To Italians, a meal is more than just food…

It’s an experience, an affair to be shared with family and friends. One bite of this risotto and I think you’ll agree this is an experience to be shared with family and friends.  That is, if you can tear your mouth away from your fork.

Risotto is a dish that is typically eaten prior to the main dish and is almost always associated with high end restaurants but in reality it is the quintessence of Italian home cooking and comfort food.  A good risotto nourishes the soul.

Because of my culinary background, I’ve tasted a lot of risotto.  I’ve had some that were simply OK, some that were pretty good and some that left me “needing a moment alone” while I regained my composure and let the strength return to my knees.  This risotto falls into the latter category.

Risotto has a reputation of being a finicky dish.  The truth is that a good risotto should not take you more than about 20-23 minutes to make.  Not everyone wants to stand over a pot, stirring constantly for 30+ minutes, or so I’m told. Heck, there are even days where I don’t want to stand over a pot at all, so I can relate.  It is crucial that you make sure you have prepped all your ingredients before you start making the risotto.  I teach my readers the importance of Mise en Place. That is a fancy French term for having all your ingredients, prepped, measured and ready to go in individual containers or piles.  When it comes to risotto, trust me, and, prep every ingredient ahead of time. You won’t be sorry.

Because this risotto is in the “Style of Milan” (alla Milanese)  we’ll be adding saffron.  It is important that you get a good quality saffron for this dish.  Your saffron should be a deep reddish orange and it is okay if it has some yellowish parts to it.   The good news is that if stored properly in an air tight container, your saffron will last a long time.  A little goes a long way, so a gram will get you through a few recipes that call for saffron.  It is such an interesting spice to work with, and everyone should try it at least once.  You can find decent Spanish saffron for about $8.00 to 12.00 a gram which is more than enough to make this dish 2-3 times.

Homemade chicken stock tastes best in risotto hands down.  Just use your favorite recipe, or you can try mine if you’d like. Use fresh herbs, and chop them finely.  A little will go a long way because you only want to lightly herbify  (I’m 97.6% certain that is a real word) the dish, not have a competition with the saffron.  My last bit of advice is to find a Parmesan cheese that you really enjoy.  I once bought a really expensive Grana Padano, because my cheese monger said it would be more mild and was perfect for risotto.  I ran home, whipped up some risotto with my new cheese, excitedly took a bite and was instantly frowning.  Risotto should never make you sad. Never.  You can use a straight Parmesan, a Parmigiano-Reggiano or even a Grana Padano in this dish. It really is up to you based on your personal taste preference just make sure that you like the cheese before you add it to the risotto. 

This recipe makes four 1/2 cup (approx.) servings- double the recipe if you plan on making this your main entree and want to serve 4-6 people a nice sized bowl.

Let’s cook!

Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of homemade chicken stock
• 2 cups of cold water
• 1/2 cup good white wine (please use one you would drink)
• 2 TB butter
• 2 TB tallow, lard, or olive oil (you won’t be bringing the olive oil to 410 degrees so it won’t start to deteriorate if you decide to use it in this dish)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small (1/4″) and not any larger or it will affect your cooking time
• 1-1/2 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice (no substitutes)
• 1/4 tsp. saffron (a healthy pinch)
• 1 heaping TB butter (for finishing)
• 1 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese  (I usually shred 1-1/2 cups as you’ll want to sprinkle some on top before serving)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. freshly chopped rosemary
• 1 tsp. freshly chopped thyme

Instructions:

