I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to try a couple of recipes for Halloween: a dessert and a cocktail. With the dessert done, all that’s left is the drink. Like the Beeswax-Infused Parsnip Candle Cakes recipe, this Full Moon Martini isn’t necessarily a Halloween drink, but I thought it fit the theme. It also promises to be easy to make, which is perfect for a Halloween party. Or any party, really, but I’m sticking with the theme. So let’s find out if it tastes as good as it looks!
The perfect martini recipe for entertaining and so easy to make!
Recipe Author: Joanna Hawley-McBride & Claire McAleese at Jojotastic Get the recipe
The Ingredients
This recipe starts with a list of needed equipment, and I appreciate that! I was able to bundle it in with my ingredient shopping, and that made it so convenient.
And it turned out that I had all the equipment needed but only the sugar as far as ingredients. But that was no problem. A quick trip to the liquor store for a bottle of vodka and a stop for the coconut cream and blackberries, and I was ready to go. Or freeze. The ice cubes have to be made first.
In between shopping for the ingredients and making this recipe, I found some white sparkling sugar sprinkles in my pantry. I decided to use them instead of plain sugar because they had a really pretty glittery look.
Vodka, blackberries, coconut milk, water, and sugar
The Process
This recipe is short, but it has 2 parts: The ice and the cocktail. Obviously, I had to start with the ice, and I did it the day before I planned to make the cocktail. It says you can use it after 5-6 hours, so it would have been possible to make the ice and cocktail on the same day if I started it early enough. I’m just not that ambitious in the morning.
Making the “Full Moon” Ice Spheres
I try to use large ice cubes in my cocktails because they melt slower than the wedges my ice maker dispenses (it really makes a difference!). This led me to collect several ice trays, so I had spherical ice molds on hand—small and large. In sports terms, my large spherical ice molds are about the size of a tennis, lacrosse, or billiard ball. The small spherical ice mold is about the size of a golf ball.
I chose the smaller size ice sphere mold for this cocktail. It makes 6 spheres at once, so I knew I would have plenty for photos. I have used this particular mold a few times and have learned from my mistakes. Tip: With this mold, it’s key to make sure the top and bottom are snapped together securely with no gaps between the two.
Making the ice was a breeze, but I did have to make some extra coconut/water mixture to fill the entire tray. I’d say about 1.5 X the recipe. Tip: Mix the coconut milk and water in a measuring cup so it’s easy to pour into the ice mold.
The mold came with a tiny funnel, so filling the spheres wasn’t difficult at all. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell how full they were getting until they overflowed a little. I would have preferred it to be neater, but I decided it wasn’t a big deal and froze the mold overnight.
Tip: Don’t worry if it doesn’t look like each sphere is filled all the way to the top. The liquid will expand as it freezes and fills in the divot.
Making the ice spheres with a mixture of coconut milk and water
Making the Full Moon Martini Cocktail
I started my Full Moon Martini by rimming a champagne saucer with sugar. As mentioned above, I had planned on regular sugar and switched to sparkling sprinkles when I realized I had them. I’m glad I did because they were very pretty.
Also, I didn’t follow the instructions to the letter for this part. I decided to pour some water into a small saucer and the sprinkles into another. Then I dipped the rim of the glass in the water and then the sugar. Then placed the glass aside (still upside down) so it could dry a touch while I mixed the cocktail.
Making my Full Moon Martini was fast! Just shake the vodka with some ice in a cocktail shaker, pour it into a coupe glass, and garnish it with an ice sphere and blackberries. That part took less than a minute.
The only hold-up was the time it took to remove all 6 ice spheres from the mold. They seemed to stick despite the fact that the mold is made of silicone. I had to work to get them out.
Once they were out, the spheres has a seam. I managed to remove most of them by rolling the seam a few times on a cutting board. It wasn’t perfect but it did the job.
Here’s how my time broke down for the ice and cocktail:
4 minutes to make the ice
6 hours to freeze (I froze them overnight)
5 minutes to make the cocktail (includes removing ice from the mold)
6 hours 9 minutes
Although I froze the ice overnight, I’m using the maximum time listed so I can compare my times to the recipe. It lists a total of 6 hours and 15 minutes, and I was a little under that.
I wanted to do a Halloween post this year, and I found lots of ideas on my Pinterest boards. Most of them were either cocktails or baked goods. Cocktails I can handle; my baking skills ar so-so at best. What the heck, let’s do both! I went back and forth between this Beeswax-Infused Parsnip Candle Cakes recipe and something a little easier looking for this post. As you can see, I decided to challenge myself. And I have to say I’m quite pleased with the results. It wasn’t all easy, though, so let me tell you about it…
I infused the sumptuous flavor of beeswax into these gorgeous candle cakes! They’re baked with sweet winter parsnips and filled with the glorious richness of cream and honey.
First things first. This recipe doesn’t have a printable version, so I created one by adding it to my recipe software (I use Paprika). I like having the printed recipe taped above my workspace when I try new recipes. It’s old-fashioned, but it works for me.
Once I had the recipe added to Paprika, I created a Beeswax-Infused Parsnip Candle Cakes grocery list and started shopping. And I’ll admit this right now: I had no clue what a parsnip was. In short, they’re root vegetables that look like ivory-colored carrots and they have a similar sweet taste.
They’re also stocked at my usual grocery store, so I bought 2 bags. I had no idea how many I would need, so I bought 2 bags (about 8 parsnips). I only ended up using 3, so I need a good parsnip recipe if anyone has one!
Everything else was either in my pantry or easily found at my local grocery store except the beeswax. There were lots of options: bars, blocks, sheets, and pellets; yellow or white; and every size you can imagine. It was daunting! I ended up choosing a 4-ounce bag of white beeswax pellets for $9.95. It was enough for this recipe with a bit left over.
Ripe bananas, parsnips, hazelnuts, unsalted butter, white chocolate melting wafers, cream cheese, lemon (juice & zest), nutmeg, honey, heavy cream, beeswax pellets, eggs, flour, salt, and vanilla extract
The Process
Timing
This recipe didn’t have any total times listed, just cooking and freezing throughout the steps. I knew I was in for a lot of baking, though, and over multiple days because of the Beeswax-Infused Cream. Here’s how my time broke down:
Beeswax-Infused Cream:
12 minutes to heat
1.5 hours to simmer
30 minutes to cool
10 minutes to strain
Parsnip Cake:
38 minutes to prep the ingredients
13 minutes to make the batter
55 minutes to bake
10 minutes to cool in pan
1 hour to cool on wire rack
Honey Cream Cheese Filling & Assembly:
7 minutes to mix
10 minutes to assemble cakes
30 minutes to freeze
27 minutes to frost
1 hour to freeze
20 minutes to glaze
20 minutes to refrigerate
15 minutes to add wax drips and candles
8 hours 27 minutes total (not including overnight infusion of cream)
Although the total time wasn’t listed, the individual times throughout the recipe proved to be accurate.
