQ. I made these cookies early in the week and froze them so they would be fresh when I wanted to serve them. I only made one batch of these cookies, and I regret it. If I could eat one of these cookies a day, I would be so very happy. The combination of cherries and chocolate is delectable. It may be difficult to believe but I actually followed this recipe almost exactly...it was tough, but there was nothing I felt needed to be omitted or added. It was perfect just how it was.

Cherry & Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from bon appetit July 2008)

1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup cherry liquor
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 cups semisweet large chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil cherry liquor, water, and dried cherries in a sauce pan. Remove from heat and let cherries soak for at least 15 minutes. Drain cherries and pat dry.
Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Use an electric mixer or a small cuisinart to beat butter and both sugars together until creamy. Add eggs and both extracts and beat to blend. Add to flour mixture and mix to blend. Stir in cherries and chocolate chips. Scoop dough onto a buttered cookie sheet. Bake till browned, about 13-15 minutes.

Dive in!