lime – Page 8 – The Pajama Chef

Margarita Cupcakes

June 20, 2011June 19, 2011 Sarah

Ahh, summertime! As of this weekend, it finally has started to feel like summer to me. My summer classes are over and my only responsibilities this summer are my part-time job and my internship. Freeeeeedom!

And what better way to celebrate freedom than a baked version of a classic cocktail? I actually made these Margarita Cupcakes for a Cinco de Mayo party but am just now getting around to sharing the recipe here. These cupcakes were a hit in both taste and appearance. It’s a fun treat to bite into the “salted” rim and experience an explosion of lime flavor, thanks to real lime juice and margarita mix.

My version was non-alcoholic but you could easily make an adult version if you are so inclined. I’ve actually never [!] tried a real margarita–I’ve only had the virgin version, but after this tasty treat, I think that is going to have to change ASAP.

I must admit, before making these Margarita Cupcakes I was a tiny bit skeptical about all the lime flavoring and considered subbing lemon juice for the lime juice and using strawberry margarita mix instead of lime. But I am so glad that I didn’t, because of the use of lime is what really makes these cupcakes stand out. It has been my observation that limes seem to be one of the most under-rated and negleted citrus fruits, at least for baking purposes. Why is that? Perhaps they are just seen as the smaller, tarted cousin of the lemon, best used for garnish or a hint of flavor in Mexican cuisine. But no! Do not buy into the propaganda! I won’t anymore. Rest assured, these cupcakes have moved limes front and center in my radar and I’m sure you will be seeing their presence again soon. Enjoy!

Margarita Cupcakes [from The Brunette Foodie]
printable version

Ingredients:

for the cake:

1 – 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons super fine sugar [can be purchased or you can just pulse regular sugar in the food processor/blender to achieve the same result]
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
1 can of frozen lime margarita mix [thawed for about 15 minutes before using]
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice

for the icing:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon lime juice
4- 1/2 to 5- 1/2 cups powdered sugar
green food coloring
white or green sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill cupcake pan with 18-20 liners or grease with Crisco/butter, as desired.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Next, in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together egg whites, margarita mix, canola oil, and lime juice. Then, fold in dry ingredients until fully incorporated. Batter will be quite thin and runny.

Spoon mixture into prepared pans, filling liners about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before icing.

When cupcakes are cooled, make icing. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together cream cheese and butter on medium until well blended. Add powdered sugar in 1/3-1/2 cup increments, blending fully in between additions. Ways to decide how much powdered sugar to add depends on the desired level of sweetness as well as level of thickness. Add a little bit of green food coloring to dye the icing pale green. [Note: my food coloring was more of a yellow-green, not green-green.]

Then, pipe icing around the outer edge of the cupcake and sprinkle the sprinkles [ha!] over the icing. Then fill in the center. I used a Wilton 32 tip to ice these cupcakes but feel free to use whatever tip you like. Serve and enjoy!

Chicken, One Tablespoon Testosterone, Recipes

OTT: Lime-Soy Chicken

November 16, 2010November 18, 2015 Sarah

A delightfully easy, flavorful chicken dish… it’s always a hit!

This has become one of my favorite dishes. My wife first made it early in our marriage and it’s one of those recipes that’s stuck like oatmeal scone batter to a mixing bowl. It’s got three of my favorite flavors in it. I love citrus, so you’ve got lime. I love Asian flavors and soy sauce is excellent. And it’s got red pepper flakes for some kick, and I do love spicy food. But this isn’t too spicy, so don’t let that scare you off. Plus, you can always tweak it to your tastes. But anyhow, this is a rich in strong flavor dish that delights your sense of taste. Unfortunately, my latest attempt at it hardly delighted the sense of sight so there’s room for improvement. Presentation is perhaps my greatest culinary flaw. I suspect my wife would agree.

Lime-Soy Chicken

Servings: 4
Time: 20 minutes + time to marinate, at least 30 minutes or overnight
Print

adapted from an unknown magazine

Ingredients:

1/4 c lime juice
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c olive oil
1 t crushed red pepper
1/2 t cumin
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (unless for some reason you enjoy boning and skinning the chicken breasts yourself…which would make you weird)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl (except the chicken of course). Then marinate the chicken in it for at least 30 minutes to an hour, although I’m a big fan of overnight marinating. The more the time those flavors have to absorb into the meat, the better. Now it’s time to fire up your grill (or you could just broil it in the oven). When it’s ready, place your flavor-infused chicken breasts on the grill and cook. Unless you’re using a George Foreman (which at this time of year you should be…unless you live in the south or west in which case you can use the time waiting for your outside grill to fire up to contemplate what it would be like to experience the weather phenomenon most of us call “seasons”), turn the chicken after several minutes. When the sweet sweet juices run clear, your chicken is done. Remove from grill and enjoy. It can be served with any tasty vegetable such as fresh green beans or roasted potatoes. I served it most recently with a cilantro lime barley. This was basically just barley cooked in chicken broth, with lime juice and cilantro added. Also try adding bacon. I haven’t tried this, but bacon makes everything better so I don’t see how it could hinder this either.

