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Kent

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Sorbet

Here is a delightful variant to my earlier Balsamic Cherry Yogurt Sorbet recipe. I had a yen for a light, slightly tart, slightly sweet dessert with this recent string of 90 degree days. And what’s easier than spinning some fruit, sugar and yogurt together, sticking it into a freezer to be scooped later at leisure. As a matter of fact, the toughest part of this recipe is the planning ahead so you can enjoy this delicious dessert when desired. Save Print Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Sorbet Prep time:  5 hours Total time:  5 hours Serves: 16   Ingredients 32 oz whole milk yogurt 7 oz sugar 3 oz blueberries zest and juice from 1 large lemon 2 tbsp lemon zest (zest from 1 large…

Caipirinha

With the current heatwave here in the Pacific Northwest, I wanted today’s cocktail to represent something tropical. I could have gone with Hawaii and it’s popular Mai-Tai, the Caribbean with a Dark and Stormy, but my search ended a bit farther south. Let’s celebrate Brazil’s national cocktail – the caipirinha. Made with Brazil’s popular sugar cane based distillate, cachaça, limes, and sugar; this cocktail is refreshing on a hot Summer day or warm Summer evening. Easy to make and refreshing to drink, this cocktail is one of my favorite choices to serve when friends drop by for a visit. This drink also pairs well with barbecue or grilled dishes, meaning it can be enjoyed right through…

Chicken Marsala

Tonight I made a dish found at nearly every Italian restaurant I can ever recall visiting. It is a simple, yet delicious scallopini style dish featuring Marsala wine as the primary ingredient in the sauce. If you do any research on this dish, you will find the variations for this recipe are widespread.  Typical variations start with whether to use dry or sweet Marsala. Next there is the whole ‘should I include cream or not’ debate. And let’s not even begin the discussion on whether the chicken should be dredged in flour or not. So, after a lot of reading and contemplating on how I have made this dish in the past, I created this recipe as a compilation of what I learned through…

Sunday Picture Post

I cannot believe July is almost over! This month flew by… and once again here on the final Sunday of the month is a picture post of some of the meals I made this month that did not become blog posts. So without further ado, here they are! Leftover Carne Asada Tacos Italian Sausage with Peppers and Penne Sweet and Sour Pork Smoked Pork Loin with Curry Orzo and Peas Caprese Salad Faux Won Ton Soup Bolognese with Farfalle Grilled Beef Kebabs Prawn Stir Fry with Soba Enjoy! Save Save…

Vietnamese-Style Chicken Noodle Bowl

Here is a perfect Summer dish – a Vietnamese-style Noodle Bowl with Chicken. Herbs like mint and cilantro bring a freshness while lime brings brightness, chili brings heat, carrot sweetness, and the dressing tons of flavor to support it all. And let’s not forget the chicken; cooked in oyster and hoisin sauces before grilling or searing to add even more flavor. You have to agree there is a lot of flavor in this meal. Go ahead and take the challenge by making this dish. The lengthy recipe is not difficult and the results are spectacular! Save Print Vietnamese-Style Chicken Noodle Bowl Prep time:  20 mins Cook time:  2 hours 10 mins Total time:  2 hours 30 mins Serves: 1 &nbsp…

Piña Colada

“If you like piña coladas, this recipe will save you some pain. If you desire something tropical with flavors exciting to your brain.” Ok, that’s enough mocking of the lyrics of the song (or trying to), let’s get down to the business of making a tasty piña colada. This recipe and the process is adapted from Serious Eats that delivers a balanced cocktail without the artificial flavors that pre-mix or other recipes deliver. The keys to this recipe are fresh and natural ingredients pre-frozen to minimize the amount of ice needed to make a slushy drink. This easy drinking cocktail is perfect for relaxing on a warm Summer day (or evening), soothing and melting away your worries and…

Sweet Chili Grilled Prawns

Summer has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest and it is time to enjoy the grill as much as possible. Tonight I want to enjoy the grill with a quick dish – grilled prawns. I bet there will be more time spent preparing the prawns than actually grilling them. But that is OK… because when a dish is quick and incredibly delicious, it does not have to take a large investment of time. I paired this dish with Sesame Asparagus Salad and white rice. Simple, delicious and easily extensible from one diner to a group, what’s not to love here? Give this recipe a try, you won’t be disappointed! Save Print Sweet Chili Grilled Prawns Prep time:  15 mins Cook time:&nbsp…

Sesame Asparagus Salad

Tonight I made a simple asparagus salad to accompany the Sweet Chili Grilled Prawns. With the dog days of summer here, this dish keeps you out of the kitchen and away from the stove, but delivers loads of flavor. This dish is great with the grilled prawns, but would also be wonderful with beef or chicken.  This recipe is a tweak on this recipe from the AllRecipes website – a great resource for creative dishes. I added shallots and substituted Chinese mustard for the dijon mustard; it just seemed like the better choice in my humble opinion. The results are flavorful, so make this dish and eat your vegetables! Save Print Sesame Asparagus Salad Prep time:  10 mins Cook time:  5 mins Total time:  15…

Banana Walnut Waffles

Here is a variant of my Banana Pancake recipe – perfect for your weekend breakfast.  Pancakes and waffles from scratch are not as hard as you may think. The mixes you buy were just created to simplify the making of these delicious breakfast dishes. But you already have all of the basic ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, eggs, milk, and butter) and can easily control what and how much you use – so why bother with a pre-made mix?  In researching this recipe, I learned the basic difference between pancake and waffle recipes are the amount of sugar and fat used. Pancakes are browned and more cake like (of course!) while waffles are crispy outside and airy inside and these recipe adjustments help that difference occur…

Daiquiri

Tonight’s cocktail is a classic – one of the six basic drinks listed in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David Embury. The daiquiri is simple yet elegant, potent yet enjoyable, and mostly overlooked (at least in my circles). Let’s fix that, shall we?  The base daiquiri is just white rum, lime juice, and simple syrup. The International Bartenders Association’s recipe for this drink is 9 parts white rum, 5 parts lime juice, and 3 parts simple syrup. Yes, you read that correctly… 9 parts of white rum. There is your potency right there! Of course, I couldn’t resist tweaking the recipe slightly… again with my adding a slight bit of lemon to temper the lime&#8217…