I was introduced to this fabulous RECIPE a couple of years ago and tucked it into my must-make folder for safe keeping.  Juicy sweet pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, sweetened condensed milk, dark rum, and the surprise ingredient ginger snaps.  Baked into awe-mazing.  Oh my!!  We’ll call this heavenly dessert, that screams tropical paradise, Piña Colada Baked Pineapple.

The person who first introduced this recipe to me happens to be one of my work bff’s.  I thought it only fitting that we all enjoy warm unctuous pineapple love on her birthday, prepared in our office break room…that rocks!!  Jennica has appeared in several posts here on Lemony Thyme, as she is always full of energy, positivity, creativity, can-do AND more thoughtfulness than anyone I know.  THE, kind of vibe we all long to exude and most definitely benefit from.  Check out some of my favorite Jennica highlights below.

I’ve shared often that I work with a passionate bunch of people.  We give our all, in work and play.  This rock star joined 30 of her fellow teammates to celebrate Lock ‘n Roll Month (circa 2011) in pure Cher style.  Here’s the entire 80’s Rock Star Team.

I know she’s hating me right now, but damn girl.  She embraced the challenge (dress like your favorite 80’s rock star), stayed in character for her red carpet entrance, met the paparazzi with a fierce delivery, and those arms.  I say Rock Star extraordinaire.

While I love Jenn in Cher mode, she’s far superior than that.  She’s the individual who connected our company with Habitat for Humanity.  She worked tirelessly to find a way for Delaney to make a difference, one of our core corporate philosophies.  We were privileged to take part in our first ‘Got Locks’ community service project in 2011.

Besides running our stellar Inside Sales Department, she’s got mad party-planning skills.  And how we love to party.  This girl knows how to get the most out of dry ice, dimmed lights, spooky effects, and food.

Not to mention her special effects costumes.

We all need a friend, workmate, and awesome ‘being’ in our lives.  I’m blessed.  When my small family faced the most difficult days, Jennica delivered comfort.  My recreation of Jenn’s Chicken Enchilladas {with Red Sauce} recipe was a tribute to Mom and Jennica.  Never underestimate delivering food, even when ‘words’ are a challenge.

I’m sure by know you’ve developed a kinship to Jenn.  She’s that awesome.  Welcome National Watermelon Day.  I made Watermelon Gaspacho, she made a Watermelon Turtle.  You see the passion right?!  My heart is full for this girl, who never wants to steal the limelight, looks for ways to recognize her peers, and totally rocks on the dance-floor. #ChristmasParty2014.

So when she shared an experience of Gratineed Pineapple a couple of years ago, I made a mental note that we would recreate this recipe for her one day.  We celebrated Jennica’s birthday a couple of weeks ago with a delicious lunch out at a local Cuban restaurant, followed by Piña Colada Baked Pineapple for all.

Will you look at all that flavor love.  Now imagine it warmed until bubbly, wafting with the aroma of sweet pineapple rum.

One last shout-out to Jennica (although I could go on and on).  Every Christmas season, our office plays ‘Secret Santa’, and this girl rally’s the troops.  Serious mischief, full on elf-mode, with enough laughter to refill the tank.  xo Jenn.  Thanks for being on my team.

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Piña Colada Baked Pineapple

Author Wives with Knives

Ingredients

• 1 large fresh pineapple
• 2 cups additional pineapple chunks
• 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup crushed ginger snaps
• 1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 2 Tbl. dark rum we used Myers

Instructions

• Slice the pineapple in half with leaves intact. Cut the core from each pineapple half and discard. With a small sharp knife carefully cut the remaining pineapple out of the shell. Cut into 1-inch cubes and combine with additional 2 cups of pineapple chunks.
• Combine coconut, gingersnap cookies and macadamia nuts. Set aside.
• Whisk together sweetened condensed milk and dark rum. Set aside.
• In the cored pineapple halves, layer half pineapple chunks, sprinkle half of coconut/gingersnap mixture, drizzle of half sweet condensed milk/rum mixture; repeat.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly; about 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t brown too quickly. Tent with foil if necessary.

Notes

We tripled the recipe to serve a larger crowd.

The post Piña Colada Baked Pineapple appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

May 28th is my darling Shelby’s birthday.  Twenty-four years ago today I became a mom.  THE most important job title I will ever hold.

