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In , , on January 7, 2017 with No Comments

Baked Coconut Shrimp

I absolutely love shrimp however it’s prepared, and for a while now I’ve been wanting to try making coconut shrimp at home. I’ve had it when eating out, and you get these huge shrimp that have been butterflied and have this nice crispy coating—delicious stuff. Living in Iowa, however, I don’t always have access to those huge shrimp, or if they are available, they are outside my food budget, so I just drool and dream. That said, Hy-Vee will have occasional sales on seafood, especially around the holidays, so I usually stock up. While my go-to recipe for shrimp is shrimp scampi, I decided to try my hand at coconut shrimp, and my family thought the results were great. I used roughly 2 pounds of shrimp in my recipe (we’re big eaters and absolutely love shrimp), but you can definitely pare this back and use only 1 pound.

Some coconut shrimp is fried, but I wanted to keep my recipe as healthy as possible, so I baked mine. I also made this recipe gluten-free, so here is one more recipe for those of you who have celiac disease or wheat sensitivities. Of course, if you don’t have these medical problems, feel free to use regular all-purpose flour in place of the coconut flour.




A lot of recipes I looked at for coconut shrimp had a fruity and/or spicy dipping sauce that accompanies the shrimp. I saw one that had pineapple marmalade and one that used apricot preserves. I had neither of these items in my pantry, but I did have a bunch of homemade peach jam sitting on the shelves, so that was the inspiration for my dipping sauce. Feel free to experiment with whatever jams and preserves you may have. We each tried the shrimp first by itself and then with the dipping sauce, and we all agreed that the dipping sauce made the dish perfect.

Baked Coconut Shrimp

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Batter:

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 can coconut milk (or enough to make a thick batter)

1 egg, beaten

Coating:

1/2 cup gluten-free Panko breadcrumbs

1-1/2 cups coconut flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Peachy Dipping Sauce

8 ounces peach jam

2 to 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or to taste)

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Instructions:

Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl, combining thoroughly. Refrigerate to let flavors marry together until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside (for my 2 pounds of shrimp, I needed 2 baking sheets).

In one bowl, combine all the batter ingredients, whisking them together to thoroughly combine. You’re looking for a pancake batter consistency, so keep adding the coconut milk until you reach a thick batter. You may or may not need a full can of coconut milk.

In a separate bowl, combine all the coating ingredients, and thoroughly mix.

Dip the prepared shrimp in the batter and then into the coconut/breadcrumb mixture. Shake off excess coating, and place the shrimp on the prepared baking sheets. Bake shrimp for 10 to 12 minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce.

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In , on November 27, 2016 with No Comments

Pina Colada Cheesecake

Years ago I bought several Southern Living recipe collection cookbooks, and while I’ve found numerous recipes in them that I absolutely love, I think this cheesecake recipe is my family’s favorite. It’s creamy, easy to make, and it tastes like a trip to the tropics. My family requested this cheesecake for Thanksgiving this year instead of the usual pumpkin one I usually make, and it was a huge hit.

While this recipe is not Paleo, I did make it gluten-free as I used gluten-free graham-style cracker crumbs in the crust. You can’t tell the difference.




The key to making a good cheesecake is having ingredients at room temperature. The cream cheese and the eggs whip up easily at room temperature so you can get more air into your cheesecake batter. The one exception is the sour cream, but that is mixed in during the later stages, so I just pull that from the refrigerator when needed.

The original recipe calls for pecans in the crust, and it’s good that way, but I sometimes change it up and use macadamia nuts instead. I think it gives the cheesecake an even more tropical taste. Whichever nut you use, it will be delicious. 🙂

 

 

pina-colada-cheesecake-whole

 

 

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Pina Colada Cheesecake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1-3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used gluten-free)

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts (can use pecans)

1 tablespoon sugar

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup cream of coconut

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup light rum

4 teaspoons coconut extract (I usually use good vanilla extract)

Glaze (Ingredients and instructions below)

Garnishes: Whipped cream and toasted coconut

 

Stir together the first 4 ingredients, and press into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a lightly greased 10-inch springform pan. Set pan aside.

Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar at medium speed in a large mixing bowl for 3 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the crushed pineapple and the next 4 ingredients, beating until well blended. Pour the batter into the crust.

Bake the cheesecake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 75 minutes, or until the center is almost set. It will jiggle in the middle but firms up as it cools. Cool on a wire rack. Spread the glaze over top of the cooled cheesecake. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours or overnight. Garnish as desired.

 

Glaze:

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple (plus the juice)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Stir together the cornstarch and water until smooth. In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch mixture, crushed pineapple, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat, and cool completely before glazing the cheesecake.

 

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In on February 8, 2016 with No Comments

Kitchen Sink Cookies

You’ve probably seen recipes online for cookies that have a little bit of everything in them. Well, this is one of those recipes. I’ve named it Kitchen Sink Cookies because they have pretty much anything you can put in them except for the kitchen sink. While I love a good traditional chocolate chip cookie or a soft oatmeal raisin cookie, these Kitchen Sink Cookies rank right up there with my favorites. This recipe doesn’t make a huge batch, but the recipe can be doubled easily if you want to make a lot. Add in some raisins in you like, or switch out the pecans and substitute chopped walnuts.

kitchen sink cookies

kitchen sink cookies 2

Kitchen Sink Cookies

1 large egg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (not margarine), softened

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons good vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats (not quick cook or instant)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup cornflakes cereal

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped pecans

 

To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg, butter, sugars and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and thoroughly combined, about 5 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, oats, baking soda, salt. Beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Cover mixing bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours (can make the day ahead and refrigerate overnight). This helps keep the dough from spreading when baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Drop dough by tablespoons (or use a medium-sized cookie scoop) onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking oil, placing the dough mounds 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges have set and the tops are set. The cookies will firm up as they cool.

Cookies will keep for about a week at room temperature in an airtight container. These also freeze beautifully, and they can be frozen and used within 6 months.

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies

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