Beeswax-Infused Cream
I have to tell y’all that I straight-up did this part wrong. It did work out in the end, though. Let me explain. I used my double boiler instead of a saucepan to ensure the heavy cream wouldn’t burn on the bottom of the pan (milk is notorious for this). But instead of melting the beeswax in the microwave first, I just threw the pellets into the cream as it warmed. I was clearly not paying attention!
It took a while for the milk to heat up enough to melt the beeswax, but it did eventually. Once it did, I stirred it in, covered the pan, and let it sit for 1.5 hours. Then I removed the pan from the heat, allowed the mixture to cool for 30 minutes, and put it into a sealed container to refrigerate overnight.
The next day I strained it into a small mixing bowl. The larger pieces of beeswax were easily filtered out, but there were some very fine sand-like grains still in the cream. I had to strain them through my extra fine cocktail strainer to remove them.
I had to strain the Beeswax-Infused Cream twice to remove the fine particles of wax
And I’ll tell you this now: there was only 1 cup of Beeswax-Infused Cream. I didn’t find this out until I started baking the cakes, and I mildly panicked! But I was able to make another batch while they baked since I bought a large container of cream and had leftover beeswax. I did halve the recipe, though, because I only needed 1/3 cup more cream for the Beeswax White Chocolate Glaze. You might want to make a larger batch from the start to be sure you have enough.
Oh, one more sort of oops: I threw away the filtered beeswax. The recipe does say to reserve it, but there is no mention of it any later in the recipe. I thought maybe it would be used in the candle drips, but they are all white chocolate and Beeswax-Infused Cream.
Prep Work
Many times when I’m making dinner I prep as I cook. There are often pauses in the recipes that give me the time to do this. For example, I’ll cut up the meat and put it on to brown while I chop vegetables. It’s an easy flow I’m used to.
But after my mistake with the Beeswax-Infused Cream, I decided to use mise en place or prep the ingredients before the cooking began. It took a while, but it helped things go smoothly and correctly, especially for the Parsnip Cake and Honey Cream Cheese Filling.
I used my mandoline to shred the parsnips. I used 3 for this recipe.
That meant I shredded the parsnips, juiced and zested the lemons, grated the nutmeg, measured the ingredients, etc. in advance. It took a while, especially shredding the parsnips. My mandoline was very helpful for that, though a box grater would have also worked. (I chose the mandoline because the handpiece saves my fingers from nasty scrapes.)
I also had to toast the hazelnuts. My air fryer was a huge help with this! I put the whole hazelnuts into the basket for 5 minutes at 400°F on the air fry setting. Then I put them into a sealed Snapware container and shook it until the skins fell off. I was left with nicely toasted hazelnuts that were easy to pick out from their skins.
From there, I put the nuts into a quart-sized ziplock bag and smashed them with a meat mallet. I love this method for “chopping” nuts because it’s cleaner and quicker than using a knife.
Parsnip Cake
With the prep work done it was finally time to start making my Beeswax-Infused Parsnip Candle Cakes! Making the actual cake was very similar to making banana bread. A potato masher made short work of the bananas. Then I mixed in the shredded parsnips and lemon, then sifted in the dry ingredients.
Mashing the bananas with a potato masher
Once that was mixed, I added the eggs and mixed again. The batter was very thick, and the eggs helped thin it out a bit. I prepared the rest of the liquid ingredients in another small bowl and added them to the batter. Then I used my trusty wooden spoon to fold everything together and mix in the hazelnuts.
I preheated the oven and lined 2 loaf pans before I made the batter, so everything was ready to go. I also decided to place the loaf pans onto a sheet pan lined with a Silpat mat to keep them from slipping. It’s a trick I picked up somewhere that makes transferring in and out of the oven just a bit easier.
I gave the cakes the toothpick test after 55 minutes, and they were both done. My loaf pans I have aren’t the same size—one is 8″x4″ and the other is 9″x5″. I was expecting the larger loaf to need a little more time, but it didn’t.
After cooling in the pans for 10 minutes I used the parchment to lift both out of their pans and placed them on wire racks to cool for another hour. It was late in the day by this time, so I wrapped them well in plastic wrap and refrigerated them overnight.
Honey Cream Cheese Filling & Assembly
The filling (or frosting) was super simple thanks to my stand mixer. All I had to do was add the ingredients, turn it on, and let them mix. While it worked I took a few seconds to clear a shelf in my freezer for the next steps.
First, I sliced the cakes into 1-inch slabs with my cake leveler and got 2 from each loaf. Then I used a 2.5-inch diameter biscuit cutter to create the layers for my parsnip candle cakes. I was able to get 3 from each slab by staggering the cuts for a total of 12 layers.
Cutting circles from the slabs of parsnip cake with a biscuit cutter
I decided to create the candles as follows: (1) 4-layer, (2) 3-layer, and (1) 2-layer. Then I added a generous layer of the honey-cream cheese mixture between the layers and placed them into the freezer for 30 minutes.
Next, I attempted to smoothly frost the outside of my parsnip candle cakes with a bench scraper. It looks so easy when I see videos of this, but mine didn’t turn out so great. I eventually gave up and popped them back into the freezer while telling myself the finished candles were supposed to be lumpy from the wax. Hopefully, it would cover my poor technique!
The candle cakes after frosting with Honey Cream Cheese Filling and freezing
Beeswax White Chocolate Glaze & Wax Drips
First up was glazing the candles. This was done by melting white chocolate with some Beeswax-Infused Cream in a double boiler. Once it was nice and creamy with no chunks of chocolate, I spooned it over the parsnip candle cakes. They were starting to look like dripping candles!
All I had left to do was melt my second bag of white chocolate wafers and pipe on the drips. Well, it didn’t work out so well. I turned up the heat too high and managed to seize the chocolate even in a double boiler. I didn’t even know that was possible.
In a desperate try to save the chocolate, I added a little bit of cream to thin it out. All that did was keep it from hardening and forming the drips properly. I ended up scraping it off, patching any damage I had done using a pastry brush, and sending hubby to the store for more white chocolate.
Candle cakes glazed with Beeswax White Chocolate Glaze
He managed to get there and back with enough daylight left for photos. I was working against a deadline, but I made myself heat the chocolate slowly this time. It made all the difference!
I want to tell you I had some great techniques for the wax drips, but I didn’t. Once I added the chocolate to a piping bag, gravity did most of the work for me. I did make sure I coated the tops of the candles evenly, but that was the extent of my technique.
I almost waited to add the candles, but I’m glad I didn’t. The white chocolate began hardening quickly, and it was crunchy by the time I put in the last two. I felt fortunate it didn’t crack. Whew!
