BBQ Halibut with Mango Salsa

I love summer! It is my absolute favorite time of the year - the sunshine, the bright colours, the warm air and the general feeling of happiness and lightness in the air. I love to transfer those colours and feelings onto my plate at meal time - anything bright, light and fun and I'm in! That's exactly what this dish is all about. Summertime on a plate!

BBQ Halibut with Mango Salsa
Recipe by A Tale of One Foodies Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:

Halibut:

• Two pieces of fresh halibut
• 1 tsp each: cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, ground coriander, sugar, salt and pepper

Salsa:

• 1/2 an avocado, diced
• 1 mango, diced
• 1 small jalapeño, diced
• 3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 4 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tsp olive oil

Salad:

• Arugula
• Sprouts (any kind will do)
• Pea shoots
• a handful of tortilla strips
• juice of 1/2 lime
• drizzle of olive oil

Method:

1. For the halibut - preheat your grill. Sprinkle spice rub evenly over both sides of the halibut. Pat the spice rub into the fish. Grill seasoned halibut on the grill until just cooked through and remove from heat.
2. While the halibut is cooking, combine the salsa ingredients and stir well. Set aside to let the flavours marry.
3. Divide arugula, sprouts and pea shoots between two places. Drizzle with lime juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with tortilla strips. Top with grilled halibut and spoon salsa over liberally. Enjoy!

What's your summer cooking philosophy? Do you have a favorite meal that you only make during the summer? Feel free to share in the comments below. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Cooking!

Mango Lime Cheesecake

 I had originally planned to make this as part of the most recent Mom's Crazy Cooking Challenge, but didn't have time to get around to it in time for the posting date. My crazy study and exam schedule this summer has really been putting a damper on my blogging efforts! However, I finally got around to making this recipe and just had to share it with you! It's delicious, decadent and flavourful with such a lovely balance of flavours. You simply must try this cheesecake out. :)

I have heavily adapted the recipe from the cookbook No More Secrets - Recipes from the Cow Bay Cafe. Her recipe made a huge cheesecake and had a whole load of cream cheese in it. So I adapted it to be my version of her amazing recipe. The results were spectacular and you must try this recipe out and soon. You won't be sorry!

Mango Lime Cheesecake
Recipe heavily adapted from No More Secrets

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 yolk from large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Batter:

• 3 x 250ml cream cheese (I used low fat)
• heaped 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 can mango pieces, drained except for two tbsp of the juice
• zest and juice from one lime

Topping:

• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• zest and juice of 1 large lime

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper.
2. For the crust: place all crust ingredients in the food processor. Pulse until mixture comes together and is crumbly, but not clumping. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan and a little way up the sides.
3. For the batter: Place the cream cheese (cube it up) in the bowl of the food processor, add sugar, eggs, mango pieces and reserved juice, lime zest and juice. Pulse until the mixture is smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides a couple of times. Pour the batter over the crust, then put the pan on a cookie sheet and into the preheated oven. Bake for one hour. The cheesecake is done when it is light brownish around the edges, slightly puffed in the pan and a little wobbly when the pan is shaken gently. The top should be rather dull looking in the middle (if it's shiny, it is not done).
4. For the topping, mix together sour cream, lime zest and juice until the sugar is well dissolved.
5. Spread the topping mixture on the still-hot cheesecake and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for six hours.

This is one of the easiest cheesecakes ever! You don't have to fuss with a water bath because the topping hides cracks in the top and because you don't have to use a waterbath, you don't have to bake on such a low temperature (read - low temp takes forever to bake!!). Pretty rare to find a baked cheesecake that will be outta the oven in an hour! Try it out peeps, you'll love it.

What have you been up to lately? Anything exciting? Do share!! Until then, happy baking my friends!

Ancho-Marinated Pork & Mango Skewers

Hi friends! I recently remembered I have a blog and I haven't updated it much (other than mandatory posts) in the last little while. ;) I thought I would show you what I've been up to and share my favorite recipe that I tried while I was back home in Northern British Columbia visiting my family. It was a big hit all around! My favorite dinner was Ancho-Marinated Pork and Mango Skewers. I found the recipe in the Best of Fine Cooking magazine's Summer Eats 2012 issue (there are sooooo many good recipes in there so best to check it out if you haven't already! Its well worth the 12 bucks!).

My favorite part about this recipe was learning to barbeque! My hubby always mans the BBQ when we are home, but since he didn't come up north with me, and it was just my Mom and I out at their cabin, I had to "man up" and figure out how to light the BBQ and do the grilling. Surprise, surprise, it went just fine! And I was pretty darn proud of myself for figuring it out. :)

Ancho-Marinated Pork and Mango Skewers
Recipe from The Best of Fine Cooking Summer Eats 2012

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp olive oil and more fore the grill
• 2 tsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tsp ancho chile powder
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• kosher salt
• 1 lb pork tenderloin trimmed and cut into one inch cubes
• 2 medium ripe mangos, peeled, pitted and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 6 metal skewers
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the orange juice, lime juice, olive oil, sugar, ancho chile powder, garlic, red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the pork, toss to coat, cover and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to 4 hours (I did two hours and it was plenty).
2. Thread the pork and mango cubes onto the skewers, alternating them and beginning and ending with a piece of pork. Each skewer should have about 5 pieces of pork and four pieces of mango.
3. Heat BBQ to medium heat and rub down with a paper towel dipped in oil o grease the grill. Cook the skewers, turning once or twice, until the meat is nicely browned on the outside but still slightly pink in the center, about 8 minutes per skewer (may vary depending on the temp of your grill). Serve garnished with the cilantro if desired.

