Monthly Archives: July 2011

The blender that will eat your other blender for dinner

July 30, 2011 – 8:00 am

I have been enjoying a lot of smoothies this summer and with the increased use of my cheap old blender came the demise of the poor thing. When investing in a piece of electrical kitchen equipment I am often plagued with a dilemma: Should I buy the cheapest decent one that will probably last a few months or maybe a year? Or should I buy the be-all end-all piece of equipment that is inevitably a larger investment up front, but may be the last (mixer, blender, pots and pans etc.) piece of that type of equipment I need to buy for 5, 10, or more years? Now of course I do not have the luxury of choosing the latter option anytime I need a new kitchen item, but sometimes a splurge is in order.

So when my blender bit the dust, I headed to Williams-Sonoma to check out their selection. I ended up leaving the store with a Vitamix and while I was convinced that this beast was way more machine that I needed, my husband, believe it or not, could not wait to get home and try blending things that we never even new could be blended before!

The Vitamix is endorsed by Iron Chef Michael Symon and is capable of performing pretty amazing tasks. Among the more common uses such as making smoothies, dips and sauces, the Vitamix can mix your bread dough, make a finished hot soup by you simply adding the ingredients (I know this sounds crazy, right? But according to the demonstration DVD that comes with the Vitamix, the heat from the friction of the blades actually heats the ingredients of the blender leaving you with a steamy, ready-to-eat soup!) and it can even make smooth and creamy nut butters from raw nuts. I have not had a chance to try out all of this machine’s capabilities, but so far, I have used it to

MAKE SALSA,

PULSE INGREDIENTS FOR FROSTING,

MAKE FILLING FOR CUPCAKES,

AND MAKE PESTO.

I think the Vitamix could streamline the kitchen equipment you need and possibly replace many other small appliances such as your food processor, immersion blender and hand mixer. Of course, I cannot say that you would never need those other items, but I also appreciate how easy the Vitamix is to clean (especially compared to the many parts of a food processor). So, if you are looking for a new blender, registering for a wedding or need ideas for what to request for your birthday or Christmas, consider this multifunctional piece of equipment as a new addition to your kitchen.

I believe my next experiment with my Vitamix will be a nut butter of some kind……..

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Pasta with red and green pesto

July 28, 2011 – 12:15 pm

I hope you have noticed by now that I like to use recipes as guides rather that follow them step by step. For me, this makes cooking so much more fun and creative. I like versatile dishes that I can put my own spin on. When I found this recipe for Red and Green Pesto, I was immediately intrigued. I love traditional basil pesto, but I also like to try pesto variations. For me, the spicier the food, the better, so I was excited to see that this pesto had red chile peppers in it. However, for those of you who don’t like the heat, don’t worry, to my dismay the peppers really did not add spice at all, just a wonderful roasted pepper flavor. The red chile peppers with the parsley in the pesto really make for a beautiful, colorful pasta dish. You could add any vegetables you would like and also your protein of choice whether that be tofu, chicken or shrimp.

Red and Green Pesto Pasta

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: dessert pasta Italian

Ingredients

3 red chile peppers, preferably fresno (these look like red jalepeño peppers)
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
2 cups flat-leaf parsley
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 2 lemons
salt and pepper
1 pound pasta of your choice (I used linguine)
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (or other protein of your choice)
1/4 cup white wine
2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

Heat oven to 350°. Place pistachios onto baking sheet and put in oven to toast for about 6 minutes.

In a small, dry skillet, char the chiles and garlic over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes. Flip the chiles and garlic several times. Scrape off the charred skins and seed the chiles. (see *TIP* below for this step) Remove the garlic cloves from their skins.

Using a food processor or blender, pulse the chiles, garlic, parsley, cheese, pistachios, olive oil and half the lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Place pesto into large bowl.

Boil salted water and cook pasta. Add a small ladleful of the pasta water to the pesto before you toss the water!

Drain the pasta and add it to the pesto.

For the shrimp, heat a large sautée pan over medium-high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the shrimp and cook until almost fully pink and opaque, about 3 minutes. Add remaining lemon juice, wine and butter. Toss a few times until butter is melted and add the contents of the pan to the pasta. (If using a different protein, cook it on its own and add it to the pasta just like I did with the shrimp)

Serve garnished with additional parmesan cheese.

(Recipe adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray)

*TIP* When roasting peppers, it can be somewhat difficult to remove the skins after they are roasted. To make this task easier, I like to wrap my peppers in a damp paper towel immediately after they are done roasting while they are still hot. This creates steam and allows the skins from the peppers to be removed much more easily.

Go ahead, slurp it up like a 5-year-old. No one is watching !

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Strawberry Cupcakes and “dragging out” the Bachelorette

July 26, 2011 – 8:00 am

Hi sweet teeth!

I hope you all had a nice weekend! Mine was very busy and a lot of fun. It was my good friend Emily‘s wedding shower and bachelorette party weekend. The weekend would not have been complete without great friends, lovely gifts and a drag show! After a good night of sleep last night I have fully recuperated!