1. Prep and measure everything and set aside.
2. In a medium sauce pan, add the chicken stock and water and heat until it just starts to boil, immediately reduce heat to lowest setting keep the stock hot.
3. In a second medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the butter and tallow, lard or olive oil. As soon as the butter melts, add your finely diced onions and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Sweat the onions careful to not add any color. You want the onions soft and translucent. About 3-4 minutes.
5. Add the rice, lower the heat to medium-low. Gently stir continuously to ensure each grain is coated with the fat. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
6. Add the saffron to the hot chicken stock. It should start to turn yellow.
7. Add the white wine and scrap the bottom of the pan as you cook down the alcohol.  Use a solid wooden spoon for this task. Stir and scrap until the wine takes on a sweet smell and is almost fully absorbed by the rice. If you don’t smell sweet, keep stirring and cooking.
8. Add enough of the saffron stock mixture to the pan until it covers the rice. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring a few times per minute until the stock has absorbed into the rice.
9. Repeat this process two more times with the hot saffron chicken stock. When the third addition of the stock has absorbed and the rice is very creamy, bite a couple grains of rice to be sure it is cooked perfectly. If it is still a little crunchy, add a little more stock and cook the rice for another couple of minutes. When the rice is cooked perfectly, remove it from the heat.
10. Add the heaping TB of butter and put a cover over the rice OFF the heat.  Wait 90 seconds.  Lift the lid, add 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the fresh herbs and stir with your wooden spoon like crazy!  The rice should be very creamy, with a little bit of sauce to it. If it is too stiff, like oatmeal, then add a bit more stock before serving. The dish should flow but hold its shape.
11. Serve immediately and top with the remaining half cup of shredded Parmesan and enjoy!

NOTE- you may have some stock left over, and that is perfectly normal. The rice dictates how much it needs so don’t panic if you don’t use it all.  If your rice is absorbing the liquid too quickly but isn’t cooking, lower your heat to medium, so you don’t run out of stock and end up with a crunchy, undercooked risotto that will make you sad.  If you have any questions before you tackle this dish, feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll do what I can to help out.

The post Risotto alla Milanese with Herbs first appeared on .

I wanted to experience all that my new blender had to offer, so I got busy in the kitchen coming up with a fun drink that I felt you guys would enjoy.  After reading over on Food Babe about the awful ingredients in the Pumpkin Spice Latte that is sold at Starbucks, I decided that I wanted to make a Real Food version of this drink.  But there was just one, small problem. I despise coffee.  Seriously, I can’t stand the taste of it. It is bitter, astringent, and it makes me suck in my cheeks and gag simultaneously.  It’s not pretty folks. I’ve tried adding a Tablespoon of coffee to warm milk. Nope. I can still taste it. It ruins the milk. It’s just nasty. NASTY! 

Over the years I’ve tried to overcome my immense dislike for coffee. I do like the way it smells, so I tried lattes, mocha’s, froo-froo drinks and extra sugar, milk, cream, whipped cream, chocolate, you name it, I loathed every single drink sent my way. The old adage “Well, you just haven’t had the right kind yet” doesn’t ring true. I simply had a deep repugnance for all drinks containing coffee. No matter how small the amount.  That changed with my first sip of this Spiced Pumpkin Latte. This latte may just be what turns me into a coffee drinker, and if sipping 2 ounces of coffee in 10 ounces of milk with pumpkin, maple syrup and spices counts as being a coffee drinker, than I’m in. Even if it doesn’t, I’m  officially calling myself a coffee drinker, because the fact that I consumed coffee in a drink and liked it is HUGE!!  Who knew pumpkin was the answer to my aversion to coffee?  YAY for pumpkin!

Now, in all fairness, I did make the coffee a little on the weak side while I was developing this recipe, and I did add more milk than you would probably want to, so I’ll share the recipe as I think coffee lovers will like it, and then in the notes section below, share my personal measurements for the coffee, pumpkin and milk. Oh, and the sugar– which I eventually replaced with pure maple syrup.  When you get to that part, don’t judge me. Remember, I don’t like coffee, so I had to mask it. Turns out, I didn’t have to mask it as much as I set out in my first testing of this recipe. 

My sweet friend Frisco Mary found out I was developing a Pumpkin Latte recipe and asked me to text her the recipe.  She made it and said ” It was Yum-O!”  I needed a coffee drinker to try this out and tell me their thoughts because if I was going to take one for the team and develop a recipe with an ingredient I abhor, then I was going to need taste testers.  Turns out I liked it, so I didn’t really need the extra taste testers. The Stud Muffin (TSM) does not like froo-froo drinks. More specifically, he does not like lattes. He so eloquently and astutely called them “Stupid”.  I made him try this and he said it was good, even though he doesn’t really like drinks like this. He drank the whole mug, too.  I was able to drink about two-thirds of a mug before I started to taste the coffee, and then my brain started screaming “Ahhh!!! COFFEE!!!”, so I stopped before potentially ruining a good thing. All things considered, that’s the most coffee I’ve ever consumed in my life. I usually never get past the first sip.  

