Dairy free mint ice cream

Living in Fairbanks, there isn't a large amount of options when it comes to just about anything. Guess it could always be worse, used to have limited options when I lived in Nome. When it comes to buying things like dairy free ice cream, food goes fast when it is in stock at the local store. Because of this, I've decided to try a few ice cream recipes. This recipe is based off the mint stracciatella recipe in "Go Dairy Free" by Alisa Marie Fleming. I did make a few alterations to meet my tastes.

1.5 avocados
1 12 ounce can of goats milk
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup honey
6 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2.5 teaspoons of peppermint extract
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Blend all ingredients in mixer. Pour in dish and freeze. If in big dish, mix every half hour until freezes. If in deeper dish, like mine, mix every other hour until freezes. This prevents ice crystals. Using an ice cream maker is the alternative to skip this step.

Dairy free Salmon chowder

I've recently been exploring dairy free cooking options and am amazed at the many wonderful recipes available. Now, I might convince my husband that he doesn't need cheese! Maybe wishful thinking but anyway here is one of my tweaked lactose free recipes.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
2 celery stalks
2 carrots or 14 baby carrots
1 clove garlic or 1.5 teaspoons of precut garlic
4 potatoes
7 cups chicken stock
2 small smoked salmon fillets or 1 large fillet
1 cup white wine
1 tablespoon dill
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook onion, celery, carrots, and garlic in covered pot with olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium heat.
2. Cook salmon in oven for 15 to 20 minutes (until flakey).
3. Put in potatoes and pour in chicken stock. Heat to a boil then reduce heat to medium. Cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
4. Debone salmon and take off the skin. Put salmon, dill, and wine in soup. Bring to a boil to cook out the alcohol.
5. Season with salt and pepper.

Sorry but I didn't think to take pictures during this process but I promise it looks as good as it sounds!

Eggless crazy cake

First of all...

Sorry to say I haven't blogged in a while due to morning sickness... that's right, I'm pregnant. Hopefully I'll squeeze in a few more recipes before the big day but no promises. This little boy is pretty picky about his food intake! Every once in a while he lets me skip the bland boring food for delicious stuff like this...

Eggless Crazy Cake with Delicious Chocolate Frosting

 Cake Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Flour
1 Cup sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water

Icing Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/8 cup cocoa
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk



1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease baking dish. In my case, I greased silicone cupcake cups.
2. Mix all dry ingredients.
3. Make three holes in the dry ingredients. Put vinegar in one hole, vanilla in the second, and vegetable oil in the last. Pour water over the whole thing and mix. Pour in baking dish. My cupcakes took only 15 minutes to cook but a cake pan should take about 25-30 minutes depending on your oven.
4. Let the cake or cupcakes cool completely before applying the icing
5. Melt butter in bowl in the microwave or sauce pan on low/med heat on the stove
6. Remove butter from heat and add cocoa and vanilla
7. Mix in milk and powdered sugar until smooth and at desired thickness. Then apply on cake.
8. Enjoy!

Special Edition: Food Kyle's been begging for (this time) aka Glazed Lemon Zucchini Bread

Once in a while, my husband sends me recipes with strong encouragements to try it. The following is a recipe he "encouraged" me to make from Lil Luna (http://lilluna.com/glazed-lemon-zucchini-bread/). I modified it for his "on the go" lifestyle, by making muffins instead of a loaf.

• 2 cups cake flour

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup canola oil

• 1 1/3 cups sugar

• 2 TB lemon juice

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• zest of 1 lemon

• 1 cup grated zucchini

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 2 TB lemon juice

• 1 TB milk

1. Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Then add oil and sugar until well blended. Add lemon juice, buttermilk, lemon zest to this mixture and blend all together.
3. Fold in zucchini until it is mixed well.
4. Add dry mixture to the wet mixture and blend all together until well combined.
5. Pour batter into greased muffin pan.
6. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
7. While still warm, make glaze and spoon over the bread.

Clearly, the recipe was a win in this house! Thank you Lil Luna!