Question of the Day: With Thanksgiving just around the corner, what’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Mine is turkey, covered in gravy. Mmmm… or really, anything covered in gravy, except cranberry sauce; that would just be gross. Side note: my wife hates gravy. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.

Main Dishes, One Tablespoon Testosterone, Recipes, Seafood and Fish

OTT: Citrus Tilapia

September 20, 2010December 8, 2015 Sarah

This is a guest post from my husband, Ben. Periodically, he has agreed to share some of his favorite recipes with you in a guest post column entitled One Tablespoon Testosterone, or OTT for short. Enjoy!

———-

Bonjour and bienvenue! This is my latest Monday night meal. With Sarah being on campus until 6, I take control of the kitchen on these days this semester. Well, since my lovely wife was ill the previous week, I wanted to make a “real” dinner this past Monday. So, in a brash display of something far shy of wisdom, I decided to make up my own recipe. I really like fish. I also really like citrus flavors, and my experience tells me that these two things fit together nicely. So I came up with the following.

Citrus Tilapia

Time: 15 minutes
Print

Ingredients:

tilapia filets (as many as needed to feed your family)
lime juice (roughly 1 T per filet)
lemon pepper (we have one that you grind, but approximately 1/2 t per filet for the marinade, and more to taste sprinkled on top)
orange zest (roughly 1/2 t per filet)
dried cilantro

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking dish with foil and cover lightly with cooking spray (you don’t have to use foil, but if you don’t definitely use cooking spray or grease the pan in some way). Place filets in baking dish. In small bowl combine lime juice, lemon pepper, and orange zest to make marinade. Brush the marinade onto the filets, coating evenly. I used the entirety of my marinade, but as long as they’re all well covered that’s what matters. Sprinkle lemon pepper and dried cilantro to taste on top of filets. Bake in oven for 9-11 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Serve with your choice of sides. I made a tasty salad and homemade fries! Eat until full, take a break, come back, and eat some more. Yum.

Salad to serve with Citrus Tilapia | thepajamachef.com — This is my salad (obviously). It’s made with romaine lettuce, red cabbage, carrots, dried blueberries, craisins, dried papaya and topped with two slices of orange, homemade croutons and poppyseed dressing.

Fries to serve with Citrus Tilapia | thepajamachef.com — These fries were baked in the oven for about ten minutes longer than the fish at the same temperature. They’re made from red potatoes coated in olive oil and sprinkled with lemon pepper and kosher salt. Excellent.

In lieu of a related question, I will ask what has been running around in my mind recently.

What would you do for a Klondike bar?

Personally, I would root for Michigan and the Patriots in the same weekend. Oh, the horrors! (As long as OSU isn’t playing Michigan. That’s pushing it. No food is worth that!)

Cakes, Desserts, Recipes

Lime Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Sauce

August 11, 2010June 4, 2015 Sarah

I found this recipe back in April and have been drooling over it ever since. However, I never had an occasion to make it. So I found one.

Lime Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Sauce — love these two together! color + flavor 🙂

The occasion? Sunday afternoon. 🙂

I hardly made any changes from the original recipe, with the main change being a swap from blackberries to raspberries for the sauce. Raspberries happened to be on sale and looked pretty, plus my husband had mentioned a hankering for them so I decided to go for it. And do not regret it one bit. Be sure to pop over to Smitten Kitchen to read the original recipe [even that one was adapted], because she gives some great tips and tricks to make this cake absolutely divine. The cake isn’t rich. Instead, it’s light and almost buttery in your mouth, which is perfect for a hot summer day. The tang of the lime and plain yogurt coupled with the sweetness of the berries is a fabulous contrast, and leaves you wanting more. And more. And more. I just had to have seconds. 🙂

Lime Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Servings: 8
Time: 60 minutes
Print

from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 cup plain unsweetened yogurt <— I used Dannon nonfat because it was all I could find, however, whole milk or 2% Greek is recommended in the original.
1/3 cup coconut oil <— vegetable or olive oil is recommended, but I loved the tropical flavor of coconut oil
zest of one lime
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon lime juice, divided [approximately 1 1/2 – 2/3 limes]
2 eggs
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces fresh raspberries
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use cooking spray to grease a 9″ springform pan. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yogurt, oil, sugar, lime zest, and lime juice.

In a second smaller bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. Add eggs, one at a time, to the yogurt mixture, whisking well in between. Then, sift the flour mixture into the batter. This will make the batter so light and fluffy! Stir gently with a wooden spoon until combined.

Pour batter into pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. [Recommended time was 35-40 minutes; mine was done in 32.] Cool in pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then remove side of springform pan and cool until serving.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a food processor, combine raspberries, water, sugar, and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Purée until smooth. Drizzle over cake before serving [if you will be eating the whole cake in one sitting… not you yourself, but the collective you! :)], or drizzle over individual pieces.

Notes:

So my cake fell in the center. See? I’m not entirely sure the cause of this, but it may be due to the coconut oil, the heat [110 heat index, anyone?!], my wonderful *sarcastic* apartment oven, etc. It definitely was cooked all the way through and my ingredients are not old. Any other ideas? It still tasted great though.