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Easter Lime Tart

partysugar — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 14:21:51 -0700

Yesterday I told you what I did with an excess of lime juice while making my Easter lime tart...but you may have been wondering, what about the lime tart? Well here it is! My original plan was to make a lemon meringue pie, but when I saw that my brother's kitchen lacked everything from a hand mixer to cookie sheets to a large mixing bowl, I realized such an extravagant dessert would have to wait. I still wanted something refreshing, light and citrusy, so I decided to come up with a simple variation of a lime tart meets key lime pie. The crust had to be graham cracker based and the filling blitzed in the blender (which ended up only half working). Overall the pie came out with a delicious lime flavor and smooth creamy texture. It's a simple recipe and a good one to have in your list of desserts, especially if you end up in a poorly stocked kitchen and are in need of a sweet treat. Read the recipe and read more

Easter Lime Tart
Modified from Food Network

For the crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
3/4 cup fresh lime juice
Drop of green food coloring
1 pound cream cheese, room temperature
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Grated zest of 1 lime
1 cup crema or creme fraiche
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 lime, thinly sliced, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Press into a 9-inch pie pan, making sure the sides and the bottom are an even thickness. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
For the filling: In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the lime juice, green food coloring, cream cheese and condensed milk.
Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the work bowl often. Add the lime zest and process to mix thoroughly.
Pour into the pie shell and place in the refrigerator.
In a bowl, using a whisk, beat the crema and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture over the top of the pie, creating peaks evenly over the surface.
Garnish with the lime slices. Cover and chill for 4 to 6 hours or overnight before serving.

PartySugar's Note: I had some free time and decided to get creative and practiced my piping with the creme fraiche topping.

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Come Party With Me: Fall Lunch - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:50:02 -0700

Every aspect of my Fall lunch features a quintessential ingredient that screams Autumn - including the specialty cocktail I'll be serving guests as they arrive.

Instead of making mimosas with fresh-squeezed orange juice, this refreshing recipe employs pear nectar. A splash of lime juice brings a delicious tartness to the concoction.

With the rich, cheesy butternut squash lasagna, I'll pour a dry rosé and sparkling water. To look at the pear mimosa recipe, read more.

Pear Mimosas
From Real Simple

Ingredients

2 bottles Champagne (or ginger ale), chilled
4 cups pear nectar
1 lime, cut into 8 wedges

Directions
For each serving, pour 3/4 cup of Champagne (or ginger ale) into a flute or wineglass and top with 1/2 cup of pear nectar. Squeeze and drop in 1 wedge of lime.

Serves 8.

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Say Cheese! Corn and Cotija Salad

partysugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:30:08 -0700

Cotija (pronounced co-tee-ha) is an aged, hard cow's milk cheese native to Mexico. It has a strong, salty flavor and firm quality that's ideal for grating or crumbling. Cotija is packaged and sold in blocks (or rounds) and sometimes comes pregrated. On the tongue, cotija is dry and grainy, thus it's employed to add texture to traditional Mexican dishes. To find out how I used it in this snappy corn salad, read more.

Cotija isn't much of a melting cheese, but the small shards stick to the corn kernels and provide a rich salty creaminess to this salad. Ancho chili powder packs a spicy punch, while lime juice gives a zesty tartness to the recipe. It's an excellent side to grilled steak and for a scrumptious and substantial lunch, serve over greens with avocado.

Corn and Cotija Salad
From Bobby Flay

Ingredients

8 ears fresh corn, silks removed, husk on, soaked in cold water 30 minutes
Canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup creme fraiche
2 limes, juiced and 1 zested
1 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup grated cotija cheese

Directions

Heat grill to high. Grill corn until charred on all sides, 10 or so minutes.* Take off the grill and remove the kernels with a sharp knife.
While you are cutting the corn, put a cast iron skillet on the grill to heat.
Add the corn and the remaining ingredients to the hot pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until creamy and heated through.

Serves 8.

*When I made this dish, instead of grilling it, I opted to roast the corn in the oven at 450°F for 30 minutes.

