Coconut Rice Pudding

Due to my spouse requiring a modified diet for a few days, I decided to make him some rice pudding. Without too much work, this one filled the bill!

Coconut Rice Pudding

Serves/Makes: 4 | Ready In: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can (15-ounce size) coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked rice (I used Jasmine)
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Combine the coconut milk and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Add the rice and cook until it returns to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and let simmer for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg. Pour into custard cups.

Serve warm or chilled.

Muffin Tin Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

My spouse’s mother always made him pineapple upside down cake for his birthday when he was young. Waking up early on his birthday, I decided that was what I would make him also. I had previously found a recipe and purchased all of the ingredients. It doesn’t get much easier than this recipe! PS…It would be great for Easter Sunday!!!

Muffin Tin Pineapple Upside Down Cakes

Ingredients…

1/4 C Butter
1 C Packed Dark Brown Sugar
1 Can (20 Oz) Pineapple slices in juice, drained, reserve juice
1 Jar (6 oz) Maraschino cherries without stems – drained
1 Box Betty Crocker Supermoist yellow cake mix
- oil and eggs called for on box –

1 – Preheat oven – 350 degrees. In a 13 x 9 x2 pan, melt butter in oven. Here is where I made a change – I sprayed the pan first with PAM – just a precaution I wanted to take. Sprinkle brown sugar over melted butter. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar. Place cherries in centers and around the slices – press gently into the sugar/butter.

2 – Add enough water to reserved pineapple juice to make 1 cup. Make cake batter as directed on box, substituting pineapple juice mixture for the water. Pour batter over pineapple and cherries.

3 – Bake about 40 or so minutes – or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately run a knife around the edges of pan to loosen cake. I let mine sit in the pan for about 10 minutes then turned it out onto a serving platter leaving the pan on top for an additional 15 to 20 minutes… This lets the brown sugar drizzle over the cake – remove pan. Cool for about 30 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Canadian Thanksgiving, Eh?

Since there might be a few new followers, I am noting a few of the recipes on the site which you might want to incorporate into your Canadian OR American Thanksgiving dinners. Hoping you might find some ideas before you head out to buy groceries…LOL

Look for these and other recipes in the GO box –

Good Eats Roasted Turkey or

Spice Rubbed Turkey or

Slow Cooker Rosemary Garlic Crusted Roast Beef (for those who are not into turkey)

Thai Style Chicken and Pumpkin Soup

Fragrant Fall Red Cabbage (side dish)

Pumpkin Crunch Cake (much better than pie!)

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!!

No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar

Now that I have sufficient Mason Jars, I wanted to experiment with other uses besides breakfast foods. Our friends, Joanne and Chuck had us for a wonderful dinner and served this No Bake Key Lime Pie in a Jar. WOW! Below is her recipe. Warning – making it in the Mason jam jars shown is quite a large serving. I found those 1 cup jars locally and that would be just enough! Yeah, it is sweet…surprise!!!

NO BAKE KEY LIME PIE IN A JAR

This recipe is super easy to whip up and makes around 4 small jar servings. Here is what you need:

1 package of graham crackers (or Emperador lime filled cookies)
2 tbsp butter
1 (8oz) package of cream cheese (softened)
2/3 can condensed milk (around 7oz)
1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
1/3 cup key lime juice to taste – this is up to you! Some people like more tart, some people don’t. Just pour until you get it right!
whipped topping – the amount will depend on your jars.
limes to garnish
4 small glass jars (depending on the size)

She added zest of a lime as well in order to punch up the flavour.

The first thing you want to do is crush up your Emperador or graham crackers and mix them with 2 tbsp of butter. There are tons of ways to do this but I like putting my graham crackers in a large Ziploc bag and crushing with my hands, then pouring into a bowl to mix with the butter. Once you have done that set it aside.

For the pie filling combine your cream cheese, condensed milk, Greek yogurt and key lime juice in a stand mixer and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer, whip vigorously with a whisk until you have a smooth, creamy texture. If you find your filling isn’t as green as you like add in a drop or two of green gel coloring. Once mixed, pop it into the fridge for about 10 minutes while you get your jars ready.

Now pour about 1/3 cup of crushed graham crackers into the bottom of your jar and lightly pack them down. You don’t want it to be too hard, so make sure it is just enough to stay in place.

