Dayrecipe Food Community

This delicious cooler is a great pick me up on a hot humid day.

It is one of my personal favorites.

This cooler is smooth and creamy, sweet, tart and tangy.

The predominant flavors are coconut, blackberry and pineapple.

I hope that you will try this tasty treat.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can 11 oz (mandarin oranges – not drained)
• 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
• 1 cup frozen blackberries
• 1 cup mango & peach frozen yogurt
• 3 tbsp liquid honey
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 8 ice cubes
• 4 Pineapple chunks (garnish)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put oranges, mandarin juice, pineapple chunks, blackberries, frozen yogurt, honey, coconut milk and ice cubes in the blender and process until smooth and creamy.
2. Pour into a chilled glass, garnish with pineapple and serve immediately.

TIPS:

1. Always serve cold drinks in chilled glasses, it helps to keep the drink colder longer and enhances the flavors in the drink, as does the honey.
2. For the best results use good quality fruits and berries.

Sformato D’Asparagi con Fonduta

This savory flan has an intense asparagus flavor. Its texture is unusually tender for a flan, without a trace of egginess.

Active time: 25 min Start to finish: 1 3/4 hr

Makes 8 first-course servings.

INGREDIENTS

• for flan
• 2lb asparagus, trimmed
• 4large eggs
• 1 1/3cups whole milk
• 2tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 1 1/4teaspoons salt
• 1/2teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or to tastefor sauce
• 1/4lb italian fontina, rind discarded and cheese coarsely grated (or cut into 1/4-inch dice if too soft to grate)
• 1/2cup whole milk
• 2large eggs yolks
• 1tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS Make flan:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of wax paper, then butter paper. 3Steam asparagus in a steamer set over boiling water, covered, until very tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Purée asparagus in a food processor until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. (You will have about 2 cups purée.)

Whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl, then whisk in asparagus purée.

Pour asparagus mixture into pan and bake in a hot water bath until flan is set and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Transfer pan to a rack to cool slightly, 10 to 15 minutes.

Make sauce while flan cools:
Put all sauce ingredients in a metal bowl, then set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat sauce, whisking until cheese and butter are melted, and then stirring with a wooden spoon, until sauce is slightly thickened and registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove bowl from pan.

Run a thin knife around edge of flan to loosen, then invert a serving plate over pan and invert flan onto plate. Remove pan and discard paper. Cut flan into wedges and serve immediately with sauce.

Dollops of cinnamon-flavored sour cream top this luscious soup.

Makes 12 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 6pounds butternut squash (about 2 very large), halved lengthwise
• 4tablespoons olive oil2tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 2onions, chopped
• 2cinnamon sticks, broken in half
• 2bay leaves, broken in half
• 1teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2cup calvados (apple brandy) or brandy
• 414-ounce cans low-salt chicken broth
• 112-ounce can evaporated milk1/4cup sour cream
• 1tablespoon warm water
• 1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with aluminum foil. Brush squash flesh with 2 tablespoons oil. Place on prepared baking sheets, cut side down. Roast squash until very tender, about 1 hour. Cool 20 minutes. Remove seeds. Scoop out 6 cups squash pulp and transfer to large bowl (reserve any remaining squash for another use).

Melt butter with remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onions, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Sauté until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add Calvados and simmer until almost all of liquid evaporates, about 1 minute. Discard cinnamon stick pieces and bay leaves. Add mixture to squash in large bowl and stir to combine. Working in batches, puree squash mixture in blender with chicken broth and evaporated milk until smooth. Strain into same pot, pressing on solids in strainer to extract as much liquid as possible.

Mix sour cream, 1 tablespoon warm water, and ground cinnamon in medium bowl to blend. (Soup and cinnamon cream can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool soup slightly, then cover and refrigerate. Cover and refrigerate cinnamon cream.)

Bring soup to simmer. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish each with dollop of cinnamon cream and serve.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 15 min

Makes 6 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 10cups water
• 2cups low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 1 1/2teaspoons salt
• 1/2lb sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3scallions, chopped
• 2tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 1/3cups orzo (1/2 lb)
• 1/4teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS Bring water, broth, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil and blanch sugar snaps 1 minute. Transfer sugar snaps with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water to stop cooking, reserving broth, then drain sugar snaps in a colander. Put sugar snaps, scallions, and dill in a bowl.

Return broth to a boil and cook orzo, stirring occasionally, until tender. Reserve 1/2 cup broth, then drain orzo in a sieve. Add hot orzo to sugar snap mixture along with pepper and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and toss, adding some of reserved broth if pasta seems dry.

• 1 1/2 cups of coarse semolina
• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 1 lemon, zest of (finely grated)
• 1 cup natural yogurt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 3 cups white granulated sugar
• 3 cups water
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp orange flower water

DECORATIONS:

• 16 whole blanched almonds

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a pan, place the sugar & water from the ‘Syrup Ingredients’, bring to the boil then simmer until you have a pale golden colour – this will take approx 35-40 mins. Remove from the heat & stir in the lemon juice & the orange flower water. You should be left with about 600mls of syrup. Set this aside to cool, you can also store the syrup in the fridge until you need to use it but make sure it’s at room temp before you use it.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C Grease a large baking dish (approx. 11″ x7″).
3. Place all the wet ingredients in a large bowl & using a hand mixer, mix until creamy. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix well.
4. Pour into your baking dish & level off the surface with the back of a dessert spoon or palett knife. With a small knife, score the surface into 16 equal squares and place a blanched almond in the centre of each square with the tapered end pointing up.
5. Bake in the oven until golden – this will take approximately 30-40 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven & cut through the scored squares. Pour the syrup over the top, place cake back into the turned off oven & allow the cake to soak up the syrup. This will take about an hour but it’s  best to serve this syrup cake at least 3 hours after you’ve made it.

TIPS:

1.  Add a stronger lemon flavour to this cake by omitting the orange flower water & adding extra lemon juice to the syrup & a little extra zest to the batter.

2.  Swap the orange flower water for rose water for a change.