Last year on this day I made her a Chocolate Truffle Torte, with the intention of sharing it with you that evening.  Instead, we soaked in every ounce of our most amazing daughter and this recipe slowly moved into the unpublished archives.

So with the spirit of Throw back Thursday, with a last year flashback, I’ll share the following exchange.  I asked Shelby what her favorite kind of cake was.  I was not prepared for her answer.

First thought….Hemp Seeds….WTH?!!  Totally relieved by her follow up reply…Chocolate something.  Now that’s right up my alley.

Over time, Shelby had identified a slight intolerance for dairy products.  So I did my best to make our Chocolate Truffle Torte as dairy-free as possible.  Looking back, I should have used coconut oil in place of butter.  Don’t get me wrong, this birthday ‘cake’ was phenomenal.  Just like my kid.  But that would have delivered a true dairy-free result.

Minimal ingredients.  Rich bittersweet chocolate.  Heavenly macadamia nut crust.  Oh my!

This was the perfect dessert to celebrate the birth of my most favorite girl on the planet.  This gorgeous no-fuss recipe, intense in flavor, decorated by hand, and delivered with love IS Shelby.

As a side note.  During the two-hour delay between her first request for Vegan Hemp Seed Carrot Cake and revealing her mom-like chocoholic genes….I bought hemp seeds.  So for Christmas last year, I made her Carrot Cake Energy Bites (with hemp seeds).  She loved them.

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Chocolate Truffle Torte {with Macadamia Crust}

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 16 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 Tbl. butter
• 2 cups macadamia nuts
• 2 Tbl. sugar
• 2 Tbl. melted butter

Instructions

• Place macadamia nuts in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Combine with sugar and melted butter. Press firmly into a shallow torte pan.
• Bring almond milk to a near boil. Pour over chopped chocolate. Add in 1 Tbl. butter and stir until smooth and creamy. Pour into prepared crust.
• Chill at least two hours.

The post Chocolate Truffle Torte {with Macadamia Crust} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Nutella Truffles.  I didn’t have to think twice when I read this for the first time.  Point me towards the Nutella isle.

Nutella.  A phenomenon of sorts with mass appeal.  Moms love it because it makes breakfast more fun for their kidlets.  Dads love it straight from a spoon.  Bloggers love to celebrate National World Nutella Day and throw no caution to the wind as they exploit this ingredient.  Have you seen 3-ingredient Nutella brownies, mug cakes, pancakes?  It’s crazy!  In a good way.  Here are 8 Things You May Not Know About Nutella.  I’m all in.  Throw Nutella my way and I think we can all get happy!!

Sugar, melted butter, milk and cocoa are blended together, next comes the Nutella, and finally the secret binding agent (finely ground cornflakes) is added to the mix.  The cornflakes add a subtle crunch.  Think Ferrero Rocher.  Did I mention that Pietro Ferrero, founder of The Ferrero Company, later went on to create…..Nutella.  That makes 9 things you may not have known about our star ingredient.

The mixture is then shaped into a rectangle in an even thickness on a foil lined pan and placed in the freezer for an hour to set up.

Once removed from the freezer, it is cut into 24 squares.  A macadamia (or hazel) nut is placed in the center of each square.  The mixture is molded around each nut and rolled into a ball.  To finish, each ball is dipped into finely chopped macadamia (or hazel) nuts, then returned to the freezer for 10 minutes.

The finished Nutella Truffles are decadent.  They will make a wonderful holiday dessert or gift for your someone special.

Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Top Cookie Recipes m20agazine.

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Nutella Truffles

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Author lightly adapted from American Test Kitchen

Ingredients

• 2 cups cornflakes
• 1/2 cup macadamia or hazel nuts plus 24 extra nuts (leave whole)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 Tbl. unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbl. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup Nutella

Instructions

• Line a baking pan with foil. Spray with cooking spray.
• Place cornflakes into a food processor bowl and pulse until finely ground (about 10 pulses). Reserve.
• Chop 1/2 cup macadamia nuts until finely chopped. Reserve.
• In a microwave safe bowl, combine butter and sugar and microwave until melted, stirring occasionally until smooth, about 45 seconds. Whisk in milk and cocoa powder until well blended. Whisk in Nutella until fully incorporated. Stir in cornflakes.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan and press into a rectangle of even thickness. Place in freezer for 1 hour.
• Remove from freezer, lift out foil lining and place onto a cutting board. Cut into 24 pieces. Place a macadamia nut onto the center of each truffle square, then shape into a balls. Dip each ball in chopped nuts, coating well; place on platter.
• Return to freezer for 10 minutes or until firm. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

These truffles are no-bake, but do require 1 hour and 10 minutes in the freezer.

