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Fresh Lime Cupcakes

 

I love citrus. Lemon is my all time favorite. However, I decided to change it up a bit and work it out with some limes that didn't include margaritas!

This recipe was super easy as it used self-rising flour in addition to all purpose flour. Fresh lime juice and lime zest are all up and through these cupcakes! It is a mild flavor but you can definitely taste the flavor.

The original recipe calls for green food coloring but I omitted it. It also called for vanilla in the frosting but I used more fresh lime juice instead. I got about 18 cupcakes out of the mix...we kept six and gave the rest away!

Fresh Lime Cupcakes
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/05/key-lime-cupcakes.html

What you need:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4cupself-rising flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 2large eggs
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

What you need for the frosting:

• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2cup(1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
• 1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
• Whisk both flours in medium bowl.
• Beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar; beat to blend. 
• Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then next 3 ingredients (batter may look curdled).
• Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each liner

• Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool.

FROSTING

Beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Enjoy.

Dry Rib Rub

Rubs are easy.  You just take some of your favorite spices, mix them together and slather it on your favorite cut of meat and slow cook it in the oven or grill it over coals!

Easy.

The measurements for my rubs are not exact because it is really adjustable according to the flavor I want to achieve.  I use this rub for the ribs we had for Memorial Day but it can be used on steak or chicken also.

What You Need:

Start with tablespoon increments of these spices and adjust.

• Black pepper
• Brown sugar
• Chili powder
• Garlic powder
• Ground cumin

Start with teaspoon increments of these spices and adjust

• Cayenne pepper
• Dry mustard
• Ground allspice
• Ground coriander
• Paprika
• Salt

What to do:

• Combine all ingredients
• Mix well
• Store in an airtight container

Cook. Eat. Repeat.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

I love The Barefoot Contessa.  She is my friend in my head.  Like she calls me up and invites me to her estate in the Hamptons...in my head.  I have tried many of her recipes and I have not been disappointed.  They typically use simple ingredients and are easy to prepare and pack huge flavor.  You will see many of her recipes on this here site!
The original recipe is for two pounds of shrimp and uses way more butter than I care to.  I adjusted this recipe for one pound of shrimp and decreased the butter to half a stick but I am sure I could have used a couple of tablespoons and been fine. So good!

Baked Shrimp Scampi
Adapted From Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics”

What You Need:

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and de-veined and butterflied
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dry white wine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup minced shallots (I used onions)
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves (I used dried)
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 cup panko

  

What To Do:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl, and toss gently with olive oil, wine, salt and pepper. Set aside while you make the butter and garlic mixture.
• In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, until combined.
• Arrange the shrimp in a single layer. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute.

Originally posted March 3, 2010

Tandoori Spice Mix

I love a well seasoned turkey burger so when I ran out of my favorite tandoori mix (and it was raining out) I had to think of something else...fast? The troops were restless!

When I was researching 'tandoori spices' several variations of the spices came up.  I made this mix based completely on smell and what I knew about the ingredients! LOL I thought it was going to be too spicy but it didn't cook spicy.  Since it is a spice mix you can adjust the amounts to your tastes.

Tandoori Spice Mix

What You Need:

Start with 2 tablespoons each of:
Onion powder
Dried basil
Coriander
Cumin
Ginger

Then with 1 tablespoon each of:

Paprika

Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Salt

Finally 1-2 tsp each of:
Cinnamon
Clove

What to do:
Mix well.
Store in an airtight container.
Good on poultry or vegetables.

Cook. Eat. Repeat.


Originally posted July, 27, 2010

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

First, I can’t remember for the life of me where I got this recipe. So my apologies if you read this and it is yours! Shoot me an email and I will post proper credits! 

I have no experience cooking "island" dishes. The original picture of this looked so good I couldn’t wait to try it out. After trying, I am a fan! This is a great make ahead dish because it comes together so quickly. I especially loved it because of the low sodium. We have to watch our intake round these parts. It wasn’t bland and for us it had just the right amount of saltiness.

The rice that is next to those juicy pieces of meat, Turmeric Chorizo Rice, was a combination of two recipes that I made my own. So simple: two cups cooked white rice, sautéed onions, peppers, garlic and celery kicked up with turmeric and chorizo. I only used chorizo because I had made it (recipe testing) earlier in the day. I am sure you could use any smoked sausage you fancied.

Hope you enjoy!

What You Need: 

• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 2 jalapenos, seeds removed (unless you want that fiyah!)
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme (I used dried)
• 3 tbsp lime juice (I forgot this and left it out)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp ground allspice AND ground cinnamon
• 8 pieces bone in chicken legs and/or thighs (I used all legs)

What to do:

• Remove skin and fat from chicken and make slits all over the meat
• Put all of the remaining ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and blend until smooth
• Place 1/4 cup of marinade aside for brushing
• Place the chicken pieces in a zip lock bag and pour marinade over chicken
• Make sure chicken is coated well
• Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight (I marinated overnight)
• Grill the chicken over medium heat until done or bake at 400 degrees until dark golden brown and juices run clear. (I prepared mine in the oven on a sheet pan)
• Be sure to brush the chicken with the reserved marinade throughout cooking.Also let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before eating.

Originally posted February 16, 2010

Vanilla Bean Scones

Love. Period.


See I am not a CrackBux junkie but on the rare occassion I partake, I always cop one of their pastries.  Their OK. So when I found this recipe over here I. Couldn't. Wait.

Eating this was like eating a warm, citrusy, sweet biscuit!  The lemon was a WONDERFUL addition to this pastry.

I didn't use the glaze from her site (but I will the next time I make them).  Since I ran out of powdered sugar I used a lemon simple sugar glaze (one part lemon juice to one part sugar, heated until dissolved).  I'm going to whip up a batch for my cousin just so I can have an excuse to make them again...I can't have all that goodness all up in my house less I gain 50lbs!

The only change I made was I did not use vanilla bean paste. I used vanilla bean and I did not use the glaze. I also may have used a bit more lemon zest cause I love lemon in pastries!

Vanilla Bean Scones

Adapted heavily from http://amybites.com/?p=855

What you need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 cup sour cream (regular)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla beans
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

 What to do:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar) with cubed butter. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal (the dough will be kind of grainy).
• In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients: sour cream, yolk, vanilla beas, and zest.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix with a fork or whisk until dough comes together.
• Place dough on parchment lined baking sheet, then form with floured hands into an approximately 9 by 12 inch rectangle.
• Cut into 12 squares, then each in half diagonally until you have 24 wedges*.
• Bake for 17 minutes or until golden-brown. Let cool on wire rack before using glaze of your choice. 

*I actually got about 15-17 wedges.


 Cook.Eat.Repeat.

Originally posted February 2, 2011