I have to warn you, if you like Starbucks PSL, and you are newer to real food, this won’t be what you expect. I used organic pumpkin puree, organic spices, raw milk, and quality coffee that was roasted the day I ordered it and shipped to me immediately. There is no fake coloring, dyes, chemicals, preservatives, or GMOs in mine. Regardless, I’m proud of this recipe. It was a breeze to make in my snazzy new Blendtec and I hope you guys love it.  Make sure you go over to my Giveaway Post and enter to win the blender that I used to make this drink.  I’ll be back later this week with another recipe!

Spiced Pumpkin Latte

2014-12-01 01:23:36

Serves 2

A real food version of the popular coffee house pumpkin latte. This one features organic ingredients and it's made with love!

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

5 min

Total Time

15 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

5 min

Total Time

15 min

Ingredients

1. 2-1/4 cups of very warm milk (you don't want to put boiling hot liquids in your blender)
2. 2/3 cup freshly brewed coffee
3. 2/3 cup organic pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) (feel free to add a little more if you want)
4. 1-3 TB Maple syrup (to taste, if you want it sweeter, add more, if not, add less)
5. 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6. 1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
7. A pinch of allspice (approx. 1/8th tsp.)
8. A pinch of ground ginger (approx. 1/8th tsp.)

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients into the WideSide+ jar of your Blendtec 725 blender, and secure the lid.
2. Pulse the ingredients in 3 second increments on medium speed 2-3 times until blended. Once blended, set the blender to the highest speed and blend for 30 seconds.
3. Remove lid and pour into warm mugs (I run our mugs under hot water for 30 seconds)
4. Top with freshly whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg
5. ENJOY!
6. Whatever you don't finish can be saved for 1-2 days in the fridge. I stored the leftovers in a glass mason jar. Just warm it in a saucepan on the stove and blend it in your blender for 30 seconds until frothy and well-mixed.

Notes

1. If you are like me, and coffee isn't your thing, here is my "coffee newbie" measurements.
2. 1-1/4 cups warm milk
3. 1/4 cup coffee
4. 1/3 cup pumpkin (I think I added an extra Tablespoon)
5. 2 TB sugar or maple syrup-- again, don't judge. I was afraid the coffee would be nasty. LOL!
6. All other ingredients are the same, but cut the amounts in half, because I just made one serving at a time until I found the right mixture of ingredients.

By Kristine Cocchiarella-Real Food Girl

https://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/

The post Real Food Spiced Pumpkin Latte first appeared on .

We’ve all been there. It strikes fear and anxiety in the best of cooks. It’s a question that everyone has asked at one point in time when it comes to looking at a package of chicken when the dinner hour is fast approaching. We love our chicken, but we’re tired of the same ol’-same ol’, and we long for something new, exciting, and just plain different. After all, there are only so many times that you can have baked chicken, fried chicken, chicken nuggets and, if you were like me a few years ago, Shake and Bake.   Boy. Did we LOVE our Shake-n-Bake.  I think I’ll have to do a GMO-Free Shake-n-Bake recipe sometime. 

Anyway, one day about 2 hours before dinner I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner. I had thawed out some chicken tenders, (also known as cutlets down here in the south) of which I never buy.  I usually buy thighs for Stir Fry, or breasts for something like my Chicken and Broccoli Fettuccine, but it is usually only by accident that I grab a package of tenders. They’re just not my thing. 

So here I was with this package of cutlets/tenders and no idea what to do with them. I wasn’t in the mood for chicken nuggets or chicken tenders (breaded and baked or fried) and, The Stud Muffin is not a tender/nugget kind of man. Nope. Not at all.  But dinnertime was fast approaching and I was drawing a complete blank.  It was time to start perusing the interwebs to find a delicious, quick chicken dinner idea.  And boy, did I find it!!

This dish is so easy, and so quick to make it’s crazy.  It’s also crazy good.  Because of how crazy easy it is to make, and how crazy quick it comes together and how crazy tasty it is, I decided to call it Crazy Chicken.  I’ve made this dish four times so far, and each time The Stud Muffin says, “wow, for being so simple, this is really good.”  Right you are Studly Muffin… Right you are.  

