Seared Scallops with Meyer Lemon Caviar Emulsion

We had a wonderful Beluga caviar tasting lunch last week, thanks to Black Star Gourmet package and still had some caviar left. The next day, I decided to make a Meyer lemon caviar emulsion to pair with seared scallops. It was a fabulous appetizer!



Ingredients:

Juice of 2 Meyer lemons
2 tablespoons of creme fraiche
1/2 teaspoon lecithin
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 Scallops
2 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste
River Beluga Caviar

Directions:

Melt butter in a skillet until foamy. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry. Sprinkle with salt. Sear the scallops for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown.

Meanwhile, add Meyer lemon juice, creme fraiche and lecithin into a mixing cup. Blend with immersion blender pouring oil a little a time (this will be a thin emulsion). Gently fold in the caviar (1-2 mother of pearl spoonfuls for each 1/4 cup of emulsion or to taste).

Arrange the scallops on the plates and pour the emulsion carefully over the scallops so that the caviar is on top of each scallop.

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If you haven't yet signed up for the Beluga Caviar giveaway, you can just fill out this form to be eligible for random drawing. The last day to enter is Monday, April 5th!

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5 Star Makeover Reminder: This month's 5 Star Makeover Challenge is to create a Compound Butter with a twist! You can make this compound butter with a butter substitute or real butter if preferred. Please check the original announcement for more event and prize details. Deadline: Sunday, April 4

Whipped Goat Cheese Boniatos

I discovered Boniatos, white sweet potatoes, as part of making a Sweet Potato Bread from Heiti for Foodalogue's Culinary Tour Around the World. I fell in love with boniatos and has been making several other dishes with this wonderful vegetable.

Recently, I made an excellent side dish, whipped boniatos with goat cheese. I served it with a rack of lamb with Sazón seasoning, which I also learned about during the Culinary Tour. The rack of lamb was quite delicious, but whipped boniatos with goat cheese were a true star of the meal. Silky, light, and smooth, it's a perfect side dish.

Ingredients:

3-4 Boniato (white sweet potatoes)
1/3 cup milk
4 ounces goat cheese
Salt to taste

Directions:

Boil unpeeled boniatos in salted water. Cool a little until ready to handle, peel, and mash with milk. Place in a food processor along with a crumbled goat cheese and mix until smooth. Season with salt to taste. Pipe with a pastry bag onto plates.

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I would like to submit the Whipped Goat Cheese Boniatos for this week's BSI hosted at The Chef In My Head and also for the March Side Dish Showdown at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice.

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5 Star Makeover Reminder: This month's 5 Star Makeover Challenge is to create a Compound Butter with a twist! You can make this compound butter with a butter substitute or real butter if preferred. Please check the original announcement for more event and prize details. Deadline: Sunday, April 4

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I will be taking a short break this week for my daughter's spring break. I will be publishing scheduled posts and will try to catch up with all of your blogs a little bit at the end of the week and definitely next week.

Yes We Have No Bananas

This is a story of five perfectly ripe bananas that I found yesterday morning on my counter.



I sliced the first banana into rounds and dehydrated them in the oven for a few hours on 225°F.



Then I ground the dehydrated banana rounds into a powder.



I mixed the second banana with 1/2 can condensed milk, vanilla, and pinch of cardamom using immersion blender. This was a similar recipe that I used for the Banana Air Mousse, but I didn't add any egg whites and froze the mixture to make an "ice cream" (stirring well after it has was mostly frozen and then freezing it until completely frozen for a few hours).



The next banana was simply peeled, covered with plastic and frozen.

Banana number four was blended with 1 tablespoon of agave syrup and folded into cream, whipped to soft peaks (about 1/2 cup cream). The banana whipped cream was then chilled.



I split the final banana in half and covered it with warm chocolate glaze (2 ounces of chocolate and 1/3 cup cream). Then I sprinkled the banana powder over the top surface of the banana halves.



After cleaning up the mess, I wrote my letters with a toothpick and filling with leftover chocolate glaze and chilled the bananas until the ice cream was ready.



And now it was time to dress it up with my banana ice cream and banana whipped cream. As a final touch, I added some shaved frozen banana curls (from that frozen banana).



The end result - a not-so-traditional banana split, perfectly decadent and delicious.







Time to eat before the ice cream melts!

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This "banana split" was designed for the Eating your Words Challenge at Savor the Thyme and Tangled Noodle. The writing was inspired by the famous song from the 1920s "Yes We Have No Bananas" (click to hear the song).