After that take your filling mixture out of the fridge and pour about 2/3 cup into your jar and sprinkle on some more graham crackers. Now top it with some whipped topping and a slice of lime and serve!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Ice Cream

Been back in Canada and still too early for rhubarb, but fortunately we have been able to find it here for the first time, as I stated in the previous blog. If you thought the pie sounded great you should definitely keep this in mind when rhubarb is in season up north. Of course you need an ice cream machine which our friends Kathie, Holly, Michelle and Dez had previously given to Larry several years ago for his birthday…lucky guy. It is indeed awesome and definitely a flavour for Ben and Jerry to consider!!! Ready, set, go!

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE ICE CREAM Adapted from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream

For the Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream Base you will need an ice cream machine, sorry…

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy cream or 1 box of Media Crema (Mexico)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 of your crumbled pie crust (homemade) but you can also just bake a pre-made crust and crumble that. Either way, before baking, brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar.)

First, roast the strawberries. To do so, combine strawberries with 1/4 cup sugar in an 8-inch glass dish (do not spray or oil the glass). Roast at 375 degrees F for 8 minutes, or until just soft. Cool slightly, then puree the berries in a blender. Measure 1/2 cup of the puree and set the rest aside to top the ice cream or for another use. Our preference is not to puree as we like chunky!

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons milk to form a slurry. Set aside. In another small bowl, mix the cream cheese and salt together. Set aside. Put the rest of the milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a large, heavy bottomed pot (like a stock pot). Bring to a boil and boil for exactly four minutes (I set my phone’s timer to make sure it was accurate). It will boil and foam like crazy.

After four minutes, take the pot off the heat and add the cornstarch slurry. Return to a boil for one minute, take off the heat again. Add the cream cheese to the boiled milk and whisk any clumps out.

Submerge the pan and its contents in an ice bath. If you’re making the ice cream the same day, just make sure the base is very cold before adding it to the machine. Add the base to your frozen ice cream barrel and spin for 15 minutes. The base should be frozen, a little more liquid than soft serve.

At this point, pour in the strawberry puree* and let it mix in completely, until the ice cream is a pretty pink color. Add half of the pie crust crumbles and swirl until incorporated. From here you can assemble the rest of the ice cream.

For the Rhubarb Compote Adapted from Epicurious

2 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
Grated ginger (optional to taste)

Combine rhubarb and sugar in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring every so often, until the rhubarb is syrupy (the sugar will liquefy over the heat and the rhubarb will break down). Strain through a sieve and chill until you are ready to assemble the ice cream. (You don’t want it too thick)

To Assemble the Ice Cream

Line a bread pan with parchment (or wax) paper. OR use a silicone loaf pan and skip the parchment/wax paper. Drizzle some rhubarb compote on the bottom, then layer with 1/3 of the Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream Base. Sprinkle with pie crust crumbles and drizzle with more compote. Continue layering, ending with a layer of compote and pie crumbles. Drag a knife through the compote to create a marbling effect.

Press some parchment or wax paper onto the ice cream’s surface and freeze for at least four hours. Before serving, let it rest on the counter for 10 minutes. Serve hearty scoops atop (totally optional) mini strawberry rhubarb pies and enjoy! Makes 1 quart.

Rhubarb Strawberry Custard Pie

After 12 years of searching we finally found rhubarb here in Yucatan!! In the last month we have bought up almost all of it, washed it, cut into chunks and frozen in 4 cup quantities for later use. The only problem is that we seem to be using it all up now…LOL. When there’s a glut…??? This pie is incredible, as is the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Ice Cream!!!

Let us know if you make it and what you thought…

Rhubarb / Strawberry Custard Pie (Makes one 9 inch pie)

* Pinterest recipe adapted from the English Kitchen (Marie) whose recipe I found too sweet for my taste and too juicy and I wanted cream in the recipe.

1 short crust pastry to fill a 9 inch diameter, deep style pie dish or just buy one at your supermarket!
4 cups of diced rhubarb / sliced strawberries
¼ cup of caster sugar (icing sugar)
3 TBS cornstarch
2 TBS flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
½ cup golden syrup
½ cup heavy cream
1 TBS butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F

Place the chopped rhubarb into a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, corn starch, flour and salt.
Mix in the egg, beating it in well, and then stir in the golden syrup, cream and the melted butter. Mix well.
Pour this evenly over top of the rhubarb and mix well to coat the fruit.
Transfer mixture into the prepared shell.
Bake in the heated 450F/230C oven, covered lightly with foil, for 15 minutes.
Decrease the oven heat to 180*C/350*F Remove foil and bake for 30 to 40 more minutes, until the crust is nicely browned and the rhubarb is tender.
Remove from the oven to a wire rack and cool until the pie is firmed up, about 45 minutes, before serving.
Delicious!!

