Persimmon Smoothie

Persimmons. My new love. The first time I bought one, I actually did not eat it because I was not so attracted to it. But after seeing amazing recipes and learning more about them on the blogosphere, I bought other ones with the intention of trying them. And fortunately I did. What a great fruit!

Honestly, I am far from being an expert on persimmons. What I have learned over the last few weeks is that there are at least 2 kind of persimmons. There are the fuyu and hachiyas. The fuyu represents about 80% of the persimmons on the market. It look like a flat tomato and can be eaten right away (this is the one on the pics). As for the hachiyas persimmons, they represent about 20% of the persimmons on the market. You need to wait until they are ripen to eat. The reason is that they contain a lot of tannin which evaporates when the persimmon ripens. Hachiyas look like a cone. As for the other varieties of persimmons, I did not gather a lot of info on them. I also have not seen them in the markets I go.

So I bought persimmons last weekend. One way to enjoy them that came to my mind is to make a smoothie with them. And oh my I loved that smoothie! It was creamy, amazingly naturally sweet. Can't wait to make another one :).

By the way, I want to wish to all Americans a Happy Turkey Day!

Ingredients

• 5 persimmons, peeled
  
• 80 mL plain yogurt
  
• ice cubes to taste
  
• 60 mL orange juice
  
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  

Instructions
1. Blend everything together in a blender.

Makes about 750 mL of smoothie.

Source: Persimmons

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Brownies

I realized after I made these brownies that they were hyper gooey. I realized after I made these that my swirling skills need to be improved. I realized we are already at the end of November and another year will be gone too soon. I realized I might have drunk too much wine for my own this weekend. I realized... I realized.... Ok, that is too much. I might become crazy or I might cry if I think too much And I have already cried too much in the last two days. And yeah, I tried to keep something called sanity in my life.



Honestly, these brownies are really good. I don't know for you, but I prefer to have my brownies to be on the hyper gooey side. Less hard to chew and so much more sweeter :). I also love how the combo of spices paired with the pumpkins and the chocolate.

I uses this Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Brownies recipe. My idea for these brownies came when I talked to my friend J.. She told me she saw amazing pumpkin chocolate brownies on the blogophere. I just could not wait for an occasion to try them. I jumped on the occasion to make these when I went to a party last weekend.

On another note, I want to thank Laura from Laura's Paris Cooking. who sent me this beautiful knife. The reason is that I entered her giveaway two weeks ago and I won! Yippee :)

Ingredients

• 125 mL unsalted butter
  
• 200 mL bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  
• 500 mL all-purpose flour
  
• 5 mL baking powder
  
• 5 mL ground ginger
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 425 mL sugar
  
• 4 large eggs
  
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract
  
• 310 mL solid-pack pumpkin
  
• 60 mL vegetable oil
  
• 5 mL cinnamon
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Add water in the bottom pot of a double-boiler and bring it to a boil.
3. Remove the bottom pot from heat when the water is boiling.
4. Place the upper pot over the bottom pot and let melt the chocolate and the butter.
5. Whisk together the flour, the baking powder, the ginger and the salt in a large bowl.
6. Set aside.
7. Beat the sugar, the vanilla and the eggs in a food processor until light and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes).
8. Beat in the flour mixture.
9. Divide the batter between 2 medium bowls (about 500 mL in each).
10. Stir in the chocolate mixture into one bowl.
11. Stir in the pumpkin, the oil, the cinnamon and the nutmeg into the other bowl.
12. Transfer half of the chocolate batter in a greased 9-inch baking pan.
13. Top with half of the pumpkin batter.
14. Top with the remaining chocolate batter.
15. Top with the remaining pumpkin batter.
16. Gently swirl the 2 batters to get a marbled effect with a spatula or a table knife.
17. Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a tiny bit of crumbs.

Makes 25 squares.

Baked Lime Chipotle Feta Shrimps

Last Wednesday, I thawed some shrimps in the fridge to make lime chipotle shrimps. However, after looking at a few recipes, I realized many of them had cilantro. I did not have some on hand. So I looked for baked shrimp recipes and, again, I did not have everything I needed to make my meal tastes good. But wait, could I try to make a mix of these 2 kind of recipes? That is what I did.

I used chitople, cooked orzo, lime, feta, roasted tomatoes, shrimps and put everything together in a baking pan and bake it for 20 minutes. Easy. Really easy. And really tasty too! The hotness and smokiness of the chipotle was a great match with the feta. That was a delicious weeknight dinner :).


Ingredients

• 250 mL orzo
  
• 375 mL feta, chopped
  
• 20 to 30 shrimps; shelled and deveined
  
• 20 mL chipotle in adobe sauce; finely chopped (you can adjust the amount to suit your taste)
  
• 30 mL fresh lime juice
  
• 125 mL tomatoes, roasted* (in fact, you can use seeded fresh tomatoes. I just happened to have roasted tomatoes on hand).
  
• salt to taste
  
• pepper to taste
  

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Cook the orzo according to package directions.
3. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Place them in a greased baking pan.
5. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the shrimps are done.

Makes 3 to 4 portions.

*You can roast the tomatoes the way you prefer. The way I did is**:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees.
2. Cut the campari tomatoes in quarters.
3. Mix the tomatoes with some olive oil, fresh thyme, honey, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Bake in the oven for about one hour (check if the tomatoes are starting to brown. If so, stir them a bit).

**Source: Tokyo Terrace