Mexiday! Orange and chipotle chicken tacos

Believe it or not, we have tacos for dinner once a week. Boring, right? WRONG! I guarantee we never eat the same tacos twice! This is mostly due to the way I cook as I like to throw together a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But that's not how most people cook, so I'll try to document some of my more popular concoctions.

These orange and chipotle chicken tacos are especially quick and easy and popular with little tummies too. If you can't find Chipotle, you could use smoked paprika instead.

500gr chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1 c orange juice

1 tsp chipotle powder or 1 whole chipotle chilli (or more or less to taste)

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp honey

- Mix together the juice, chipotle, coriander and honey together. If you are using a whole chilli, blend the ingredients together to make up the marinade.

- Marinate the chicken for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

- While the chicken is marinating, get your fillings organized - our favorites for these tacos is my Tomato and Corn Pico de Gallo and Greek style yoghurt. Don't forget to get your tortillas or taco shells ready too.

- Heat a frypan on medium flame.

- Drain the chicken from the marinade and cook in batches until cooked through. (if you try to cook all the chicken in one go, it will stew and get tough)

- Once the chicken is cooked, pop it all back in the hot pan to warm through.

- Finally, take it to the table with your warm tortillas (or taco shells) and your favorite fillings so everyone can make their own. Mmmmm!

Cupcake wars!

OMG, how awesome are cupcakes?! If you think cupcakes aren't the most delicious, little morsels of pure bliss, it's because you've only had BAD cupcakes! The cupcake wars of the last few years has churned out so many cheap, baked offsite, franchises causing most people to feel that it's normal to pay $4 for something that's dry and chewy.  No Melbourne, no! We deserve better... and I've found it!

Let me first bore you with a quick story to prove my self imposed cupcake judging ability. On a sunny day in April 2011, my hubby and I were holidaying in LA (as you do) with our wonderful cousins. Whilst we were venturing down Rodeo Drive in Bev Hills - that's what the locals call it, don't you know - we stumbled across Sprinkles... my tastebuds have never been so spoiled! Sprinkles is the first, that's right the first, cupcake bakery that started the crazy cupcake revolution of the late naughties. Their maxi cupcakes are so light, so fluffy, so rich that our taste buds couldn't determine where the frosting ended and the cake started! As blissful as the moment was, I was also crushed as I knew I would never find such a delicious cupcake back home in Melbourne... that is until I found Cupcakes by Paolo! :D

Cupcakes by Paolo is located in West Footscray on the outskirts of Melbourne and believe you me, it's worth the trip! All cupcakes are baked daily, on the premises and are truly as close to Sprinkles as I've found so far... I hope they never franchise out!! If Sprinkles are 15/10 then Cupcakes by Paolo would be at least 12/10! The vanilla and fruity flavored cakes are so light, so fluffy, I've polished off 3 in one go... I was pregnant at the time! Whereas the chocolate cakes are the perfect balance of dense, rich and fluffiness in one perfectly frosted cake. Speaking of frosting, it's neither too sweet nor too buttery and it gorgeously adorned with pretty little gem.

You really can "Taste the LOVE"!!!

Flavors in the photo are: Pavlova Passion, Could Nine, Classic Vanilla, Very Berry Raspberry, Orange Jaffa and Oh So Velvet.

Mexiday! The basic ingredients

I am sooooo obsessed with REAL Mexican food at the moment! You may have realized this after reading my review of Mamasita a while back... still drooling! When I say REAL Mexican food, I'm not talking about heavy, fatty, dishes smothered in refried beans and melted cheese. I'm talking about beautiful, fresh dishes, full of flavor and a whole lot healthier then you might imagine.

So it only makes sense that I do a series of Mexican recipes but since the phrase "Taco Tuesday" is used everywhere... let's make today... Mexiday!! Hey, there has to be at least one tacky reference thrown in :)

Firstly, you need to find a few ingredients for that authentic taste, such as:

Corn tortillas - the type you get at the supermarkets here in Australia are ok, but they aren't the greatest. If you can, try to find the frozen ones - you won't regret the effort! I get mine from here: http://www.aztecmexican.com.au/ they are in Victoria and are very helpful, so maybe give them a call and see if they know where you can find them in your area. I usually buy a box and stack my freezer full or share with a friend or two. FYI, there are two kinds of tortillas, one for heating and eating (soft taco style) and the others are thinner for baking like enchiladas. If you're really keen on cooking from scratch, you could buy a grain called masa harina (fairly easy to find) and make your own, but I haven't had much luck doing this. To heat the soft taco tortillas, just heat in a dry pan for about a minute each side and then wrap in paper towel and place inside a container with a lid, or a tortilla warmer. The steam from each tortilla will keep the rest warm and soft.

Chipotle chillies - these are my favorite chillies! It a smoked Jalapeno and is finally getting more popular in Australia. You can buy them as a powder, dried or canned, and has the most beautiful smokey heat. I wouldn't classify them as super hot, but start with a little and work your way up. Herbies sell the powdered and dried variety and I get my cans from Aztec, but some specialty supermarkets also have them. You can use smoked paprika if you can't find chipotles, but it won't be the same.

