Raspberry Tropical Smoothie

I'm trying to perfect my smoothie technique. When not following recipes and making my own, I tend to over-do it in terms of quantity and end up with 40 ounces of smoothie. But today, success! I had some "tropical" produce around (pineapple, mango, banana) and thought the combination would pair well with some fresh raspberries.

Raspberry Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 C mango, cubed
• 1/2 C pineapple, cubed
• 3/4 C raspberries
• 1 large orange, juiced
• 6 ice cubes

Method

1. In a blender, combine the mango, pineapple, raspberries, an orange juice until well blended.
2. Add the ice cubes and blend until it reaches a smooth consistency.

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Watermelon Tropical Smoothie

Fun fact that I didn't realize was such a fun fact until recently: I don't like watermelon. I recently tried it juiced, still didn't really like it. But juiced with other ingredients, it's not so bad. So I picked myself up a hunk at the grocery store for just that purpose and made a tropical smoothie. While the color in the end was not so appetizing, it tastes good!

Watermelon Tropical Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups watermelon, cubed
• 1 1/2 cups pineapple, cubed
• 1 cup mango, cubed
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 cup blueberry juice

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender on high speed until well blended.

Makes 40oz.

Another fun fact: Equal parts watermelon, pineapple, and mango taste just like cantaloupe...another one of my least favorite fruits ;)

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chocolate simple syrup

I used the last of my simple syrup making a cup of my favorite cold brewed coffee and instead of making another batch of plain syrup, I thought a chocolate version would be an interesting twist and nice change. You know, give my cuppa more of a mocha feel than latte. The result is a subtly chocolate flavor with my coffee, but it's nice! On its own, the syrup is super sweet and distinctly chocolate-y, but it mellows out when diluted with coffee concentrate and milk. At the end of the day, this may just be a watery Hershey's chocolate syrup, but feels more grown-up and less gluttonous than getting your chocolate fix from something normally reserved for the sundae bar.

Chocolate Simple Syrup in a Jar

Chocolate Simple Syrup

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• splash almond extract

Method

1. In a saucepan, combine the ingredients and cook over medium to medium high heat until the mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat, let cool, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Chocolate Simple Syrup served with coffee

Serving Ideas:

• Swirled into coffee as sweetener
• Served with yogurt and granola
• Drizzled over ice cream or affogato
• Poured over a simple layer cake for additional moisture and flavor

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Mango Summer Rolls

This recipe is basically just an assembly of fresh ingredients and can be customized as much as you want to incorporate your favorite flavors. This is my version, adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance, incorporating the ingredients I had on hand. I recently saw Giada De Laurentiis do a fruit spring roll that looks quite delicious, so really, the sky's the limit.

Mango Summer Rolls

Ingredients

• Rice paper wrappers, softened in hot water
• 1 mango, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
• 1 cup sprouts or delicate greens (I used pea shoots)
• 4 oz saifun bean threads, softened (or rice noodles)
• Cilantro, mint, coconut, ground peanuts, etc (optional)

Method

1. In the lower portion of the rice paper wrappers, place a few tablespoons of noodles, any optional ingredients, 5 slices of mango, and sprouts.
2. Tuck the sides of the paper in and begin rolling. Keep covered with a damp cloth, chilled, until ready to eat.
3. Serve with dipping sauce.

Summer Roll Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp shiracha hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 tsp soy sauce, or to taste
• 1 garlic clove, pressed/minced
• 1 1/2 tsp super-fine sugar

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until combined. If necessary, microwave for a few seconds to dissolve the sugar.
2. Serve chilled.

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Chai Tea Concentrate

This stuff is handy to have around at home if you're a chai tea fan. The final chai tea product is much more flavorful than anything you'd buy prepackaged at the grocery store or buy at the corner coffee shop.

Chai Tea Concentrate

Ingredients

• 10 thin slices of ginger
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 cardamom seeds (from about 2 pods)
• 5 cloves, or 1/2 tsp
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar, honey, agave, etc. to taste

Method

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a full boil, and then simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes.
2. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
3. To serve, blend about two parts chai tea concentrate to one part warm or steamed milk, to taste.

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Momofuku's Compost Cookies

I was intrigued when I saw David Lebovitz post about them...really, Bugels in cookies?! But honestly, the picture for Momofuku's Compost Cookies had me at "hello"; slightly puffy, golden brown, and crackly on top, one look and you know they've got to be incredible. Or a master of disguise. Luckily, my rendition is quite fabulous if you ask me. For my add-in ingredients I used the following:

Baking ingredients:
chocolate chips
white chocolate chunks

Snack ingedients:
chocolate covered Pocky
chocolate/goo filled Easter eggs
cheddar sesame sticks
salt and pepper potato chips (thown in just to say "I did it!")

I also made the full sized, 6oz cookies which bake up to the size of a salad plate and are HUGE. Will I be making these cookies again? Probably, but with a different twist. I'm thinking Midwest style monster cookies :)

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Eggnog French Toast

Lost and forgotten in the depths of the archives, I just found this recipe which I never got around to posting. Not overly fitting to be posting a recipe with eggnog in the middle of the summer, but perhaps it'll get you thinking ahead...? Here's to hoping :)

This recipe came about during a post dinner dessert hunt. With eggnog and maple syrup in the refrigerator and a loaf of crusty bread going unused on the counter, why not make some french toast? I cut the bread into little rounds using a biscuit cutter and garnished with chocolate chips.

Eggnog French Toast

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp eggnog
• 1 tbsp dark rum
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 egg
  Crusty bread, sliced

Method

1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat.
2. In a bowl, whisk all ingredients until thoroughly combined.
3. When skillet is hot, dip bread slices into egg batter until coated, and cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown.

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