Pineapple Zucchini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Pineapple and zucchini muffins are a good blend of fruit and vegetables in delicious muffins! Lovely sweet pineapple and summer zucchini are a perfect combination.

This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found online a few years ago for a zucchini pineapple loaf. I thought it might well work, with modifications, for muffins.

Pineapple Zucchini Muffins

Use pineapple in unsweetened juice for this recipe. If you can only find pineapple in syrup, drain the syrup and adjust the sugar in the recipe to compensate.

Ingredients
2 cups, shredded, or 300g zucchini
10 oz or 280g crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups or 250g flour
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining it with paper muffin cups.

Whisk together the zucchini, pineapple, canola, eggs and vanilla into a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just mixed.

Divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other Muffin Monday recipes we are sharing today. Many thanks to Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for stepping in and saving me from my lack of awareness of what day it even is! I was so sure that Muffin Monday was next week!

• Apple Raisin Rye Muffins by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Banana Currant Muffins by Passion Kneaded
• Birthday Cake Muffins by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Chocolate Chip Nutella Muffins by Palatable Pastime
• Jasmine Matcha Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pineapple Zucchini Muffins by Food Lust People Love
• Roasted Garlic Cheddar Muffins by Making Miracles
• Strawberry Fromage Blanc Muffins by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Pineapple Zucchini Muffins!

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Candied Meyer Lemon Almond Bundtlettes #BundtBakers

These candied meyer lemon almond bundtlettes have the most wonderful lemon and almond flavor with a rich tender crumb. They bake up with a lovely golden exterior that I brush with lemon syrup for even more moisture and lemony flavor.

This month my Bundt Baker friends are sharing cakes they’ve fancied up with decorations. I do believe that more is more when it comes to sprinkles but this time I decided to go a more natural route when I settled on baking a lemon almond cake.

Months ago my mom sent me a link to a recipe on David Leibovitz’s site with a request for me to please bake it for her. Of course I said yes and then completely forgot when I got back to Houston. It was well past time to pony up!

Candied Meyer Lemon Almond Bundtlettes

In order to un-complicate this recipe, I have posted the instructions for the candied Meyer lemon slices here: https://www.foodlustpeoplelove.com/2020/05/candied-lemon-slices.html
They are super easy to make and turn out so pretty, perfect for decorating these little bundtlettes.

Ingredients
5 1/2 tablespoons or 50g all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
7 ounces or 200g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups or 125g almond flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 200g sugar
zest of 1 large lemon
3 large eggs, at room temperature
juice of 1 large lemon (about 2 tablespoons), divided

To decorate:
candied lemon slices

Optional to brush on:
lemon syrup

Method 
Preheat the oven to 350ºF or 180ºC and prepare your bundtlette pan by buttering it liberally then coating it with flour. Mine is called 65th anniversary Bundtlette and has a capacity of 5 cups.

In a small bowl, whisk together the almond flour, all-purpose flour, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar, and lemon zest to release the oils from the zest.

Add in the butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes on medium-high speed.

On low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, then the juice from half a lemon, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl after the addition of each egg.

Stir in the flour mixture until completely incorporated, then scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Smooth the top.

Bake the bundtlettes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes before loosening the edges and middle with a toothpick and turning them out onto a wire rack to cool.

Brush with lemon syrup from the candied Meyer lemon slices.

 Top each with a candied lemon slice.

Enjoy!

Check out the other "dressed up" Bundts we are sharing today. Many thanks to our host, Sandra from Sweet Sensations.

• Boozy Orange Ginger Bundt from Passion Kneaded
• Candied Meyer Lemon Almond Bundtlets from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake from Making Miracles
• Million Dollar Bundt Cake from Sweet Sensations
• Mocha Bundt with White Chocolate from Sneha's Recipe
• Triple Oreo Bundt Cake from Simply Veggies
• Whipped Cream Bundt Cake from I Love Bundt Cakes
• White Chocolate Mocha Cake from Patyco Candybar
  

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers can be found on our home page.

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Candied Lemon Slices

Candied lemon slices are beautiful perched atop a cake but we have been known to eat them as is. They are a lovely combination of tart and sweet and they are wonderfully sticky.

I’ve made candied peel before but never with whole slices so this was kind of an experiment. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with how they turned out.

Tomorrow I am sharing a recipe for lemon almond cakes topped with these beauties!

Ingredients
1 Meyer lemon
1/2 cup or 100g sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling
1/4 cup or 60ml water

Method
Cut the ends off of the lemons and then slice the rest of the lemons into 1/8-inch-thick rounds; discard the seeds.

In a large skillet over a low heat, stir together 1/2 cup or 100g of sugar and water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Squeeze in any juice left behind in the ends of the lemon.

Add lemon slices, and simmer gently, keeping slices in a single layer.

Bast occasionally with the simple syrup and cook for about 14 to 16 minutes or until the middles are slightly translucent and rinds are softened. You can also turn the slices if you do it carefully.

Preheat your oven to 100°F or 38°C and line a pan with baking parchment.

Lift each lemon slice out of the pan with a spatula so the syrup can drain off and place it on the prepared baking pan.

Sprinkle it with the additional sugar.

The simmering syrup can be cooled and kept refrigerated in a clean jar to be used for glazing cakes or making cocktails.

Put the pan in your preheated oven for one hour, or until the peels have almost dried out. We like them still a little bit sticky.

Use to decorate cakes or, as I mentioned before, you can just eat them!

Enjoy!

Pin these candied lemon slices!

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Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast

This Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast is made with a Boston butt roast, covered in a savory spice blend. It’s cooked with a sous vide precision cooker for 18 hours, then finished off in a hot oven, which keeps it tender and juicy. Start this recipe one day ahead of serving time. Yes, it’s a long time but most of it is hands-off. Set the sous vide and go about your life.

I know I’m a little weird but I think the sous vide machine humming away in a corner is a happy sound because it means another perfectly cooked whatever is in our future. When my son-in-law gave me the sous vide precision cooker for Christmas several years ago, I had no idea how much fun I’d have experimenting and playing with it.

One thing that amuses me about the sous vide process is that if you are cooking a large piece of meat, you have to plan and cook several meals in the interim. So different from my usual "choose meat - season meat - cook meat - serve meat right now" method of meal planning. I enjoy the planning as much as the process: which cut to choose, how to season it, then figuring out the optimum time and temperature.

Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast

Total time for this recipe is 19 hours, 18 in the precision cooker and then 1 hour in a hot oven to brown the outside. In order to simplify this recipe, I have published dry rub ingredients and how-to on another page. Click here for those instructions.

Ingredients
1 boneless Boston butt roast (about 6-7 lbs or 2.7-3.2kg)
3 tablespoons java dry rub, divided
Time!
Optional for roasting: add potatoes and carrots for a full meal!

Method
Make the java dry rub. (See note above.)

Thoroughly massage 2 tablespoons of the rub into your pork roast.

Tuck it into a large leak-proof bag. Slowly lower the bag into a bucket or sink filled with water to vacuum pack the roast and remove all the air from inside the bag. Seal tightly.

Set your precision cooker to 145°F or 63°C – this temperature and time will create a sliceable tender pork roast.

When the bath is at temperature, add sealed bag with pork and cover with foil or plastic wrap. Leave to sous vide for 18 hours.

When the time is up, if you aren’t planning to roast the pork immediately, you can refrigerate it, still in the vacuum bag until you are ready. If the roast is completely chilled, keep in mind that it will need extra time in the oven to get up to serving temperature again.

To finish the roast in the oven: Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400°F or 200°C. Remove pork from sous vide bag and carefully blot dry with paper towels.

Rub reserved spice mixture into the surface of the pork. Place pork in a large iron skillet or roasting pan and place it in the preheated oven. If you’d like to turn this into a full roast dinner, add some peeled potato and carrot chunks that have been tossed in some oil or duck fat. Roast about 1 hour.

Remove the roast from the oven and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

I promise, it melts in your mouth! Any drippings can be used to make gravy.

Enjoy!

It’s MultiCooker Monday again! Many thanks to Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for their behind the scenes work. Check out all of the great recipes my friends are sharing, using their various small appliances.

• Carrot Halwa from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Crispy Air Fried Cod Fillets from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Homemade Chicken Stock (Crockpot) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking 
• Instant Pot Lasagna Soup from Making Miracles 
• Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast from Food Lust People Love 
• Lauki Bahar - Pressure Cooker from Sneha's Recipe 
• Punjabi Goat Curry (Instant Pot) from Palatable Pastime

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group.

Pin this Java Dry Rub Sous Vide Pork Roast!

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Java Dry Spice Rub

Ground roasted coffee beans add a wonderful aroma and flavor to this Java Dry Spice Rub. It’s perfect on pork chops, steak, roasts, ribs or, who am I kidding, just about any meat. In fact, sprinkle a little on your pumpkin or butternut squash before roasting. You won’t be sorry.

I must confess that I am normally a purist when it comes to seasoning chops or steak. A little salt and pepper is about all I use because I want to taste the meat. Store-bought spice mixes tend to be too heavy on the salt for me and, stupid as this sounds, it hadn’t occurred to me to mix my own.

A few years ago, though, I was fortunate enough to attend a cooking session with one of the chefs from Certified Angus beef and he shared his recipe for a Santa Maria spice mix. Far from masking the meat flavors, I was amazed by how it brought out the best in the beef.

Java Dry Spice Rub 

Now that I’m a spice rub convert, I’ve been researching different recipes. Coffee is a popular ingredient, along with garlic or onion powder, pepper and salt. I’ve used this spice rub on vegetables, beef and chicken, but it is especially good with pork. This recipe makes 1 pint jar or 135g.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons kosher or Himalayan pink rock salt
2 tablespoon mixed peppercorns (or black peppercorns)
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1/3 cup or 30g your favorite roasted coffee, medium grind
2 tablespoons or 25g brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Method
Use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind your salt, peppercorns and cumin seeds quite finely.

Add in the coffee, sugar, smoked paprika and garlic powder and mix well.

Store in an airtight container and use within a couple of months for optimum flavor. (If it lasts that long! I immediately started putting it on everything.)

This java dry spice rub is especially lovely on pork.

Come back tomorrow when I’ll be sharing a recipe for a whole pork roast cooked sous vide and finished off in the oven.

Enjoy!

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Shrimp Damian #FishFridayFoodies

Lots of garlic, lemon and, most of all butter make shrimp Damian my favorite dish to order at Carrabba’s Original. This is my own copycat recipe.

When my older sister graduated from law school many moons ago, my husband and I helped her buy essentials for her new office and even a few smart business suits to wear to court. For several years hence she thanked us for the support by taking us out for what she called “the firm” dinner.

Our favorite place to go was Carrabba’s and I always, always got the shrimp Damian - served with fettuccine alfredo - until one traumatic year when, much to my horror, the shrimp Damian was NOT ON THE MENU. Fortunately the lovely waiter put me out of my misery by saying that if I ordered it, the kitchen would still oblige.

I guess too many people continued ordering shrimp Damian because by the next firm dinner, it was back on the menu! Power to the people.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill is a chain restaurant now with locations in 31 of these United States. Sadly, you won’t find shrimp Damian on those menus but they do have a shrimp scampi appetizer that is similar. If you ever find yourself in Houston though, the two original restaurants are still owned by the Mandola/Carrabba family and shrimp Damian is still on the menu!

Shrimp Damian

If you aren’t coming to Houston, give my recipe a try. It brought back some really happy memories for me. It’s really rich so I served it with toasted baguette slices rather than the traditional fettuccine alfredo and we enjoyed it as an appetizer.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)
4 tablespoons minced yellow onions
3 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons dry white wine
1 lb or 450g cleaned and peeled fresh shrimp
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons cold butter
salt
pepper
chopped parsley or green onion tops

Options for serving:
Traditional: alongside fettuccine alfredo (serves 2 as a main course)
Less caloric: with crusty bread for dipping (serves 4 as an appetizer)

Method
First, we’ll make the lemon butter sauce. In a small pot, heat the clarified butter, add onion and garlic, and sauté until transparent.

Add lemon juice and white wine, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Simmer for a few minutes to reduce the liquid by about one-third. Remove from heat but keep warm.

Heat a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil.

Season the cleaned shrimp with a little sea salt and pepper, massage it in gently. Put the shrimp in the hot pan in a single layer and leave it to color on one side before turning.

Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Add in the garlic and reduce the heat. Cook for a few minutes, being careful not to brown the garlic.

Now add cold butter to the warm lemon butter mixture and stir till it has melted. Add a little parsley or green onion tops for color.

Add the lemon butter to the shrimp pot and cook for another couple of minutes.

Your shrimp Damian is now ready to serve.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are recreating their favorite restaurant dishes along with our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the lovely recipes by clicking on the links below.

• Rubio's Fish Tacos from Making Miracles
• Wahoo's Grilled Fish Tacos with Citrus Slaw {copycat} from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chinese Take-Out Combination Seafood Chow Mein from Palatable Pastime
• Shrimp Damian from Food Lust People Love
• Crispy Cheese Prawn Pancakes from Sneha's Recipe
• Mahi Mahi Matecumbe from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Pin this Shrimp Damian! 

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