I found this recipe over at Plain Chicken. It’s a food blog with eleventy-billion chicken recipes run by a gal named Steph.  She actually blogs about more than just chicken recipes, but her recipe for Chicken Lazone  caught my eye. It was fast, it used chicken cutlets/tenders and it involved pasta.  The Stud Muffin loves pasta. I love chicken, and I like easy, quick meals in the kitchen since I’m known for taking my sweet time cooking.  When I can find something crazy fast and simple and crazy good, I jump on it. I wasn’t feeling the name Chicken Lazone, so I took the liberty of changing the name. 

I’m sure you could try this with a different noodle, such as bow tie pasta, a mini penne, or even linguine noodles, but we like the angel hair pasta.  I also pounded out my chicken cutlets so they’d cook faster, more evenly and be even more tender. I used a little less chili powder because of all the dried spices; I like that one the least. It has always seemed bitter and astringent-like to me, so I went easy on that and increased the other spices slightly. 

Crazy Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta

2014-11-03 16:11:10

Serves 4

A crazy good, crazy fast, crazy easy recipe that your whole family will love. This is comfort food done fast.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

25 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

25 min

Ingredients

1. Use Non-GMO and/or organic ingredients whenever possible.
2. Please read NOTES below before starting.
3. 1 tsp. salt
4. 1  tsp. chili powder
5. 1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
6. 2 tsp. garlic powder
7. 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
8. 1/4 tsp. black pepper
9. 2 lb. chicken tenders, pounded slightly with a meat mallet
10. 2 TB butter
11. 2-3 TB clarified butter or ghee
12. 2 cups heavy cream  (for a lighter dish, use 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of homemade chicken stock- keep in mind this will change the taste and consistency of the sauce)
13. 1 standard package of organic Angel Hair Pasta cooked per package directions to al dente

Instructions

1. Combine salt, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle over both sides of chicken tenders.
2. In large sauté pan, melt 2 TB of the clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Cook the pounded chicken tenders until done, about 4 minutes. (add the final TB if needed to finish cooking the chicken)
3. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate.
4. Pour the cream and add the 2 TB of butter into the skillet.  Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 3-5 minutes. This will take 5+ minutes if you dilute the cream with stock to make a lighter version of this dish.
5. Once sauce thickens, add drained and cooked pasta, stir to coat, add the chicken back to the pan, cook to warm through, about 2 minutes, and serve immediately.

Notes

1. This sauce thickens quickly, so keep extra stock on hand, or just add a little pasta water to the sauce to loosen it up if it gets too thick once you add the pasta.
2. The second and third times I made this dish, I pounded out the tenderloins slightly, so they were even thickness throughout. Much tastier that way!

By Kristine-Real Food Girl: Unmodified

Adapted from From Plain Chicken

Adapted from From Plain Chicken

https://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/

The post Crazy Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta first appeared on .

I have trampled through the forbidden field of Girl Scout cookies and have found a recipe that has fooled even my discerning, well-trained taste buds. These little no-bake puppies are sooo good. I am not ashamed to admit I shoveled these chocolaty, minty bites of heaven into my mouth at breakneck speeds. All of them. One at a time. Sometimes two at a time. They’re tiny. They’re much better than the ones that are made for the Girl Scouts and those are my justifications and I’m sticking to them. Before you judge, know that as soon as you eat one of these after they’ve chilled in the fridge, you’ll be making excuses to keep going back to your fridge to “grab just one more”.  Addicting, fun, small, and darn near as good, if not better than the real deal. The best part is you can make these with FOUR ingredients. That’s right. It’s not a typo. I did in fact say four! As in 4. 

Now I know that the real Thin Mints  are made with a chocolate cookie.  But these are made with organic, GMO-Free, Round Butter Crackers instead.  You won’t mind at all. I promise. I didn’t want to sit in my kitchen for an hour scraping off the filling of organic “Oreos” just so I could have a chocolate cookie center. That’s just crazy. Ain’t nobody got time for that!  I certainly don’t.  Well, I do, sorta, but I have better things to do like slay the Laundry Monster, or watch reruns of Major Crimes before Keira Sedgewick left the show…

