Jessi's Joys

So it’s been awhile. Clearly. Because of that - here’s a nice treat. Giada’s raspberry cream cupcakes. These cupcakes are absolutely phenomenal and easy to make!

Ingredients

•   1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)

•   1 1/3 cups water

•   3 large eggs whites

•   2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

•   2 teaspoons almond extract

•   2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•   2 (6-ounce) containers fresh raspberries

•   1 cup heavy whipping cream

•   1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first 6 ingredients to make cupcake batter.

Whip the raspberries and whipping cream together to form fresh raspberry whipped cream (see picture below)

When the cupcakes are done baking - let them cook. Using kitchen scissors, cut the cupcakes horizontally and put the fresh raspberry whipped cream in the middle. Put them cupcake back together. When you’re finished with all of the cupcakes, sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Enjoy :)

Hope everyone’s had a great week - looking forward to tomorrow (TGIF).

I’ve really been into making different kinds of pesto lately. Immersion blenders and food processors are MUST HAVES for any kitchen.  Even kitchens as small as mine (#NYCProblems).  

Pesto 1: Avocado Pesto

Ingredients: Avocado, lemon juice, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, basil and lemon zest (choose your portions of each - the more lemon, the better)

I put it over pasta but I had leftovers and I put it on fish tacos - amazing!

Pesto 2: Asparagus Pesto

Thanks to my good friend and fellow foodie from home, Brian (@BrianStewart), I discovered asparagus pesto! Who knew you could make so many different pestos?!

Ingredients: Asparagus, spinach, pistachios, garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

Yummmmmy goodness…

And more yummy goodness…

Delish.

Know of any other alternative pesto recipes? Send them my way!

Very excited to attend Bloggers Night Out in New York City tonight! Excited to meet fellow bloggers and have a great time!

[Image Credit: BloggerNightOut.com]

I really truly believe this!

I am LOVING all of these neon trends. So adorable. I am just waiting for my style icon, KM to break out some neon!

[Image Credit: InStyle, For the Love of Vogue, and Fashioneestar]

My good friend, John recently alerted me to something amazing: quinoa burgers He used quinoa, onion, salt, pepper, two eggs, chives, hummus and mustard. The key is to get the patties to stay together so you can transfer them to the pan.

For my quinoa burgers, I used quinoa, white onion, basil, eggs, bread crumbs and dijon mustard. For my burgers, the hardest part was having the right amount of eggs and bread crumbs in order to form patties.

I also made a garlic aioli to go on top of the burgers with sliced avocado. The aioli had mayo, minced garlic, paprika and lemon juice.

As long as you can make patties, you can add whatever you want to your quinoa burgers. Enjoy!

My New Year’s Resolution is to blog more, have fun, make New York my home and to see my family and friends as often as possible. Here’s to 2012!

If you know me, you know I LOVE sushi.  I could eat it for every meal..except breakfast.  It is very easy to make at home and cost-effective!  The best part about my sushi recipe is the shitake mushrooms.  They are unbelievable and can be used for other things besides sushi - specifically they are also delicious on burgers!

Seasoned Shitakes

Ingredients:

10 ea. Dried shiitakes

Soaking Liquid:

5 Tbs. Sugar

5 Tbs. Soy sauce

4 1/2 tsp. Mirin (Sweet rice wine)

Directions:

1. Rinse Mushrooms with water and soak in warm water until they rehydrate and are soft to the touch, approximately 30 minutes.

2. Cut off the stems.   Place mushrooms into a small saucepan.   Strain soaking liquid and add enough to the pan to cover the mushrooms.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 2-3 minutes.

3. Add sugar and soy sauce.  Continue to simmer until the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally to keep mushrooms from sticking to the pan.  

4. Add mirin and swirl pan to allow pan liquids to thoroughly coat the mushrooms.

5. Cool to room temperature. 

Sushi Prep - don’t forget your spicy mayo!

The ingredients you’ll need for the spicy mayo are above - change amounts depending on your preferred level of spicy!

The last step is taking an extremely SHARP knife to cut the roll into pieces and voila! Homemade sushi!

These are probably my all-time favorite tacos EVER.  They are scrum-didily-uptious!  Ellie Krieger, my favorite healthy chef, features this recipe in her cookbook, “The Food You Crave.”  They are called, “Chili-Rubbed Steak Tacos.”  They are PERFECT in the Summertime.  Yes, I realize it’s October but I have been so busy the past few months with my new job that I haven’t had time to post very much.  Also, you can make these anytime of year but I just prefer using a grill for the steak (hence summertime).  

THere isn’t a picture of an actual taco because we ate them too fast :)

Click here for Ellie’s Chili-Rubbed Steak Tacos!

Enjoy!! :)

A few nights ago, I was craving fish tacos. Mahi Mahi being my favorite, my boyfriend and I picked up some fresh Mahi-Mahi at the fish market in Chelsea Market (sidenote: their fish selection is amazing…so is their sushi).

Without a specific recipe, we marinated the fish in lemon juice with some salt and peper for about 20 minutes and pan fried it.  Sliced up some avocado, tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, and mixed up some spicy mayo (my faveee).  Don’t forget the fresh lime juice! :)

Spicy Mayo Recipe:

1/3 cup Low Fat Mayo

1 Tablespoon Chili Paste

1 Teaspoon Chili Oil

1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil

Seriously, spicy mayo makes EVERYTHING better.  Trust me :)