Frozen Key Lime Pie

I mentioned at the start of my Floridian week that I'd recently enjoyed a vegan key lime pie at a dinner party. Unfortunately, our friends can't find the recipe they used so I can't share it here. But, I've developed a craving for key lime pie during the week, so I've found a suitable alternative. It's not vegan, but it's a Ina Garten's recipe (with a very slight deviation), so you know it'll be good, right?! Wonderfully tart. It could have used longer in the freezer (I only managed about 4 hours, and you can see from the picture that it began melting quickly), but it was still delish!

As for that vegan dessert, I do remember how they made the non-dairy whipped cream. They placed an unshaken can of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 24 hours. By the time they were ready to whip it and removed it from the can, the white solids had separated completely from the syrupy liquid. That liquid can be set aside for another use. They placed the solids in a bowl with some icing sugar (to taste) and whipped them with a handmixer till they were fluffy and the sugar was blended throughout. Brilliant! I doubt it's a low-fat alternative, but it was mighty tasty! And, now you know how they did it.

Full disclosure: I cheated and used a pre-made graham cracker crust for today's recipe, since I'm also preparing our St. Patrick's Day dinner and wanted to save some time, so you'll have to refer to Ina's recipe at the link above to see how she makes her homemade version. Also, this is a no-bake pie, but the prolonged beating with the sugar "cooks" the egg yolks, so no worries.

Anyhoo, here's how I made it:

6 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp lime zest
The juice from 1 lb bag of key limes + 1 regular lime (about ¾ cup)
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lime zest with an electric mixer on high speed for about 5 minutes until thick and creamy. Lower the speed to medium and add the condensed milk and lime juice till blended. Pour into the prepared crust and freeze for several hours (or overnight if you can). Serve with whipped cream, and enjoy!

Alligator Scallopini Dijon

Well, I promised you a Floridian dish with real bite, and here it is!

Do not be afraid of alligator meat if you haven't tried it before. It's similar in texture and appearance to pork and has a very mild flavor that's not at all gamey!

If you locals want to give it a try, there are a few more packages of it at Roma Imports in Latham, where I bought mine. They ordered 5 lbs., but I only needed 1 lb. for this recipe. It comes frozen and pre-packaged in 1-lb. bags.

Nutritionally, it's lean meat. My package contained four roughly 4-oz. cutlets and each one has only 177 calories, with no trans fat and just 74 mg of cholesterol. (The daily recommended intake for cholesterol is 200 mg for people at risk of heart disease; for healthier hearts, 300 mg per day is OK.) Pounding those cutlets into paillards helped keep them nice and tender.

Unfortunately, this particular supplier does add some salt and a preservative to their gator meat, and they don't provide sodium stats. It didn't taste overly salty but, if you're tracking sodium intake, you can't really know for sure how much is in there.

It took no time at all to prepare this recipe, and it came out amazingly good. The sauce is divine! Honestly, I'd make a batch of just sauce to eat over rice or pasta, it's that's good. The original recipe calls for brandy and shallots, but I used sherry and onion since we had those on hand. (Really, any fortified wine will taste just fine.)

Here's how I made it:

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4-6 Tbsp flour
1 lb. alligator cutlets (about 4), pounded thin (I used a freezer bag and my rolling pin.)
1 small onion, minced

¼ cup sherry
1 can (10 oz) low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
¾ cup fat-free half-and-half
3 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp mustard seed (optional)
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Fresh parsley, minced, for garnish

Lightly coat the alligator paillards with flour on each side. In a large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat till bubbly. Sauté the meat for about a minute on each side, just till they're golden brown. Set the meat aside on a plate and keep it warm. Next, sauté the onion in the same skillet for a couple minutes, also till golden, then deglaze the pan using the sherry. Make sure you scrape up the browned bits from the pan!

Reduce the heat slightly, and add the soup, half-and-half, mustard(s) and pepper till well blended. Return the meat and any juices to the pan. Simmer for a few minutes longer to ensure the meat is cooked (it won't need long, since it's so thin). Add the parsley, and serve!

Orange Muffins

What's breakfast in this country without orange juice? So, I decided to make a breakfast that includes my juice. These orange muffins taste bright and tangy, and I read somewhere recently that the ideal breakfast totals around 250 calories. Without doing the math, I'd venture a guess that these beauties come pretty close to that mark. (Granted, I probably should swap the sugar in these for protein or whole grains, but I definitely could do worse.)