Alaskan Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Previous blueberry muffin recipes I've used have not done justice to the delicious Alaskan Blueberries so I've been in search for the perfect recipe. After trying this recipe, I think I found it! The not so secret ingredient is..... cream cheese!

I find the Alaskan blueberry to be.... not nearly as sweet as the ones you buy in the stores. Sweetly tart might be a fun way to describe them! I wanted an extra sweet muffin recipe to balance the flavors. Thank you Food.com for helping me with this recipe!

Sorry no pictures this time but I'll add some next time I bake them! :)

Alaskan Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

1 cup Alaskan Blueberries (preferably frozen so it's easier to mix)

2 cups flour, divided

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

Dash of salt

4 ounce cream cheese, soften

3 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2. In a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth.Then add eggs

3. Mix the blueberries and 2 tablespoons of flour in a bowl and set aside.

4. Combine all dry ingredients in another bowl, including the remaining flour. Then pour into cream cheese mixture.

5. Add butter and milk to the mixing bowl. Then fold in the blueberries.

6. Fill in muffin pans about 2/3 full.

7. Bake for 14-18 min or until lightly browned.

8. Remove from the pan immediately.

Flat Stout? Make a Chocolate Stout Cake!

This is always a party pleaser! I got the idea to do this cake when we were planning on celebrating a friend's birthday. She isn't a big dessert person but does love beer... best solution for a birthday cake is to make a beer cake!

This recipe also comes in handy when someone brings you a few bottles or a growler of dark beer and no one in your house drinks it. :(

CAUTION: the recipe can get tricky with the icing and I have yet to cook a cake this this recipe (or variations of it) that doesn't severely stick to the pan. I should probably also warn you that this cake will not be a tall cake.

With that said.... good luck!

Chocolate Stout Cake:
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup stout beer
8 TB butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Icing:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup soft butter
1/4 cup stout beer
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease down  two 8 inch pans or line it with baking parchment.
2. Cream butter and sugar together. Gradually add in eggs.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and baking powder. Put this bowl aside.
4.In a separate bowl, stir stout and cocoa together. Alternate pouring your flour mixture and stout mixture in the egg bowl.
5. Evenly pour the final mixture into the two pans and cook for 30 minutes.
6. This is where I have problems in the several times I've tried to make this cake. Typically, you let the cake cool in the pan then flip it onto a cooling rack. My cake sticks so I do whatever I have to get the cake out when it's hot because it's harder to get out later. Unless of course you are smart and use baking parchment.
7. For the icing, beat the powdered sugar and butter. Then add the stout. I am always generous on the stout so I find myself adding more powdered sugar or chocolate chips (later) to balance the liquidity.
8. Melt the chocolate chips and add it into the mixture. Then pour between and on your cake.

Bon appetit!

Salmon Burgers (from a former crab cake fan!)

As a former Marylander, I love seafood... especially when it is shaped like a patty (mmmm crab cakes)! This is probably due to the decreased chance of bones or crab shells.

With that said, I've morphed my favorite crab cake recipe to fit Alaskan tastes. Depending on your preference, you can use this recipe for salmon patties or smaller salmon cakes for a fancy appetizer.

A word of caution, this recipe is very flexible. If you feel like you need to add less or more of something, feel free to. I create my recipes based on feel.

3 Salmon fillets
Olive oil
Lemon Juice (optional)
2 slices of dried crumbled bread (or 1 cup of bread crumbs)
3 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper depending on preferences
2 tsp Old Bay
2 tbsp Dill

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cook the salmon fillets with a little bit of olive oil, lemon juice, and dill  for 20 minutes or until flaky. Allow to cool.
3. If you turned off the oven, turn it back on to 350. Break the salmon into a bowl with eggs, mayonnaise, salt, cayenne pepper, dill, and old bay. Mix together then add bread crumbs.
4. Form patties about the width of a softball. You can also take the opportunity to make smaller salmon cakes, depending on your preference. Place on a greased pan and bake for 15 minutes.
5. Pull out of the oven and flip the salmon patties to bake on the other side for 15 minutes.

Enjoy! My sister likes to put fried eggs on her salmon patties!