The Herbalist and The Carnivore

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Triple Layer Carrot Cake

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Tired of dry carrot cake? This Triple Layer Carrot Cake is packed with moisture from crushed pineapple and coconut milk.

Breakfast, dessert..pretty much anytime of the day I could eat carrot cake , especially if it’s layered and topped with cream cheese frosting. This carrot cake is the U L T I M A T E with crushed pineapple and coconut milk for added moisture. A combination of shredded coconut and carrots add to the texture, while still keeping the traditional carrot cake flavor.

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Triple Layer Carrot Cake

Three layers of delicious carrot cake get moisture from crushed pineapple and coconut milk
Course Dessert
Cuisine Dessert, Easter
Keyword Carrot Cake, Easter dessert
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ¼ cup cooking oil
  • 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 – 13.5 oz can coconut milk only the cream on top (drain liquid)
  • 1 – 14 oz can crushed pineapple drained
  • 2 cups carrot shredded
  • 1 cup coconut shredded
  • Special Equipment: 3 – 9 inch non stick cake pans

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 16 oz cream cheese room temperature
  • 2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 cup brown sugar start with one cup, add more if desired
  • 1 stick ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

Cake

  • In a large mixing bowl, blend together dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
  • Add eggs, cooking oil, cinnamon, vanilla and coconut milk, blend well
  • Fold in crushed pineapple
  • Fold in carrot
  • Fold in coconut
  • Divide batter evenly among the three non stick pans
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
  • Remove from oven and cool on wire rack
  • When cool, assemble layers, frosting in between each layer, top and sides.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine ingredients until creamy

Dungeness Crab & Poblano Quiche

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This Dungeness Crab & Poblano Quiche is truly a Pacific Northwest favorite. Rich, buttery Dungeness crab in every bite with bits of mild fire roasted poblano pepper in an all butter crust.

Dungeness crab is my FAVE and living in the Pacific Northwest we add it to everything from eggs benedict to quiche. It’s rich, buttery flavor goes well with nearly anything. This recipe is inspired by my mother who made crab quiche through out my childhood years. We would bring home buckets full of Dungeness crab from our many boating trips in the San Juan Islands. I remember my job was to crack all the crab and make sure not to get any shells in the crab meat bowl. Seriously though, I just wanted to eat it all!

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Dungeness Crab and Poblano Quiche

Rich, buttery Dungeness crab and poblano peppers baked into an all butter crust
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Easter, Seafood
Keyword Crab quiche
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 2 ½ cup flour
  • 2 sticks butter grated
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp cold water

Filling:

  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tbsp green onion chopped
  • 2 tbsp cilantro chopped
  • 2 tbsp fire roasted poblano peppers chopped
  • 4-5 long strips of fire roasted poblano peppers for looks
  • ½ tsp Zatarain’s cajun seasoning
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
  • ½ cup Swiss cheese shredded
  • 1 generous cup of fresh Dungeness Crab I use a whole crab, it usually weighs 1.5 lbs before cracked and shelled

Instructions

Crust:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  • In a large glass bowl, combine flour and salt
  • Cut in butter until mix resembles crumbs, adding cold water until it starts to stick together enough to form into ball
  • Roll out dough on floured surface
  • Place dough in pie dish and blind bake for about 20 minutes
  • Remove from oven and fill

Filling:

  • In a large bowl whip eggs and cream until combined
  • Add green onion, cilantro, chopped poblano peppers, Zatarain’s and S & P, blend well
  • Fold in Monterey Jack cheese, Swiss cheese and Dungeness crab
  • Pour into prepared pie pan
  • Place poblano pepper strips across top of pie
  • Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes or until firm

Mango Shrimp Lettuce Bites

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Sweet and spicy Mango Shrimp Lettuce Bites are topped with fresh mango salsa and wrapped up in delicate butter lettuce.

These little Mango Shrimp Lettuce Bites are my favorite thing to make for an impromptu dinner because they come together so quickly.  In just about 15 minutes you can have these prepared and ready for the table.  I always like to keep a bag of large shrimp in my freezer for times when you need a quick protein.  Maybe you forgot to plan dinner or you have surprise guests show up.  Shrimp can be thawed in very little time.  I like to set them in a bowl under a gentle stream of cold water until thawed. 

While the shrimp are thawing, mix together a quick mango salsa.  Mango is used two ways in this recipe and it really adds to the depth of flavor. Mango puree combined with garlic chili sauce and a few other key ingredients coats the shrimp before sauteing.  Pull it all together on delicate butter lettuce leaves.

Crispy Mexican Pizzas

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Crispy Mexican pizzas blend two of my favorite foods together and it’s a great way to us leftover pulled pork. Crispy tortilla, bean smear, creamy Jack cheese and, of course, all the fun toppings. Pickled onions brighten everything, cilantro adds the freshness and cotija cheese for a little saltiness. These little cuties are ready in no time at all!

Back in the day, my friends and I would come in from a night of fun, with the 2 a.m. munchies. The first thing we would do was raid the cupboards for anything that could make with quickness. We made this thing we liked to call Mexican Pizza. Although a little less refined than this recipe, basically we topped a flour tortilla with pizza sauce and cheese then zapped it in the microwave for a minute and chowed down. It satisfied all the late night cravings of greasy, cheesy and crunchy.

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Crispy Mexican Pizzas

Two of my favorite foods combined into one crispy bite
Course Main Course
Cuisine Burgers, Sandwiches, Pizza
Keyword crispy flour tostadas, