Posts tagged desserts

i have to say that key lime pie worked out pretty darn well. it was delish and the whipped cream was bitchin. I also made a coconut ginger lemon tofu stir fry thing with rice for dinner, plus some roasted beets. dude: roast a beet. they are very yummy and extra flavorful.the tofu stir fry was good, but next time, i’m going to stir fry the tofu first so it isn’t so squishy, and maybe add some more spicy stuff to make the whole thing a little more kickin

Coconut Tofu with Ginger and Lemongrass

• 1 pound firm tofu, drained and cu t into 1/2″ cubes
• 2 tablespoons oil, divided
• 8 shallots, thinly sliced, or 1 small white onion (lolz do you think i can buy a shallot? eff a shallot)
  
• salt and pepper
• 1 bunch cilantro, the leaves plus a little of the stems, coarsely chopped and divided in half
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons lemongrass, finely minced, or grated zest of 1 lemon (I used zest of lemon)
  
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced (I used tinned jalapeños)
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk, plus water to make 2 cups
• soy sauce, to taste (I used about a tablespoon)

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet, add shallots, and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Season with a little salt, then add half the cilantro. Remove from heat and set aside.
Heat a wok along with the remaining tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Add ginger, lemongrass, and jalapeno. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, then add coconut milk/water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, add tofu, and simmer gently until the sauce has thickened a bit, about 10 minutes. Add soy sauce, season with pepper, then stir in shallot mixture and remaining cilantro. Serve over rice.

so i’m gonna make some now, and hopefully it will have chilled enough by after dinner times. here is the thing though eff a key lime i am going to be using whichever limes present themselves to me. i hope that’s okay with everyone. this is the basic recipe i will be using.

For crust

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs from 9 (2 1/4-inch by 4 3/4-inch) crackers
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh or bottled Key lime juice (if using bottled, preferably Manhattan brand)

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch (4-cup) glass pie plate.

Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack. Leave oven on.

Make filling and bake pie:
Whisk together condensed milk and yolks in a bowl until combined well. Add juice and whisk until combined well (mixture will thicken slightly).

Pour filling into crust and bake in middle of oven 15 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools), then chill, covered, at least 8 hours.

HAHAHHA WHEN YOU SAY 8 HOURS I HOPE YOU MEAN LIKE TWO HOURS MAYBE CUZ THATS WHAT IS HAPPENING. KOOL THANKS BYE!

So yesterday my brother Patrick and I decided to make dessert. I had already made a dinner which went over fairly well but now i wanted to make dessert. i had a recipe for poached peaches which looked ballin as fuck and I was very excited. Desfortunato, some motherfucker ate all the peaches in my house, so we decided to go instead for pears. After all, people poach pears all the time. It is practically the official hobby of people born before the Great War.

Overall, it’s not like the poached pears were gross, but they were pretty disappointing in the flavor department.  but I will briefly summarize here the recipe I used and what I think went wrong.

Basically

• 3 pears, peeled, halved and deseeded
• 3 cups water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, or honestly however much you fucking want
• 1 tsp or so cinnamon (I used a cinnamon stick. I do not know how these are different, measurement-wise)
• 1 tsp nutmeg

So you boil your water, dump your pears in there, add the spices and let it simmer for like 12-15 minutes. The pears I used were not so ripe, which is probably not a great idea. Definitely go for ripe pears. Also, you could probably use less water. Overall, the pears did not have a lot of taste, but if you are into things that taste bland or you are elderly, go for it.

The real issue came with my attempt to make a lil creme anglaise to put on top. The recipes I looked at recommended whipped cream on top of pears and I said, hm that sounds great but I don’t have cream, I only have milk (only skim milk too so that’s awkward). So whipped cream is out, and honestly creme anglaise should be ruled out too, but like I am not afraid of substituting ingredients so I decided to be brave. I looked up  a recipe for low fat creme anglaise. I will copy it out here for you, it’s from gourmetbetty.com (idk man)

• 2 Large egg yolk
• 2 Tbs Cornstarch
• 5 Tbs Sugar
• 2 Cups skim milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla Paste

1. Warm up the milk in either a microwave save bowl for about 2 minutes or on the stovetop until warm - do not boil.

2.  In a saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and the 5 Tablespoons sugar until think and pale yellow, about 2 minutes.

3. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and place saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer while slowly stirring sauce with wooden spoon.

4. Cook for about 4 minutes or until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the soon. Stir in the vanilla paste. Stirring frequently, do not leave unattended.

5. Pour sauce into bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming on the sauce, and refrigerate.

There are a few major differences between this and what I did. Number one, I did not have cornstarch, so I put in a little flour. Also, I halved the recipe since I only had a cup of milk handy. Also I didn’t have vanilla paste; I don’t know what the fuck that is. The whole thing ended up tasting approximately like a thinner tapioca pudding. It wasn’t so bad, but it’s not like it was really adding anything to the pears. I felt sort of boring and British eating my pears, and it wasn’t really worth the time I spent making them.