Berries and Coconut Cream

This is the perfect summer dessert. Just add a few simple ingredients and the berries taste even more amazing.

Ingredients:
2 pounds mixed berries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cream of coconut

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, gently toss the berries, sugar, and lime juice.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream and cream of coconut until soft peaks form. Serve with the berries.

Soy-Glazed Fish With Sautéed Summer Squash

Sizzling summer in finally here! Here is another RealSimple recipe that's great for hot summer nights. It only takes 15 minutes to make and it taste amazing. You can use any white fish for this recipe. I used halibut cheek this time.

Ingredients:
2 tablespooons brown sugar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
4 6-ounce pieces white fish fillet (such as cod or halibut)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds small zucchini and summer squash (about 4 total), thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Directions:
1.Heat broiler. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, and ginger; set aside.
2.Place the fish on a foil-lined broilerproof rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of the oil and season with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Broil until the fish is opaque throughout, 5 to 7 minutes, basting with the soy mixture twice during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
3.Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, squash, crushed red pepper, if using, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, tossing frequently, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes; fold in the mint. Serve with the fish.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Summer finally arrived on July 5th this year. I was a little worried this will be a cold and rainy summer. Seattle is heating up! We might hit the 90s this week. I found this recipe on FoodNet.com. This is the perfect dish for a hot summer night. The lettuce wraps are light and healthy.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh mushrooms
1 1/2 lb thin cut chicken breast
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger root, finely chopped or grated
1 orange, zested
1/2 red bell pepper, diced small
3 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons hoisin, Chinese barbecue sauce, available on Asian foods aisle of market
1/2 large head iceberg lettuce, core removed, head quartered
Wedges of navel orange -- platter garnish

Directions:
1. Remove tough stems from mushrooms and brush with damp towel to clean, Slice mushrooms. Chop chicken into small pieces.
2. Preheat a large skillet or wok to high. Add oil to hot pan. Add chicken to the pan and sear meat by stir frying 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook another minute. Add salt and pepper to season, then garlic and ginger. Cook a minute more. Grate zest into pan, add bell pepper bits, chopped water chestnuts and scallions. Cook another minute, continuing to stir fry mixture. Add hoisin Chinese barbecue sauce and toss to coat the mixture evenly. Transfer the hot chopped barbecued chicken to serving platter and pile the quartered wedges of crisp iceberg lettuce along side. Add wedged oranges to platter to garnish. To eat, pile spoonfuls into lettuce leaves, wrapping lettuce around fillings and squeeze an orange wedge over.

Best Blueberry Muffins

This recipe was from AmericanTestKitchen.com. After looking at this recipe you might think... this is not healthy! There is butter and sugar in there! I would have to say I believe in moderation. I don't believe in cutting things out of my diet. Instead of eating 2 of 3 blueberry muffins I will only have one. I'm baking them for my office pot luck this week. It's always nice to have just one and share it with friends. One thing I discover while making these muffins is that more isn't always better. To boost berry flavor in a muffin, simply adding more blueberries isn't the answer. With too many in the mix, the berries sink to the bottom, weighing the muffin down. You can cook half of fresh blueberries into thick jam to concentrate their flavor and eliminate excess moisture.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/8 cups sugar 
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1.  Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)
3. Use  large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.
4. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Linguine With Asparagus and Pine Nuts

Ingredients:
12 ounces linguine (3/4 box)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup shaved Parmesan (about 3 ounces)

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the asparagus and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Add the asparagus mixture to the pasta along with 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the Parmesan before serving.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Asian Pork Shoulder

This is a great slow cooker recipe I found on Real Simple. I made it 3 times so far and each time turned out with great result. I tried this recipe with the meat cut into 2 inch pieces and with the whole piece of the meat. The best way to cook was to place the whole 2 ½ lb pork shoulder into the slow cooker. The meat was able to retain the juice and stay very tender that way. The timing to place the bok choy into the slow cooker was also tricky. I over cooked the bok choy once. The best time to place the bok choy in the slow cooker is when it's still cooking on low around 15 to 20 minutes before severing.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup long-grain white rice
1 medium head bok choy, thinly sliced (about 8 cups)
2 scallions, sliced

Directions:
1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the soy sauce, sugar, chili-garlic sauce, ginger, and five-spice powder. Add the pork and toss to coat. Cook, covered, until the pork is tender, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
2. Twenty-five minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
3. Meanwhile, skim off and discard any fat from the pork. Gently fold the bok choy into the pork and cook, covered, until heated through, 15 minutes. Serve with the rice and sprinkle with the scallions.

Zucchini Stir-Fried with Beef

This recipe was from Taste of the Far East by Madhur Jaffrey. She's well known for writing many Indian cook books. This cookbook won the The James Beard Cook Book Of The Year Award.

The book is broken into different regions of Asia. There are recipes from Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Philippines and Indonesia. The Zucchini Stir-Fried with Beef recipe is a Korean dish. 

 

Ingredients:

1 lb medium zucchini, sliced in 1/4 inch slices

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 scallions cut into find rounds
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoons chilli powder
2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds

For marinating the beef:
1/2 lb flank steak, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce
1 scallionscut into very fine rounds
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions:
1. Mix the beef with soy sauce, scallions, black pepper, sesame seeds and sesame oil in a bowl and set aside for 30mins.

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. When hot, put in the meat. Stir and fry for 2 minutes until the meat change color. Add the zucchini and stir gently. Put in the soy sauce, sugar, scallions, ginger, garlic and chilli powerder. Stir gently and cook for 2 minties. Turn down he heat and stir-fry gently for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top just before serving. I served this dish with brown rice.