Ginger lime jello mold

Well, I always seem to be a day behind and a dollar short, so it should come as no surprise that this is just getting posted this evening, even though it was made on Saturday and finished/eaten on Sunday :) I did learn a valuable lesson on this one which I'll share with you below, but the dish was a hit with the family, even though it was a close call to getting it done at all! This recipe is another one from the Jell-o Brand Fun and Fabulous Cookbook which I also did the microwave fudge from. Here's the link to it on Amazon again for anyone who missed it last time:



This time the recipe is for Ginger Pineapple Mold and is on page 61. Here it is:

The Recipe:

Ginger Pineapple Mold

• 1 can (20 oz) pineapple slices in juice
• 2 pkg (4-serving size) or 1 pkg (8-serving size) JELL-O Brand Lime or Apricot Flavor Gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup ginger ale or cold water
• 1/4 tsp ginger

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Cut 4 pineapple slices in half; set aside. Cut remaining pineapple slices into chunks. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add reserved juice, ginger ale, and ginger. Chill until slightly thickened. Measure 1 cup of the gelatin. Arrange some of the pineapple chunks in a 6-cup ring mold; top with measured gelatin. Chill until set but not firm, about 10 minutes. Fold remaining pineapple chunks into remaining gelatin; spoon over gelatin in mold. Chill until firm, about 4 hours. Unmold. Garnish with halved pineapple slices, halved cherry tomatoes and crisp greens if desired.


My results:

Let me start by saying that it isn't ENTIRELY my fault that my first attempt at this recipe was a flop... the recipe doesn't specify what KIND of ginger to use, so, loving ginger and preferring fresh, I chose to use fresh when I first attempted this recipe. Here were my ingredients:


See my ginger root on top of the pineapple can :) Anyway, come to find out that just like fresh pineapple, there is an enzyme in ginger root that prevents gelatin from ever setting... Of course I didn't find this out until I had spent most of the day waiting for the gelatin to be "slightly thickened" and then going ahead with the recipe figuring it was just being slow. So at almost midnight, having let the thing sit in the refrigerator more than 8 hours at that point, I recognized defeat. Only problem was I didn't know why it hadn't set.

So after doing some research and discovering the little tidbit above about ginger root, I scrounged in the pantry for ingredients to try it again. Well, I didn't have any more pineapple slices, just crushed. And I didn't have two boxes of lime gelatin, but did have 1 and 1 of lemon. And I also decided to throw in some mandarin oranges for good measure. I repeated the recipe, this time with dried ground ginger, and what-da-ya-know... it worked! I let it sit to "firm" overnight and then hubby did the honors of turning it out onto a tray the next morning. He first soaked it in some warm water to loosen it from the ring (which, by the way, was actually a decorative bundt pan, not a "real" gelatin mold).

It turned out wonderfully and I added a little "sauce" of 1 part cool whip, thawed, 1 part mayonnaise, the zest of 1 lime and the juice of half a lime plus about 1 tbsp grenadine syrup and 1 packet of splenda sweetener (the lime was pretty tart!). Mixed that all up and spooned it into the center of my gelatin mold and then topped with a wedge of the lime. Let me know what you think!






I think it turned out pretty and everyone seemed to really like it, my husband especially. We took it to a family dinner and hubby said he was glad it didn't get all eaten up so he had some leftovers. Hubby is definitely a jello-phile, so if he liked it, I musta dun good :) Anyway, I hope you'll give this a shot, remembering my new rule of only using POWDERED ginger in gelatin dishes... Let me know if you try it and what you think. I think this would be good with orange jello or the apricot as it suggests, but would also be good with an addition of sliced water chestnuts, maybe peaches, etc. The ginger goes good with a lot of fruits, so let your imagination take you there! Enjoy and be sure to check back for my next recipe adventure!

Hot days - Salad lunches

Today was take two on The Habanero Cookbook. We decided to give it another shot with the Crab and Cantaloupe Salad with Habanero Yogurt and boy was it worth it! Now, this was a good salad! Here's another link to the cookbook on Amazon if you're interested:



And here's...

The Recipe:

Crab and Cantaloupe Salad with Habanero Yogurt

Dressing:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 habaneros, seeds and stems removed, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• pinch of white pepper

Salad:

• 1 lb cooked crab meat
• 1 small cantaloupe, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 small purple onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour to blend flavors.
Toss crab, cantaloupe and avocado with dressing. Top with the onion rings and serve.
Yield: 4-6 servings

My results:

YUM! This salad was really really good...I was a little unsure how the flavors of crab, avocado and cantaloupe would blend with the dressing, but it was very good. I think next time I would add an additional avocado since there was quite a bit more crab and cantaloupe than avocado, but other than that, it was a great hit. Hubby and brother-in-law both enjoyed it as well. Here is a picture of my starting ingredients:



You'll notice I didn't use "fresh" lime juice as I didn't have any limes on hand (used them for the Yoda Soda the other night!) and we used pre-picked crab (called "special" crab meat in the fish area of the market). The notes on this recipe said you might choose to only use one pepper, however I had my fire-mouth husband taste the pepper and since he said they weren't super hot, we went with two. Your peppers may vary, so either taste them beforehand or try one and add an additional if you think you can handle it. Ours was just right with a little heat but nothing super spicy and a nice rounded flavor.

Here is a photo of the finished dressing as it was "sitting" for an hour to meld:


I chose to combine some of the dressing with the crab meat to "loosen" it up (as it had been packed in it's little plastic container) and then placed the cantaloupe and avocado mixture onto the plates, topped with the crab and dressing mixture and then drizzled a little more dressing over all. This made for a pretty presentation as well as a good way to keep the ripe avocado from breaking up too much from tossing. There was a bit of the dressing left over which would probably be good on regular green salad, or perhaps on a grilled chicken breast. It was a very good dressing with hints of cilantro popping out and the heat from the habanero there but not overwhelming. Here are the completed plates, ready to be served. Because this was our full meal, we only got three servings out of it, but if you were serving this as a side or even as a light lunch with rolls, etc. it would definitely feed 4-6.


All in all this was a big hit and one we'll definitely do again. It was perfect for a hot day in South Texas (our 30th day of breaking 100F!) Please let me know if you try this dish and what you think of it and be sure to check in tomorrow for another cookbook adventure!