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Happy Hour: The Peony

partysugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:00:04 -0700

Listen up budding home bartenders! I've got an exciting new recipe for you to experiment with. Crafted by Danny Louie of San Francisco's Dosa, the Peony is an exotic mix of coconut milk, hibiscus syrup, fresh lime juice, and gin. The cocktail was created to mimic the flavors of the Indian cuisine served at Dosa. Don't be fooled by the thick pink appearance of this concoction. While it may resemble a strawberry milkshake, the taste and texture are more similar to a piña colada. The coconut milk coats the mouth likening a tropical beach vacation. The heavy lime aroma is tart and fresh, and the gin is only apparent on the smooth finish. In a word this cocktail is fabulous! I first enjoyed it at Nirvino's recent gin seminar and have plans to seek it out again soon.

For those of you who can't get to Dosa, but want to impress your friends with this drink (and mixology skills!) check out the recipe - there's also a video of Danny making it so read more.

The Peony from Nirvino on Vimeo.

The Peony
From Danny Louie of Dosa

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz. gin (recommended: Right gin)
1 oz. Hibiscus Masala Nectar (recipe below)
3/4 oz. sweetened coconut milk
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
2 drops orange flower water
1 kaffir lime leaf
1 bird's eye chili
lime zest, for garnish

Directions

Dry muddle Kaffir lime leaf and birds eye chili in a shaker tin.
Add all ingredients and ice.
Shake vigorously and double strain into a chilled champagne flute, neat.
Garnish with the fine zest of lime.

Makes 1 drink.

Hibiscus Masala Nectar
1 tsp black peppercorn
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp mustard seed
3 bird's eye chili
2 cups water
8 whole hibiscus
1 cup turbinado or raw sugar

Grind the first five ingredients in a spice mill. Then place in a small pan. Toast over low heat until fragrant.
Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil.
Add sugar and hibiscus and simmer for 15 min.

Let cool and strain before using.

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Come Party With Me: Annabelle's Birthday - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:50:27 -0700

Since many dogs will be in attendance at Annabelle's birthday party, hostess FabSugar will be sure to place several water bowls around her backyard. These will need to be refilled frequently and I've volunteered to make sure that each bowl has water.

There will be water (both sparkling and still) for the people, too, and endless batches of icy-cold blended margaritas. This recipe uses a mixture of freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice, resulting in a drink that is wildly tart. Don't bother using the most expensive tequila, an affordable tequila works better in margaritas. To look at the recipe, read more.

Iced Margaritas
From Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1/2 cup coarse salt
1/2 cup (about 4 limes) freshly squeezed lime juice, plus 1 lime cut in half for the glasses
2 tablespoons (about 1 lemon) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup triple sec
1 white tequila

Directions

Pour the salt onto a small plate; set aside.
Rub the outside rim of each glass with the cut lime. Dip each glass into the reserved salt; set aside.
Place lime juice, lemon juice, triple sec, and 3 cups ice in a blender, and puree on low speed until completely blended.
Add tequila and blend for 2 seconds. Pour margaritas into the reserved glasses, over ice, and serve immediately.

Serves 6.

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In Season: Sweet Limes

YumSugar — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:50:06 -0800

Although the assortment of produce seems to be more varied when the weather is warmer, I encountered an unusual fruit on a recent trip to the farmers market: the sweet lime. Also referred to as a Palestine sweet lime, the citrus fruit is native to India, where it's used medicinally to allay upset stomachs, nausea, and throat infections. It's still somewhat obscure in America, but the hardy lime, which blooms in Winter and Spring, has long been commercially grown in Vietnam, Egypt, along the Mediterranean coastline, and in states such as California and Florida. To learn how sweet limes get their yellow color, read more.

Generally, limes are picked while they're still green, but they actually turn yellowish in color when completely mature. Likewise, green sweet limes, while unoffensive, have yet to reach their full sweetness. Rather than having a high amount of sugar, the fruit contains less acid than ordinary limes, causing it to taste sweeter. Although the fruit's pale yellow flesh is praised for its mildness and palatability, some have described the fruit's taste as insipid due to its complete lack of tartness.