I served mine over an avocado and blackberry salad dressed with a roasted garlic dressing and some yummy feta cheese!

While I was up north visiting family, I got put to work. Turns out my timing was perfect and I was in time for haying! So I drove the tractor, slung some hay bales and otherwise worked my butt off!

I also got to hang out with my momma lots (and Dad too, but he had to work while I was there, so didn't get to spend as much time with him)!

We had some sweet camp fires out at the cabin at the lake in the evenings and even made S'Mores a coupla times. Let me tell you - we discovered some delicious chocolate to use in S'mores - one was a coconut & toasted almond milk chocolate bar and the other was a dark chocolate with sea salt. Both were spectacular, but definitely the favorites of the week!

Also got to take in a hike with my sister and my cousin! It was a great hike to Clearwater Lake & Upper Clear Water lake. Somewhere I had never hiked before. What a beautiful lake! And a beautiful day too.

And finally, I just got some time to sit and relax and enjoy the sunshine. It was a much needed break and was so lovely that my parents shared their beautiful place at the lake with me. We laid out on the dock and soaked up some rays!

 And also enjoyed some of the beautiful evenings!!

Thats all I have for you today! But stay tuned for a super special post tomorrow. I have something really neat and delicious to share with you. :)

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Carmelized Mango Buttercream

I tend to like to stick to recipes that are pretty easy - not too many steps, not too many ingredients and not too labour intensive. I'm impatient and fairly lazy, so easy recipes are definitely where its at for me. I did make an exception when I bought Bobby Flay's new cookbook "Bobby Flay's Throwdown". This is a cookbook full of labour intensive, all-out recipes! Bobby shares the Throwdown stories and really lets you get to know both himself and the competitors... The cookbook is really well done! And of the few recipes I've tried out of the cookbook, they've all been show stoppers.

When I started making these cupcakes, I didn't really realize how labour intensive they are. They are not a quick easy batch of cupcakes to whip up, but boy are they good! Definitely a great treat to sit down to after all that hard work!!! They're moist with an extra ginger zing added by infusing a simple syrup with fresh ginger. So yummy! The mango buttercream was really interesting. As you can see from the recipe below, they call it buttercream for a reason - it is chock full of butter. Perhaps a bit too buttery for my taste, but pretty neat with the carmelized mango added in. Try out this recipe when you want to pull out all the stops and really impress someone you care about. :)

On to the recipe!

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Carmelized Mango Buttercream

Recipe from Bobby Flay's Throwdown

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 3-inch piece fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
• cooking spray
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbsp molasses

Carmelized Mango Buttercream Ingredients:

• 2 cups, plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, slightly softened, but still cool, cut into small pieces
• 2 ripe mangos, coarsely chopped
• 6 large egg yolks
• cooking spray
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup finely diced candied ginger, for garnish

Method:

1. To make the cupcakes, combine the granulated sugar, fresh ginger, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the sugar has melted and the mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let infuse for 30 minutes. Then strain the ginger syrup before using.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and spray the liners with cooking spray.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a medium bowl.
4. Whisk the melted butter, oil, brown sugar, eggs, and molasses together in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.
5. Fill each paper liner with 1/3 cup of the batter, to come about 1/4 inch below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the tops liberally with the ginger syrup. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing. Let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
6. To make frosting, heat the 2 tbsp butter in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the mangos and cook until carmelized and soft (watch them carefully - they will burn easily at this high temperature), about 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth. Pass the mixture through a medium-mesh strainer into a bowl. Discard the solids.
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks on high speed until creamy and pale yellow, about 5 minutes.
8. Spray a heatproof measuring cup with cooking spray. Combine the sugar and corn syrup in saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat. Cook without stirring until syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238F- 242F on a candy thermometer. Immediately pour into measuring cup to halt the cooking.
9. Add a small amount of the syrup to the beaten egg yolks, turn the mixer on to high speed, and beat for about 5 seconds. Continue stopping the mixer, adding syrup and beating in the same manner until all the syrup is incorporated. Beat the mixture until it is completely cool.
10. Add the remaining 2 cups butter, a few pieces at a time, beating until incorporated before adding the next pieces. When all the butter ha been blended in, add the vanilla and mango puree and beat until combined.
11. Frost the top of each cupcake liberally with the buttercream, and garnish with candied ginger.

Whew!!! What a load of work, but so delicious. Please don't eat the whole batch by yourself... I doubt you will feel very well if you do... and even if you're still able to walk, you probably won't be able to get dressed because your clothes won't fit you any more!

How is that for a weeknight post folks? Hope you enjoyed and it added some sweetness to your week! Woohoo for tomorrow being Friday! Hang in there!

Happy Baking my Friends!