Finally summer... maybe

Hi

I know it's been some time.  Do I still have any readers out there?

While the weather hasn't been very cooperative as "summer" weather (more like playing hide-and-seek) last weekend ended my primary commitments for this year - very fun but very time consuming - & sprung me into feelings of summer whatever the forecast may be.

It feels like summer vacation for real.

Maddie has been saving recipes from pile of old Martha Stewart Magazines.  Lately we've been craving Frozen Mango-Cream Cakes. 

We've been hoarding our mangoes until we've had time to use them, I'm afraid to say they were a little wrinkly :)  

We peeled them nonetheless and whipped together this mango summer magic on Sunday.  

Uhm... yum.  

We've learned a neat trick: when using heavy whipping cream in recipes you can substitute some greek yogurt.  We decided to go this route with the mango cream and I couldn't tell a difference.  I'll post our adaptation here.

Frozen Mango-Cream Cake

adapted from Martha Stewart Magazine

serves 8

You can either make this in one large 8-inch spring form pan or shape 8 individual cakes in 2-inch round ring molds.

For the Crust:

Vegetable Cooking Spray

1 oz. salted dry-roasted  macadamia nuts (app. 1/4 c.)

3 T. granulated sugar

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 T. unsalted butter, melted

For the Mousse:

1/4 c. fresh orange juice

1 envelope (1 scant T.) gelatin

2 firm but ripe mangoes, peeled 

(ours definitely weren't firm!)

1/2 c. granulated sugar

3 T. lemon juice

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 c. honey Greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat inside of ring molds or spring form pan with cooking spray. 

For crust: pulse macadamia nuts & granulated sugar in a food processor until finely ground.  In a bowl, combine nuts, flour & butter with fork until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Press mixture in to the bottom of desired pan & bake until golden brown.  (The recipe says about 12 minutes but ours burned so just check it regularly!)

For the mousse: Pour orange juice into small saucepan & sprinkle with gelatin.  Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.  Heat over low heat, stirring, until dissolved.  Remove from heat.

Slice mango to puree, setting aside some slices for garnish.  In a blender, puree chopped mangoes, granulated sugar & lemon juice until smooth.  With machine running, add gelatin mixture in a slow, steady stream, and blend until combined.  Transfer to a bowl.

With a whisk or an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream until soft peaks form.  With spatula gently fold together whipped cream, greek yogurt & mango puree.

Divide mixture into molds or pour into prepared pan.  cover with plastic wrap & freeze until firm (at least 4 hours).

When ready to serve let cake stand at room temp to soften.  Serve garnished with mango slices.

Maddie said this tastes just like summer.  The 

Resident Photographer & Maddie drizzled chocolate sauce over their mango cake.  I tried it and was pleasantly surprised but preferred the fresh taste.

Now didn't we make that look effortless?  

:)

Actually it's been a while since we cooked together.  We made a big mess, everyone was tired & I was rushing to finish so we could watch a family movie.

But the end result was just right for a Sunday evening.

Days (late) for Christmas - Part 2: Truffles

These cocoa babies were probably over kill for Christmas this year, but I couldn't break tradition.  I started making them for my chocoholic brothers several years ago.  My family is big (and getting bigger again!)  I have four (chocolate loving) brothers and three (equally chocolate loving) sisters.  Our numbers exploded a few years ago as people started getting married and having babies so we switched to a gift exchange plan.  I like to add a homemade gift to the package each year and for the boys it became traditionally, truffles. 

Even though we did away with the Christmas exchange this year - everyone was spending more on the nieces and nephews anyways, so we switched to family gifts - I made a batch to share around our celebration.

These are very simple to make and that's part of the reason I love them.  They're easy to squeeze in when you're busy in the kitchen.  I follow Martha Stewarts recipe.  I've wanted to branch out in my coating, I always use dutch cocoa because I'm in a hurry.  I've toyed with the idea of adding something spicy (the way the brothers like things :) to the coating but haven't experimented yet.

We (siblings) celebrated together on Sunday.  We had so much food, these barely got touched!  But fortunately they store nicely in the freezer.

   

I made up a handful of these little gift boxes for my friends.  They turned out quite cute and were a great way to give away the truffles and marshmallows.  I have lots of paper left over so I'm eager to find more boxes for next years' goodies.

Basil

Life has been crazy.  I've been running around since April and I can't believe it's already August.  I've got lots of big plans for things to blog about, it's just going to be a matter of finding time.  For now creativity fits under the food category and food is whatever is blooming in the garden.  So we have Basil.

Thanks to my mother we have a monster patch of Basil plants blooming.    

Basil is the best.  And here we must digress to all the wonderfulness of Basil: It's green - my favorite color; it smells wonderful; it's easy to grow (or at least my mother makes it look that way); it makes the best Thai food ever and I love Thai food.

Somewhere between visiting Utah, camping and California, my sister Maddie and I commandeered the kitchen to make some Thai Basil Chicken

I call this my "Imitation Thai Dinner" and if you've had authentic Thai, this does taste different but the fresher your basil the closer it tastes to Thailand.  This is also known as the company dinner around here, it's just so simple to whip up and everyone loves it.  Or at least I love it.

Thai Basil Chicken

I know I originally found the recipe online but I can't remember where!  

Serves 4-6

2 T. Sesame, Peanut or Vegetable Oil

1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Red Bell Pepper, Cut into 1/4 Inch Strips

3-4 Garlic Cloves 

1 Serrano Pepper (or more if you want more spice)

4 T. Hoisin Sauce

2 T. Thai Fish Sauce

1 t. Sugar

1/4 Cup Water

1 Cup loosely packed Basil Leaves

Jasmine Rice

In a wok or skillet heat stir fry chicken for 4 minutes in hot oil.  Add red bell peppers, garlic, and serrano.  Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add hoisin, fish sauce, sugar and water.  Throw in basil and toss until it wilts.  Dump it on a bed of rice and enjoy.

This recipe really is delicious with these exact ingredients but I've fudged countless times.  Plus it's high summer and seems such a shame to only use peppers in a stir fry, so we threw in zucchini and used some fresh peppers from the garden instead of serranos (I don't know what kind they were?  They looked like banana peppers).

Enjoy