Strawberry Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on July 11, 2010 by kitchenbelle

I was a bit wary about the combination of strawberry and lime in a cupcake but I decided to give it a go anyway. What a fantastic surprise! The freshness of the two flavors is a winning combination! The lime flavor was not overpowering and really complemented the strawberries nicely. I kept these in the fridge just until serving time, which turned out to be a great move. I served them on one of these excruciatingly hot Boston days and the coolness of the cake and the frosting really enhanced the freshness of the flavors.  The cream cheese frosting continues to speak for itself.  If you haven’t tried it yet I have only two words: you must!

Here are some other recipes using cream cheese frosting. (I promise–your friends and family will thank you!)

Strawberry Lime Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1/2 pound (1 stick) butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pint fresh strawberries, chopped into bite size pieces
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (about one lime)
  • 1 teaspoon grated lime zest (about one lime)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Fill one cupcake pan with liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the vanilla, strawberries, lime juice, and lime zest into the mixture.

Fill the cupcake liners 1/2 – 3/4 full. Bake for 26-30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan for ten minutes and finish cooling on wire rack before frosting.

Adapted from recipe found in Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castella.

Filed under: cream cheese, cupcakes, Dessert, frosting, icing, strawberry | 9 Comments »

Chicken Picadillo

Posted on June 9, 2010 by kitchenbelle

I’ve been slacking a bit in the dinner department lately and I haven’t liked it one bit!  A combination of plans filling the last couple of Sundays, very hot weather that makes me a bit lethargic and less than eager to hang out behind the stove, and a myriad of other excuses have prevented me from doing my usual weekly shopping and meal planning.  Therefore, weeknight dinners have been pulled together by combining a little of this and a little of that.  

This weekend I decided enough was enough and we did our shopping on Saturday.  I filled the cart with all sorts of fresh fruits and veggies and outlined some meal ideas so that we could eat well for both lunch and dinner all week.  Man do I find that gratifying!

The thing about meal planning that I find tricky is I don’t love setting a strict schedule. Tuesday:  chicken Marsala, Wednesday: rice and bean burritos, Thursday: baked fish etc. makes me feel restricted and who likes that? I don’t like being pigeon-holed that way. Every time I have tried to do something along those lines I end up coming home from work not feeling like whatever it was that I had planned. I much prefer to set up some loose ideas at the start of the week and then just kind of “go with it” during the week. So that’s what I did!

I found this Chicken Picadillo recipe in Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook. While the methods and actual recipe instructions in this book aren’t exactly perfect, her ideas for fresh clean meals composed of wonderful flavors and ingredients are very inspirational.  And even more exciting is the fact that the photos in the book are stellar.

While I am sure this recipe is not a traditional picadillo (I wasn’t even sure what a picadillo was until I Googled it), it is a wonderful, hearty, delicious, and flavorful dinner. I made a few adaptations and I have included them in the recipe below. 

The garlic, peppers, cumin, and cilantro pack lots of fresh flavor punch. And the combination of fresh and canned tomatoes really boosted the texture freshness factor.

I served this over brown rice the first time we ate it and over baked potatoes the second time. (With the baked potato I added a small scoop of sour cream and a few extra tablepoons of fresh cilantro–wow was that a delicious dinner!)

Tip: I think grilled tofu would be a great vegetarian substitution for the chicken in this recipe!

Chicken Picadillo:

  • a few glugs of olive oil
  • 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts (If you have time marinate the chicken in some olive oil, a splash of vinegar and some salt and pepper before cooking. If not, rinse the breasts, pat dry and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a few dashes of ground cumin before cooking.)
  • 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 large red pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 large yellow pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 large orange pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1.5 Tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, each one sliced in half
  • 1 14.5 ounce can of chopped tomatoes with jalepenos (I like Delmonte brand)
  • 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

Cook chicken using your preferred method. Poaching or grilling both work well in this recipe. Once it is done cooking, cut into cubes.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add onion and peppers. Cook until soft.

Add chili powder, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Continue cooking until veggies reach desired texture (we like them a bit soft but still with a little crunch).

