Brazilian Lemonade by Our Best Bites

Now that we are getting into the heat of summer, so to speak, it's time to bring out a refreshing lemonade recipe. But not just any old lemonade recipe! Brazilian lemonade is actually made with fresh limes, water, sugar, and--of all things--sweetened condensed milk. It sounds like a really strange combination, but this is one of the best summer drinks ever.


Brazilian Lemonade by Our Best Bites
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/05/brazilian-lemonade/

Ingredients

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they’re the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 c. sugar
6 c. cold water
6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Procedure

1. Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. This step can be done ahead of time.

2. Wash limes thoroughly with soap (I just use hand-dishwashing soap or regular hand soap); you need the soap to get the wax and pesticides off of the limes because you’re using the WHOLE lime, baby. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

3. Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender.

4. Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you’ll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk; DO NOT leave this step out unless you will die of a horrible sweetened condensed milk allergy because this is the secret ingredient! You may want to taste test it at this point; I used giant, thick-skinned limes tonight and didn’t test it and it came out a little bitter. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk.

5. Serve immediately over lots of ice. This does not keep well, so don’t make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance). Serves 4, although I can pretty much guarantee you that people will want more; I usually plan on 1 1/2 servings at LEAST per person.

Chili de Jillian

If you ask someone what "makes" chili, you are likely to get almost as many answers as people you ask. The original chili con carne was simply a stew that included exactly that: chili peppers and meat. In some places, beans were added to limit the need for expensive meat. In other places, tomatoes or tomato sauce were added. A specific bunch of herbs and spices often added to chili became known as chili pepper in the U.S. In Texas, chili is served with no beans or vegetables at all, while a mostly meat and tomato chili is poured over spaghetti in Chicago.

But what exactly is chili to me? This is the "chili" that I make for my little family, and whether you agree that it is real chili or not is up to you. I just have not found a better name for it than "beans with meat, vegetables, and assorted hot chili peppers." Either way, it is still pretty tasty! Even my two year old likes it, spiciness and all. (By omitting the "optional" ingredients, you can make a pretty good vegetarian chili as well.)

Chili de Jillian

Ingredients

Chili
3-4 cups dry pinto beans
2 jalepenos, diced
2 cans diced tomatoes, or two large tomatoes diced
1 13 oz. can mushrooms, sliced or diced, or a cup of diced button mushrooms
1 large onion, diced
1 can corn or half a bag of frozen corn (omit if serving chili over polenta)
Either 3/4 diced polska kielbasa or a cup of cooked ground beef (optional)
Approx. 2-3 tablespoons oregano
Approx. 2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Polenta
1 cup corn grits
4 cups water
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Procedure

1. Either soak dry beans overnight or simmer for an hour, then drain. Cover with water and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook beans until tender. If you are going to use salt at all, don't add any until your chili is almost done or else you might oversalt it.

2. Add everything else and simmer until the soupy part of the chili thickens and everything is cooked.

3. While chili is stewing, boil four cups water in separate pot. Add corn grits to boiling water and stir until mixture becomes quite thick. Remove from heat, pouring into a bowl and let cool.

4. Serve chili over cooled polenta. For best flavor, let the flavors mix in the refrigerator for a day before reheating and serving.

Note: This recipe makes quite a large pot of chili, so use a stock pot if you have one. We can usually eat this for three days, or freeze it for later. We usually get a huge bag of dried pinto beans at Costco for ten bucks every several months, so this can be a great penny-pincher recipe.

Easy Thai Coconut Soup by Our Best Bites

I'm subscribed to this great cooking blog called Our Best Bites, and they have some pretty fun recipes sometimes. Their latest recipe is called, "Quick and Easy Thai Coconut Soup." I really love Thai food, so this recipe sounds great, and it's not as crazy as Thai recipes usually are. The sad thing is that even though it's "quick and easy," I still don't have ginger, lime, or jalapenos just lying around, to say nothing of rotisserie chickens. Oh, and we're fresh out of Ramen. Bleh. But maybe I'll still give it whirl sometime later when I can spare five bucks on dinner. :)

Easy Thai Coconut Soup
Recipe by Ourbestbites.com

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon fresh minced ginger, or 1 ½ teaspoons ground dry ginger
2 14.5-ounce cans chicken broth
1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk or light coconut  milk (about —cups)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 packages ramen noodes (discard seasoning packet)
optional: ¾ cup sliced mushrooms
1 ½ tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 cup diced or shredded cooked chicken
toppings:  additional chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, and lime wedges

Procedure:
1. Heat medium sized pot to medium-high heat on stove top.  Add olive oil, jalapeno, and ginger (if using fresh.)  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until jalapeno and ginger are softened and fragrant.  If using ground ginger, add now and stir.

2. Add chicken broth, coconut milk, and salt and increase heat to bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and add noodles (note: you will discard seasoning packet that comes with noodles.)  Simmer 3-5 minutes, until noodles are softened.