Beluga Caviar Giveaway!!!

Last week, I was very fortunate to receive a wonderful package from Black Star Gourmet, an online gourmet food store featuring incredible luxurious food and ingredients, from Caspian caviar to Italian truffles. The package contained a caviar gift set, perfectly complete with everything one may need to enjoy a delicious caviar tasting, starting with a pack of homemade Russian miniature blini.



I only needed to warm up the blini and they were instantly ready to eat. I was definitely impressed, as they really did taste homemade.



Next in the package was a high quality Crème Fraiche from Kedall Farms in California, which was possibly the best crème fraiche I've ever had. A dollop of this milky and delicious cream was place on each of the blini.



The star ingredient was of course Beluga Caviar. This special caviar is actually the first ever sustainable caviar in the US. It is masterfully prepared using the "malossol", or lightly salted, method. These gorgeous black pearls have superb taste with delicate buttery umami-rich flavors.



A fine caviar like this may only be served using a mother of pearl spoon which Black Star Gourmet thoughtfully included in their package.



The caviar was just perfect with miniature blini and crème fraiche. We sampled this for our Saturday lunch and it was a very special treat.

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Would you like to sample this delicious Beluga Caviar? Thanks to Black Star Gourmet, one lucky person will be able to get the whole caviar gift package. The gift set will include:

• 1 oz Sustainable River Beluga Caviar
  
• 1 pack of 36 Russian Mini Blini
  
• 8 oz. jar of Creme Fraiche
  
• 1 5" Mother of Pearl Spoon
  

To be eligible for this giveaway, please fill out the form below to register for a newsletter/occasional product updates from Black Star Gourmet. I will pick the winner at random from the list of registrations so you must complete the form to be eligible to win (I will definitely appreciate a comment letting me know that you've completed the form!). Everyone can participate, however, the package can only be shipped within the United States. My readers in Canada and overseas can choose to give the caviar as a gift to a friend or a relative residing in US. The deadline for the entries is midnight on Monday, April 5th, and I will announce the winner the following day.

BSI: Asparagus Roundup

It officially the beginning of spring, and all of these delicious dishes featuring asparagus are wonderful to start the season. Thank you, everyone for participating!

ALMOND CRUSTED TILAPIA WITH AN ORANGE BEURRE BLANC AND FRESH ASPARAGUS by Jen, My Kitchen Addiction.



Jen’s "at home" version of one of the favorite dishes at a local seafood restaurant. The pairing of fish and asparagus is excellent, and the orange beurre blanc really completes the dish.



ASPARAGUS AND ROASTED BELL PEPPER PIZZA by Bonnie, Sweet Life Bake.



This pizza with alternating asparagus spears and strips of roasted red bell pepper is very pretty.



ASPARAGUS FETTUCCINE WITH MEYER LEMON BUTTER SAUCE by Natasha, 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures.



A simple yet incredibly flavorful dish with homemade pasta and fresh good quality ingredients, Meyer lemons and asparagus.



BAKED SWEET POTATO FALAFEL WITH TAHINI-YOGURT SAUCE OVER ASPARAGUS AND BARLEY by Joanne, Eats Well With Others.



A unique sweet potato falafel is wonderful in combination with asparagus.



CREAMY KAMUT SALAD by Miss V, Miss V’s Vegan Cookbook.



This completely vegan salad with kamut, asparagus, and creamy dressing with buffalo mostarella cheese is excellent.



EMU STEW by Veronica, Recipe Rhapsody.



A unique low-fat stew made with emu meat from the Farmer’s Market with veggies including asparagus.


LEMON QUINOA WITH ASPARAGUS & PEAS by Jennifer, Savor the Thyme.



A lovely side dish of quinoa, tossed with meyer lemon juice, steamed peas and asparagus, and lemon infused oil.




MEYER LEMON SCENTED FARRO AND ASPARAGUS SALAD by Sonja, The Active Foodie.



A beautiful vegetarian salad with Meyer lemon scented farro and asparagus.



ORZO WITH ASPARGUS, TOMATOES AND PARSLEY by Linda, Cibo e famiglia.



An easy to make and delicious dish.



PARMESAN ORZO WITH GREENS AND GARLIC by Laura, SoCal Sustenance.



Creamy orzo, delicious with addition of asparagus and other green vegetables.



PROSCIUTTO WRAPPED ROASTED ASPARAGUS by Leslie, The Chef In My Head.



