For some reason I was feeling very homesick for Ireland this morning. And since cooking and baking make excellent therapeutic activities, I hit the kitchen. I had some strawberries on hand and thought about the time I made strawberry cupcakes for a Breast Cancer fundraiser on the Emerald Isle!  Only I used Wexford Strawberries, the world’s best strawberries in my opinion.  However, even if I didn’t have the juiciest, sweetest and most flavorful strawberries in the world, I could just imagine I did!

Wexford Strawberry Cupcakes

Cupcake ingredients:

1 ½ cups (220 g) regular flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

Fresh Strawberries pureed to get 1/3 cup (70 g)

¼ cup milk (50 ml) room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup (114 g or 4 oz =1 stick) unsalted butter

at room temperature

1 cup (215 g) caster sugar

1 large egg + 2 large egg whites

*buttercream ingredients to follow

Instructions:

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl mix together the strawberry puree, milk, vanilla. Set aside.

In an electric mixing bowl (using the paddle attachment) beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar gradually. When combined and nice and light, turn off the mixer and scrap down the sides.

Then on slow speed gradually add the eggs. Stop and scrap the sides again.

Add ½ of the flour mixture, when blended add the liquid mixture. Stop and scrape the sides again before adding the remaining flour mixture.

Put the batter into a paper lined cupcake tin using an ice cream scooper.

Bake for approx 20 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely in tin before putting frosting on top of the cupcakes.

 

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

3 Tbsp strawberry puree

1 cup (8 oz) 227 g (which is = 2 sticks) unsalted butter

pinch of salt

3 ½ cups (480 g) sifted icing sugar (also called confectioners powdered sugar)

½ tsp vanilla extract

drop of pink food coloring (optional)

Instructions:

Beat the butter and salt until creamy in an electric mixer with paddle attachment.

Gradually add the icing sugar and scrape down the sides from time to time.

When the sugar is all incorporated add the strawberry puree and vanilla. Beat until just mixed and smooth, but don’t over beat. If using add the food coloring and mix through.

Spread the buttercream on the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

While these may not have the depth of flavor without the use of Wexford Strawberries, they are still delicious.  Hubby ate two in no time at all!  And since I don’t need the 14th of February to come around to celebrate hearts and all things LOVE, I decided to go with a very loving themed decor. Because I love Ireland so much!

Strawberry Fields Forever Love,

YDP

P.S. This is me, with the tri color flag through my heart!

It is heading towards a year now that I have had this blog going.  Hard to believe!  One of the key aspects starting out was to keep things balanced. Well, I have a lot of making up to do! As I said on my ABCs of YDP, I want to keep a balance of “naughty” and “nice” recipes.  And if you do the numbers, I am weighing more heavily on the naughty than nice in the SWEETS section.  I’m doing ok in the SAVORY aspect, just to give myself a little positive reinforcement.

So this recipe is to make amends!  It is sugar free, dairy free and gluten free. But it is not free from fantastical flavors!  It is simple to make and very creamy and delicious.  You can jazz it up to your own tastes.  I made this for the “CookreelTV” takeover of their snapchat account this past Thursday.  I posted the recipes for the Raspberry Chicken and Rice Pilaf that were the main course, but I wanted to share this one on its own.  Why?  Just to highlight its specialness and to remind myself to bust out more of my “nice” (meaning good for you) dessert recipes.

Ingredients:

4 ripe bananas, peeled and wrapped in plastic wrap

handful of toasted pecans, crumbled

2 Tbsp maple syrup

½ cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp Sea salt (optional)

sprinkle cinnamon

Drizzle of Irish Highbank Organic Orchard Syrup

Instructions:

1. Freeze wrapped bananas over night. Alternatively you can slice them and place on a tray lined with parchment paper and freeze at least 3 hours.

2. Using a food processor fitted with a metal blade, blend frozen bananas, almond milk, vanilla, and  2 Tbsp maple syrup, until completely smooth.

3. Transfer to 4 bowls and garnish with pecans. Sprinkle each with the cinnamon and sea salt if using.  Then drizzle with Highbank Organic Orchard syrup. If you have  baked Apple Chips you can use as garnish as I have in the picture. Serve while singing the Banana Boat Song (aka Day-O)!