3. If using mushrooms, add them in the final 2-3 minutes of cooking the noodles.  Add chicken and simmer for about 30 seconds to heat through.

4. Remove pot from heat and stir in lime juice, chicken, and cilantro.   Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with additional chopped cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges if desired.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

Note #1:  This type of noodle absorbs liquid exceptionally fast, so you should serve the soup immediately.  If you know you need to keep the soup warm for a while before serving, wait to add the noodles until a few minutes before you’re ready to serve.

Note #2: "Light coconut milk works great, and remember you can buy coconut milk in cartons by the dairy milk as well, and it’s much cheaper per ounce there than it is for a can.  At my store it was .05 cents per ounce, which would make the equivalent can about .67 cents.  Generally a can of coconut milk $2- $3 a can so the carton is a great deal comparatively.  The cartons are lower in calories and fat and have a consistency similar to the light coconut milk (which is thinner than full fat coconut milk).  For some recipes I prefer canned coconut milk, but for this soup, either will work just fine."

Rye Muffins

A bit ago, I decided to try something new and make rye muffins. I have always loved rye bread, and muffins have never tasted right to me using all-purpose flour (probably because my mom always did half or all whole wheat). I made three different batches of muffins to try out the effects of rye flour, wheat bran, and flaxseed, and found that they make for extremely delicious, healthy muffins. I took a bunch of the muffins to my parents' house, and my dad made bread pudding out of some of them. It was great! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Rye Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup milk (1 1/4 cup if too dry)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups rye flour
     or 1 cup rye and 1 cup whole wheat
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/8 cup brown flaxseed
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of raisins
     or 1 cup mashed bananas
1 cup broken pecans or walnuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottoms of 12 medium muffin cups with shortening, spray with cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups.

2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, and egg with fork or wire whisk until well mixed. With a wooden spoon, stir in all but the raisins and pecans all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy--DO NOT OVERMIX). Fold in raisins and pecans. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Set aside the extra batter for another partial batch.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If baked in greased pan, let stand about 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack.

Makes about 15-17 muffins. Would work best if you mix up enough for three batches and cook it in four batches.

Lemon or Lime Curd

A fun and tangy alternative to butter or jam, lemon or lime curd is absolutely delicious on scones.

Ingredients

Zest and juice from 2 lemons

     Note: For Lime Curd, substitute equal amount of lime zest and juice.

1 scant cup sugar

¾ cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

Procedure

1. Grate lemon zest, squeeze lemon juice into glass or metal  bowl, stir in sugar.

2. Cut butter into small pieces and add to bowl.

3. Set bowl over a saucepan ¼ filled with simmering water, stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Add eggs.

4. Cook gently, stirring 10-15 minutes, until mixture is thick and creamy.

5. Pour into clean warm jars and seal while hot. Keep in the refrigerator.

Mussels and Salmon in Couscous

After my sister Sarah's wedding reception was all cleaned up, my parents' old friends, Que and Mike Sala, came back to the house to chat. They were such a hoot! We talked about crabby librarians, grandkids, and great foods. We talked about mystery dinners, and they told us that they were going to one the next week. The host was serving a bunch of French foods, including escargot. That prompted my mom to say that she doesn't like shellfish, especially mussels, because they taste like the bottom of the ocean and are tough and chewy. Mike is a professional butcher and teaches a class on butchering, and he is one of the best cooks around when it comes to meats. So he said that mussels are actually quite tender if you make them right, and his wife Que agreed that this way, the recipe here, was the first way she actually liked eating mussels. I haven't tried it yet, but if it comes from Mike, the recipe is sure to be fantastic.


Mike Sala's Mussels and Salmon in Couscous Recipe

Ingredients 

1/4 cup dry couscous
1 ice cube chicken stock
4 mussels
1 salmon fillet

Procedure 

1. Place dry couscous in a little parchment packet, and place the ice cube in the center of the couscous. Place mussels in each corner, and then place the salmon on top--make sure that the salmon fillet is broad enough to cover all four mussels.

2. Fold the paper and tie. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes for the ultimate mussel dinner.

Grandma Peterson's Lemon Cake

This is my dad's mom's cake, but my mom has made this cake for us a zillion times. I love how it's a traditional lemon cake, but the sauce that goes on top definitely makes this cake amazing. The sauce seeps down into the top layer of the cake, enfusing it with a beautiful, sugary zing. I suppose you could frost it, but I've never seen the need to corrupt this cake with frosting. It offers a refreshing lemony flavor in a world bombarded by chocolate.

Ingredients

Cake
1 package Duncan Hines lemon cake
1 package small lemon Jell-o
4 eggs
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup oil


Sauce
2 lemons
2 cups powdered sugar

Procedure

1. Mix lemon cake, jello, eggs and water. Beat for 4 minutes.
2. Add oil. Beat 4 minutes.
3. Pour into 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, juice and zest lemons, and beat in powdered sugar.
5. Poke hole in hot cake with a skewer or fork. Pour lemon sauce over warm cake and serve.