I volunteered to bring a dessert (you are so surprised aren’t you?) to the event on Friday evening and again, with it being another steamy weekend, I wanted something light that would not weigh us down in our party shoes. I decided on my favorite strawberry cupcakes with a couple of new twists.

These light vanilla cupcakes are filled with a strawberry and marscapone cheese combination so that when you bite into them you are pleasantly met with a burst of creamy strawberry goodness. A vanilla simple syrup glaze tops them all off and they are almost as pretty as our beautiful bachelorette!

Strawberry Cupcakes

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake dessert strawberry cupcake

Ingredients

+For the cupcakes+1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk

For the filling and glaze

1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese, chilled
1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed, plus more for garnish (you can use frozen if fresh are not available)
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

For the cupcakes

Preheat oven to 375° and line 2 cupcake pans with paper liners

Put butter and sugar in large bowl and beat with mixer until light and fluffy

Add eggs and vanilla

Add dry ingredients and then milk and mix until well blended

Pour batter into cupcake liners until 2/3 full

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean

Allow cupcakes to cool completely

For the filling and the glaze

In a food processor or blender combine the mascarpone cheese, strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Process the mixture until smooth.

Transfer the strawberry mixture to a pastry bag (or Ziploc bag) fitted with a small tip. Push the tip gently into the bottom of a cupcake and squeeze in the strawberry mixture until the cupcake plumps. Continue with the remaining cupcakes.

In a small saucepan, bring the 1/2 cup sugar, water, and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved.

In a medium bowl combine the vanilla syrup with the confectioner’s sugar. Stir until smooth. Working quickly, use a rubber spatula to spread the icing on the top of the cupcakes or simply dip tops of cupcakes into bowl. If the icing begins to firm up, place in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up again.

Garnish with slices of strawberry using small amount of glaze as glue to fix the slices on top (to make a small amount of additional glaze just mix 1/4 cup of powdered sugar with 2 tsp milk).

(Cupcake recipe from Epicurious and Filling and Glaze from Giada DeLaurentiis)

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Peanut curry shrimp and vegetables

July 23, 2011 – 8:00 am

I know I was just saying how hot it is outside, and how could I want warm spicy curry on a hot summer day, right? Well, I am very thankful for air conditioning and after several hours of cooling off, and some inspiration from blog surfing, I decided that curry was going to be the dinner entrée of the evening.

Often when I make curries, I find that they are too one-note and the flavors are just not as complex as the curries I enjoy when I am at a Thai restaurant for example. But this time it was different. This combination was the perfect expression of sweet, spicy, sour and salty. No one-note curry this time and I could have eaten plate after plate of it!

Also, this was my first time cooking with coconut oil which I loved. I can’t wait to try baking with it.

Peanut Curry Shrimp and Vegetables

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: saute stir-fry entree healthy vegetables seafood Thai

Ingredients

1 can light coconut milk
1 1/2 Tbsp red curry paste (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup natural almond butter (or you could use peanut butter)
3 garlic cloves, crushed
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp coconut oil (you could also use olive, canola or sesame oil)
shrimp or chicken or tofu
about 3 cups of sliced/chopped vegetables of your choice (I used sugar snap peas, red bell pepper and broccolini)
1/4 cup sliced green onions
chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Instructions

In a medium bowl whisk together coconut milk, curry paste, lime juice, almond butter and soy sauce; set aside

Put coconut oil in large sautée pan and heat on medium

Add shrimp to pan and cook until opaque (2-3 minutes per side); once cooked, remove shrimp from pan and put aside

Add vegetables, garlic and green onions to pan and sautée for about 4 minutes until tender

Pour curry mixture into pan and stir to combine

Add shrimp back into pan and reheat

Serve over rice, quinoa, or noodles and garnish with cilantro

(Recipe inspired by Family Fresh Cooking)

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Fruit tart on a steamy summer day

July 20, 2011 – 4:00 pm

The heat has been sweltering here in Minneapolis. Not to mention the humidity. When I walk outside and immediately feel like I am in a sauna, rich ooey gooey treats do not sound as appealing to me. Instead I crave cooling treats with fresh summer fruits.

This fruit tart is one of my husband’s favorite desserts. I like it because decorating it makes me feel like an artist and it allows me to let my creative juices flow. The tart starts off with the recipe that I use at Christmastime for cut-out sugar cookies. When this dough is pressed into a baking sheet, the end result is a perfectly thick and chewy cookie crust. I top the perfect sugar cookie crust with a cream cheese frosting smear and at that point, it is a blank canvas for whatever fruit toppings I have chosen. Finally, a simple fruit preserves glaze and it looks like it could grace the cover of a food magazine. Ok, maybe not, but it really will impress your friends and family!

Fruit Tart

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake dessert snack fruit cream cheese cookie

Ingredients

For the crust