Because I like to do themed musical accompaniment when I do cooking tutorials, I chose a fruit theme for my Cookreel TV snapchat takeover.  I started with Tutti Fruity from Little Richard and made a Carmen Miranda headdress with emojis, and played loads of other fun fruit tunes.   I ended with the Banana Boat song to go along with this dessert.

But what I didn’t say was that I have met Harry Belefonte, the lovely man who made the song famous. He happened to be the grandfather of one of my students when I taught preschool in L.A. Each year we hosted an event and invited just the grandparents to spend the day with their grandchildren at the school.  Being that it was L.A., we often had celebrities there.   I must say of the many who attended over those years,  Mr. Harry Belefonte was quite the gentleman. I really loved meeting him.  And I adored teaching his little Maria who must be in university by now. Wow how time flies!  Which is why we need to appreciate every DAY-O!

Bananas in LOVE,

YDP

I’m sure you have all heard about how we should be getting our 5 a day fruit servings.  But in our busy lives we might forget. Our breakfast is cereal and milk, lunch is a ham and cheese toasted sambo, and by dinner we think, ah sure what the heck let’s just have a chipper. For my non Irish friends that means going to a local take away and having fish and chips. But I have a plan for you to get your daily fruit serving in one fell swoop at dinner!

I had the wonderful fortune of being asked to do a “takeover” of CookReelTV’s  Snapchat account yesterday.  It will only be up for 24 hours but check them out (@cookreel) as they have great ongoing cooking tutorials.  I did a menu that was quite fruity.  I had some Aperol/Proseco/Orange Liquid Libations, and a couple of easy nibbles. One was a watermelon and feta cheese skewer sandwiched at the ends with a fresh mint leaf and a blueberry.  Add a sprinkling of pepper and drizzle of balsamic vinegar and it is a fresh fruit explosion!  I also demoed my Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with Goat’s Cheese, for which I have a simple but fun YouTube tutorial if you’d like a peak (click here). But instead of a Balsamic Reduction Sauce on the side, I drizzled Pomegranate Molasses on top for extra fruity flavor.

For the main course I did my fav Raspberry Chicken with a side of Rice Pilaf and Roasted Asparagus. Super easy and delish!  Okay so I use a bit of butter and a touch of cream in the sauce, but other than that it is completely lovely and also gluten free!  And I love my salads so I served a mixed leaf green salad with some fresh sliced nectarines and toasted pine nuts tossed with a light vinaigrette.  So if you find you have ended your day with out some Fruitii-Tutti in your life, give this concept a whirl!

Raspberry Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flattened

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup onion, chopped

4 tbsp raspberry vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp canned crushed tomatoes (called Passata in this part of the world)

1 cup fresh raspberries, plus more for garnish

Salt and pepper to taste

Flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

1. Melt butter in the skillet. Season chicken breasts with a bit of salt and pepper and cook for about 3 minutes per side or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet and keep warm.
2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook covered over low heat until tender (about 15 minutes)

3. Add the vinegar to the skillet with the onions and raise the heat cooking uncovered (stirring occasionally) until vinegar is reduced to a syrupy spoonful.

4. Whisk in the chicken stock, cream and crushed tomatoes and simmer for 1 minute. Return the chicken breasts to the skillet and gently simmer in the sauce basting often. Cook until the chicken is done and sauce is reduced and thickened (about 5 minutes).

5. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Add the raspberries to the sauce and cook over low heat for 1 minute. Do not stir the berries with the spoon, just swirl them in the sauce.

6. Serve the chicken on a plate with the sauce along with the rice pilaf (recipe below) and a nice green veg like roasted asparagus. Garnish with flat leaf parsley.

 

Rice Pilaf

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

1 medium yellow onion, minced

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 cups of chicken broth

3/4 cup basmati rice

1/4 cup spaghetti sticks, broken into 1-1 1/2 in pieces (I used gluten free spaghetti)

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preparation

Heat oil and butter together in a large skillet. Add onions and cook 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper. Add rice and spaghetti, stirring to combine with garlic and onions. Cook for 2-3 minutes until rice and pasta begin to lightly brown. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once the liquid is boiling, turn heat down to simmer and cover, cooking for 15-20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add a pinch of salt and pepper if needed. Fluff the cooked rice mixture and add chopped parsley.

