Recipes Discovered

Key Lime Pie Recipe

Marshmallow Icing Recipe

Seth and I recently ate at a restaurant that served Key Lime Pie for dessert. This is no surprise, considering we are in Key West, but this Key Lime Pie had a marshmallow topping. I’ve had a lot of Key Lime Pie with everything from meringue to chocolate to raspberries on top, but never marshmallow. Seth said it was the best Key Lime Pie ever and insisted I figure out how to imitate the marshmallow topping. This was a bit tricky, but I think I finally found a pretty good solution.

First the Key Lime Pie, which I think has to be the easiest pie ever, except maybe a pudding pie. Beat together sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, and Key Lime juice until it’s smooth and pour into a graham cracker crust. I also added the zest of one lime to give it a fresh taste. Bake the pie for 15 minutes and then chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours. >> Read more

Couscous Salad Recipe

I am always searching for interesting twists on classic dishes. I was planning on making a pasta salad for our barbecue today, and when I was looking at recipes, I found one for couscous salad. Couscous is a very tiny pasta that is popular in Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine. Instant couscous cooks very quickly (5 minutes) and takes on the flavor of whatever liquid it’s cooked in, which makes it a great pasta to pair with vegetables.

To make the couscous, I boiled 2 cups of chicken stock and poured that over 1 1/4 cups of couscous with a dash of salt. I covered it and let it stand for 5 minutes before fluffing it and then letting it cool.

In another bowl, I combined a diced red onion, diced cucumber (I used a seedless English cucumber), and diced orange bell pepper. In another small bowl, I whisked together about a tablespoon of olive oil and the juice and zest of one lemon. I added the cooled couscous to the veggies,  poured the dressing over everything, and then sprinkled chopped parsley on top (I like parsley more than cilantro). I didn’t add anymore salt to the salad, but I did add a bit of pepper.

This salad is such a great alternative to regular pasta salad. It’s very light and has a refreshing flavor from the lemon. The pasta get a lot of flavor from the chicken stock and makes a perfect balance to the crunchy vegetables. It’s served at room temperature and since there is nothing in it that can spoil, it makes a great salad to take on picnics.  Plus, it’s a very attractive dish with all the different colored vegetables. Overall, a definitely crown pleaser and a delicious side side.

Mango BBQ Sauce Recipe

Smokey BBQ Sauce Recipe

Seth is a big fan of BBQ sauce, and he is fairly particular as to what the perfect BBQ sauce should be. It should be smokey and sweet, with a little bit of a tangy and it should be very thick. I am a little less particular when it comes to BBQ sauce, but I thought I would try making two different ones to see if I could come up with something acceptable.

The first was a mango BBQ sauce. I knew it wouldn’t have the smokey factor, but I thought it would be thick because of the fruit and also sweet and tangy from the molasses and vinegar. The recipe combines onion, red pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, and tomato juice together in a skillet. That mixture is then poured into a blender with a diced mango and jalapeno peppers. The recipe calls for 2 or 3 jalapenos, but I didn’t want it to be too hot, to I only added one. >> Read more

Warm Dandelion Salad Recipe

I hesitate to call this dish a salad, but honestly, I don’t know how to classify it. When I was little, I remember my grandmother making hot dandelion. My mom and aunt used to search the yard in the spring to find baby dandelion leaves. My aunt to this day still picks her own dandelion and has continued the tradition of making hot dandelion. I believe it’s an Amish or a German Dutch dish, but the recipe my uses has been passed down for many generations. When I was young, I would never eat it, but as I got older, I tried it. Every year, I go through the same debate if I actually like it or not. It’s a difficult dish to classify. It’s sweet, but it’s also very sour, and salty, and bitter. Since I’m not home this year to give hot dandelion yet another try, I asked me aunt for the recipe to try making it myself. Florida unfortunately makes finding dandelion a bit of a challenge, but luckily, endive and chicory make excellent substitutes.>> Read more

Crepe Recipe

Crepes are becoming more and more popular, and while they are becoming more popular, I see more and more varieties of crepes. Everything from savory (smoked salmon and cream cheese) to sweet (strawberries and chocolate) and everything in between. My favorite is bananas and Nutella. Nutella is an Italian chocolate hazelnut spread that is similar to peanut butter in consistency, but has a much sweeter flavor. Anyway, I always thought making a crepe was difficult, but it turned out to be fairly easy. A lot of the recipes say you need a special “crepe” pan, but I used an 8 inch non-stick skillet and it worked out perfectly. >> Read more