Look for a really good, quality, GMO-Free chocolate. Go imported and Fair Trade if you can afford it and find it. If not, don’t beat yourself up, simply find a decent grocery store brand that fits your food philosophy. For this recipe, I’ve chosen to use E. Guittard chocolate chips. E. Guittard is a brand that is GMO-Free and is readily available in most grocery stores across the USA, I chose to use their semi sweet chocolate chips for these cookies. I used Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil instead of a peppermint extract.  Yes, I could have used an organic extract, but I wanted something that was potent enough that I could use a couple drops vs. half a teaspoon or more.  I also wanted pure peppermint taste, not candy-like peppermint taste.  Finally, I used an organic (responsibly sourced and GMO-Free) Palm shortening in the melted chocolate. Shortening helps the chocolate stay smooth, keeps it from clumping and hardening too fast so that you can coat all the crackers without having to keep warming the chocolate up to keep it spreadable.

Store these bad boys in the refrigerator or the freezer. Don’t let them sit on the counter or the chocolate will stay semi-melty on top and your fingers will get covered in chocolate and you’ll not be able to hide the fact that you’ve been sneaking a cookie ever 7 minutes while your kids or husband aren’t paying attention.  

I’ll admit that when I was making these, the entire time I was having this conversation in my head where I insisted that there was NO way these would taste as yummy as the original Thin Mints Cookies .  Boy was I wrong. Seriously W R O N G!  It doesn’t happen often folks, just ask my parents.  I have many faults, but being wrong isn’t one of them.  Ha! Totally kidding. This is one time I was relieved to be wrong.  If you need your annual Girl Scout Cookie fix, but you don’t want to partake in their GMO-riddled cookies, make these instead. You won’t be disappointed at all. Just stay away from your bathroom scale for a month or two after eating these.  

No Bake Mint Thins Cookies

2014-11-19 22:04:47

Serves 1

Look out Girl Scouts, we don't need your GMOs. Tasty, easy to make, real deal minty, chocolatey cookies.

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Prep Time

30 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Prep Time

30 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Ingredients

1. 36 Organic Round Butter Crackers (Like Ritz, but not Ritz)
2. 1-1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips, GMO-Free such as E.Guittard
3. 1 TB palm shortening
4. 2 drops Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil

Instructions

1. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper; set aside. Clear out a spot in your refrigerator or freezer to accommodate your cookie sheet in order to "set" the cookies.
2. In a small saucepan combine chocolate chips and shortening and melt over low heat. Stirring almost constantly. Do not get any water in the chocolate or it will seize.
3. To the melted chocolate add 1-2 drops of YL peppermint essential oil* and stir. If you prefer it mintier, add only 1 more drop. *Note: You cannot un-do mint once added so be very, very careful to not over-do it and end up with cookies that make your eyes water.
4. Pour chocolate into a shallow glass dish (that you pre warmed by letting hot water sit in it while you were melting the chocolate. THEN, dry it really well before pouring in the melted chocolate mixture.
5. Add 1 cracker to the chocolate, coat it, and remove it by lightly scooping it up from the underside with a fork, allowing excess chocolate to drain off through fork tines. Place cracker on parchment and repeat with all remaining crackers. If necessary, re-heat the chocolate in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. I didn't have to do this, as I worked fairly quickly and the chocolate stayed melty enough.
6. After all crackers have been dipped, place baking sheet in refrigerator. Although these will solidify at room temperature, the shortening in the chocolate lengthens the amount of time that will take; the fridge or freezer helps speed it up. Personally I think they taste better cold and the chocolate stays truly solid.
7. Store extra Mint Thins in an airtight container in the refrigerator for as long as it takes you to eat these. They'll last forever in your freezer if properly wrapped.

Notes

1. Seriously this recipe serves more than ONE, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I ate every single one of these cookies. I didn't share them at all. I'm a piggy.
2. If you don't have any Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil, use 3/4 to 1 tsp. of an organic peppermint extract in place of the essential oil. Do NOT use a store bought essential oil in this recipe.
3. Let these cool/harden in the fridge for about an hour. If you can control yourself that is. These taste better the longer they sit in the fridge. Double the recipe if you think you lack self-control.

By Kristine Cocchiarella

https://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/

 Interested in learning how to get your own Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil? Email me at Kristine@RealFoodGirl.com or click THIS link.

The post No-Bake Mint Thins first appeared on .