To finish things off nice and fruity-licious, I also did an easy sugar, dairy and gluten free Banana Boat Dessert.  I’ll post that recipe separately.  But it is delicious and nutritious.  Plus it is a great way to get rid of ripe bananas that doesn’t consist of putting on the oven for a banana bread. I love my baking but it is hot as blazes here in London and so nice to have a sweet treat option that cools you down a bit!

Thanks again to CookReelTV for the opportunity to share some great recipes, even if I did so with some bad singing and dancing.  But sure we had fun over here!  Maybe not my doggie Stella though!  You can watch me on Snapchat (my username is blissbakery) for more food adventures.  All done with LOVE of course!

Fruity LOVE,

YDP

P.S. The top photo was taken by my daughter @inherchucks and the Raspberry Chicken is slightly adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

 

It is summer, and of course one would expect some heat and sun.  But when you live in L.A. it is hot and sunny 24/7/365! Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration but it is true that there aren’t normal seasonal delineations. Hence a decade goes by and you wonder what the heck just happened?  Living in Dublin for 7 years I am able to recall each year in more detail as the weather has punctuated these memories. Ironically, summers in Dublin can often be colder and rainier than other months. Who could forget the great quote from the book Marley and Me when they are traveling in Ireland, “It is July and I can see my breath” ?

Well this year being in London for summer I must say that it is a scorcher!  Hot as blazes as I like to exclaim. Not that the actual temperature reflects it but it sure feels hot, heavy and still. Quite draining of energy even for our doggie Stella.  While most people are at their peak weight and fitness in the summer because they are wearing skimpier clothing, I feel like I am at my heaviest. But when it is super hot who feels like working out? And the saying, “move more, eat less” for a better figure doesn’t help when you feel like a beached whale gasping for a cool drink.

I also think that my body may be like some sort of wood that expands in heat, and then will contract again in the cold!  So thank God for all the cool, blousy sun dresses I still have from my days living in Southern California! They are coming in handy for me now! As are many of my salad recipes. That is all I am craving at the moment. And all this heat has kept my oven temporary off limits and my fresh fruit and veg rotation plentiful. Here is a new salad concept that I literally threw together in a snap. All the bits and pieces are tossed together and the best part is the salad holds well the next day, unlike many leafy green salads. I shared it on my Snapchat (username blissbakery) hence another reason I call it Salad in a Snap. But if you wanted to be more specific it is an Asparagus Salad.

Ingredients:

2 Bunches Asparagus, cooked and cut into pieces (you can grill, roast or steam the asparagus but make sure they aren’t over cooked, they need to have a bit of crunch to them)

2 Ears Fresh Corn, cooked and cut off the cob

1 Avocado (or more if you like), peeled, pitted and sliced

*1 Punnet of Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half

2 Spring Onions, sliced

Fresh Parsley, 1 big handful, chopped

Fresh Basil, several leaves, torn

Pine Nuts, 1 handful, toasted

Mixed Seeds, 2 Tbsp, toasted

Hard Goat’s Cheese, grated

Olive Oil

Sherry Vinegar

Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

 

*I used Orange Rapture tomatoes

 

• Toss first 10 ingredients in a large bowl (hold back a bit of avocado, basil, pine nuts, seeds and cheese to sprinkle on top for garnish)
• Drizzle with oil and vinegar to taste
• Season with salt and pepper to taste
• Garish top with extra avocado, basil leaves, sprinkle of cheese, pine nuts and seeds, and some grated cheese.

Hubby and I ate this as a main course salad as it was quite tasty and filling.  All the textures and flavors just work so well together. But certainly you could add some grilled shrimp or cooked chicken if you needed protein in it. This would also be nice as a side dish for a BBQ or steak dinner.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Burning up LOVE,

YDP

P.S. True and funny story, in L.A. the weather report is the same day in and day out, hot and sunny.  So news broadcasting companies got wise. They started employing ex Playboy Bunnies as Weather Girls. I won’t say meteorologist as I don’t think they actually majored in that field in university. But with their tight clothing, mountainous chests, and big blonde hair the viewership increased! And with catchy names like “Suzie Storm” or “Rebecca Rains” it only added to the authenticity! However, in order to protect the innocent I haven’t revealed their real stage names, just similar in style. LOL!