Stir in chicken cubes and stir until mixture is heated through. Stir in fresh cilantro.

Peppers, tomatoes and spices simmering

I love using my grill pan to cook chicken breast

Adapted from Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Cookbook.

Filed under: chicken, Main Dish, peppers, rice, tomato | 5 Comments »

Italian Style Baked White Fish with Flavorful Rice

Posted on May 12, 2010 by kitchenbelle

My husband requested some white fish for dinner and as always, I am happy to oblige his cravings! Baked white fish is one of my favorite meals so I looked forward to making this delicious weeknight dinner.

The basis of this fish recipe is something my mom has been making for years. It’s a favorite dinner of hers and mine and whenever dinner ended up just being the two of us, this is what she would make. I believe it is something my grandmother used to “throw” together when my mom was young. It is almost too simple to call a recipe, but I think it is definitely worth sharing. This is actually the first time I have made it and it came out almost as good as when my mom makes it! 

I decided to serve the fish with rice and roasted broccoli for a satisfying, colorful, healthy and complete meal.  Rather than plain old rice, I pumped up the flavor and nutrients by caramelizing some shallots and onions along with some fresh garlic and then fluffed it in to the cooked rice. (This is explained below.)   

Enjoy!

Italian Style Baked White Fish with Flavorful Rice:

  • 2 white fish filets, approx. 3/4 lb. each
  • 2.5 cups of water, chicken broth, or vegetable broth
  • 1 cup long grain brown rice, rinsed under running water
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
  • 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • 1  (14.5) ounce can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano (I like using Del Monte brand)
  • 2 fresh scallions (green onions), chopped

Bring the water or broth to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in rice. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes (or according to package directions).

Meanwhile, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small saute pan over low heat. Add the onion, shallot, and garlic and cook over very low heat.  (You can leave this mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, the entire time the rice is cooking. Doing so will really sweeten the onions and shallots bringing out their wonderful flavors.)

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a small mixing bowl combine Italian breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of olive oil, and fresh chives. Stir well. Rinse fish with cold water and pat until completely dry. Place fish in a glass baking dish.  Spread a thick layer of crumbs over the fish and pat them down.  Spoon the diced tomatoes over the fish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake fish uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until fish is done.  (How long you cook the fish will depend upon the thickness of the filet.) 

When the rice is done, fluff with a fork and use a wooden spoon to stir the onion mixture into the rice.  Stir in chopped scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve fish with rice.

Here I spread a thick layer of breadcrumbs over the fish.

Here I spooned the diced tomatoes over the breadcrumbs.

A Kitchenbelle.com original!

Filed under: chives, fish, Main Dish, rice, Side, tomato | 11 Comments »

Wild Rice Salad

Posted on April 22, 2010 by kitchenbelle

When I made the Mushroom and Wild Rice Casserole I wasn’t thinking straight! The recipe called for about 2 cups of cooked wild rice but I didn’t account for the fact that rice nearly triples its size when cooked. I ended up with quite a bit of extra cooked wild rice in my fridge. Not a problem, though, because I LOVE WILD RICE!

There was no way I was going to waste the extra so I did some online searching for a quick and easy wild rice salad recipe and I was immediately drawn to this recipe on Simply Recipes.

Until Kelly mentioned it, I had no idea that Wild Rice is a “Minnesota thing.” When I served this salad to my family, my brother-in-law, who is also from Minnesota, was quite vocal about how much he loved this salad! He had no idea about my infatuation with wild rice and said if he had known, he would have asked his dad to bring some out with him this weekend. Unfortunately, his dad had already departed Minnesota so I won’t be tasting any authentic Minnesota wild rice any time soon!  Next time Ed! 🙂

In my opinion, the quality that makes this salad so great is the texture. There is quite a bit of satisfying crunch.

Remember to chop each component to uniform size so that each bite includes a little bit of each ingredient. You don’t want one bite to contain nothing but a giant chunk of celery and the next bite to contain a giant piece of green onion. (I talk more about the importance of chopping uniformly here.)

