Sea Salt & Matcha Kissed Popcorn

I was at the mall yesterday and stumbled upon a new-fangled popcorn shop selling nearly 20 gourmet flavored popcorns as well as a few seasonal offerings. One of the seasonal selections was a green tea and sea salt flavor. So, being the green tea lovin’ gal that I am, I ALMOST shelled out $15.00 for a one-gallon bag of the matcha coated popcorn.  

Recipe Girl to the rescue! I saved my $15.00, headed straight home and fired up my popcorn kettle and started working on my very own version. I call my recipe, Sea Salt & Matcha Kissed Popcorn.  Make a date with this healthy and uniquely flavored snack on your next movie night.

You will need oil, popping corn, DoMatcha matcha, and sea salt.

Combine 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 heaping teaspoon of matcha and add to a salt shaker. 

Make one recipe of Old Fashioned Popcorn. 

• 1.       Place a large heavy pot with a lid over medium-high heat.
• 2.       Add in about 3 to 4 tablespoons of corn or vegetable oil.
• 3.       Add in about 10 popping corn kernels and cover with a lid
• 4.       When you hear the kernels start to pop, quickly add in about 1 cup of kernels and cover.
• 5.       Gently shake the pot back and forth until you hear the kernels start to pop.
• 6.       Shake the pot a bit faster and crack the lid every-so-often to allow the steam to escape. 
• 7.   Popcorn is ready when you no longer hear the kernels popping. 

Transfer popcorn to a large brown paper bag. Shake about 1/4 teaspoon of the matcha and salt over the popcorn, close the bag and gently shake to coat. Repeat process until the desired taste of matcha and salt is achieved. Store popcorn in a 1-gallon sized zipper style platstic bag. This recipe will make about two 1-gallon bags of popcorn.

 

 Sea Salt & Matcha Kissed Popcorn!

Julie Anne's Sweet Citrus Granola

I am head-over-heels for Julie Anne’s Sweet Citrus Granola.  This crunchy clustered granola treat is scented by pure vanilla extract and luscious orange zest. Each bite of this gourmet granola is studded with toasted almonds, coconut, tart dried cranberries, and golden raisins.

Each delightful pouch of granola is made with care and contains almost 8 servings. Try these 8 delicious serving suggestions;

1.        Pour ice cold milk over a hearty bowl of Granola and enjoy the delicious vanilla and orange flavors.

2.       Serve with warm milk for a comforting breakfast meal or mid-day snack.

3.       Sprinkle a serving over the top of your favorite yogurt.

4.       Sprinkle a quarter cup over the peanut butter when making a PB&J sandwich.

5.       As a healthy garnish to a scoop of your favorite ice cream.

6.       When making oatmeal and raisin cookies.

7.       Sprinkle a handful over oatmeal or fresh fruit.

8.       You can always enjoy Julie Anne’s Sweet Citrus Granola by itself for a light, sweet snack.

You can order Julie Anne’s Sweet Citrus Granola from Amazon.com by clicking on this link or by viewing the Julie Anne's widget to the right of this post directly under my profile section.

Pinkalicious Cupcakes, Redmond Town Center

This week I had my fill of cupcakes. I went on a mission to unearth the finest cupcakerie in Puget Sound. I visited Trophy Cupcakes, New York Cupcakes, Cupcake Royale and Pinkalicious Cupcakes. My criteria for the finest cupcake are as follows;

1. The flavor of both and cake and frosting must be intense enough that the few bites of the dessert will satisfy my cupcake craving.

2. The ideal cupcake will be rich enough that I have to eat it with a glass of milk.

3. The cake ought to have a tender, airy and perfect crumb.

4. The cupcake should be garnished with a billowy mound of frosting.

5. The frosting ought to be delicate yet solidly flavored. Sweeter is not always superior!

6. Garnishes on the frosting should be applied with a light hand. I loathe a million sprinkles! Chocolate curls and caramel drizzle are charming and delicious.

I was a somewhat let down by the first three shops I visited. I chose two cupcakes from each shop, a white cake and a chocolate cake. I was taken aback at how dry some of the chocolate cupcakes were, and one notable shop’s coconut cake was so dense and chewy that I stopped eating after the first bite (this shop supposedly sets the “standard” for the other shops). Another shop’s frosting was so cloyingly saccharine it reminded me of canned frosting. Another shop claimed that their cupcakes were “now moister than ever”, though, that translated into an awfully oily concoction and when I tried to lift the cupcake out of the box, the top came off.

On my very last visit, I stopped by the “new girl” in town, Pinkalicious cupcakes located in Redmond Town Center.

If the shop’s name sounds recognizable, it should if you have read the book titled Pinkalicious, which is about a little girl that eats so many pink cupcakes that her skin and hair turn pink. She develops a bad case of Pinkititis.

The charming shop is located on the top level of Redmond Town Center and is decked out with pink and brown colors. The interior is similar to the majority of the other cupcake shops in town, noticeably decorative with a parade of picturesque cupcakes housed in a glass case.

I chose two cupcakes; the white coconut cake with white buttercream frosting and coconut, and the chocolate cupcake with peanut butter buttercream frosting.

I definitely appreciated the white coconut cupcake for its buttery flavor and tender, fine crumb. I would have liked to have tasted far more coconut in the cake element which could simply be corrected by adding a modest amount of cream of coconut to the batter. The mound of white buttercream was smooth, silky, and not overly sweet like some other shops offer. I enjoyed the downy drift of tender coconut that topped the marvelous frosting.

The chocolate cupcake was tremendously moist with a definite chocolate essence. The mound of rich peanut butter infused frosting garnished with a slice of peanut butter cup was a dream-come-true for the peanut butter and chocolate fanatic that I am.

I paid $3.00 per cupcake which is about two dimes and a nickel more than the competing shops. I have tasted what the competition is offering and consider the cupcakes at Pinkalicious wholly worth the extra twenty five pennies!!!

Pinkalicious Cupcakes are the most excellent cupcakes in Puget Sound!!!!!

Green Tea Ice Cream

I typically stay up to date on trendy foods and ingredients.  Lately, I have noticed that Matcha seems to be one of the “it” ingredients. It seems that very nearly every coffee stand and café offers a cold and hot brew containing matcha. Several liqueur companies are incorporating the cherished green powder into their liqueur products.

I noticed that Haagen-Dazs is riding the matcha train and has introduced a velvety and delightful Green Tea Ice Cream. I devoured a container of their frozen concoction (brain freeze!!) and agree that their recipe is unquestionably creamy and contains a soothing green tea flavor.  On the other hand, my friends don’t call me Recipe Girl for naught, of course I fashioned a delicious recipe at home using my own ice cream maker and my much-loved DōMatcha Organic matcha.

The ingredients are pretty simple.....

1 cup half & half

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon DōMatcha Organic matcha

2 cups heavy whipping cream

 

Gently heat half and half in microwave until very warm. Whisk in sugar and matcha until dissolved.

 

Pour matcha mixture into a glass pitcher. Stir in heavy whipping cream. Place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Pour chilled mixture into ice cream mixture. I use the Cuisinart ICE-20 (love it!!).

Freeze mixture for about 30 minutes or until thickened.

Quickly transfer ice cream to a 13x9 inch glass dish, cover with plastic wrap and "ripen" in freezer for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!!!!