Equipment
These Beeswax-Infused Parsnip Candle Cakes have a lot going on, from the ingredients to the equipment. In addition to the standard stuff like measuring spoons and cups, you’ll need:
Beeswax-Infused Cream:
small saucepan (I used a double boiler)
ceramic bowl (to melt beeswax, microwave in 30-second bursts)
It’s been Autumn since September 23rd, and I’m just not feeling it. That’s not unusual, though, since I live in South Florida. It’s hot and humid most of the year down here which makes feeling seasons pretty much impossible. And I have to tell you that I miss the Autumn and Winter seasons. Even though I’m from Orlando (just a 3-4 hour drive north), we had some semblance of seasons, cold weather and all. So to get myself in the mood, I’m turning down the air-con and whipping up a batch of this Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate. If pumpkin spice can’t get me into an Autumn state of mind, hot chocolate surely will. Join me for a cuppa!
Rich and creamy hot chocolate made with white chocolate and real canned pumpkin, and infused with pumpkin spice!
It’s not unusual for me to have several recipe ingredients in my pantry, but I only had one for this recipe: vanilla extract. Well, I did have some whipped cream in the fridge, but I’m not sure it counts since it’s optional.
And I guess I technically had the pumpkin pie spice. I mean, I had all of the ingredients and a tried and true recipe for it. It just took me a day or two to actually make the pumpkin pie spice.
So after I made sure I of what I needed it was off to the grocery store. This recipe doesn’t have many ingredients (5 or 6 if you add whipped cream), and I’m happy to say they were all easy to find at my regular store. No multi-store shopping or special orders were required.
Pumpkin puree, white chocolate, pumpkin spice, vanilla extract, and milk
The Process
Making this Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate was so easy, but I did make a slight change. Milk tends to burn easily unless you keep the heat low and constantly stir. Otherwise, you end up with this gross brown coating on the bottom of your pan. Even worse, chunks can break off and end up floating in your hot chocolate. Eew!
I happen to have a double boiler, and it was the perfect way to keep the milk from burning. The pan I used came with a double boiler insert. You can buy an insert (based on your pan’s size) or you can simply use a heat-proof bowl placed snugly over a pan of simmering (not boiling) water. The water doesn’t need to be filled too high, by the way. It should be an inch or two below the insert and not touch the bottom of it.
The only prep work I did was chopping the chocolate bar into small pieces while the water for the double boiler heated. Once the water came to a simmer I added the insert, measured everything else directly into it, and stirred until the mixture simmered gently.
I left the double boiler on the heat and added the white chocolate. Tip: Double boilers are excellent for melting chocolate. I removed it from the heat once the chocolate was fully melted and stirred it into the milk mixture.
Then I filled 2 extra large mugs, piped on some ready-made whipped cream, and dusted on more pumpkin spice. I know, the recipe says cinnamon, but I got a little too into the pumpkin spice that day LOL! By the way, the glass mugs I used are 16 ounces or 2 cups each. This recipe made just a little more than 2 mugs worth of Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate.
The hot chocolate took me 11 minutes, and garnishing took another 2. Well within the 15 minutes listed on the recipe.
I have wanted a kitchen torch for years! Really! I have dreamed of making creme brulee and torching the sugar to a beautiful golden color. In December 2021 I actually bought a kitchen torch. I added butane, gleefully tested it out, and never used it. It’s been sitting on a shelf in its original box all this time. Well, folks my kitchen torch’s time has come because I’m trying out this No-Bake Blueberry Orange Creme Brulee recipe. I’m finally going to fulfill my crazy dream of making the dessert of my dreams. Fire is involved, so fingers crossed!
Easy, no-bake crème brulee recipe with blueberries and orange zest for even more flavor!
Recipe Author: Tatyana Nesteruk at Tatyana’s Everyday Food Get the recipe
The Ingredients
My pantry had a few things for this recipe like cornstarch, vanilla extract, sugar, and salt. I had to buy the rest, but it wasn’t hard to find anything at my usual grocery store.
The recipe does give the option of using agar instead of gelatin. My understanding is agar is plant-derived and gelatine is animal-derived. And by animal-derived I mean it’s plain old collagen that’s made from skin, connective tissue, and bone.
I’m an omnivore and like the idea of using all parts of the animals we eat, so I chose gelatin. It came in a box of 4 packets, and 1 packet was exactly 1 tablespoon. I did look for agar, too, out of curiosity, and wasn’t able to find it locally.
Blueberries, vanilla extract, lemon wedges, orange zest, heavy cream, granulated sugar, salt, egg yolks, unflavored gelatin, milk, and cornstarch
The Process
Although this Blueberry Orange Creme Brulee recipe was a huge Pinterest success, it did have a few hiccups. The order of the ingredients listed and lack of grouping was the cause. Let me explain.
I printed the instructions directly from Tatyana’s Everyday Food. It looks pretty standard—it’s a list of ingredients with the instructions below along with a few other details. It appears to be broken down into 2 parts (the garnishes have their own group). But once I got into the instructions, I noticed it really has 4 parts: the blueberry jam, custard, assembly, and garnish.
My issue was trying to sort through the list of ingredients because it wasn’t in the order of use. For example, you start by making the blueberry jam, but the ingredients for it are the last few in the ingredients list.
Additionally, there are a few duplicated ingredients like sugar, water, and orange zest. It’s not clear which amount belongs to which step. When I broke it down the ingredients are listed in this order: step 3, step 2, step 4, step 1, then step 6.
Blueberry Jam
I started out by measuring out all the ingredients, separating the egg yolks, and zesting an orange. The custard steps moved quickly, and I wanted to have everything ready and waiting.
First up was the blueberry jam, and it was very simple. Just add the ingredients to a saucepan, stir, and simmer for 8 minutes. I worked on the custard while it simmered and later cooled.
Custard
I mixed the 1 tablespoon of gelatin with 2 tablespoons of water since they are listed one after the other. Also, I had previously used 1/2 cup of water for the blueberry jam for the same reason. I expected it to form a loose gel, but it got very clumpy. I can’t remember the last time I worked with gelatin, so I wasn’t sure if this was correct.
Separating the egg yolks. I only broke 1 LOL!
Next up was whisking together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt. The recipe doesn’t specify it, but I used my stand mixer to whisk the eggs and sugar together. I didn’t want to try to use a balloon whisk for 3-4 minutes. It doesn’t sound bad, but trust me, it tests your arm strength!
While the stand mixer got to work I added the milk and cream to a large saucepan. I did use a whisk to stir it constantly so it didn’t burn and stick to the pan. As I stirred, I pondered whether a double boiler would have been a help. I think it would have.
Once the milk was warmed, I turned the mixer back on to a low setting and slowly ladled in the egg mixture. I was so worried I would end up with scrambled eggs, but it worked a treat. I got smooth custard and was very relieved!
