Orange Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

(Sorry about the freaky font.  I am perplexed as to why it looks this way.)

Note:  This recipe called for real vanilla beans, but as I have no idea where to get them, I opted for vanilla extract instead.  Also, these taste much better refrigerated and were my favorite of the 2 recipes I tried.

Cupcakes

• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 t. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla seeds, and orange zest until pale and fluffy. With mixer running, add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl.

Combine cream, orange juice, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Sift togetherflour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add

1. flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with cream mixture, ending with flour; beat until just combined.
2. 

   Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until testers inserted in the centers come out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Undecorated cupcakes will keep, covered, for up to 1 day (or frozen for up to 2 months).
    Frost and serve.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• (I also added a bit of fresh orange juice)
• Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

I have never been a fan of the cake mix cupcakes and this was my first venture into the "from scratch" cupcake recipe world.  There are a lot of recipes out there, but I was most impressed by what I found on Marthastewart.com  I bought a giant cupcake pan, a frosting bag, and frosting tips at Kitchen Kneads.  So fun.  They also have really cute cupcake liners.  

A word on the giant cupcakes:  they are really fun, but rather difficult to eat, and they take a lot of frosting.  

Also, I did find this frosting to be a bit sweet for my taste, but then again, I have frosting issues.  No one else complained. The frosting was colored with bright food coloring and I used some blue and purple sprinkles on top. The girls said they were "princess cupcakes". 

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla.
• Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely
• Buttercream Frosting:
• Ingredients

1. • 12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
   • 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
   • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
   • Beat butter with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.
   • Reduce speed to medium. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating after each addition, about 5 minutes. (After every 2 additions, increase speed to high, and beat for 10 seconds, then reduce speed to medium-high). Add vanilla, and beat until buttercream is smooth. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)

Braised Balsamic Chicken

I am still not quite sure why I fired up the kitchen today (my house was 85 degrees), regardless it was delish. This had a slightly meat-loafish vibe. I served it with a fruit salad and potatoes. You could also do a cous cous or pasta. I got the recipe from allrecipes. I stuck to the recipe except I used only 3 breasts. If you used 6 you'd have to add more wet ingredients. This could be done in a slow cooker as well. I substituted garlic salt for fresh crushed garlic. I also used fresh herbs (courtesy of Christina's fab graduation gift).

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions

1. Season chicken breasts with ground black pepper and garlic salt. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet, and brown the onion and seasoned chicken breasts.
2. Pour tomatoes and balsamic vinegar over chicken, and season with basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 15 minutes.

Halibut with Peach Salsa

• From allrecipes.com (serves 4)
• I do feel you could use this with chicken, just be sure to pound the chicken breast flat and let it marinate a little longer.

Marinade:

• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons canola oil (I used olive oil)
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lime peel
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 (6 ounce) halibut steaks
• SALSA:
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen peaches
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion (I probably only used 2 T.  This stuff is overpowering)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped*
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a bowl, combine the first seven ingredients; mix well. Remove 1/4 cup for basting; cover and refrigerate. Pour remaining marinade into a large resealable plastic bag; add the halibut. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours. In a bowl, combine salsa ingredients; cover and refrigerate until serving.
2. If grilling the fish, coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Drain and discard marinade from fish. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat or broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork, basting occasionally with reserved marinade. Serve with peach salsa

Mango Salsa

This is a delicious recipe I found on allrecipes and then tweaked to my taste buds. I served it over grilled chicken and coconut rice. It was so refreshing and delicious. My only hang up is the red onion. Though I do love red onions they always seem to overwhelm a dish. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup (talk about overload). I used a 1/4 cup and still felt it was too much. My suggestion is to only add 1/8 cup or use green onions which are much more mild. I also added some chopped cilantro and felt it really upped the flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 mango - peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lime
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Chopped cilantro to taste

Directions

1. Toss together mango, bell pepper, onion, sugar, olive oil, and lime in a bowl. Gently fold in diced avocado, and season with salt.

Coconut Rice

My recent tropical travels have inspired a few new recipes. This is a great one for coconut rice. The coconut flavor is very subtle. I got this from allrecipes. Also I used lite coconut milk to cut down on fat.

Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked jasmine rice

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, water, sugar, and salt. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Stir in rice. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes, until rice is tender.

Chicken Tacos

This is entirely different from any chicken taco I've sampled but oh, so delicious.  This is also from my friend Melissa (Her recipe blog is linked on the right).  The only change I made was adding lime juice.

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. oil, vegetable or canola

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded.

Pinch of pepper

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 lime, squeezed

1 onion, chopped

2 (10 oz.) cans Rotel tomatoes (one can drained, one undrained)

grated cheese

Corn Tortillas

shredded lettuce

Sour Cream

Guacamole (recipe below)

 Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic  and salt. Cook unitl onion is tender. Add tomatoes, lime juice, pepper and cumin. Stir in chicken. Cook uncovered, sitrring occasionally until liquid is obsorbed into meat. Taste and add more salt and cumin if needed.  Serve on corn tortillas.

A hint about corn tortillas:  heat them on a skillet until pliable.  I found that if I add a little oil to the skillet, they are much better to eat.  

I did think these would be excellent with black beans.

Guacomole

This is seriously amazing.  It comes from my friend's recipe blog and you can find the original here.  I changed it a bit because I am afraid of Jalapeno peppers and raw onions.  Also, I did not use a food processor as suggested in her recipe.

2 ripe avacados, pitted and peeled
1 jalapeno, finely chopped and seeded
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper


Mash avocado using a fork or mini wisk, add other ingredients until combined (leave chunky).  Melissa suggests that if the avocado is too ripe you can add more lemon (or lime) juice and salt. 

Macaroni and Cheese

This is a barefoot contessa recipe. I normally add sauteed onions and mustard powder, but decided I would follow her recipe exactly. Using the cheeses listed is essential and pricey (I spent $15). McKay and I both agreed this was the best mac and cheese I've ever made--I wouldn't change a thing. I didn't have tomatoes, but I think they'd be delicious. I also didn't have plain bread crumbs so I used panko and it was tasty.

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• Vegetable oil
• 1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
• 1 quart milk (I used skim)
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.