So, autumn is upon us and that means pumpkin and apple desserts will be front and center on every food blog on the web.  Because I like to march to the beat of a different drummer, I thought I’d share a sorbet recipe. It’s still somewhat warm here in South Carolina and I haven’t had a chance to share this easy, refreshing dessert and today seemed like a great day to bring a little limey tartness to your dessert menu. 

I love Key Limes. They are tart and flavorful. My favorite way to enjoy them is when they’re made into a Key Lime Pie.  I’m still searching high and low for a recipe that does NOT call for a can of sweetened condensed milk in the list of ingredients. I mean, for cripes sakes. How did people make this pie before sweetened condensed milk hit the scene? Didn’t anyone write down their family recipe? Why can’t I find one?  Makes me so sad that I have to forgo eating tasty Key Lime pie because I don’t feel like noshing on lime flavored condensed milk.  It’s a pie tragedy.  

This sorbet isn’t pie, but trust me when I say that it is a heavenly little treat. It’s uber tart! Pucker up my friends! If you like tart, this is for you. You could add more sugar if you desire, but who needs more sugar in their diet? Not me. Not you.  I chose to use Key Limes because I figured y’all might be a wee bit tired of my love affair with all things lemon. 

This recipe calls for 2 and a quarter cups of freshly squeezed lime juice.  I didn’t think that was a problem until I noticed how tiny this years crop of Key Limes were. After juicing like 30 limes, I finally cried UNCLE and ran to the store and bought some regular limes, then realized I was like 2 TB shy of the necessary amount of lime juice and had to run back to the store a third time. You’ll thank me for telling you that you can use regular limes if you want, because about 12 key limes into my squeeze-fest I was like “Ain’t nobody got time for this!” Nailing Jell-O to a tree would prove easier than juicing 2+ cups of Key Limes. I promise the sorbet is worth it. I do understand why people just run to the store and grab a pint-sized container of sorbet from the local mega-mart, but my sorbet has 3 ingredients. Four if you count the zest. I don’t know too many store-bought brands that can say the same thing. 

I ended up using a bag and a half of Key Limes and about 10 regular limes. I’d err on the side of buying too many limes because you could use the left over limes to make my triple citrus bars–just use all lime juice instead. I’ve done this and they are mouthwatering! Sometimes I prefer them over the lemon bar version and the triple citrus version. Whenever I’m simply in the mood for, well, simple. 

If you’re like me and you love a good, citrus-based dessert, you have to run to your ice cream maker and whip up a batch of this sorbet.  Add some fresh berries to your bowl before you serve it and your mouth will be happy-happy!

I gave a bite of this to my grandson, Little Master C, and he told me he didn’t like the green stringy things.  His exact words were, “Grandma, those things are nasty.”  Except he says ‘nasty’ with a southern drawl. Naasstay.  Next time I make this, I’ll hold off on the zest and see if he’ll like it better. He seemed to enjoy it, despite it being tart, but those nasty green things… well, his 6-year old brain just couldn’t get past those.  

You will need an ice cream maker for this recipe. I use this snazzy little model from Cuisinart. It’s the best $75 we’ve ever spent. I use this puppy all the time. In fact, any time my grandkids come over, one of the first things Master C says is “Grandma, did you make me my special ice cream?”  And I always answer with a smile and a “Yes!”.  My special ice cream is just the vanilla base recipe from my Roasted Cherry & Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream and I use 1/2 coconut sugar and 1/2 organic cane sugar.  He loves it with the coconut sugar.

If you don’t feel like squeezing eleventy billion Key Limes, no one will judge you if you use regular limes instead. I know I won’t.  I know my fingers wished I would have chosen regular limes. Heck, my whole body was feelin’ it the next day. ‘Spose it’s time to find a gym. 

Before I close I should ask what you guys think of the snazzy cutting board in the photos.  The Stud Muffin made that for me. This one was made out of walnut. It’s by far my favorite one. He’s working on perfecting them, and I’m testing them in the kitchen to see how they hold up and someday soon we hope to be able to sell them on this blog.  They’re end grain cutting boards and we’ll have several choices of wood and 3-4 sizes available, so stay tuned. I want to use these in the kitchen for at least 6 months before we put them up for sale. I want to make sure they hold up to anything you dish out at them. 

Enjoy the sorbet!