The original recipe came from one of my favorite cookbooks - "750 Best Muffin Recipes" - which I bought when a local bookstore went out of business. I guess I'm the old fashioned sort, with a preference for hand-me-down cookbooks with smudges, dog-eared pages and notes in the margins. But, also being frugally minded, I rarely indulge in printed cookbooks these days. I'm glad, however, that I made an exception and bought this one.

I discovered at baking time that I was missing an ingredient, whole-milk plain yogurt. I did have, however, a tub of light sour cream that needed using, so I swapped it in. Honestly, I doubt you could tell the difference. My muffins are missing a few probiotics, I suppose, but they're tasty nonetheless! Also, I skipped the glaze, since I didn't see the need for the added calories.

Here's how I made them:

Zest of 2 oranges (about ¼ cup)
2-3 Tbsp orange juice, freshly squeezed
½ cup sugar, divided in half
2 cups flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
⅓ cup extra-virgin or light tasting olive oil
1½ cups low-fat sour cream

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Combine the orange zest, juice and ¼ cup of the sugar in a small saucepan and  simmer over medium heat till the sugar dissolves. Let cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, blend together the orange syrup, eggs, remaining ¼ cup of sugar, oil and sour cream. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just till combined.

Divide the batter between 12-16 regular sized muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes till golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cook's Note: If you decide to glaze them, whisk together 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tsp orange zest and 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice. Drizzle the glaze over the warm muffins and let cool.

Pasta with Roasted Tomato, Orange & Olive Sauce

I've been craving pasta, so - as promised - here's a recipe I found (using my Epicurious mobile app) that features oranges, both the juice and zest.

I love the sweet and savory mix of this dish, and roasting the veggies add so much depth compared with using canned or uncooked fresh tomatoes. Deglazing the cookie sheets with the orange juice is a brilliant move. You scrape up all the browned bits from the pan, which yields even more flavor! And, the orange flavor really comes through, fresh and unexpected in a dish like this.

All in all, this recipe is a great go-to for a quick/light/easy/meatless weeknight meal. To add some protein, we used whole wheat pasta. Also, the original recipe called for black olives, but we had green ones in the pantry so I used them instead. This recipe serves four, and here's how I made it:

Nonstick spray or vegetable oil
8 plum tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1 large onion, cut into large chunks
6-8 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp orange peel, grated
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste½ cup orange juice, freshly squeezed with pulp (for extra flavor)

1 box of shaped pasta (I used 12 ounces of rotini)
¾ cup fresh basil, minced
¼ cup green olives, roughly chopped
¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat to 400°F. Grease two rimmed baking sheets, spreading one with the tomatoes and the other with the onion. Coat each batch of veggies with 1 Tbsp oil, then sprinkle each batch with the garlic, orange peel, salt and pepper. Try to make sure the garlic is well oiled, since that can burn easily, or roast some in advance and use that instead.


Roast veggies till they're tender with nice browning, stirring occasionally. The onions will take about 20-30 minutes and the tomatoes with take about 45 minutes. Immediately pour ¼ cup orange juice over the veggies on the hot sheets, scraping up the browned bits as you go. Set them aside till you're ready to combine them with the pasta.


Cook your pasta to al denté, leaving it with a little bite. Drain the pasta, then put it back in the hot pot over medium heat. (Reserve a little pasta water, in case the dish is dry once you combine the ingredients.) Add the tomatoes, onions, basil and olives to the pasta. Stir till warmed through, adding pasta water if needed. Sprinkle with cheese and serve!

Pan-Grilled Florida Red Snapper w/ Strawberry-Avocado Salsa

Once again, the quality and freshness of the fish at The Original Two Cousins fish market in Latham helped make this dish extraordinary. I'd found a lengthy list of recipes inspired by Florida agriculture, and this one stood out as soon as I spied it. So, you can imagine my excitement when Two Cousins said they had received a shipment of Florida red snapper! And, as luck would have it, Florida-grown strawberries are on sale this week at Price Chopper. Clearly, this dish was destined to be cooked by me this week!

I really like red snapper. It's a white fish that, to me, has a bit more of its own flavor than others that just take on the taste of what they're cooked in. It's seasoned simply in this recipe, and the crispy bits you get from pan-grilling the filets add a yummy, salty bite to the dish.

The salsa knocks this recipe out of the park. The strawberries are perfectly ripe and sweet. Such a welcome taste of summer to go with the glorious weather we're having! Pairing them with the creamy avocado, hot onions, fresh herbs and that kick of lime...it's SO good. Trust me: Fish and strawberries really do go well together.