Then it was back into the large saucepan to finish up. I added the clumpy gelatin and it mixed in with a bit of stirring. I didn’t note the time, but I stirred constantly until the mixture thickened. Afterward, I removed it from the heat and mixed in the vanilla extract and remaining orange zest.
Gelatin powder mixed with water was firm and lumpy but mixed into the custard nicely
Making It All into a Blueberry Orange Creme Brulee
Putting these desserts together went very smoothly. I appreciated the author’s tip about placing the dessert dishes onto a sheet pan before beginning this part. I also placed a silpat mat on the sheet pan to prevent the dishes from sliding around. Paper towels would have worked too.
I simply divided the blueberry jam between the dessert dishes, then the custard. As I made the first one I noticed that ladling the custard caused the jam to swirl into it, so I used an old bartender’s trick to prevent that. I poured the custard over the back of a spoon to keep the two separated and give a more layered look.
The recipe gives the option to chill for 6 hours or overnight, and I chose the latter. I wanted to make sure the custard was set.
Garnishing My Blueberry Orange Creme Brulee
The next day was torching time! This is the whole reason I bought a kitchen torch, and this was the first time I have gotten to use it for creme brulee. This was the exciting part for me! I divided the sugar between the dessert dishes and grabbed my torch.
One thing I made sure to do was to keep the torch moving in small circles and never settling in one spot. I also made sure to aim it toward the center of the dish and not at the glass. Although the glass was thick, I was worried the extreme heat might shatter it. It did not, as you can see, and I succeeded at the brulee part of blueberry orange creme brulee!
After a few blueberries and lemon wedges, I was done. I had 6 lovely No-Bake Blueberry Orange Creme Brulees ready and waiting to be devoured.
Timing
10 minutes to prep
29 minutes to cook
8 minutes to assemble
6 hours to chill (minimum time listed, I chilled overnight)
7 minutes to torch
1 minute to garnish
6 hours 55 minutes total
The total time listed on the recipe is 6 hours 30 minutes, so I got close. I’m sure the slow-down was partly my confusion with the ingredients and just being overly careful. I did re-read the steps a few times as I cooked to make sure I was doing the right thing.
After brulee-ing and garnishing with blueberries and lemon wedges
Things I’m always looking for in a recipe are that it’s tasty as well as quick and easy. And that means tasty to my husband and me since I’m cooking for two. I’m the kind of person who will try most anything and has a short list of foods I hate. My husband is, well, not—but he is usually a good sport about trying things for the blog. Sometimes too good because he won’t tell me he isn’t crazy about a recipe until I make it a few times. I know, frustrating! But this 30-minute Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta sounds like something we will both enjoy. Let’s find out!
Chicken Pasta with Creamy Cilantro-Lime Alfredo Sauce – delicious spaghetti in a creamy white cheese sauce with lots of flavor! Easy to make: only 30 minutes from start to finish!
The ingredients for this Alfredo-like recipe definitely qualify for easy. I had to buy almost all of them, and nothing was difficult to find at my regular grocery store.
But one thing I have to reveal here is that my husband doesn’t care for Alfredo sauce. I know, after all that stuff about making things we both like. But it’s the Parmesan he doesn’t really like, and this recipe gives the option to use mozzarella cheese instead.
That’s exactly what I did since he loves mozzarella. I bought shredded mozzarella for two reasons. One, it’s impossible to shred fresh mozzarella. And two, buying it shredded cuts down on prep time. You know I’m all for that!
Chicken breasts, lime juice, milk, shredded mozzarella cheese, heavy cream, spaghetti pasta, garlic, cilantro, and chicken broth
The Process
After reading this recipe over I decided to change up the order. I moved making the pasta up from Step 4 to the very beginning. In fact, I put the water on to heat while I prepped the rest of the ingredients. I wanted to make sure it was boiling when I needed it to be.
Next, I measured out the ingredients and heated the olive oil in a large skillet while I prepped the chicken. There was a quick moment when I was unsure how to slice the chicken. For some reason, my mind went to a chicken cutlet. That seemed off, and a quick check of the photos in the blog post proved me right.
I discovered the chicken needed to be sliced into strips (I’m glad I checked!). The next steps were seasoning and cooking it in the preheated skillet for 5 minutes. Tip: Cutting the chicken into thin strips ensured it gets fully cooked within the allotted time—there is no additional cooking later in the recipe.
Sliced chicken breast generously seasoned with salt and pepper
The sauce is next, and it went together nicely. I did notice there was a lot of liquid left over from cooking the chicken, though. Perhaps I didn’t have the heat high enough for that step? But all that liquid kept the garlic from burning, so maybe it wasn’t a bad thing.
The rest of the sauce went according to the instructions. I cooked and drained the pasta while cooking the rest, so it was ready to add to the pan when I needed it. I even remembered to reserve some of the pasta water, but the sauce was creamy enough without it.
Timing
Here’s how my time was spent making this Creamy Cilantro-Lime Chicken Pasta:
7 minutes to prep
18 minutes to cook
25 minutes total
The recipe listed a total of 30 minutes, and I managed to save 5 minutes somewhere. I’m guessing it was making the pasta part of the prep work.
It’s National Taco Day, and I’m celebrating with a new recipe for Easy 20 Minute Chicken Taco. Like I need an excuse to make tacos! Tacos, fajitas, and burritos are regulars on my dinner menu. I love that they are quick and easy to make and everyone can customize them to their liking. I make the filling, place the toppings and tortillas on the table, and everyone else does the rest of the work for themselves. Nice! Even better is this recipe is ready in a mere 20 minutes. That’s pretty quick for a full meal, but I’m more than willing to give it a try!
Quick 20 minute grilled chicken tacos topped with pico de gallo and creamy cilantro sauce. These spicy tacos are perfect for weeknight dinners and are sure to please the entire family.
The ingredients for these tacos were all easy to find. I had a few things like spices and oil, of course. The rest has to be shopped.
I didn’t have any trouble finding the tortillas (I chose flour) or produce. I did find chicken thighs, but I had to skin and debone them myself. It’s something I’ve done a million times. My trusty fillet knife is always sharp, so it only took me about 5 minutes to do. Four deboned and skinned thighs were just over 1 pound.
The way this recipe is written makes it look like it breaks down into 2 parts: the tacos and the pice de gallo. However, there is also a recipe for cilantro sauce listed in the notes—ingredients and instructions.
I remember adding the sauce to the recipe software that I use to make my weekly menus and grocery shopping list. That meant I bought all the ingredients for the tacos, pico de gallo, and cilantro sauce.
