Christina's Tropical Strawberry Shortcakes

adapted Our Best Bites and Throwdown with Bobby Flay

1 recipe Basic Baked Scones

4 C sliced fresh strawberries
½ C white sugar
4 T fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)

Coconut Whipped Cream (from Throwdown)

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¾ C toasted coconut

Mix sliced strawberries, sugar, and lime juice. Stir well and set aside. Stir occasionally over about 15 minutes. You want the sugar to dissolve and form a light syrup.

For the coconut whipped cream combine the heavy cream, coconut milk, sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer and mix until soft peaks form.

Split scones in half (or slice angel food or pound cake) and layer on strawberry-lime mixture. Include some of the syrup. Place top half of scone on top and top with a generous dollop of the coconut whipped cream. Finally sprinkle with toasted coconut.

I also drizzled some sweetened condensed milk on the scones (underneath the whipped cream) and it was an awesome addition.

Christina's Brazilian Limeade/Lemonade

from Our Best Bites

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 C sugar
6 C cold water
6 TBSP sweetened condensed milk

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. Wash limes thoroughly with soap. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender. Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk.

Serve immediately over ice. This does not keep well, so don't make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance).

Christina's Thai Peanut Dressing

from Our Best Bites

Can be used as a salad dressing (add 2-4 TBSP water to get a good consistency) or a dipping sauce for satay.

1/2 C peanut butter
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 1/2 t sesame oil
1 T seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
3 T honey
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 T minced ginger
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro (stems and all)
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 t kosher salt
2-3 t Sriracha chili sauce*

Blend it all together. Makes about two cups.

*If you don't have chili sauce or can't find it, just toss in a little crushed red pepper, but not too much! Chili sauce isn't actually very hot, and you don't want any hot spice overpowering the flavor.

Christina's Cilantro-Lime Marinade/Vinaigrette

from Our Best Bites

1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1/4 c. white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. Kosher or sea salt
2 tsp. sugar
1 c. canola oil
1/2 c. roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed

In the jar of your blender, combine lime juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar. Blend until ingredients are completely combined. With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture. Serve with greens, on any type of Mexican salad, or use as a marinade for any meat.

Christina's Steak and Mango Salad

from Our Best Bites

1lb steak (the original recipe said flank steak... I don't know the difference between the cuts, so I used whatever we had and it was good)
1 head romaine lettuce or green-lettuce mix 
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 mangoes, sliced
2 avocados sliced
cilantro sprigs for garnish
1/2 C caramelized macadamia nuts (optional, I left them out and they were fine)

Dressing and Marinade


Side note: I thought this made a great marinade, but was lacking as a dressing. I think I would add some grated onion, more brown sugar, orange zest and maybe even a little teriyaki sauce (just a little!) to the dressing. I think pineapple juice could also be good.

1/2 C fresh squeezed orange juice
6 T fresh lime juice
6 T soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 T fresh ginger or 1 1/2 tsp dried ginger (I used dried since I don't like ginger chunks.)
3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 C olive oil

In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic (and any extra ingredients you might be tossing in). Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the olive oil until combined. Reserve about 3/4 C* (you could also just choose to add any ingredients to this reserved mix as it will be the dressing) and place the rest of the mixture in a zip-lock bag.

*Important note: Make sure when you're pouring out the 3/4 C you are constantly mixing the mixture to assure even distribution of ingredients.

Lightly score the steak in a diagonal pattern on both sides. Place steak in the zip-lock bag with marinade and leave in fridge for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Caramelize the macadamia nuts, if you want to add them. Basically you saute them in 2 T brown sugar, 1/2 T light corn syrup, 1/2 T butter and 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional) for about 5 minutes or until they smell fragrant. Like I said, I didn't do this. No nuts and no time. 
Remove steak from fridge about 30 minutes prior to cooking and leave at room temperature. You'll want to let the dressing portion to sit at room temp during this time as well. Heat grill (or grill pan for those of us without grills) to med-high heat. Remove steak from bag and let any excess marinade drip off if cooking on a grill. If using a grill pan, cook it right in the marinade. Cook steak for about 5-8 minutes on each side or until done. In order to stay tender, steak should still be pink in the middle, but nicely seared on the outside. When done, remove from grill and wait at least 5 minutes before cutting to let the juices redistribute. Then slice into thin slices.

Divide lettuce onto plates and top with slices of mango, avocado, and red onion. Add steak slices and drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle macadamia nuts on top and garnish with cilantro.

Christina's Stir-Fry Sauce

adapted from Kate's Kitchen

1/4 onion or 1/4 c. green onion, chopped (I used about 1 T dried chopped onion and it worked well)

1 clove garlic, minced

2 T. soy sauce

2 t. lemon or lime juice

2 t. rice vinegar

1/2 t. dried pepper flakes

1/2 t. powdered ginger or grated fresh

1/4 t. sesame oil
1 T honey

Heat up a large skittle and add a couple T. of oil. Add desired meat (4 - 8 oz) and cook briefly til done. Add veggies of choice (2-3 cups chopped) and fry for a couple minutes. Add sauce ingredients. Toss and serve over rice.

Christina's Tangy Broiled Halibut

from my Grandma San

4 6-ounce fresh or frozen halibut steaks, cut 1 inch thick
olive oil
2 TBSPS Dijon-style mustard
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 TBSP dill, parsely or green onion
lime or lemon wedges

Thaw fish, if frozen. Preheat broiler.

Place filets on greased baking sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil and then mustard. Sprinkle with pepper.

Broil 3-4 inches from heat 4-5 minutes or until golden brown and fish flakes easily. Sprinkle with seasonings and serve with wedges.

To bake in oven: preheat to 350 and bake approximately 15 minutes or until done.

To grill by indirect heat: Arrange preheated coals around a drip pan in a covered grill. Test for medium heat above pan. Place fish on the greased grill rack over drip pan. Cover and grill for 8 to 12 minutes or just until fish begins to flake easily when tested with a fork, turning once and brushing occasionally with mustard mixture.