Cindy’s Pumpkin Pie

Just in time for Canadian Thanksgiving, Larry came across this recipe from allrecipes.com. He has been trying to perfect his pie crust recipes with some success. The problem here is finding the right flour, as whole wheat flower doesn’t taste that great, especially with pumpkin! Finding real pumpkin here in Mexico is a challenge except in late September or early October when we do have something called calabaza Halloween… He bought a smallish one and roasted it in the oven for about an hour at 325 and then scooped out the seeds, followed by the pulp. He put the pulp in the refrigerator overnight to allow it to cool. Instead of the separate spices you could use Pumpkin Pie Spice which is not always available here*

The secret to this recipe seems to be the vanilla ice cream… Thanks CindyAnn whoever you are!

Cindy’s Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 pints vanilla ice cream softened
4 eggs (original recipe called for 3)
1 3/4 cups pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon*
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
2 – 9 inch pie shells (Larry used only 1 and filled it up)

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Place the ice cream near the oven to soften.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs. Stir in the pumpkin, sugar, salt, cinnamon. ginger and nutmeg OR pumpkin pie spice. Mix in the softened ice cream until smooth. Pour filling into the pie shell. (If you have two much filling, place the remainder in Pyrex cups and bake separately).

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce temperature to 175 degrees C and bake an additional 30 to 40 minutes, or until filling is set.

Vegan Watermelon Pizza

Just bring a dessert..don’t you just hate that comment from a hostess? Just kidding, but that was the invite last week where we were meeting up with our dear vegan friend and a few others for cocktails and drinks. What to bring? Uhm…we had a watermelon. We use Pinterest… Do we have any berries and coconut? Do we have peaches or mangoes? This sounds perfect…and it was so good we have made it twice since!!!

Vegan Watermelon Pizza Dessert

• 1 watermelon (we used the round seedless ones)
• 1 peach or mango
• Cherries (about 10) (you could skip these if you don’t have any fresh ones)
• Fresh mint
• Toasted coconut
• Sauce:
• 5 strawberries or a combination of berries
• Squeeze of fresh lime juice
• Couple of mint leaves

raspberry sambucca or possible coconut rum?
Instructions
1. To make the sauce, place the strawberries or mixed berries, a squeeze of lime juice, and some mint into a blender. Puree until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors accordingly.
2. For the watermelon pizza, slice your watermelon in half (not lengthwise!) Cut out 2 1-inch thick “wheels” from the watermelon. Lay the watermelon circles down and cut into pizza slices. Spread desired amount of sauce onto the “pizza.” Arrange your toppings onto the watermelon and serve.

Since we had no peaches, we used some frozen mango slices we had, along with some frozen sliced strawberries. The second time around we used fresh raspberries. Oh yeah…one more thing. The second time around we used a few drops of raspberry sambucca in the sauce….great for an adult party!

Valentine’s Dessert

Okay…this was supposed to be a special recipe as it is number 200..

After dining out the other day at Piccoli Italian Restaurant in Merida, I thought I would do something a little different in honour of Valentine’s Day. (even though it is really just a Hallmark holiday).

Thinking of my granddaughter who loves to do desserts, I am sharing this beautiful dessert which requires FOUR ingredients and no cooking! Just need to go shopping…and you still have time before tomorrow!

Simple Tartufo

1 dozen chocolate truffles, dusted with cocoa

1 pint of fresh raspberries

1/4 cup raspberry or chocolate syrup

Mint leaves

Plate six truffles on a fancy plate. Put 4 to 6 berries around the plate. Drizzle with syrup. Top with one or two mint leaves.

NOTE – the original tartufo is a dessert with frozen ice cream in the centre, as noted in this reference from Wikipedia –

Tartufo is an Italian ice-cream dessert originating from Pizzo, Calabria. It is usually composed of two or more flavors of ice cream, often with either fruit syrup or frozen fruit — typically raspberry, strawberry or cherry — in the center. It is typically covered in a shell made of chocolate or cocoa, but cinnamon or nuts are also used.

Impossible Coconut Macaroon Pie

Impossible Coconut Macaroon Pie
When I was a kid the Philpott’s bread man used to come door to door. My favourite thing to buy were the coconut macaroon cookies. They still are. This recipe combines the memorable flavour with a simple to make pie.
½ cup Bisquick
¾ cup sugar
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 T butter
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour into a buttered square Pyrex dish.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until it is golden on the top.