Mindless Monday: Orange Dreamsicles

It's Hot. I'm done with the heat, are you SoCal peeps? Is it raining in your region of the world? Can you send some of it our way, we so need rain here. The humidity bodes well for a rainy winter, so hopefully that really happens.

This weekend was beyond hot. and hardly anyone has air conditioning on the Westside, they all think we get ocean breezes. Uhmm no, I'm 10 blocks away, with multiple buildings blocking my breeze. Seriously SB and I couldn't wait to get into our car just to put the AC on. Getting ready for a meeting or going out to eat was miserable, dripping sweat and make-up is no bueno.

Something had to be done so I decided to make yogurt popsicles. Did your mom ever make these for you growing up, mine did all the time. I have to tap her brain for what she put into them. However for me the questions was, "what did i have in my refrigerator?" Yogurt, check. Left over sweet condensed milk, from my last popsicle trial, check. Oranges and lemons, check. I decide I wanted an Orange Dreamsicle. This was the easiest recipe EVER.

2 cups yogurt (I used Vanilla, next time maybe i'd try Greek plain yogurt)

1/3 cup sweet condensed milk

Zest of one Orange

Mix and pour into your popsicle molds and freeze overnight. Seriously the mixture was so good I was dreaming about these till the next day when I could eat them and I almost ate them for breakfast, I mean it's the equivalent of orange juice, right? These were easy to make and a welcome little treat. Too bad today I'm starting a 2 week NO SUGAR kick. How will I ever make this happen! Happy Monday.

Candied Orange Peels

Since it's technically still citrus season and I keep seeing all these amazing blood orange images everywhere I knew I had to try something with them. So I decided to walk down to the farmers market and check out what's in season and buy me some blood oranges. Some fruits are just more photogenic then others. These have amazing color and are so tasty.​

I've seen quite a few people making candied orange peels. Admittedly this scared me a bit, but I'm always up for the challenge. So I chopped and scooped out the juicy pulp and cut out the white pithy part of the peel and went to slicing 1/8 inch strips of blood orange peels.​

I basically followed this recipe that I had cut out of a Food & Wine magazine a while back, when a friend had given me a gift subscription.​  I am going to make something that involves chocolate, but candied orange peels are the start of gathering my ingredients. 

For those of you who like the orange candies (to the left), they taste just like them. I think I am the minority in liking these candies, I have yet to find any adult or kid that feels the same way about them. I think I got my taste for these from my grandfather, who I swear ate these and lemon drops to help him to stop smoking. Weird childhood memory, but I think that's where I got my love for these.

Cut out fleshy pulp and take out as much of the white pithy part and cut into 1/8 inch slices.​

Boil the peels in water for 7 minutes. Drain. Freshen water and boil for another 7 minutes.​ Drain. Then put 2 1/2 cups of sugar and water and bring to a boil, once the sugar dissolves to clear carefully drop in the peels, let them simmer for about 30 minutes.

Lift them out with a slotted spoon and toss them in the remaining 1 cup of sugar. Let them sit there for 30 minutes until they cool down.  Store in airtight container at room temperature until your ready to use.​  Coming soon, what could I be using these for?

Chocolate Mousse with Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream

So last night was the Oscars. One of my favorite shows to watch since I was a little girl. Life though has been so busy and for various reasons I literally only saw one of the movies that had a nomination. But tradition is that I must watch this show. So we had two friends over, the kind of friends that you don't have to dress up for, that can cook in your kitchen and find your silverware drawer and eat your Pretzel Bites and your okay with that (well maybe, Pretzel Bites are almost sacred in our household). With that said I quickly took inventory of what I had at home and made a run to Trader Joes for all the fun foods, salami, sopresseta, provolone, goat and asiago cheese, shrimp, cocktail sauce, and smoked salmon.

As everything was pretty much just layout on a plate I decided to make one thing from scratch. So having just watched an episode of Giada's

Italian Kitchen

on the Food Network I thought I'd make this Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse with an Orange Mascarpone Whipped Cream. Truly this was a treat. The mousse was rich and decadent, super creamy, and the orange mascarpone whipped cream was cool and refreshing. Chocolate and Orange are a super combination, they always seem to enhance the flavor in each other. My friend literally said, "Wow," through every bite she took.

Here's the recipe I followed from

FoodTV.com

:

Mousse:

1/2 cup whole milk

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

3 large egg whites

Cream:

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon orange zest

For the Mousse: In a small saucepan over medium heat stir together the milk with the sugar and the espresso powder until the milk is hot, but not boiling, and the sugar is dissolved. Place the chocolate chips in a blender.

*Pour the hot milk over the chips. Run the blender on high until combined, a few seconds. Add the egg whites and run the blender on high until light, about 1 minute. Transfer the mousse to 4 small serving cups. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until firm, about 3 hours.

For the Cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer, stir together the

mascarpone cheese and the orange juice until smooth. Add the cream,

powdered sugar, and orange zest. Whip until the cream has soft peaks, about 1 minute. Whip the cream just before serving the mousse or cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

* When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.