Key Lime Sorbet

2014-09-28 01:51:39

Serves 4

Tart, cold, refreshing, hit-the-spot lime sorbet

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

3 hr

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

3 hr

Ingredients

1. 2-3/4 cups organic cane sugar
2. 3 cups cold water
3. 2-1/4 cups freshly squeezed key lime juice (or freshly squeezed regular limes)
4. 1 TB fresh lime zest (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer without stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Cool completely.
3. When cooled, add the lime juice and zest; stir to combine.
4. Turn on your ice cream maker and pour the lime mixture into the freezer bowl and mix until lime mixture thickens, about 25-30 minutes.
5. Transfer soft sorbet to an airtight container and freeze for 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving.
6. Serve with fresh berries, or in a glass with some lemon seltzer water. Mmm!

Notes

1. The mixture of water and sugar is called a simple syrup and can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until ready to use.

By Kristine-Real Food Girl: Unmodified

Adapted from Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe Booklet

Adapted from Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker Recipe Booklet

https://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/

The post Key Lime Sorbet first appeared on .

Luckily for me, and for you guys, I sometimes have brilliant ideas. No, seriously. I’m not just saying that to toot my own horn. I really do have great ideas from time to time. The Lemon Curd Mousse is one such idea.  As I stood in front of a saucepan making a batch of my Lemon Curd, a thought hit me.  

ME: Ya know, it’s going to be hot soon and you’ll wish you had a refreshing dessert that could be a great deliver system for fresh berries.

Me: ERMAGERSH!! You are SO right! Mousse sounds good, but not chocolate. That’s too rich for a summer time dessert. It has to be refreshing, and creamy. Maybe even sorta fluffy. 

ME: I think we’re on to something! Say, what if we whipped up some fresh, organic cream, and then folded in some of this lemon curd that you keep sneaking tastes of?

Me:  Holy Bananas! YES! That’s it! Lemon Curd Mousse! And it’ll taste fantastic with fresh berries.  It’s the perfect summer dessert.  Man, we’re brilliant. 

ME: Um, no *I* am. 

Me: No, I am, I mean, seriously, we’re sort of the same person.

… 

And that’s pretty much how lemon curd mousse was born. Although…I can’t be entirely sure because I was too busy stealing tastes from the lemon curd as I was making it, and I may have been slipping into a lemon induced coma, but for the sake of argument, we’ll say that really odd conversation with myself did in fact happen the way I wrote.  It doesn’t really matter how it transpired, what matters is that this is such a wonderful dessert that we should all just be pleased that any type of intelligent conversation took place within my head and plopped out this idea!  

I have a mousse recipe that uses gelatin sheets and it’s amazing. It’s like beyond crazy-good. I currently don’t own any gelatin sheets and really didn’t want this recipe to be something where normal people would have to find either some fancy cake decorating store to find these, or end up needing to buy them online, so I decided to keep it really simple and straightforward. 

Despite the lack of gelatin, this mousse is rich, thick, creamy, airy, but not too airy, and seriously bursting with flavor.  It cries out for fresh berries. Whatever your heart desires! I even stirred some of this into yogurt. I seem to like to stir lemon based things into my yogurt. LOL! I could not stop sneaking to the fridge with a spoon to take a bite once it was finished because it was just that tasty!   

Fresh berries have a new best friend. Heck, your spoon is going to have a new best friend. Dare I say your mouth will have a new best friend? I guess I just did. 

If you can whip cream, and stir a few ingredients in a sauce pan, you can make this dessert.  You’ll need about 1-1/2 cups of my Lemon Curd recipe in order to make this. I can’t wait to hear how you like this treat!

What is your favorite lemon dessert?

Lemon Curd Mousse

2014-09-13 00:41:11

Serves 4

A lovely union of lemon curd and freshly whipped cream.

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

45 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

45 min

Ingredients

1. 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
2. 1 large egg, slightly beaten
3. 1 TB + 1 tsp. lemon zest
4. 3 TB lemon juice
5. 1-1/2 teaspoons softened butter
6. 2 cups organic whipping cream or organic heavy cream.