Each bite should contain a little bit of everything. Doing so allows for each bite to be a little dance party in your mouth!  The peas pop, the pine nuts snap, the celery crunches (and so on) and they are all united by the chewy grains of wild rice. Oh the fun! 🙂

Wild Rice Salad:

  • 2-3 cups cooked wild rice
  • 3/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 4 stalks celery, finely chopped
  • 4-6 green onions (scallions), finely chopped
  • 1 cup frozen peas*
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/4 -1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2-4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 teaspoons sugar

In a medium bowl combine rice, dried cranberries, celery, green onions, frozen peas, and pine nuts. Use a wooden spoon to gently combine.

In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss gently to evenly distribute dressing. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.

*If you plan to serve this dish immediately, use thawed peas. If you are storing overnight in the fridge, frozen peas will defrost by the time you serve.

Adapted from this recipe found on Simply Recipes.

Filed under: Appetizer, gluten free, Main Dish, pine nuts, salad, Side, VEGETARIAN | 10 Comments »

Yellow Cake with Quick Vanilla Frosting

Posted on April 21, 2010 by kitchenbelle

As I mentioned, my husband ran the Boston Marathon on Monday and I am incredibly proud of him!

This was his first marathon and he ran with the Dana Farber team as part of the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC).  He raised more than $5,000 towards Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research.

While I didn’t participate in the weekly Dana Farber team runs or the training sessions with 1976 Boston marathon winner (now coach) Jack Fultz, I did meet him and other team members here and there and I did attend the pasta party on Sunday evening prior to the race.

I cannot say enough about this organization. I am incredibly impressed and inspired by what a wonderful group of kind individuals that they are. The pasta party was perfectly touching and inspiring. It felt like we (well, really my husband) and all of the other runners really made an impact and contributed toward the group’s goal of a world without cancer. I left the evening feeling touched, emotional, uplifted, and inspired.

Race day was GORGEOUS! There was such a wonderful BUZZ in the city. My husband did incredibly well and cheering for him was so exhilarating. All of his hard work paid off. I am proud of his accomplishment and feel so lucky to live with someone who inspires me every day.

Now on to the cake!

As you know, I spend quite a bit of time researching new and creative cake recipes/flavors/frosting combinations, sometimes to the point where my head feels like it is going to explode! (Remember how hard it was for me to decide what I should make for my nephew’s birthday cake?  And remember when I could not for the life of me settle on which  fruit-flavored cupcakes I should make?) What’s funny is whenever I ask my husband what kind of cake he wants the answer is always the same: yellow cake with vanilla frosting. I always dismiss it thinking it is too plain and too simple. 

This time, however, I didn’t even ask. This cake was in honor of his tremendous commitment to fundraising and training and if he likes plain on plain, that is what he should get!

Of course, I didn’t want it to be too plain. So, even though I usually try not to make a habit of eating or serving fluorescent-colored foods, I went out on a limb here and matched the frosting to the Dana Farber team shirts.

This isn't my husband--this photo is taken from the DF site.

Like the race, the cake was successful. It was moist and simple.  The key to the frosting is the perfect balance of milk and sugar. (I think this batch of frosting actually turned out a tad dry–it needed a touch more milk.) 

What a wonderful occasion it was for cake, celebration, and time with family!

Yellow Cake:

  • shortening
  • 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
  • 1/2  cup  butter
  • 8 oz.  sour cream
  • 1 1/2  cups  granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 2  cups  all-purpose flour
  • 1  teaspoon  baking soda
  • 1/2  teaspoon  salt
  • 3/4  cup buttermilk

 Rub shortening on the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans.  Sprinkle with flour.  Set aside.

Combine 1/2 cup butter and sour cream in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add sugars and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs; beat 2 minutes or until well blended.

Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sharply tap pan once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350 F for 27-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.

Quick Vanilla Frosting:

  • 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 5-6 cups of confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • 1/2 cup milk (more or less depending on desired texture)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • a pinch of salt

Whip the butter in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Slowly add confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, while the mixer is on low. Add milk a few splashes at time until desired consistency is achieved. Add vanilla and salt and mix until fully incorporated.

Filed under: cake, Dessert, frosting, icing, vanilla | 9 Comments »

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