wordless wednesday: afternoon snack
foodmamma
meyer lemon curd
Every time I bring home some meyer lemons, I always think I’m going to make some curd and then never get around to it. This time, I was determined to make it happen and I’m so glad I did!
Lemon curd is made by combining lemon juice with butter, eggs and sugar and cooking it into a custard. This tangy and sweet curd is bright, both in taste and colour, I used a recipe by Ina Garten and it was super easy to make. The result was a curd that was luscious and creamy.
Light and refreshing, the curd is perfect with fruit, spread on toast or even served with a slice of some peppercorn shortbread.
Meyer Lemon Curd
From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa
3 lemons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.
Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.
Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.
lobster and prawn cannelloni
Hubby and I celebrated our seven year anniversary on Monday! I feel like I was just reminiscing the other day about our honeymoon and that flashback has already been a year! Time really does fly.
Although we went for sushi with our little guy on the weekend, I wanted to make hubby something special. My cousin had been talking about lobster mac and cheese a few weeks ago and I had been thinking about it ever since. Lobster definitely had to be in the picture, I just changed the cheese and pasta – cannelloni!
I filled the tubes with a flavourful mixture of ricotta cheese, sweet lobster and meaty prawns. Instead of using a bechamel, I opted for an alfredo sauce which covered the filled pasta shells and baked them in some bubbly cheesy goodness.
The richness was cut by the addition of some fresh tomatoes. The perfect indulgent meal to celebrate!
Lobster and Prawn Cannelloni
10 cannelloni shells, cooked as per package
2 lobster tails, cooked and cut into chunks
10 large prawns, cooked and cut into pieces
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese
bunch of basil, chopped
salt
pepper
1/4 cup butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese
pinch nutmeg
Cook the onion and garlic in a bit of oil until softened. Combine with the cheese, seafood and basil. Stuff this mixture into the cannelloni and place in an oven safe dish.
For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add cream and garlic and let simmer for a few minutes. Add the cheese and a pinch of nutmeg and stir until the cheese has melted.
Pour the alfredo sauce over the filled cannelloni and bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.
wordless wednesday: heirloom tomatoes
the great cream challenge and caramel creme brulee
I was happy to have participated last year in the Anyday Magic’s Recipe Makeover with my Indian Rice Pudding. So, when I was approached again to participate in The Great Cream Challenge, I was happy to do so. I was chosen to participate in The Caramel Challenge – what a delicious task!
Cream and caramel go so well together, it was so hard to just pick one
recipe! I finally settled on crème brulée which is almost everyone’s
favourite! Head on over to their site for the recipe and while you’re there, feel free to vote for my recipe. You could win yourself a blender! Thanks for your support!
an evening at muse
It’s been two weeks and I’m still thinking about the fabulous meal that I had at Muse. It had been a few years since I had been to Muse and I was excited to have been invited to the Media Showcase. New owners Heather Wighton and Stephen Deere along with their Executive Chef JP Pidhirney invited some Calgary food lovers to try out a few of their amazing offerings.
The evening started mingling with fellow foodies while enjoying drinks and fresh shucked oysters. This was followed by a tasting menu complete with wine pairings.
Highlights of the five course meal were the fresh hamachi and the succulent lamb. Here’s a recap of the delicious meal that we enjoyed:
An amuse bouche consisting of Pears and Crispy Chicken Skin in a Rutabaga Cream Bisque.
Hamachi with Coriander and Lime Vin, Radishes, Red Chili’s and Togarashi
Potato Risotto with Green Peas, Truffles and a Sous Vide Egg
Grilled Sturgeon with Beet Ribbon, Brussel Sprouts, served with a Borscht Consomme and Caviar Creme Fraiche
Grilled Lamb Saddle with Crispy Lamb Belly, Cippolini Onion, Farinata and a Black Olive Emulsion.
A palate cleanser of a Crab Apple Soda
Chocolate Cremaux with Toasted Meringue, Sweet Potato Sorbet and Lemon Gel.
food mamma is 3! we are celebrating with a few giveaways!
Food Mamma is 3! Can’t believe it’s already been three years since the inception of my blog. It’s been a great outlet to share my love of food and all the pictures I seem to take of everything I eat. This blog has also helped in connecting me to some fabulous food loving people. Thanks to everyone who follow my blog and for all your support!
In honour of Food Mamma’s 3rd blogiversary, we are celebrating with 3 awesome giveaways from 3 great sponsors! Chocolate, cheese and kitchen gadgets…just a few of my favourite things!
Win a baking basket from Chocolaterie Bernard valued at $100. All the best baking products for you to make some amazing stuff. This prize is for those in Calgary and surrounding areas as it will have to be picked up at one of their stores.
Win a Castello cheese board and $20 in grocery vouchers. Use these vouchers to pick up some cheese to eat by itself or incorporate it into something delicious.
Win a Real Cream whisk and spatula set. These useful kitchen gadgets are perfect for baking or cooking!
Entering is easy! Just leave a comment below. Also, please let me know if you are local to Calgary, so I know which draws I can enter you for. Earn extra entries by liking on Facebook and following on Twitter. Contest closes on April 3rd. Good luck!
playing with spices: pink peppercorn
This month, we are playing with pink peppercorns.
Unlike how the name suggests, these are not related to actual peppercorns. They are the dried berries of Baies rose plant. They taste peppery but are not spicy in flavour. The pink peppercorns are sweet and mild.
These delicate little spices are rosy in colour and are brittle compared to the black peppercorn. They are soft with papery skins and can easily be ground by hand. I love how the colour accents the dishes that they are added to. They are very eye-catching and I’m so happy I stocked up the last time I was in France.
Although great with chicken and fish, I was hoping to find a sweet way to showcase these pink berries. I was intrigued when I found Martha Stewart’s Peppercorn Shortbread. Instead of using a variety of peppercorns, I stuck with the ones I wanted to showcase.
The combination of the buttery shortbread with the peppery berries sounds strange but it really works!
Peppercorn Shortbread
Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tsp pink peppercorns, coarsely ground
3/4 cup icing sugar
Topping:
3/4 tsp pink peppercorns, coarsely ground
2 TB granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with rack in center. Lightly butter a 10-inch springform pan, and set aside.
Stir together flour, salt, and peppercorns; set aside. Put butter and icing sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until combined.
Using a small offset spatula, spread dough evenly into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until shortbread is golden brown, about 1 hour 20 minutes.
Transfer pan to a wire rack. Immediately sprinkle with granulated sugar and remaining peppercorns. Remove springform; let shortbread cool completely. Cut into wedges.
chocolate mousse cake
It’s been a lovely month of birthdays and we’ve had a great time celebrating with family, and lots of cake! This past Friday was my dad’s birthday and I wanted to make something awesome for this special man. Chocolate and mousse came to mind.
I made a chocolate cake but baked it in a sheet pan to make a thin layer. I cut this one layer into three to make a nice tall cake, kind of like the tuxedo cake at Costco. I made a simple mousse by combining melted chocolate and whipping cream and spread it between the chocolatey layers. It was also the crown of the cake topped with shaved chocolate. It was kind of a mess of a cake but everyone loved it.
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Your favourite chocolate cake recipe, like this one
1 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
Beat the whipping cream until peaks are formed. Fold slowly into the melted chocolate until both are incorporated. Let chill for half an hour. Cut the cake into layers and spread the mousse between the layers.
navroz mubarak!
