Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie

This classic key lime pie recipe follows the traditional technique of not baking the filling. The acidity in the lime juice cooks the eggs as the fillings chill. Pasteurized egg yolks are best for this recipe, but if fresh eggs are used bake the pie at 325ºF (160ºC) for 30 minutes to set the eggs.

Ingredients:

Crust

3 cups (750 mL) chocolate cookie crumbs 

1 cup (250 mL) sweetened coconut 

½ tsp (2 mL) fine salt 

¾ cup (175 mL) unsalted butter

Filling

Two 300 mL tins condensed milk 

12 pasteurized egg yolks 

1½ cups (375 mL) fresh lime juice 

4½ tsp (22 mL) lime zest

Candied Lime Slices

2 limes 

1 cup (250 mL) sugar 

1 cup (250 mL) water 

Sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Crust, preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

Combine chocolate cookie crumbs, coconut and salt. Stir in melted butter and blend to an even, crumbly texture. Press crust into an ungreased 9-inch (23-cm) springform pan. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until coconut browns. Allow to cool.

Filling, whisk together all ingredients until smooth and pour into baked pie shell. Chill for at least 4 hours before slicing.

Candied Lime Slices; slice limes into thin rounds Blanch first in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain. In a saucepan, combine sugar and water, bring up to a simmer and add lime slices. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until white pith of limes looks translucent. Drain and spread out on a cooling rack over a baking tray to dry for about an hour. Coat limes with sugar and store in an airtight container, layered between parchment or plastic until ready to use.

Top cake with candied lime slices and serve.  Serves 10 to 12

Coconut-Lime Cooler ~ Vegan

                                           

Coconut-Lime Cooler  ~  Vegan

Cool off with a low-carb coconut lime cooler, a deliciously creamy tropical drink that is truly refreshing. They also make great cocktails!
Ingredients:
1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
⅓ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Sweetener equivalent to 2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 cup crushed ice
Club Soda for topping up
Lime wedges for garnish
Directions:
In a blender, combine the coconut milk, lime juice, sweetener, lime zest and ice. Blend until smooth and well mixed.
Divide into 4 small glasses and top each up with club soda.

Grilled Mexican Sweet Corn (Elote Recipe)

Grilled Mexican Street Corn (Elote)

If you aren’t able to find traditional Mexican crema in your local grocery store, use regular sour cream spiked with some lime juice. You can also substitute crumbled feta for the cotija cheese.

Ingredients
6 to 8 medium ears sweet corn, husks removed
1/2 cup Mexican crema, or sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest, from 1 lime
2 tablespoons lime juice, from 1 lime
1/2 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
Lime wedges, to serve
Directions:
Heat a gas or charcoal grill to 400°F. Once the grill is hot, clean the grates.

Whisk together the sauce:
Meanwhile, whisk together the crema, mayonnaise, cilantro, garlic, chipotle pepper, lime zest, and lime juice. Taste and season the mixture with salt if needed. (Crema and cotija cheese have a little salt already, so add extra judiciously.) Set aside.

Grill the corn:
Place the husked corn directly onto grill grates. Grill the corn for about 3 minutes, undisturbed, or until kernels begin to turn golden brown and look charred. Turn over and repeat. When all sides are browned, remove from the grill onto a plate.

Top the corn with sauce and cheese:
Using a brush or a spoon, coat each ear of corn with the crema mixture. Sprinkle with crumbled cojita cheese. Sprinkle with additional chipotle pepper, if desired. Serve immediately with extra lime wedges. Serves 6 to 8

Salted Margarita Bars

 

Salted Margherita Bars

When making these bars, the base finishes baking right around the same time the curd comes together. If the curd is ready before the base or vice versa, either can be set aside at room temperature until you’re ready to move on to the next step. Straining the curd is key for a super silky texture.  Save this recipe for Cinque de Mayo too.
Ingredients:

Base
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp (2 mL) fine sea salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) finely grated lime zest
3/4 cup (175 mL) unsalted butter, cold, cubed
1 large egg yolk
Curd
2 large eggs plus 6 large yolks
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh lime juice
1/4 cup (60 mL) blanco tequila, preferably 1800 Silver
3 tbsp (45 mL) fresh orange juice
1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated lime zest
1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated orange zest
3/4 cup (175 mL) unsalted butter, cold, cubed
Garnish
1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated lime zest
1/2 tsp (2 mL) flaky sea salt
Directions:

Position rack in bottom third of the oven. Preheat to 350°F (177°C). Generously butter a 9-inch (23-cm) square baking dish. Line bottom with parchment with overhanging edges on two opposing sides.

For the base, combine flour, sugar, salt and lime zest in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas. Add egg yolk and continue blending until a crumbly dough just comes together, up to 1 minute. Turn out into a prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake in the bottom third of the oven until golden, about 30 minutes. Set aside.

While the crust is baking, make the curd. Whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, lime juice, tequila, orange juice, lime zest and orange zest in a medium saucepan until fully combined. Set over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Curd will just be pulling away from the bottom of the pan when stirred. Remove from heat. Add butter and stir occasionally until fully combined, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the mixture into a clean bowl. Scrape curd into prepared crust, smoothing top.

Reduce oven to 300°F (149°C).

Once the oven has fully reduced in temperature, bake in the bottom third until the curd has set around the edges but still wobbles slightly, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To serve, lift bars out of the pan and cut into 16 bars, wiping knife clean in between cuts. When ready to serve, sprinkle bars with lime zest and flaky sea salt. (Ungarnished bars will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.)    Makes 16 bars

Thai Coconut Soup With Shrimp

Thai Coconut Soup with Shrimp

Laced with ginger, lime and fish sauce, this weeknight-easy recipe is a version of tom kha goong, a brothy, aromatic coconut soup. To make tom kha gai, swap in 3 cups shredded cooked chicken for the shrimp.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon neutral oil, like vegetable or canola
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 inches piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped (2 Tbsp.)
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 13.5-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
¼ cup fish sauce
1 small green chile*, such as Serrano or Thai, finely chopped   

   optional
1 tablespoon lime zest
⅓ cup lime juice
Cilantro, for garnish
Lime wedges

Directions

Heat the oil in a stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the shallots and ginger and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes.

Add the chicken broth and salt, raise the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the coconut milk, shrimp, mushrooms, brown sugar, fish sauce, and chile, if using, stirring to combine. Simmer until the mushrooms are tender and the shrimp is opaque and cooked through, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. (Do not allow the soup to boil once the coconut milk has been added.) 

Add the lime zest and lime juice.

Serve the soup garnished with sprigs of cilantro and a lime wedge.

Variation: With Chicken Follow the instructions as directed, except use 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (from one supermarket rotisserie chicken) instead of the shrimp. In step 3, simmer until the mushrooms are tender and the chicken is warmed through, about 3 minutes.

Create Herb, Spice And Salt Combos At Home To Elevate Your Food

Create Herb, Spice And Salt Combos 

At Home To Elevate Your Food

Mixing fresh herbs and spices with salt creates unique flavorful blends that can be used in cooking or as finishing salts for just about any meal. Putting these delightful homemade blends into small glass jars makes a perfect stocking stuffer or hostess gift. Flavored salt awakens depths of flavor, adds nutritional value and can provide digestive support.

Savory blends can be used in marinades and salad dressings, on roasted vegetables and simply sprinkled on top of a bowl of pasta. Adding a little citrus salt to cocktails and simple chocolate desserts will take them from ordinary to remarkable.

These homemade salts are effortless and economical to make. Using fresh herbs preserves seasonal flavors and is a brilliant way to use the abundance from an overproductive garden.

The variety of blends is endless and recipes are flexible, but the method is pretty much the same for any blend, as outlined below. Use whatever type of salt you prefer—Celtic, Himalayan or fine sea—but avoid iodized salt, which can discolor the herbs. Experiment and have fun!

