Enjoying your Summer so far?? Hello MadeByGirl readers! It's Teann here bringing you another scrumptious recipe. Summer is the time for drinks on the patio with friends enjoying great food. These pita chips and feta dip are perfect to share with friends and while sipping margaritas.

 Pita Chips: 

1 bag of soft pocket pitas 1 tbsp turmeric 2 tsp garlic salt Olive oil Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut the pita pockets into triangles and peel apart. With the inside of the pita face up, spread out the pita triangles on a sheet. Lightly coat the pitas with olive oil. Combine turmeric and garlic salt and sprinkle across the pitas. Bake for 4 minutes or until brown and crisp. These pita chips bake fast so keep an eye on them.

 Feta Dip: 

 6 oz feta, crumbled 2 tsp lemon zest Lemon juice from 1 lemon 4 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until until smooth. Serve with pita chips and margaritas!

-post & photos by teann ingram

https://sexygirlspic79.blogspot.com/2013/07/food-pita-chips-feta-dip.html

Hey guys! Its Teann here. Today I am bringing you Coconut Crisps. These little crisps are delicate, crunchy and delicious. The whip cream center is the perfect match making this dessert nice and light. I suggest making these for your next dinner party.

 

Coconut Crisps 

3 tbsp butter

1/3 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp flour

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1 cup whipping cream

1 vanilla bean, split and seeds extracted (or 2 tsp Vanilla Extract)

4 tbsp honey

1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt butter with the sugar and honey in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat; carefully stir in vanilla.

2. Combine flour and coconut in a large bowl. Stir in butter mixture. Drop 1 tbsp batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Leave enough space between the drops as they will spread during baking.

3. Bake until golden, 10 minutes. Let cool 2 minutes. Quickly lift the crisps and drape over a round object. I used a metal baster. Let set.

4. Whip whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add vanilla bean seeds and honey. Whip until peaks are firm. Using a piping bag and tip, pipe the whipped cream into the completely cools crisp.

-post by teann ingramm

https://sexygirlspic79.blogspot.com/2013/06/food-coconut-crisps.html

Its Teann here from Teann Ingram Photography bringing you a chocolate dessert! Chocolate is a women's best friend, we eat it when we're happy, sad, grumpy, and excited. It can be savoury, sweet, mixed with spices or just eaten plain. Chocolate is apart of our everyday lives, well mine anyways :)

These chocolate cupcakes are incredibly light, fluffy, and moist. 

Plus, they are so easy to mix together, you have no excuses not to make them! The German buttercream is similar to swiss meringue buttercream, except it's custard based and does not have the strong buttery flavour some people dislike of swiss meringue buttercream. 

 

When you have completely cooled the custard, and have started adding your butter, you may notice the mixture resembling runny scrabbled eggs. This is the moment most people think they are past the point of saving the buttercream and throw out their mixture! Gah! All that delicious buttercream gone. Forever. If only they knew, the buttercream hasn't been ruined at all! The butter just hasn't been fully incorporated! 

This stage doesn't always happen, but I find when my butter is still a little too cold, it will create this texture. So no fear, all you need to do is keep mixing. Easy huh? Patience is key, it usually takes about 10 - 15 minutes of continuous mixing to completely incorporate the butter and what you are left with is...

 

...pure magic. The buttercream should be smooth and light. I suggest tasting it once or twice, or three times. Maybe four.

  I absolutely love using vanilla beans in my icing. The specks of vanilla throughout the icing is so lovely.

  

I made a combination of regular and mini cupcakes. This recipe will make about 12 mini and 14 regular.

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 2 cups coconut sugar (or white sugar) 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 3/4 tsp salt 2 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk (or fill cup with 1 tbsp white vinegar, fill to 1 cup with milk. Let sit 5 min.) 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 tbsp vanilla extract 1 cup hot coffee (you can use instant coffee too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tins with butter and flour or line with paper liners. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, mix together dry ingredients. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Carefully add hot coffee and slowly incorporate. Batter will be runny. Fill muffin tins, 3/4 with batter and place in the oven for 20 - 25 mins. Insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, the cupcakes are ready. Cool completely before icing.