A few ways to use sweet limes:

Make sweet limeade, or add some to your ice water for a refreshing aroma.
Use the fruit's juice to make sweet lime-flavored granita.
Incorporate the fragrant peel into in a homemade marmalade.
Toss into a Winter fruit salad for an unusual bite.
Tone down your cocktails by using in place of sour limes.

If you've ever encountered sweet limes, how do you enjoy them?

Come Party With Me: Independence Day - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:45:03 -0700

On a hot day, there's nothing quite like a tall glass filled with a tart mojito. Although the drink was created in Cuba in 1943, it's now considered a classic cocktail by America's top bartenders.

Since it's one of my favorite Summer sips, I'm serving them at my Independence Day party. While there's plenty of variations, from cherry to mango, I'm serving the traditional rum, lime, and mint version. The party is sure to last several hours, so don't forget to stock up on beer, soda, and wine.

For the mojito recipe, read more.

Mojito
From Gourmet

Ingredients

1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 lime
3 sprigs mint
1.5 ounces light rum
soda water

Directions

Put the sugar in a highball glass, squeeze in the juice of 1/2 small lime, and toss in the squeezed lime shell.
Muddle for a moment with mint sprigs, add the light rum and handful of fine ice, fill with chilled soda, and relax.

Makes 1 drink.

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Pop Goes the Peach

YumSugar — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:15:37 -0700

With the overpowering aroma of stone fruit at the farmers market and a particularly warm weekend, I decided it was the ideal time to make one of my favorite summertime obsessions: Popsicles. To keep it simple and showcase their pure deliciousness, I pureed peaches with tart lime juice and refreshing, home-grown pineapple mint. Because the peaches are perfectly ripe and juicy, you hardly need any sugar to sweeten the pops. If you aren't a peach person, consider another in-season fruit, like plums, cherries, or strawberries. Popsicles are irresistible on hot days, and the only way to beat the next heatwave is to keep reading.

Happy Hour: Mai Tai

YumSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:00:47 -0700

One of the best seminars I attended at last weekend's Aspen Food & Wine Classic was a cocktail class that focused on tropical cocktails. The lesson was led by Julie Reiner, the owner and bar genius behind such Manhattan hotspots as the Flatiron Lounge, Pegu Club, and the Clover Club.

Julie started off by giving us a primer on one of America's favorite drinking pastimes, the tiki bar. America's unique tiki culture owes much of its history to a San Francisco pioneer by the name of Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. - perhaps better known to the rest of the country as Trader Vic.
Trader Vic created many of tiki's classic concoctions - among them, the Scorpion and the Fog Cutter - but is most famous for the Mai Tai, a world-famous liquid vacation that combines the tartness of lime with the sweetness of orgeat and the caramelized molasses flavor of dark rum. See Trader Vic's tried-and-true recipe when you read more.

Trader Vic's Classic Mai Tai
From Julie Reiner

Ingredients

2 ounces aged rum
3/4 ounce orange curaçao, preferably Marie Brizard
1/4 ounce Monin Almond Syrup, or other orgeat
3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce dark rum
Parasol, lime wheel, and mint sprig, for garnish

Directions

Shake aged rum, orange curaçao, orgeat, and lime juice in a shaker with ice.
Strain contents into a lowball glass filled with fresh ice.
Top with 1/4 to 1/2 ounces dark rum.
Garnish with a lime wheel, sprig of mint, and a parasol.

Serves 1.

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Happy Hour: 2008 St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc

YumSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:00:52 -0700

Generally speaking, I love red wines as much as whites, but summertime is the one season when I have a preference for white wine. Few things surpass the gratification of sipping a smooth, crisp, cool white while basking under the warm sunshine.

St. Supéry's 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc ($18) is exactly what I'm talking about. Perfect for pairing with picnic foods like roasted beet salad, grilled vegetable muffalettas, or provoleta, this pale, straw-colored Sauvignon Blanc has notes of lime, grass, tropical fruits, and pear. It ends with a tart, clean finish.

Do you find yourself drinking more Sauvignon Blanc during warm weather? Have you ever tried St. Supéry's version?