Recipes Archives - Page 2 of 2

February 21, 2015

The Perfect Guacamole

Every girl needs a few go-to recipes that can be made at a moment’s notice. One of mine is guacamole — it’s simple, practically effortless and absolutely delicious. I usually keep avocados and the other ingredients around, so this also doesn’t leave me scrambling {there’s nothing worse}.

Avocados

The Perfect Guacamole

2 avocados
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2 serrano chiles {seeds removed! and minced}
2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

Cut the avocados in half, remove the seed and scoop out the avocado into a bowl {any bowl will do, but as guac enthusiasts we have a molcajete — I love ours and totally recommend getting one}. Use the pestle, or fork, to mash the avocado. Sprinkle with salt and lime juice to keep the avocados from browning. Then add the pepper, red onion, cilantro and chiles. Mix together and voilà!

This avocado tool from OXO is my favorite.

Serve with chips {I warm mine in the oven for just a few minutes to get them toasty} and dig in! It’s easiest to pour the chips into an oven-safe dish like this one, heat, and then serve on a trivet.

February 14, 2015

Sharing the Love

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s a beautiful, sunny morning here in London and my man is still asleep so I’m sneaking around doing some last minute surprises. I have a few tricks up my sleeve for our first married V-Day {red velvet pancakes in bed! at-home massage via UrbanMassage!} and tonight we’re heading out to dinner at The Ledbury.

If you’re looking for an easy sweet to enjoy, a perfect choice is chocolate-covered strawberries. I made them last night to kick off our weekend, and they were so simple and delicious.

A fun fact about chocolate: in the late 1800s, the Swiss (no surprise) were the first to develop processes for making solid chocolate candy and the process hasn’t changed much since then. Why mess with a good thing?

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Melting chocolate {I used Valrhona}
10-12 ripe strawberries
Sprinkles

Wash your strawberries and pat dry, then place wax paper onto a baking sheet. (Trick: if the wax paper keeps rolling, just spray some baking spray onto the sheet, and then put down the wax paper. Ta da!) Set both aside.

Cut 6-8 small pieces of chocolate off the melting bar (to make it easier to melt) and place into a small sauce pan on low heat. Stir constantly for about five minutes until completely melted. Dip the strawberries into the melted chocolate till mostly covered. Place onto the wax paper-covered baking sheet. Put on sprinkles immediately so chocolate doesn’t start to harden. Repeat for each berry.

Once all the dipping is done, let the strawberries sit out on the baking sheet for as little as one hour and as many as 3-4 before consuming (if same day!). If you’re waiting to give, after they’ve cooled and hardened, place into a lock-tight container and into the refrigerator.

After an easy Friday night dinner, we poured some wine while watching The Good Wife {obsessed}, and tucked right into these.

My handsome man sampling the strawbs — he approved.

February 9, 2015

Pretty in Pink Cupcakes & Champagne

With Valentine’s Day this weekend, I’ve been on the hunt for a special way to enjoy the day with my guy. No matter your relationship status, it can be such a fun time to celebrate. Whether you’re having a galentine’s day with the girls or a cozy date night with your man, these sugary-sweet cupcakes will have everyone giggling with delight. Here’s a sneak peek of what I’ll be whipping up for the big day.

My mom and I found these in a cookbook called Seriously Simple Holidays a few years ago, and let me tell you they are absolutely amazing. Anytime I need to make cupcakes, I whip up a batch of these babies and everyone swoons. I use our KitchenAid Mixer (ours is medallion silver which I love, though I’m also obsessed with the copper finish one at Selfridges) to make them easily.

Eeep! You can tell my muffin pans have gotten a lot of use over the years! They still do the trick.

While the cupcakes are cooling, you can make your frosting. If you do have a mixer, I recommend having two bowls. It’s easier than washing the bowl in-between, and plus you can just pop the bowls into the dishwasher for a quicker cleanup. I added two drops of red food coloring into the icing for a pastel pink color. It came out the palest shade of pink and was so pretty.

Once your frosting is ready, it’s time to do the icing. I’ve found the easiest way to decorate the tops of cupcakes is by scooping the frosting into plastic sandwich bags. I just snip off the end, which can vary in size depending on what I’m doing with the icing, and use that as my tip. Starting with the outside edge of the cupcake top, I used a circular motion working inward with the icing, finishing with a little swirl in the middle. Once frosted, I added a little pinch of pearlized sprinkles to give it that little something extra.

Once the cupcakes were frosted, the hardest part was waiting! I put the cupcakes on our Mariposa pearled tray {love this one here} and set out our Waterford toasting flutes we used at our wedding. My husband and I snuggled up on our love seat, accompanying our pretty cupcakes with a bottle of rose champagne from Moët & Chandon. The flowers, the bubbles, the sugar — it was a dreamy way to celebrate our sweet love. Don’t forget to add music! It makes any occasion special. We usually pick a channel from iTunes radio that suits. We played our wedding song: “How Sweet It Is” by James Taylor, melts my heart every time. No matter the celebration you make these for, you’re guaranteed a truly sweet treat. I hope this inspires your Valentine’s Day this weekend!

Sour Cream Vanilla Cupcakes

Cupcakes
1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream

Icing
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons of milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line your muffin tin with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. In a large bowl with an electric mixer in medium-high speed, beat the eggs and sugar together for 3-4 minutes (until light and creamy). Add the butter and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, or until well blended. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth.

Fill each cup with equal amounts of the batter. Bake for about 23 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick to the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

While the cupcakes continue to cool, make the frosting. In a large bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Using the electric mixer on medium speed, beat until the mixture comes together. Add enough milk, beating on low speed, to make a creamy consistency. Frost your cupcakes (again, I love to use a Ziploc bag to apply the frosting, but you can always use a metal spatula) and add any extras — sprinkles! Serve on a pretty platter and enjoy.

A dessert fit for two! I served up the cupcakes for us on our wedding china {Vera Wang Wedgwood Platinum Lace}.

February 7, 2015

Shrimp Tacos for Two

As newlyweds, my husband and I have a lot of at-home date nights. I still like to think of them as entertaining, it’s just for two! We mix it up a lot — I’m lucky my guy is eager to try new things just like me.

I usually look through my cookbooks or Pinterest a few days before, and plan our dinners with enough time to swing by grocery stores. In our neighborhood we have Whole Foods (a total win) and the Kensington Fish Shop, so it’s easy to get everything you need for healthy meals quickly. I usually stock up on staples at Tesco near Notting Hill Gate, or Sainsbury’s on Kensington Church Street. If I’m out and about in Notting Hill, I especially love getting vegetables at Daylesford.

We love Mexican food. I mean, really love Mexican food. We miss good tacos and guacamole and chips and margs all the time (Rosa Mexicano, please open in London!). I recently came across this Chipotle Shrimp Taco recipe [here], and loved making them. I made a few modifications for us — the recipe below. Just add a Corona or margarita, and you’ve got a delicious fiesta for two.

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos

Chipotle Lime Cream (Sauce for the tacos)
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning
Salt to taste

Chipotle Shrimp
3/4 lb (340 grams) fresh shrimp or prawns, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
4 taco shells
Avocado
Shredded lettuce
Salsa

For the Chipotle Lime Cream, mix together the sour cream, lime juice and taco seasoning in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and store in the fridge until ready to use.

For the Chipotle Shrimp, wash, devein and peel your shrimp or prawns. Mix together the dry ingredients (chili powder, taco seasoning and salt) in a bowl. Let shrimp sit marinating for about 30 minutes. Then pour the olive oil in a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, about 5 minutes. In the interim, heat the taco shells in the oven at 350 F (177 C) for just a few minutes till warm.

Once shrimp are cooked, serve with salsa, shredded lettuce, and avocado. They’re spicy and so, so good. Dig in!

I love fighting off the winter blues with a pretty blue and white table, a classic combination.

February 5, 2015

Homemade Almond Biscotti

One of my favorite thank you gifts to give is almond biscotti. They’re easy to make, delicious and a sweet way to show your gratitude. It takes a little more effort than stopping by the store to pick up a bottle of wine (but not too much more!), showing how much you care for your host and the time it took to have you over.

Biscotti can seem intimidating, but it’s a simple cookie to make. The trick to them is baking them twice – first as two logs and then cut into thick cookies. These were one of my mom’s specialties growing up, and now I’ve been baking them in my own home with her recipe. We like to keep them around the flat to have with coffee or as dessert (my husband sometimes sneaks a few when he gets home from a long day at work, too!). Once you’ve baked them, store in a glass container on your kitchen counter, or wrap in clear cello bags tied with a festive ribbon to give away. If you want to get extra fancy, you can dip them in chocolate and even add sprinkles – perfect for holidays (Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!).

Almond Biscotti
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups whole almonds
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 F/177 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl (to make it quicker, I just put it in the KitchenAid mixer — I’m always looking for ways to cut down on time). Toss in the almonds and stir.

In a separate bowl, mix together your eggs and vanilla, then pour into the dry mixture. (Your dough may be slightly dry right now, but it will come together once you knead it.) Lightly flour a surface, and put the dough on top. Knead it together and separate into two logs, about a foot in length.

Bake the logs for 30 minutes, or until slightly rises and are firm. Put the logs, parchment paper and all, onto a cooling rack for about 30 minutes until cool.

In the interim, reline the baking sheet with new parchment paper. With a serrated knife, cut the logs into 1/2″ cookies diagonally. Put the cut cookies down onto the pan to bake the inside. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Place back onto the cooling rack, let sit for a few minutes (if you can wait!) and enjoy.

Copyright