Fantastic ingredients with a super simple prep that allows the ingredients to star.



RAVIOLI IN FRESH ASPARAGUS CREAM SAUCE by Laura, The Cooking Photographer.



A simple and fresh asparagus cream sauce is wonderful over ravioli.


RAVIOLI WITH ASPARAGUS/SPINACH by Biz, Biggest Diabetic Loser.



A homemade ravioli with delicious asparagus and spinach filling.


RISOTTO WITH ASPARAGUS AND MOREL RAGOUT by Mardi, Eat. Live. Travel. Write..



A special treat with morels, flavorful homemade stock, and bright green vegetables.



SALMON AND ASPARAGUS STIR FRY by MaryMoh, Keep Learning Keep Smiling.



The natural sweetness of asparagus is terrific in combination of salmon in this stir fry.



WARM ASPARAGUS AND WILD RICE SALAD by Biren, Roti n Rice.



A combination of asparagus, wild rice, and shrimp is excellent.



And the winner is EMU STEW by Veronica, Recipe Rhapsody.


I love the choice of unique ingredient, emu, and asparagus is incorporated very nicely into this delicious dish. Veronica, I will send you your prize, a Starbucks gift card, right away.

This week's BSI is hosted by The Chef In My Head. Check it out right now and see what secret ingredient she picked!

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5 Star Makeover Reminder: This month's 5 Star Makeover Challenge is to create a Compound Butter with a twist! You can make this compound butter with a butter substitute or real butter if preferred. Please check the original announcement for more event and prize details. Deadline: Sunday, April 4

Citrus Honey Coconut Sorbet

Finally, the weather is warming up, and it is time to start enjoying some frozen treats. I had a few ingredients leftover from the Culinary Tour Around the World: Uniq (ugli) fruit, coconut milk, and this special Tortuga Citrus Honey with the natural essence of lime that I haven't even used yet. I decided to combine these into a delicious frozen sorbet. This sorbet is light and refreshing and a great dessert to make to celebrate the upcoming arrival of spring.

Ingredients:

Juice of 1 uniq (ugli) fruit (approx. 2/3 cup)
1 cup coconut milk
4 tablespoons Tortuga Citrus Honey
Splash of rum (optional)

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients together with an immersion blender in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a freezer for about an hour or until mostly frozen. Let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes to thaw and then blend with an immersion blender. Place in a plastic storage container and refreeze for at least two hours or up to several days.

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BSI Reminder: Submit your recipes that feature asparagus. Please check the original announcement for more details. Deadline: Sunday, March 21st.

5 Star Makeover Reminder: This month's 5 Star Makeover Challenge is to create a Compound Butter with a twist! You can make this compound butter with a butter substitute or real butter if preferred. Please check the original announcement for more details. Deadline: Sunday, April 4

Kevin Thornton's Bacon and Cabbage Terrine

At the end of our vacation in Dublin, Ireland in summer 2008, we spent a magical evening first enjoying the fabulous Riverdance show at Gaiety Theatre and then eating at one of the best Michelin-stared restaurants in Ireland, Thornton's. Kevin Thornton is one of the most famous chefs in Ireland and is great at transforming traditional Irish flavors into modern haute cuisine. One of the most memorable dishes on the menu that evening was Bacon and Cabbage Terrine, a makeover of the traditional bacon and cabbage. For St. Patrick's Day this year, I wanted to replicate this excellent dish, and was lucky to actually find Kevin Thorton's recipe on his foodblog.



This recipe took me over three days to make! I started on Saturday night by steeping the bacon in cold water. In Ireland, only the leg of the pig is called "ham" (it's also called "gammon"); otherwise, the cured meat is bacon. The shoulder or collar of bacon (also called "boiling bacon") is the traditional cut for Bacon and Cabbage. On Sunday, I boiled the bacon along with onions, carrot, celery, garlic, thyme and bay leaf, then it rested in the fridge overnight. On Monday, I made the cabbage, sliced the bacon, and assembled the terrine. Finally, on Tuesday morning, I unmolded the terrine and sliced it for presentation. I pureed the onions and celery to place on a side. The result terrine is fabulous and the flavors are fantastic! I had a slice for breakfast to sample and cannot wait to share it with my family for dinner.



I would like to submit this dish for the Regional Recipes: Ireland and for the St. Patrick's Day Parade over at the Daily Spud. Check out the round-up for this event tomorrow.



Happy St. Patrick's Day!