Other Mexican chillies include Ancho, Mulato, Pasilla, and there's many more. Again, Herbies is a great place to find these in the dried varieties. I suggest you get a few and see what you like, some are mild, some will burn your mouth, get a few and have a play.

There's a bunch of herbs and spices that you'll also need and if you've followed my herb and spice recommendations, you should already have most of what you need in your pantry. You're going to need coriander, both powdered and fresh... in fact, start growing it as you'll need handfuls in lots of dishes, especially salsa's. Cumin is a another must have as well as dried oregano and paprika.


And don't forget... Limes!! And plenty of them!


Lastly, grab a bottle of tequila... for marinating... and let's get cooking... hiccup!

Chocolate mousse... just add water?!

Where did February go?? Apologies, dear readers :( I've been so busy eating, I've neglected my blog... so to kick it back off, let's talk chocolate!

If you've ever worked with chocolate, you probably know that you should always melt chocolate using a double boiler and never let any of the water splash into the chocolate as the chocolate will 'seize' meaning it will go rock solid and you'll have to throw it out and start again. So imagine my surprise when I read that Uber Chef-slash-Scientist Heston Blumenthal has made chocolate mousse using chocolate... and water!! Insanity!!!

If you haven't heard of Heston, do a YouTube search as his creations are mind boggling... or sell a kidney and get a table at his very exclusive restaurant in the UK, the Fat Duck.

Ok, back to the crazy Chocolate water mousse.

Normally you would use eggs, sugar and heavy cream to make a beautiful thick mousse - that's a lot of effort and a fair bit of fatty-fat-fat! So you may think that this dessert will fall a little flat. (ah, a rhyme!)

Don't despair, the final creation is so extremely rich and dense, you'll only need a small pot - as you can see I've used espresso glasses. For another twist, you could use a little coffee or liqueur in place of some of the water. The only real rule is that you must use very good chocolate! Remember as the dessert is just chocolate and water, you are really going to taste the chocolate that you've used. Please, at least 70% cocoa solids! Lindt has some lovely dark chocolates on the market now as well as some beautiful flavors like blueberry, mint, chilli, etc.

Ingredients
- 130gr chocolate

- 1/2 c water (or 100ml water and 25ml coffee or liqueur)

How to...
- Get two mixing bowls, one smaller then the other so it can sit inside the larger bowl. 

- Half fill the larger bowl with lots of ice and a little cold water, then place the smaller bowl inside so that it's touching the ice.

- Break up the chocolate, place in a saucepan with the half cup of water and melt gently over a medium heat, stirring occasionally.

- Once the chocolate is melted, pour into the small mixing bowl that's sitting on the ice and whisk with an electric whisk for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture has thickened, it will turn a little pale. Be careful not to overwhip as the mixture will become grainy. But if you mess up, simply remelt the chocolate and start again.

SO fluffy!

- Spoon the mousse into your serving cups and refridgerate for 2-3 hours... you can eat it straight away but I prefer my mousse cold and loaded with fresh berries!

ENJOY!

Ricotta Doughnuts

Apparently, breast feeding mums crave sugar as we need the extra energy to nourish our little bubs... sounds like a good excuse for extra desserts to me!

Other then the fact that these doughnuts are deep fried, they aren't too bad for you and they are super quick to make! You get protein from the ricotta, there's not much flour so they are quite light and fluffy and the sugar is minimal too. These doughnuts aren't super sweet, but you won't stop at just one! And even better you can flavor them anyway you like to suit your tastes.

It's best to use fresh ricotta as its a much better product to work with, but I had a tub of super smooth ricotta in my freezer which I defrosted and the results were just as good. It just took a bit of extra flour.

Ingredients
- 250gr ricotta

- 1/4 c castor sugar

- 1 egg yolk

- 1/2 to 1 c self raising flour (it depends on the ricotta you use, you just want enough flour to make a wet, sticky dough)

Flavours

Nutty - add 1/4 cup of both pistachios and pine nuts, roughly chopped (this is what I've made in the photo)

Chocolate - add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1 tsp of vanilla

Citrus - add a tablespoon of finely grated zest of orange, lemon, lime or a combo of all

Or let me know your favorite flavor combo!

How to...
- Fill a saucepan with enough vegetable oil to deep fry, about 4-5 cms deep and place over heat until hot. (I find a medium heat works best)

- In a mixing bowl, break up the ricotta with a fork to remove any large lumps.

- Add in the castor sugar, egg yolk, flavor of your choice and add just enough flour to make a sticky, wet dough.

- Using two tablespoons, carefully drop walnut size spoonfuls into the hot oil. If you haven't done this before it's easy! Just use one spoon to scoop up some of the dough and then use the other spoon to carefully push the dough into the hot oil. (I've tried to show you this in the photo below) Hold the spoon with the dough fairly close to the oil so it doesn't splash up and burn you!

- Fry a few at a time (don't over crowd the pot) for about 3-4 minutes. Don't forget to flip them over half way so they are golden on each side. They are cooked when you break one open and they are light and fluffy, not gooey.
- Once cooked, drain well on paper towel.
- I like to serve them dusted with icing sugar and a drizzle of honey, mmmmm!
- Makes about 12-15 doughnuts

Using 2 spoons to make the doughnut