Unfortunately, I printed the recipe from Gimme Delicious and forgot the sauce recipe was in the notes. I was so focused on the ingredient list and instructions that I totally missed the notes and therefore the cilantro sauce. I didn’t realize it until I began writing this post 🙁
However, I’m happy to say that my first attempt at these Easy 20 Minute Chicken Tacos went off without a hitch. It did go fast, and the entire 20 minutes was active time. Technically 19 minutes and 38 seconds, but who’s counting?😁 But I had beautiful chicken tacos topped with fresh pico de gallo at the end of it. I even added some shredded cheese I happened to have left over from another recipe.
Now you know I can’t really review this recipe without making all of it. I had to try it with the cilantro sauce, and my husband was more than down for that. We both loved the first try, so adding cilantro sauce can only make it better!
Finely chopped tomato for the pico de gallo
Easy 20 Minute Chicken Tacos, Take 2
I bought some more chicken, limes, and cilantro to combine with the other leftover ingredients. Love those short shopping lists!
Making this recipe the second time was very similar to the first. There were 20 minutes and 2 seconds of chopping, mixing, and frying. In the end, I had all the fixings ready to make tacos. There wasn’t time to assemble them, but I had everything ready to go in bowls and on plates, even the lime wedges
I proved to myself this Easy 20 Minute Chicken Tacos recipe can be done with the cilantro sauce with only an extra 40 seconds added to the time. And it was still within the 20-minute time.
I had a good bot of blood orange juice leftover from the delicious Strawberry Blood Orange Rum Punch I recently made, and I didn’t want it to go to waste. Sure, I could have simply drank it, but I wanted to try another recipe with it. I went in search of my pins and found this the recipe for these Upside Down Blood Orange Hibiscus and Polenta Cakes. They looked and sounded so good! Kind of similar to the Greek and Turkish revani recipes I have tried. This version features plenty of citrus flavor and is also soaked in a sweet syrup, but it’s made as mini cakes/muffins instead of one large cake. The recipe does include an option for a larger cake, but the mini cakes looked so cute that I had to give them a try.
This cake is soft, dense and crumbly but deliciously moist and zingy with addition of the Blood Orange and Hibiscus Syrup.
As I mentioned, I already had the bottle blood orange juice. I also had plenty of leftover cara cara oranges for the garnish since blood oranges weren’t available. A quick look through my pantry and refrigerator yielded a few more ingredients for my Upside Down Blood Orange, Hibiscus, and Polenta Cakes: almond meal (listed as ground almonds), polenta (aka coarsely ground corn meal), baking powder, and dried hibiscus leaves (I make tea with them).
Eggs and lemons were easy to find, but I couldn’t find sunflower oil and substituted canola oil. I also couldn’t find caster sugar, but that was easy to make. Caster sugar’s texture is just between granulated sugar and powdered sugar—finer than the former but not as fine as the latter. To make it I measured out 300 grams of granulated sugar and blitzed it in my food processor. That gave me a little more caster sugar than I needed for this recipe, but better to be safe and not come up short.
Blood orange juice*, canola oil (subbed for sunflower oil), cara cara oranges*, dried hibiscus flowers, eggs, almond meal, baking powder, polenta, lemon juice and zest, and caster sugar (*substituted for fresh blood oranges)
The Process
I actually ended up making this recipe twice. The first time I followed the instructions to the letter, and I wasn’t happy with the appearance. But they tasted so good that I decided to give them another try a few days later. I’ll tell you about both and what didn’t work the first attempt and how I fixed it.
My First Attempt at Upside Down Blood Orange, Hibiscus, and Polenta Cakes
This Upside Down Blood Orange, Hibiscus, and Polenta Cakes recipe doesn’t list total time, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Here’s how this try went:
36 minutes to measure ingredients and prep cakes
20 minutes to bake
6 minutes to prep the blood orange syrup (done during baking)
6 minutes to prep the hibiscus glaze (done during baking)
7 minutes to add syrup, turn out cakes, and glaze them
1 hour 3 minutes total
I converted the 170°C to Fahrenheit. It’s 338°F, but I had to set my oven to 340°F because it is programmed in increments of 5 degrees. Then I set about weighing and measuring the ingredients. Most are in grams, so my kitchen scale was a huge help. The blood orange juice was in milliliters, so I used my trusty measuring glass for that.
Prepping the Pans
After I sprayed 2 muffin tins with canola oil, I began slicing the oranges. Tip: I used my mandoline to get them as thin as possible, but I used 3 instead of the 1 1/2 listed so buy a few extra to be safe. The slices were a little too big to fit into the muffin cups, so I followed the author’s tip and cut a diagonal slice to allow them to bend in on themselves. That helped them fit, but they didn’t seem to be completely flat no matter how I fiddled with them.
The orange slices were too big to fit in the bottom of the muffin tin so I cut them per the instructionsMy first attempt at fitting orange slices into the muffin tin
Making the Batter
Next, I moved onto the batter prep by creaming the eggs and sugar in my food processor with the whisk attachment. I let it mix for several minutes until the mixture was fluffy and foamy. Then I mixed in the remaining ingredients per the instructions, but I noticed the lemon juice and zest and blood orange juice weren’t mentioned.
This is where a ran into a problem with the instructions. The ingredients call for the juice and zest of 1 lemon and 2 blood oranges. However, neither were mentioned in the instructions. I mixed them into the batter and hoped for the best.
I poured the mixed batter into a large pitcher and began pouring it into the prepared muffin tins. The recipe says to fill them within a couple of millimeters of the top. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough batter for all 24 cakes. I’d say I filled to 1/4 inch from the top.
While I was pouring I ran into another problem. When I got toward the last few I noticed the polenta had sunk to the bottom of the pitcher. I’m afraid the the last few pours has much more polenta that the rest. There was nothing I could do by the time I noticed this, so I finished up and put the tins onto the oven to bake for 20 minutes and hoped for the best.
Finishing Up
I moved on to the blood orange syrup and hibiscus glaze while the cakes baked. They were both simple to prepare. Really, just adding the ingredients to a saucepan and stirring. The syrup didn’t have to thicken, so I only heated and stirred until the sugar dissolved. The glaze needed to thicken, but it didn’t take long since there was such a small amount.
The baking finished just after the syrup and glaze, and I removed the pans from the oven and placed them onto wire cooling racks. Then I took a toothpick and punched a dozen holes into each cake.
The pans felt cool by the time I was done with that, so I poured the blood orange syrup over each. I’d say a little more than a tablespoon per cake until the syrup was gone. then I ran a paring knife around the edges of each and turned them out to glaze.
This was when I ran into my final problem. I noticed that cutting into the oranges allowed batter to leak underneath them. Some of the cakes came out fine, but quite a few had at least a little batter over on top of the orange slices. Several were completely covered, and they all seemed rather short/flat. I have a feeling I over-mixed the batter and knocked out the air needed for them to rise.