German Vanilla Bean Buttercream

1 cup whole milk 1 vanilla bean pod, split and scraped with a blunt edge to extract seeds 1/2 cup of honey (or white sugar) 1 1/4 tbsp cornstarch 1 egg 1 egg yolk 1 cup butter, room temperature 1/8 tsp salt

In a medium pot, bring the milk to a simmer along with the vanilla bean seeds and pod. Turn off the heat and set aside for 20 min or as long as time allows.

After steeping, remove the vanilla bean pod. Return milk to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk together honey, cornstarch, eggs and yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup of the hot milk SLOWLY into the egg mixture to prevent the eggs from scrabbling. Continuing to whisk add the remaining milk mixture. Return the mixture to the pot and place over medium heat. With a wooden spoon, continuously stir the mixture until it has thickened and is bubbling sluggishly. Stir and cook for another full minute. Take the custard off the heat and place pot in an ice bath. Stir until custard has cooled to room temperate.

Once the custard is at room temperature, using a stand mixer, beat the custard until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Start adding the butter in tablespoon increments. If the mixture starts to look like scrabbled eggs, continue adding the butter and once the butter has been added, let the mixer do the work. Mix until smooth about 10 - 15 minutes.

Cupcakes adapted from: Foddess German Butter Cream adapted from: BraveTart

-post and photos by teann ingram

https://sexygirlspic79.blogspot.com/2013/05/food-chocolate-cupcakes-german-vanilla.html

Hi MadeByGirl readers! Its Teann from Teann Ingram Photography. Whenever I go to a restaurant, I always walk in thinking, I'll try a new item on the menu. But when the waitress comes to take the order, I panic and go with something classic instead. Last week, I actually tried a new item! Chickpea Fries, which I fell in LOVE with. 

They are somewhat healthier than regular potato fries, though they are normally deep-fried so I think that might cancel out the "health" factor. Luckily, you can bake these fries too!

 

You can buy chickpea flour from a specialty store (I've heard Whole Foods has it in bulk) or grind dried chickpeas in a coffee/spice grinder, like I did here.

Remember to slowly sprinkle in the flour mixture while whisking constantly to avoid clumps. Switch to a wooden spoon and continue stirring until the mixture starts to separate from the walls of the pot.

While the chickpea mixture is cooling in the fridge, make the curry aioli. Make sure to SLOWLY add the oil to the egg yolk. This is the most crucial part.

Oh yum, look at the colour of those fries!

Now enjoy!

Chickpea Fries

1 cup chickpea flour, sifted 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 1/4 tsp turmeric 2 cups water 2 tbsp olive oil Favourite oil for frying (I use peanut)

Curry Aioli *Note: This aioli contains raw egg yolks.

3 egg yolks pinch of salt pinch of pepper 1/2 lemon 3/4 cup lightly flavoured oil (I use safflower) 3/4 tsp turmeric 1/4 tsp cumin 1/4 tsp coriander

1. Grease an 8x8 square dish, set aside. Mix water with olive oil in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, whisk together chickpea flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and turmeric in a large bowl. Once the water is boiling, gradually add the flour mixture, whisking frequently to avoid lumps. Switch to a wooden spoon and continue to stir for about 5 - 7 minutes, or until the mixture separates from the sides of the pan. Pour mixture into the greased dish. Smooth and level with a wooden spoon. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before placing in the refrigerator.

2. *If using the oven method, preheat oven to 425˚F. While the chickpeas' are cooling, its time to make the aioli. You can certainly whisk by hand, but its takes quite an effort. Instead, I use my KitchenAid mixer. (You can also use a blender or a food processor). Place the eggs in the bowl with the whisk attachment. With the mixer on high speed, SLOWLY add the oil to the eggs, one drop at a time. Wait for the oil to be mixed with the eggs before adding the next drop of oil. Continue this process until the eggs lighten in colour and the texture starts to thicken slightly. Once you have hit this stage, you can start pour the oil in a thin steady stream until all of the oil has been added. Add the rest of the spices and mix well. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cut the chickpea mixture into strips, about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Fry strips on both sides until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Place fries in a warm oven, while frying the next batch. Serve immediately with curry aioli.

*4. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place chickpea strips, leaving 1 inch space between. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until crispy. Serve immediately with curry aioli.

-post by teann ingram

https://sexygirlspic79.blogspot.com/2013/04/food-chickpea-fries.html