The post Nutella Truffles appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Baked Stuffed Shrimp.

We called them an appetizer and only made five.  Wished we had more.  They were fabulous.  Extraordinarily divine.

On a whim I bought a bag of macadamia nuts and a bag of pistachios then promptly hid them when I got home.  Seems my hiding spot has been uncovered and someone favors pistachios.  That created a change of plans for my Blueberry, Basil & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad “with Pistachios,” which became “with Macadamia Nuts.”  It was delicious.  Wouldn’t change a thing.

Now that the macadamia nuts were open I felt the need to use them…..quickly.

That’s how they found their way into our Baked Stuffed Shrimp and that’s what made these extraordinarily divine.  In the words of Paul Harvey, “and now you know the rest of the story.”

I bought five gorgeous jumbo shrimp.  Once peeled (leaving tails attached) I used a small pairing knife to cut a channel along the back of each shrimp.  This allowed me to remove the ‘vein’ and also allowed me to flatten them out a bit so they would sit as shown above.

Once the stuffing was prepared, I let it to cool slightly then used my hands to form it into balls which I placed on each shrimp, allowing the tails to drape over (as shown above).  At this point the shrimp can be chilled and reserved until ready to bake or up to 8 hours.  Right before baking, melt a tablespoon of butter and drizzle a little over each mound of stuffing.

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Baked Stuffed Shrimp

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 5 raw jumbo shrimp peeled & deveined
• 2 Tbl. butter
• 1 small shallot minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 scallion thinly sliced
• 3 Tbl. fresh parsley minced
• 1 handful fresh spinach leaves
• 10 Ritz crackers crumbled
• 3 Tbl. macadamia nuts chopped
• pinch cayenne
• black pepper to taste
• 1 Tbl. melted butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a small casserole dish. Reserve.
• Peel and devein shrimp, leaving tails attached. Using a small pairing knife slice almost through the back of each shrimp. This allows you to flatten them to make room for the stuffing. Reserve.
• Melt 2 Tbl. butter in a medium skillet. Saute shallot until tender, then add in garlic, scallion, and parsley and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Toss in spinach leaves. Cover and remove from heat, allowing to spinach to wilt. Mix in crumbled crackers and macadamia nuts. Allow stuffing to cool before use.
• Using hands, form 1/5th mixture into a ball and press onto the back of the shrimp as shown in photo. Place into buttered casserole dish. Continue with all five shrimp. Shrimp can now be chilled until ready to bake or up to 8 hours. Just before baking melt 1 Tbl. butter and drizzle over each stuffing mound.
• Bake for 20 minutes.

Notes

This recipe could easily be doubled or quadrupled. The stuffing can be changed up by adding lovely lump crabmeat.

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Blueberry, Basil & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad.

I recently saw an article in Cooking Light Magazine that featured 250 Calorie Pasta Dishes.  The idea was to start with a portion of your favorite cooked pasta, then add 3-4 of your favorite mix-ins to create a fabulous meal.  That got me thinking.

I’ve discovered a love for blueberries and goat cheese paired together.  I’ve also discovered, thanks to Gabby’s Olive Branch, a love for Tuscan Herb OVOO paired with Blueberry Balsamic Vinegar.  Add fresh basil, and in our case the lovely lemon basil, with chopped macadamia nuts and I had visions of this beautiful pasta salad dancing through my dreams.

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Blueberry, Basil & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

For pasta salad…

• 4 oz. penne pasta prepared according to package directions
• 1 Tbl. olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles
• 2 Tbl. macadamia nuts chopped
• 2 Tbl. fresh basil leaves
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper

For blueberry herb vinaigrette…

• 1/4 cup Tuscan Herb EVOO
• 1 Tbl. blueberry balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Instructions

For pasta salad…

• Prepare pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cool water and toss with 1 Tbl. olive oil. Chill or serve room temperature.
• Divide cooked pasta into two bowls. Sprinkle each serving with half of blueberries, goat cheese, macadamia nuts, and fresh basil.

For blueberry herb vinaigrette…

• Whisk together vinaigrette ingredients until they emulsify. Drizzle over pasta salad. Season with sea salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste.

