A TASTY LUNCH

- Shannan Swanson, Tastybaby Co-Founder.

Living in Southern California provides many tasty advantages. Top on my list is the weather!!! While the rest of the nation has to endure the cold & dreary days of winter, the west coast is sitting pretty enjoying 75 degree days & plenty of sunshine! Last week Liane & I decided to a little time for ourselves and a few of our friends and have a tasty lunch al fresco. As usual, we bonded over food and came up with a fabulous menu using our Tastybaby food flavors. Since Bollywood Baby is one of my favorite Tastybaby flavors, I made a yummy lentil dip to go with the fresh organic veggies picked from the garden. We both LOVE curry, so while it was initially a challenge of how we were going to use our tasty purees to accompany the curry… the result was beyond delicious!!! And for dessert we baked a Hip 2B Pear Upside Down cake which is hands down my favorite cake in recent memory. I had it for breakfast for the next two days as well. Trust me…the extra minutes on the treadmill are well worth it!

Spicy Lentil Dip

6-3.5 ounce packs (2 boxes) of Tastybaby Bollywood frozen organic baby food, thawed
2 Tbsp Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 small Organic yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves Organic Garlic, crushed
1 tsp of fresh Organic Ginger, grated or finely chopped
1⁄2 tsp ground Organic turmeric
1tsp ground organic coriander
1 Tbsp organic tomato paste
2 Tbsp of Organic Italian Parsley, finely chopped
Kosher Salt & Fresh Ground Organic Pepper

Our Tasty Recipe:

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat, and cook the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is soft. Add the turmeric, coriander and tomato paste and continue stirring. Add the defrosted Bollywood Baby to the onion mixture. Combine the mixture by stirring well. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to loosen, chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat & let cool. Serve at room temperature with toasted pita and/or fresh veggies.

Organic Pumpkin & Squash Curry with Santa Barbara Prawns

9-3.5 ounce packs(3 boxes) Squash ‘Em Tastybaby Frozen Organic Baby Food, thawed
3-14 ounce cans Organic Light Coconut Milk
1 ½ to 2 Tbsp Palm Sugar
3 tsp Fish Sauce or as needed to desired saltiness
1 ½ to 2lbs(about 20 pieces) peeled Wild Caught Prawns or Shrimp
2 cups Organic Baby Zucchini, cut on the bias in ½ inch pieces
2 large bunches Organic Thai Basil or Fresh Basil, reserves basil sprigs for garnish
2-4 Organic red hot chilies, cut into thin slivers with seeds(optional)
Kosher salt for seasoning
6 Organic Acorn Squash(about 1 lb each), hollowed out into “bowls”

Serve with steamed Jasmine Rice

Our Tasty Recipe:

Do not shake the cans of coconut milk before opening. Spoon 2/3 cup of the thickest cream off the top of a can into a large pot placed over medium-high heat. Reduce cream until thick and bubbly (about 3 minutes), then add the curry paste. Stir and mush the paste into the coconut cream and fry for a few minutes until it is very aromatic and darkened in color. Then pour in the remaining milk from both cans, stirring well to dissolve the paste to make a smooth rich sauce. Whisk in all of the defrosted Squash ‘Em to the curry base until combined well.

 Add 1 1/2 Tbs. of palm or coconut sugar, stirring well to blend into the curry sauce. Taste and add fish sauce only as necessary to salt to the desired saltiness. Add the pieces of zucchini & the basil bunches (tied with string).

Return to a boil, then lower heat to medium, or just enough to simmer the sauce gently. Cook partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender (15-20 minutes or more). Taste the sauce and adjust as needed with fish sauce, palm sugar & kosher salt to the desired salty-sweet combination. Season the prawns/shrimp with kosher salt. Add the seasoned prawns to the curry and poach for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through and firm.

Turn off heat and spoon curry into a hollowed out acorn squash or serving dish. Garnish top with basil sprig(s) & slivered chilis. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Hip 2B Pear Upside-Down Cake

 
For topping:
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) Organic unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed Organic golden brown sugar
2 large firm-ripe Organic Barlett pears
For cake batter:
1 cup Organic cake flour (not self-rising)
1 cup Organic all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated Organic nutmeg
1 stick (1/2 cup) Organic unsalted butter
1 cup Organic granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Organic vanilla
1/8 teaspoon Organic almond extract
2 large Organic Eggs
1 cup Organic Milk

1-3.5 ounce pack of Hip 2B Pear Tastybaby frozen organic babyfood

Hip 2B Pear Coulis:
2-3.5 ounce packs of Hip 2B Pear Tastybaby frozen organic babyfood

1/4 cup of Poire Williams(for adults only!), or Organic Pear Juice

On the side:

Sweetened whipped cream flavored with vanilla bean paste

Fresh Organic Mint

Our Tasty Recipe:
For the topping: In a well-seasoned 10-inch cast-iron skillet melt butter over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Distribute brown sugar evenly onto bottom of skillet and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Do not agitate, even if all of the brown sugar is not melted. Remove skillet from heat & set aside.

Peel and core pears and halve lengthwise. Cut the halves lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick wedges and arrange wedges in a fan around edge of skillet. Use the smallest wedges to decorate the center of the skillet.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the cake batter: Sift together flours, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in to a small bowl. In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and almond extract beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed add milk, beating until just combined. Carefully add flour mixture in 2-3 batches until combined. Fold in one pack of Hip2B Pear.

Spread batter evenly and carefully over pears in skillet, and bake in middle of oven 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown and springy to the touch. Cool cake in skillet on a rack 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of skillet. Invert a cake plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Carefully lift skillet off cake.

For the coulis, blend together 2 packs of Hip 2B Pear with either Poire Williams or Organic Pear Juice, until the desired consistency and taste is reached.

Serve cake warm or at room temperature with Hip 2B Pear Coulis, whipped cream  garnish with fresh mint.