Minneola Tangelo Scones

As many of you know, Collin and I will be embarking on a 3 week adventure through Europe at the end of April.  Instead of having a large extravagant wedding, we opted to spend most of our wedding budget on a trip for ourselves.  Yeah what can I say, we’re SELFISH.  But ever since I was a wee tot, traveling to Europe has been a dream of mine – the beautiful castles atop rolling hills in Germany, the open markets tucked away in the streets of Italy, the glorious architecture and the magnificent art museums scattered throughout – oh be still my heart, the time is almost near!

Traveling is one of my favorite ways to learn about a country’s culture – through the food, the people and the arts I never leave a new place the same person as I came.  This constant need for discovery and my adventurous spirit is continuously fueled by the mesmerizing places in the World I’d eventually like to discover with an ultimate goal of setting foot on all 7 continents, yes even Antarctica (solidarity is beautiful). 

Creme Brulee with Citrus, Cardamom and Star Anise

I apologize for the lack of entries lately — I’ve been completely invested in spending most of my time with my mom, because she’s my favorite.  It’s hard to believe that her visit is soon coming to an end, a week to be exact.  The entire situation still seems surreal to me.  I’m hoping that the day of, I don’t have a complete mental meltdown and cling to my mother’s leg screaming “NO DON’T LEAVE DONT DO IT!” as she’s trying to get out of the car to catch her plane, but I’m not making any promises.  ^_^

It’s been a blast though — we’ve been sharing recipes, she’ll cook her Chinese dishes and I’ll cook her some French American dishes — one of her favorites discoveries has been the creme brulee.  She kept Ooooing and AAAaaahing over this recipe so I figure I’d share it with yall, it’s pretty epic not gonna lie.  Aside from that she’s been feeding me traditional Chinese medicines that make my stomach churn but I take it anyways because apparently it’s good for me (or so she claims). It’s just unfortunate that most of the concoctions she makes taste like feet…   just kidding mom, you’re the best! But seriously, I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out her secret of staying forever young.  I’ll share pictures soon, you’ll see what I mean…

One of the first desserts I learned working in at a French restaurant was the Creme Brulee and Souffle.  Souffle is definitely the more temperamental dessert and the failure rate is much higher than creme brulee — so we’ll warm up to that recipe later.  I love this creme brulee recipe because of its soft delicate texture and of course everyone’s favorite part: the crunchy burnt sugar on top, hence it’s latter name — burnt cream.   Plus it always adds a dash of sophistication and excitement to any dinner party when you bust out the torch!  I mean seriously guys, who doesn’t like a little fire show?

Ingredients for Citrus Cardamom Creme Brulee:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 star anise
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 4 tablespoons raw sugar

Preheat oven to 260 degrees F (150 degrees C) and line the bottom of a large baking pan with water.  Bring a large pot of water to boil. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, cardamom, citrus zest and 1/4 cup sugar and salt stirring occasionally 4 to 5 minutes, until steam rises. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Pour hot cream into yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all cream is incorporated. Pour mixture into four 6 oz. ramekins.

Place ramekins in the baking dish with water and cover the whole pan loosely with foil.  , and place dish on oven rack. Pour boiling water into dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover whole pan loosely with foil. Bake 60 to 75 minutes in the preheated oven, until custard is just set. Chill ramekins in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours.  Before serving, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of raw sugar over each custard. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to brown top, 2 to 3 minutes.

Citrus Floral Ice Bowl

So the chaos has begun, with the party being only two days away I am starting to freak out a little bit.  I still haven’t picked up the turkey and I have an endless list of prep work to do!  However, I think everything will fall into place when the time comes…hopefully.  Good news is that I will have a bunch of recipes to post, chronicling my adventures of creating this Thanksgiving feast just in time for Thanksgiving next Thursday.