Cutting the orange slices allowed batter to leak underneath them and spoil the look
My Second Attempt at Upside Down Blood Orange, Hibiscus, and Polenta Cakes
I felt more confident from having made this recipe once and having a plan to handle any difficulties. I expected things to take much longer, but it only took me a couple more minutes this time. Here’s how it went:
17 minutes to measure the ingredients
13 minutes to prep the oranges and muffin tins
9 minutes to make the batter
20 minutes to bake
9 minutes to make the syrup and glaze (done during baking)
7 minutes to add the syrup, turn out, and glaze
1 hour 6 minutes total
Trimming the Orange Slices
I learned some lessons from my first try and used them to make sure this batch worked. First, I cut the orange slices to the diameter of the bottom of the muffin tins. I was going to use my measuring glass, but it was a little too big. My next try was a round spice jar, but all of mine were too small.
I don’t know what made me try it, but my tea infuser ended up working better. (It looks like a small mesh jar similar to this type.) I removed the lid, turned it upside down, centered it on each slice, and cut away the excess with a paring knife. It removed mostly peel and rind and the slices now fit perfectly!
Tip: The bottoms of the cups were 2-inches in diameter. If you don’t have a bottle or jar that size I recommend a small 2-inch cookie cutter since they are inexpensive and easy to find.
Cutting away the peel and rind made the orange slices snugly fit into the muffin tin cups
Better Batter
Next, I mixed the egg and sugar for a little longer to make sure it was very light and foamy. I was also very careful not to overmix when adding the rest of the ingredients. I have a feeling my first batch didn’t rise because I either under mixed the eggs and sugar or overmixed when adding the rest of the ingredients and knocked out the air.
Eggs and sugar whisked until light and fluffy
This time I also filled the tins nearly to the top. I also gently stirred the batter in the pitcher after pouring 2-3 cakes to keep the polenta mixed more evenly. I only got 15 Upside Down Blood Orange, Hibiscus, and Polenta Cakes this time, but all but the last one I poured baked up to the top of the pan. That last one didn’t have enough batter to fill the cup and it was still mostly polenta despite the extra stirring.
Baking, Syrup, and Glaze
The baking time was the same, 20 minutes. It’s not part of the instructions, but I made sure I turned the pans halfway during cooking so they would cook evenly. I even switched shelves to help things along. Since I had 2 muffin tins, I put one on each shelf with them arranged in the middle of the oven to allow for airflow.
I was also a little more organized, and I was able to make the syrup and glaze in 9 minutes instead of 12. And speaking of the syrup, I used a larger diameter metal skewer to puncture the cakes before adding the syrup to allow it to really soak in. I had about a 1/4 cup leftover this time since I had fewer cakes.
The extra syrup ended up being turned into a cocktail with a shot of vodka and some seltzer water. I needed it after all that baking!
My husband loves chicken breast, but I’m not so into white meat. I’m just not as confident that they will turn out juicy but still be cooked through. I have a talent for overcooking the outside while undercooking the inside. Or I overcook the whole thing and end up with a dry slab of meat. I need a good recipe for chicken breasts to turn out well, and I’m hoping I have found one with this Creamy Garlic Chicken. I chose this recipe because I think we will both love it. Loads of creamy garlic sauce on anything has to be good!
This Creamy Garlic Chicken is dedicated to all of the gravy (and garlic!) lovers out there. Wait until you try this recipe. You’re going to want to make this every week.
Recipe Author: Stephanie at The Cozy Cook Get the recipe
The Ingredients
A quick check of my refrigerator and pantry revealed I had quite a few of the ingredients for this Creamy Garlic Chicken recipe. Most of them, in fact. I even had some leftover Parmesan cheese from the Walnut-Crusted Halibut in Lemon Wine Sauce I made not long ago. It wasn’t quite enough so I topped it off with a bit of pre-grated Parmesan (also leftover from another recipe).
My grocery list was short for this recipe: chicken breasts, heavy cream, and garlic. I usually don’t spend extra for peeled garlic cloves, but I did for this recipe. It calls for 10 whole garlic cloves, and I just knew I wouldn’t have the patience to peel them.
Chicken breasts, unsalted butter, dried thyme, mustard powder, soy sauce, grated Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic, beef bouillon concentrate, heavy cream, chicken broth, all-purpose flour, onion powder, and olive oil
The Process
This recipe had a total time listed of 55 minutes, and I was very pleased that I came in just under that. Here’s how it went:
12 minutes to prep
40 minutes to cook
52 minutes total
This recipe specifically calls for mise en place, so I measured out all of the ingredients at the start. I tend to prep as I cook for slower moving recipes. It can make things hectic, though, so I was glad to have everything in place when I needed it.
I placed the chicken breasts into a ziplock bag before pounding them thin
Making the Chicken
The first part of this recipe is breading and searing the chicken. The 2 chicken breasts need to be cut into 4 cutlets before any of that can happen. Tip: You can save a little time and effort by purchasing cutlets if they are available.
Next, they had to be pounded thin. I placed all 4 cutlets into a gallon-size ziplock bag and pounded them with my meat mallet. It kept thing neat and prevented any splashing.
Once that was done, I seasoned and breaded the cutlets. I added them 2 at a time to a preheated 12″ skillet to cook for 4 minutes per side.
Dredging the seasoned chicken breasts in flour
Making the Sauce
The first steps in the sauce call for the pan to be deglazed and the garlic cloves to be caramelized. I chose a light colored stainless steel skillet so I could see the color of the bits the chicken left on the bottom.
A dark pan, like my beloved cast-iron pan, would have made it impossible to see if they were burning.The bottom of the pan still got a bit dark, though, and I was worried it would make the sauce taste burnt. However, it ended up adding a nice smoky flavor I loved. Or maybe it was the garlic? Either way, yum!!
The rest of the sauce was slowly adding the liquids and cheese with a lot of stirring. The chicken was added back into the pan at the end to cook in the sauce for another 5 minutes. The flour breading really absorbed the garlic flavor and made the sauce cling to the chicken.
Caramelizing the garlic cloves in a stainless steel skillet
The gimlet was my go-to cocktail for many years. A vodka gimlet, actually. In fact, I had no idea there was such a thing as a gin gimlet, let alone that was the original. Oops! Since then I have hugely expanded my cocktail horizons, but I’ll never forget my old favorite. In fact, I’m trying this White Chocolate Gimlet recipe to celebrate National White Chocolate Day. I’m not gonna lie: I had a hard time choosing between a dessert recipe and a cocktail recipe to celebrate. This cocktail recipe won out in the end because I was fascinated by the idea of adding white chocolate to a lime-flavored cocktail. Will it work? I have to know!
A White Chocolate Martini but with a classic gimlet cocktail twist. They converge to make a creamy, tangy drink!