Here's how I made it:

SALSA
2 cups strawberries, diced
1 ripe avocado, diced
1 jalapeño, minced
1 small red onion, minced
Fresh parsley, minced
Juice from 1 lime
1 tsp sugar

FISH
4 Florida red snapper filets
1 Tbsp lime zest
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Olive oil

Combine all the salsa ingredients in a bowl and try to let it sit for an hour or so. If you're making the salsa several hours in advance, add the avocado and parsley (or cilantro, if you prefer) just before you're ready to serve it.

Preheat your grill pan over high heat. Coat both sides of the snapper filets with some olive oil. On the fleshy side, rub each filet with some lime zest and season with salt and pepper. Add a little more oil to the pan once it's hot. Sear each filet, skin side down, for 3-4 minutes before flipping. Cook the fleshy side for another 3-4 minutes till the fish feels firm and flakes apart. Remove the skin, if you want, before serving. Top with some salsa and enjoy!

Week #8: Florida, USA

 A West Indian manatee and her calf.

Well, it took about two months but the pin finally landed in the United States, square in the middle of Florida. We're primed for a gorgeous week, weather wise, with the first few days at least in the 50s and 60s, so we might even dig out the grill!

I discovered that Florida has very few official state foods - only two that I could find, in fact. The state fruit? Oranges, of course! And, the state pie? You guessed it - key lime pie, one of my absolute faves.

Recently, we had dinner with friends who made an amazing vegan key lime pie. Even the "whipped cream" was non-dairy, and it all was delicious. I've asked for the recipe, so hopefully I'll be able to share it with you - stay tuned for that!

When considering other foods that evoke Florida, you certainly can't overlook the fresh, abundant seafood that's fished and harvested off its shores. So, I made a call over to Two Cousins in Latham, one of my favorite fishmongers, and they happened to have, among other items, Florida red snapper, so I'm going to dive right in (pun intended) with my first Florida dinner tonight!

Meantime, I've been researching other dinner recipes that feature oranges - I'm thinking pasta - but I may also need to do a little baking this week, too... Oranges and breakfast are an ideal match, so perhaps some muffins?

I'm also attempting to track down another ingredient that would give my third dinner a distinct Florida bite. Keep your fingers crossed that I can get some! You won't want to miss it...

One Year Later...

Tomorrow marks one year since Japan was devastated by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which spawned the catastrophic Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. No doubt, this year has been long and hard for the survivors and the road to full recovery will be long. But, it seems to me the Japanese always find a way to recover and thrive with a unique strength that's been cultivated over many centuries.

Did you ever read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes as a child? It's a marvelous, moving, true story - also borne of a nuclear event - about a girl who's dying from leukemia after the bombing of her hometown, Hiroshima, during WWII. She tries to fold 1,000 origami cranes, which will make her wish for survival come true, according to legend. She only manages to make 644 cranes before she succumbs to her illness, but she has become a symbol of hope and peace that endures to this day.

I developed a fascination with origami because of Sadako's story but, after all these years, the crane is the only creature I remember how to make. So, here's a crane and my wish for continued peace and hope and healing for our Japanese friends and family.

Mabo Tofu

How fortuitous that I saved the spicy dishes for the end of the week! My sinus woes have not abated, although I did make it to work today. I had to leave a couple hours early, though, since the "daytime" version of my trusty medicine was not working. Now, having been properly dosed, my final Japanese dish is complete and consumed.

I found the recipe for mabo tofu in my "Extending the Table" cookbook, with an English-language title of "quick spicy tofu." It definitely is quick to make, and the flavors are wonderful! But, I'll admit, I played with the ingredients a little to better suit the items I had on hand and could afford. All told, I stayed pretty faithful to the original, and I'm thrilled we've got leftovers!

The original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp of red miso paste. The smallest container I could find at the Asian Supermarket held about a cup of miso and cost around $5, which I didn't think was too budget friendly for an ingredient that would spoil before I could use it all. I did some quick Internet research on my phone and learned there really is no substitute for miso, so I skipped it and added a little oyster sauce instead. I did find one person who suggested mixing tahini with anchovy paste, but...

The tofu, on the other hand, was incredibly affordable. Each one-pound container cost just $0.99 at the Asian Supermarket, whereas Price Chopper charges $2.99 - or more! That alone made it worth the visit!