The post Blueberry, Basil & Goat Cheese Pasta Salad appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

From the moment I…

Rewind.  That intro has been completely over used.  HmmMmmm.

These Key Lime Bars with Macadamia Crust will change your life.  Much better ;)

They are so incredible that the first thing you will think of is…who can I share them with. Yes, there will be an urge to keep them all for yourself, but they are rich and luscious, and will beg you to Share the Love. For me that was with my sister.

Just delivered them.  Life changer, that’s me.

I began by squeezing a 1/2 cup of Key lime juice (about 2 pounds).  Which now also makes these bars a Labor of Love.  I choose to believe that fresh squeezed Key lime juice makes all the difference.  Said she, who at the time had no idea you could buy bottled Key lime juice.

Then came the Macadamia nut crust, which is absolutely perfect with the tart, yet luxurious topping.  The topping is a blend of Key lime juice and sugar, combined with unflavored gelatin, sweetened condensed milk, and lime zest, which is then folded into fresh made whipped cream.

Into the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight before being sliced into bars.  The original recipe from Southern Living says the yield is 2 dozen.  I beg to differ.  I cut mine into 24 diamond shaped bars (pictured above) and they were huge.  I then cut them in half again (pictured below) to share.  I always prefer the ‘have two they’re small’ approach.

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Key Lime Bars with Macadamia Crust

The Macadamia nut crust is absolutely perfect with the tart, yet luxurious topping.

Course Dessert

Servings 24

Author Southern Living

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
• 7 Tbl. butter cubed
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup Key lime juice
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 2 Tbl. Key lime juice
• 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp. grated lime rind
• 2 1/2 cups whipping cream whipped
• grated lemon & lime rind and fresh raspberries for garnish

Instructions

• Process first 5 ingredients in a food processor until thoroughly blended and nuts are ground. Press into a greased heavy-duty aluminum foil-lined 9×13 pan, letting edges of foil extend beyond edges of pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until barely golden. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
• Heat 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lime juice over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; set aside.
• Sprinkle gelatin over 2 Tbl. lime juice in a medium bowl. Stir gelatin mixture, and let stand 3-5 minutes. Add hot mixture, stirring until gelatin dissolves. Whisk in sweetened condensed milk and 1 tsp. lime zest. Place bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice, gently whisk mixture 10 minutes or until partially set.
• Fold lime mixture into whipped cream. Pour evenly over baked crust, cover and chill 8 hours. Carefully lift foil out of pan. Cut dessert into diamond shapes or bars. Garnish.

The post Key Lime Bars with Macadamia Crust {Share the Love} appeared first on Lemony Thyme.

Just a little appeteaser…

Start with beautiful sea scallops, rinse and pat dry.  For these I lightly rolled the edges of the scallops in some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.  Set aside while you make pesto. 

The fun thing about pesto is using the basic basil pesto recipe as a guide (garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, fresh basil, olive oil and s&p) you can interchange the ingredients to create your own favorite.  I had macadamia nuts on hand and a big bunch of fresh cilantro so I replaced the pine nuts and basil.

This was a delicious start to a wonderful evening.  Sea Scallops…how I adore you.

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Seared Scallops with Macadamia Cilantro Pesto

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Libby with Lemony Thyme

Ingredients

• 6 large sea scallops
• sea salt
• freshly cracked pepper
• 1 Tbl. canola oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup macadamia nuts
• 2 Tbl. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves & fine stems
• 2-3 Tbl. olive oil
• sea salt & freshly cracked pepper

Instructions

• Rinse scallops and pat dry. Roll edges in sea salt and cracked black pepper. Set aside.
• Add garlic, macadamia nuts, Parmesan cheese, and cilantro to a small food processor. Pulse a few times to chop nuts. With processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until mixture comes together. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
• Preheat oven to broil.
• Add a little canola oil to an oven proof skillet (to get the nice brown sear do not use non-stick skillet). Heat pan on stove-top to med-high (you should see the oil start to shimmer in the pan). Place the dry scallops face down in pan and do not touch them for 2 minutes (while it’s tempting…resist). At the two minute mark you can peak to see that they have browned.
• Turn over scallops, then top with 1 Tbl. of pesto mixture.
• Move pan to oven and broil for another minute or so until tops are golden brown.

The post Seared Scallops with Macadamia Cilantro Pesto appeared first on Lemony Thyme.