Recipe Author: The Noms (Jay and Leah) at Gastronom Blog Get the recipe
The Ingredients
It just so happened that I had everything but the limes and Mozart White Chocolate Vanilla Cream Liqueur on hand by the time I got around to making this recipe. I had picked up the Hendrick’s Orbium Gin ahead of time since it’s something I have been wanting to try.
I had chocolate bitters leftover from the Mahogany Manhattan I made a while back. And I always keep a bottle of simple syrup on hand. BTW, I bought a bottle ages ago then discovered it was so much cheaper to make. I just reuse the bottle since it’s the exact size for my simple syrup recipe.
I had to do some searching for the liqueur and found it at my local ABC Fine Wine. It was $27.99 for a 750ml bottle. And 2 limes for the lime cordial were an easy find at my regular grocery store.
Speaking of the lime cordial, the ingredients aren’t listed with the cocktail ingredients. Instead, they are in step 1, so they are easy to miss if you don’t read through the recipe before you shop. I suppose you could substitute Rose's Lime, but I stuck to the recipe.
An coupe glass with an ice sphere is also listed as optional in step 3, so prep accordingly if you want to add one. I made mine the night before so they would be ready and waiting for my White Chocolate Gimlet.
Chocolate bitters, lime (juice and zest), simple syrup, Mozart White Chocolate Vanilla Liqueur, and gin
The Process
This White Chocolate Gimlet recipe has two parts: making the lime cordial and making the cocktail. The lime cordial has to be made before the cocktail, and I did that the day before.
Lime Cordial
I have never made lime cordial, so this was a learning experience. I’m not sure if I did this part the way the author intended.
I microwaved the simple syrup, lime juice, and lime zest in a small bowl per the instructions. While I let it cool I checked on the recipe’s blog post for clarification. My mixture had lots of lime zest, but I didn’t notice it in the photo of the cocktail. I wanted to find out if I should strain it even though that wasn’t in the instructions.
The recipe’s blog post didn’t offer any additional information, so I googled lime cordial recipes and used them as examples. It seems that letting the lime zest mixture steep in the refrigerator overnight is the norm, as is straining out the zest the next day. And that’s exactly what I did. Here’s how my time was spent:
5 minutes to prep the lime cordial
24 hours to cool and steep
1 minute to strain
1 day 6 minutes total for the lime cordial
Mixing lime juice, lime zest, and simple syrup to make lime cordial
White Chocolate Gimlet
Once the lime cordial was ready, I gathered the tools I needed to make my White Chocolate Gimlet. It’s a shaken cocktail, so the process was very straightforward. In other words, I had all the equipment I needed. Always a plus!
I shook the cocktail ingredients with ice and strained them into a coupe glass with an ice sphere in it. A quick slice of lime added for garnish, and my beautiful cocktail was done. It felt a little weird to put ice into a coupe glass, but I have to admit it looked pretty cool.
Rating the time on this recipe took some consideration. I decided not to include the time it took to steep and strain since they were not explicitly listed in the instructions—I added them because they seemed like the best option. Taking that into consideration, this cocktail’s prep time broke down as follows:
5 minutes to prep the lime cordial
3 minutes to make and garnish the cocktail
8 minutes total
The recipe lists a total time of 5 minutes, and I took almost twice that.
Most of the time I randomly select recipes to review, but finding national food days is always a fun way to change things up. Last week I posted a Grasshopper cocktail for National Creme de Menthe Day, and today I’m celebrating another food day. Yup, there’s a National Rum Punch Day, it’s today, and I’m celebrating it with this Strawberry Blood Orange Rum Punch recipe. Because why not? 😁 Besides, a sweet and fruity rum punch sounds perfect for another hot summer day!
It makes me want to find the nearest swimming pool so that I can lie next to it, in the sun, sipping my rum punch. Careful, though; this drink goes down easy, and it packs a punch.
Recipe Author: Alanna Taylor-Tobin at Bojon Gourmet Get the recipe
The Ingredients
I don’t drink rum regularly, so I had both types, dark and white, leftover from other rum recipes I have reviewed. I also assumed I had organic sugar on hand when I was out, so I ended up using the regular non-organic stuff.
The plan was to go to the grocery store to shop for the ingredients, but I ended up ordering them instead. No worries, Instacart showed everything I needed to make this rum punch in stock. I had to order from 2 different stores just to get the blood oranges, but I worked it out.
Then I got a text from my shopper that they didn’t actually have blood oranges. They did have cara cara oranges cara cara oranges, so I went with those. They’re a little redder than navel oranges, but not quite as red as blood oranges.
I was planning to juice them for this rum punch recipe when I discovered another nearby store had blood orange juice. My husband was nice enough to pick up a bottle for me, so my cara cara oranges suddenly got demoted to garnishes. The blood orange looks like the main flavor (and color) of this punch, so I was glad I found it.
Dark rum, white rum, lime juice, lemon juice, strawberries, blood orange juice, sugar, and sparkling water
The Process
There are only 2 steps in the instructions, but there are a few things going on. All of them were simple, though. I placed the strawberries into a mixing glass and muddled them with the sugar. In fact, I think I went a little overboard with the muddling, but I wanted lots of strawberry juice.
After that, I added the citrus juices to the mix. I loved that I could juice the citrus fruit without worrying about straining it. That came next, once all the fruit juices were combined. It made things quicker and easier.
The strained juices went into a glass over ice cubes, then I added the rum and topped it all off with plain sparkling water. The recipe says to use about 2 ounces, but I used a bit more to fill up the glass.
A good stir and a garnish, and my Strawberry Blood Orange Rum Punch was ready to sip. One cocktail took me 7 minutes to make and garnish, which was a little under the 10-minute time listed.
Until I began this blog I never had any idea there was a National Creme de Menthe Day. And happy Creme de Menthe Day, by the way. Now I like mint, but I have to admit my bottles of creme de menthe don’t get a lot of use. And yes, I said bottles, plural. I have it in clear and green. I mean, sometimes you want a minty green cocktail like the Grasshopper I’m making today, and sometimes you don’t. Green liqueur in hot chocolate can’t be pretty. Maybe white hot chocolate though… But that will have to be another post. Today I’m trying a variation of a classic creme de menthe cocktail, the Grasshopper. This version is a boozy frozen delight!
A Grasshopper Cocktail is the perfect ice cream drink you’ve been looking for. This minty cocktail, made with ice cream, vanilla vodka, Creme de Menthe, it is like dessert in a glass.
Recipe Author: Nathan Longley at Shake Drink Repeat Get the recipe
The Ingredients
The original Grasshopper cocktail is made with creme de menthe, creme de cacao, and cream. This recipe changes things up a little, and if I have my terminology right it’s considered a flying grasshopper milkshake. Why? It’s all in the substituted ingredients.