Instructions

1. In a large bowl whip the cream until it's stiff (but not so much that you turn it into butter) and set in the fridge to chill. You want to do this in a large bowl as you'll be adding the lemon curd to it later.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and the butter. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly for about 10-12 minutes, or until mixture begins to thicken.
3. You want the curd to be fairly thick, but note that it will continue to thicken and set a bit as it cools.
4. Cool the lemon curd- to a little colder than room temp otherwise it's too hard to fold it into the whipped cream. I pour it in a glass bowl and move it to the fridge.
5. Once the mousse is cooled, carefully fold 1/3 cup of the curd into the whipped cream at a time, tasting after each addition. I add between 1 cup and 1-1/3 cups total. You still want the whipped cream to remain fluffy, so stop adding the lemon curd if it looks like one more addition will weigh it down. You're not using gelatin, so you need the whipped cream to be able to hold up that curd.
6. Spoon the mousse into cute serving dishes, and chill for an hour before serving.
7. Garnish with fresh berries of your choice.
8. Mousse will keep in the fridge for a couple days in an air tight container.

By Kristine-Real Food Girl: Unmodified

https://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/

The post Lemon Curd Mousse first appeared on .

This recipe is my easy version of a citrus based curd. There are versions where you stand over a double boiler and whisk in tiny specs of chilled butter one piece at a time, wishing you’d remembered to run to the bathroom before you started whisking, and eventually having to go to the hospital because you either: A) whisked your arm right off, or B) lost all feeling in said arm that spent eleventy-billion minutes whisking eggs, lemon, sugar and butter over a double boiler. So not only have I saved you from having uneven biceps (You’re welcome), I’ve saved you a visit to the ER and a costly ER bill.  I’m super thoughtful, aren’t I? (Insert big toothy grin right here____)

This lemon curd is the same recipe that I use as the filling in my Lemon Gem cookies, but I wanted to feature it on its own because I’ll be sharing my Lemon Mousse recipe soon, and you’ll need to have some of this lemon curd on hand to make the mousse.  Lemon curd is THE BOMB! If you’ve never made it, you have to try this recipe. I love it on ice cream, I love it on English Muffins, I love it with sugar cookies, I love it on a spoon, on a fork, in a bowl. I love it mixed in with plain or vanilla yogurt.  Lemon curd and yogurt are a brilliant combination. Brilliant!

If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know how much I love lemons. Each year when summer rolls around I try to find new lemon recipes to add to my dessert repertoire.  If I can’t find something new in the land of lemon, I try finding new key lime recipes. I LOVE key limes.  Heck, I just love citrus. LURVE it. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.  The lemon mousse recipe that is coming soon is one of my newest creations that stemmed from an ‘Ah-Ha!’ moment that I had while licking the spoon when I was making this. I was like, I could go for some mousse, but I don’t want chocolate. It’s too hot for chocolate. And then a huge lightbulb went off! I love culinary light bulbs. 

I think I’ve pretty much said all I can about lemon from my previous lemon posts, like my tasty Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake recipe, or my Triple Citrus Bars.  I do feel sort of sad that I don’t have any fun stories to go along with the recipe. I did have to make another batch the first time I ever made this because I ate most of it while is was cooking on the stove.  Don’t judge. I was doing quality control checks people. Someone’s gotta do the grunt work…

I think I may just have to break out my Pâte Sucrée (fancy French tart shell crust) recipe and make a lemon tart with this. My granddaughter the delightful Miss B, loves lemon desserts.  Yeah, I think I’ll do that.

What is your favorite lemon treat?

Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd

2014-09-11 19:31:54

It's lemons y'all.

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

30 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

15 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1. 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
2. 1 large egg, slightly beaten
3. 1 TB + 1 tsp. lemon zest
4. 3 TB lemon juice
5. 1-1/2 teaspoons softened butter

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, egg, lemon zest, lemon juice and the butter. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly for about 10-12 minutes, or until mixture begins to thicken.
2. You want the curd to be fairly thick, but note that it will continue to thicken and set a bit as it cools.

Notes

1. Yields about 1-1/2 cups to 2 cups of curd
2. Curd will keep for up to a week in an airtight container in the fridge. I store mine in glass mason jars.

By Kristine-Real Food Girl: Unmodified

Adapted from Chef Tyler Brown of the Hermitage Hotel

Adapted from Chef Tyler Brown of the Hermitage Hotel

https://www.realfoodgirlunmodified.com/

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