There were no veggies in this recipe, but snow peas were cheap and we needed some for the soup, so we bought a "value-sized" bag and used some in this dish too. And, I've been snacking on them all week - feels like summer!

I also used ground turkey instead of pork, which the original recipe used, since we had that on hand and I only needed ¼ pound. Actually, we cooked up some turkey cutlets the other night and just set one aside (uncooked). I pulsed it a few times in our food processor today and...出来上がり! (According to Google Translate, that's Japanese for voila!)

My final modification had to do with the spice. Now, as I mentioned earlier in this post, these spicy foods have been doing wonders for me. My wife, however, isn't too partial. So, instead of mixing red pepper into the entire dish, I just sprinkled some on top of my portion.

But, enough nitpicking. Here's how I made it:

Two 1-lb. blocks firm tofu, drained and cut into ½" cubes (this is enough for 4 people)
Canola oil/butter/margarine
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, diced

¼ lb. ground turkey

⅓ cup hot water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 Tbsp hot water

In a large saucepan, boil a few cups of water. Add the cubed tofu, and boil for just a minute or two. Remove the tofu, drain it well and set it aside.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the ginger, garlic and onion for a couple minutes till golden. Add the ground turkey and sauté till just cooked. Then, add the hot water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and dissolved cornstarch. When the sauce begins to thicken slightly, add the tofu and stir gently so each piece gets coated. Let it bubble away for a couple minutes so the flavors can blend, and serve it over rice. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flake, to taste.

Kakitama-jiru & Chilled Soba Noodles

Annoyingly, I've got this sinus thing going on. But, what better remedy for a head cold than hot soup, right? Not to mention some fresh air, thanks to the gorgeously warm, sunny day we had today. (For you non-locals, our temp reached the 50s today and we're expecting the 60s tomorrow! That's practically shorts weather!) So, we threw open the windows and I brewed a pot of kakitama-jiru, with some chilled soba noodles on the side for good measure.

I used the last of my konbu dashi for these two recipes, which kept beautifully in the fridge since I made it Sunday night. As you'll see, the soup has only a few ingredients and the dashi complimented them perfectly. (One last nudge: I strongly recommend you make your own dashi; don't try to replace it with our typical broth.) I ended up with a light, oniony, delectable soup. I didn't create lovely ribbons of egg in my soup, as the picture shows, but that doesn't mean I sacrificed anything in terms of taste. I guess that's an acquired skill and I'll just have to keep practicing.

The chilled soba noodles are dipped in a sweet and salty sauce and some wasabi. Now, if you've never experienced the piercing nasal heat of wasabi, a root related to horseradish and mustard, you really should try it. To be honest, I don't find it to be a very pleasant experience, and much of wasabi's taste gets lost in that heat, but it gets top marks as a homeopathic treatment for ailing sinuses. Wooo!


Cook's Note: These noodles could easily be re-imagined into a cold pasta salad with some extra ingredients, perfect for a summer BBQ.


Each recipe serves up to 4. Here's how I made them:

Noodles:
9 oz (two bundles) soba noodles
¾ cup konbu dashi
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
2 tsp sugar

Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions. Mine took only 3-4 minutes till they were tender and ready to eat. Drain them well and rinse with cold water.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Set the sauce aside to cool. When you're ready to serve the noodles, if they're too warm you can dip them into ice water or run them under more cold water and drain again well. Serve the sauce in side dishes or drizzle over the noodles as desired. Grab a bit of wasabi with your chopsticks or fork before each bite of noodles.

Soup:
4 cups dashi
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 scallions, chopped
1-2 cups snow peas
2 eggs, beaten

In a large saucepan, bring the dashi to a boil over medium-high heat. Just as it's starting to bubble, add the soy sauce, scallions and snow peas. Once the soup comes to a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and stir it briskly so that the hot soup is spinning in the pan but no longer bubbling. Slowly pour the egg into the pot while the soup is spinning so that the egg (ideally) cooks in ribbons. Serve immediately.

Maru

Maru's Twitter Profile Pic

Well, I've caught a cold, but I'll be cooking again tomorrow. Meantime, I wanted to share my absolute favorite Japanese export.

His name is Maru, and he's a Scottish Fold who really loves boxes. Maru has his own Facebook page, blog, YouTube channel and Twitter account. (The latter is how I and his millions of other fans learned that Maru and his owner made it through the tsunami last spring.)

Please get to know Maru. He's truly a joy, and I guarantee he'll charm you, too.