Fresh Herbed Salt
1 cup fine ground salt
2 cups fresh herbs, such as Italian parsley, thyme, rosemary
(A majority of the mix should be parsley since it is a milder herb)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Cilantro Lime Salt 
1 cup fine ground salt
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 cups cilantro
Zest from 1 lime

Orange Rose Salt 
1 cup coarse ground Himalayan salt
¼ cup dried rose petals
Zest from 3 oranges

Pat fresh herbs dry, remove woody stems and loosely chop. Place ingredients in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse, stopping often to wipe down the sides. Continue until everything is finely chopped and combined.

Spread the salt mixture evenly on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Let it air dry for several days. Move the salt around occasionally so that it dries evenly. Alternatively, the salt can be dried on low heat in a dehydrator or in an oven that has been turned off after being heated to the lowest temperature. Keep the salt in the oven with the light on until dried. Be sure to move the salt around on the tray so that it dries evenly.

Once the salt is dried, place it into glass jars and secure with lids tightly closed.

Lime Tarragon Tarts With White Chocolate Cream

Lime Tarragon Tarts with 

White Chocolate Cream

These tarts make a lovely ending to a meal. The pastry is one place where dried tarragon works better than fresh.

Pastry:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp dried tarragon
½ tsp grated lime rind
½ tsp salt
½ cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp lime juice

Lime Curd 
4 eggs 
1/3 cup fresh lime juice 
½ cup granulated sugar 
2 tsp grated lime zest 
½ cup unsalted cold butter, cut in 8 pieces 

Chocolate Cream
1 cup whipping cream 
6 oz white chocolate 
2 tsp chopped fresh tarragon 
8 tarragon sprigs

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar, tarragon, lime rind and salt in a food processor. Add in butter and pulse until mixture resembles small peas. Combine egg yolk and lime juice and pulse into pastry until clusters hold together when squeezed. Do not process so much that dough forms a ball. 

Roll dough out on a floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4-inch cookie cutter, cut out 8 circles. If needed, bring remaining dough back together and re-roll. Fit circles into a standard muffin cup, pressing in corners. Prick the base of each tart and freeze for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350°F while pastry is chilling. 

4 Bake tart shells in the lower third of the oven until pastry is pale gold around the edges, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely. 

5 Place eggs in heavy pot. Whisk together with lime juice, sugar and lime zest. Place pot over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm, about 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in cold butter. Continue to cook, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula rather than whisking, until mixture thickens and you can see the bottom of the pot when you draw a spoon across, about 8 to 10 minutes. The mixture should coat the back of a spoon. Do not allow to boil otherwise it will curdle. The mixture will thicken more as it cools. 

Transfer curd to a bowl and place a sheet of plastic wrap directly over mixture to prevent a skin forming. Poke a few holes in the plastic to allow steam to escape. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. Fill tart shells with the lime curd, up to 12 hours in advance. 

Bring cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate until smooth. Cool completely in the refrigerator, about 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and whisk until mixture is thickened and soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold in chopped tarragon. Top the tarts with 1 to 2 tbsp. whipping cream and garnish with tarragon sprigs.

Makes 8 tarts

Watermelon Peach Salsa With Tomatoes

Watermelon Peach Salsa

With Tomatoes

Yesterday my supermarket was sampling this wonderful salsa served with tortilla chips.  The recipe was available to the shoppers.  It is also suggested to  serve with chicken, pork, or fish.  It is an amazing blend of flavors.

*

2 cups watermelon, diced 1/4" size

1 cup fresh peaches, diced 1/4" cup size

3 cups vine ripe tomatoes, diced 1/4" size

1/4 cup red onion, diced

1/4 cup jalapeño jelly

1 tablespoon lime zest

Juice of 1 lime

1/3 cup basil chefinade

Salt and pepper to taste

*

Mix all ingredients in medium bowl and serve within the same day.  Serve with chicken, pork, fish, or with your favorite tortilla chips.