So this recipe isn’t exactly edible — I mean I guess you can eat it if you were really hungry…but I don’t recommend it 🙂 I found this in one of my cookbooks and thought it was such a cool concept that I had to share it with you guys.  It’s a really simple way to create something that will WOW your guests and it carries this bright citrus and minty aroma.  (Boys, bear with me on this post) 🙂

Ingredients for Citrus Floral Ice Bowl:

• 1 orange, thinly sliced 1/4″
• 1 lime, thinly sliced 1/4″
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced 1/4″
• handful of mint leaves
• handful of flower petals

You can slice the citrus fruit any way you would like, you can do full slices, half slices, use your creativity!

Select two bowls, one about 2 inches smaller than the other.  Place some ice cues at the bottom of the large bowl and set the smaller bowl on top so that the rims of both bowls are level.  Tape the bowls at even intervals as pictured above, this will stabilize the bowls and prevent them from moving.  Slide the slices of fruit and flowers in between the bowls and pour cold water to fill the gap.

Freeze the bowls.  You may have to use a skewer to push the fruit or flowers down between the bowls if they float during freezing. To remove the ice bowl from the molds, remove the tape and pour a little hot water into the small bowl and stand the bottom bowl in hot water.  Carefully wiggle it back and forth until you feel the bowl “pop” out.  As soon as the bowl is released place it in the freezer.

This would be a great bowl to use for ice creams or sorbets.  I am going to use my ice bowl for my fruit salad at the end of dinner — hopefully it will not melt too quickly!  You can also use different herbs if mint is not readily available, rosemary, or thyme would also look really pretty.  The best part is that you can make these bowls far in advance and just store it in the freezer until ready to use.  Hope you guys enjoy this one, even though you can’t eat it, anything you put in this bowl will taste 10 times better solely due to the visually pleasing aesthetic effect 🙂

Salmon with Coconut Citrus Butter & Chive Mashed Potatoes

Citrus citrus citrus! Fall is the start of citrus season and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some beautiful greens, yellows, reds and oranges.  I always enjoy the bright aromas and acidity of these little fruits and thought what better way to celebrate their flavors than with a vibrant sauce featuring grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime juices.

Here are some tips on picking good quality citrus produce:

1. Feel how heavy the fruit is.  The heavier, the better — it means there is more water content!
2. Look for thin smooth peels. Don’t pick the ones with the thick porous skin, the ones that are as smooth as a baby’s bottom are the best! Or else you’re stuck with a thick rind and less fruit.  (That is no bueno)
3. Avoid any fruit that feels soft or mushy, more than likely it is rotten on the inside.
4. Smell the fruit. A sweet aroma usually means a stronger and sweeter citrus flavor.

If at all possible, use wild salmon opposed to farm-raised.  Wild salmon is more flavorful but if it is not readily available farm-raised is a perfectly viable alternative.

I found this wonderful recipe from my Chanterelle cookbook and changed a few things.  It was a cumin crusted salmon with citrus butter but I didn’t have cumin so I left it off and used coconut milk in place of the heavy cream.  I also cut down half the amount of butter and still got great results.

Ingredients for Salmon and Coconut Citrus Butter

• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used coconut milk)
• 1/2 lb of unsalted butter (I only used 4 tbsp)
• kosher salt
• pinch of sugar, if necessary
• 4 x 6 oz salmon fillets, at least 1 inch thick, skin and any pin bones removed
• coarse black pepper
• 3 tablespoons of canola

To make the citrus butter, combine the wine and citrus juices in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 10 minutes.  This process should be watched over closely, because of the high sugar content it can burn easily.  Add the cream and bring to a boil.  Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cold butter, a few pieces at a time, making sure it is completely incorporated before adding more.  Season with salt if it lacks taste and sugar if it is too tart.  You can keep the sauce at room temperature for up to an hour and reheat at a low heat just before serving.

Take the salmon fillets and place them on a clean, dry surface.  Season both sides with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat until hot.  Add the oil and turn the pan to coat the bottom with oil, allowing it to heat for a minute or two.  Place the fillets, skin side down for 2 to 3 minutes then turn the fillets over and cook the other side for the same amount of time or until the desired level of doneness is achieved.  The thickness of the cut may affect cooking time so please adjust accordingly.

Spoon a mound of mashed potatoes into the center of the plates.  Drizzle with the warm citrus butter around the potatoes and top with a salmon fillet.