Replacing the creme de cacao with vodka adds the “flying” part. Makes sense since vodka has a higher alcohol content. And replacing the cream with milk and vanilla ice cream turns this cocktail into a milkshake. At least according to the article I linked to at the start of this post.
I had a half-filled bottle of green creme de menthe on hand, but I had to shop for the rest of the ingredients. A quick trip to the liquor store for the vanilla vodka went just as planned. My trip to the grocery store got a little out of hand.
I grabbed the milk and vanilla ice cream, then I went a little wild. Maybe I had too much time to plan the photos LOL! I grabbed a tub of the optional whipped cream and a few other things not listed: some dark chocolate chips, a bottle of chocolate syrup, and chocolate sprinkles.
To be fair, the recipe’s photo does show the Grasshopper garnished with chocolate syrup and sprinkles. They’re just not listed in the ingredients, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me!
Whipped cream, creme de menthe, vanilla vodka, milk, and vanilla ice cream
The Process
To me making blended drinks is similar to shaken cocktails. Just add the ingredients to a blender instead of a cocktail shaker, push a button instead of shake to blend, and pour into a glass.
That’s exactly what I did with this one, except I reserved half the milk so I could adjust the thickness. I ended up adding it all to get a fairly thin milkshake so it could be sipped instead of eaten with a spoon. It is a drink after all.
Next was the whipped cream garnish. I bought a tub of the premade stuff because I just wasn’t in the mood to make my own. Plus it’s stable and doesn’t melt. I did use a piping bag and one of my large cupcake piping tips to swirl it onto the Grasshoppers, and I think it looked great. A few chocolate sprinkles, and I was done.
Making the Chocolate Rim
The recipe itself was so easy, but I had to complicate things with the garnish on my first try. Whipped cream and sprinkles just weren’t enough for me. It took about 10 minutes to get it right. I did this before I started the actual cocktail.
First, I melted some dark chocolate chips in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between. I used a regular ceramic soup bowl big enough to fit the glass I was planning to use. It took 3 bursts to completely melt the chocolate. My first attempt at the chocolate garnish was to dip the rim into the chocolate. I expected it to drip down the glass, but it stayed put. Cute, but I wanted drips!
I slowly added some heavy whipping cream to the remaining chocolate, stirring well to mix it and microwaving it again in short bursts to reheat. It took me 2 tries and a good 4-5 tablespoons of heavy cream to get a thinner texture.
I was sure it would drip this time, but it really didn’t. I ended up using a small spoon to drizzle extra chocolate down the sides of the glass in random places to get the effect you see. It was closer to my vision, and it added a delicious chocolate taste as I sipped the cocktail. And how cute are these balloon glasses? I break them out every chance I get!
Timing
I did a little extra garnishing for my Grasshopper, so I went over the total time listed of 10 minutes. Here’s how my time was spent:
10 minutes to add the chocolate drip
5 minutes to blend the cocktail
2 minutes to add the whipped cream (mostly adding it to a pastry bag)
17 minutes total
I have a feeling that I would have been at or under the time listed if I had simply swirled the glass with chocolate syrup like the author’s photos. But I had fun doing something a little extra, so worth it in my book.
The other day I was shopping for groceries and noticed a lovely halibut fillet for sale. That reminded me that I haven’t tried any fish recipes lately, and I made sure to find one when I got home. My husband was planning a business trip the following week, making it the perfect time to try some foods he doesn’t care for. Well, he’s not big on most fish unless it’s in the form of sushi, so the timing was perfect. I searched the fish section of my seafood recipes board, settled on this Walnut-Crusted Halibut in Lemon Wine Sauce recipe, and started planning for a (hopefully) delicious fish dinner the next week. 😋
How do you turn a mild fish like halibut into a masterpiece? This Walnut-Crusted Halibut does all the work for you, with the fish transformed, topped with a zesty Parmesan and walnut crust and served with a lemon, shallot and white wine sauce.
Recipe Author: Julie Albert & Lisa Gnat at Bite Me More Get the recipe
The Ingredients
When I was ready to shop, I did my pantry/refrigerator review and found that I had several of this recipe’s ingredients on hand. I ended up with a fairly short shopping list for my Walnut-Crusted Halibut in Lemon Wine Sauce. Love that!
Of course, I had to buy the halibut, and I wasn’t about to go with the pre-grated Parmesan stuff for this! A proper wedge of Parmesan cheese was in order. I also needed the wine and produce (parsley, dill, lemons, and shallots).
Then, much to my horror, I discovered they didn’t have the halibut I saw the week before. Oh no! I even tried to find it frozen, and no joy. It made the fact that they were out of flat-leaf parsley seem unimportant.
But no worries, my horror was short-lived. And maybe a touch dramatic! I knew I could try another store later, and that’s exactly what I did the next day. I headed over to the Fresh Market down the street and found fresh halibut fillets on sale for $29.99 per pound. I bought a 0.75-pound fillet for $22.49, enough for 2 servings.
Halibut, dry white wine, Parmesan cheese, Dijon mustard, horseradish, panko bread crumbs, dill, shallot, lemon (juice and zest), walnuts, olive oil, butter, and flat-leaf parsley
The Process
This Walnut-Crusted Halibut in Lemon Wine Sauce recipe is a two-parter: the fish and the sauce. I was able to work on the sauce while the fish was in the oven to speed things along. Here’s how my time was spent:
15 minutes to prep the fish
12 minutes to bake the fish
18 minutes to make the sauce (while the fish was baking)
33 minutes total
This recipe doesn’t list a total time, but the cooking times in the instructions were perfect.
The Walnut-Crusted Halibut
The fish fillet I bought was in one large piece with the skin on, so I started off by removing the skin and cutting it in half lengthwise. Then I placed it onto a prepared sheet pan and got started on the walnut crust.
The instructions call for chopped walnuts, but that can get messy. Instead, I placed the walnuts into a ziplock bag and smashed them with the smooth side of a meat mallet. That gave me an almost breadcrumb-like mixture with a few larger chunks, perfect for sticking to the fish.
After some additional measuring, chopping, and shredding, I had the walnut crust mixed up and ready to go onto the fish. I halved the crust ingredients and still had some leftovers after generously covering both fillets. Then it was into the preheated oven for 12 minutes while I worked on the sauce.
Skinning the halibut fillet
The Lemon Wine Sauce
I took the time to prep the sauce ingredients before I began cooking. A little chopping, measuring, and juicing was all it took. Then I was softening the chopped shallots in a saucepan. After that, I added the liquids and reduced them, then the butter, and finally the dill with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. That’s it!
The fish did finish baking while I made the sauce, but I just set it aside to cool slightly while I finished the sauce. It was still warm when the sauce was ready, and I enjoyed one of the fillets freshly made before I photographed the other.
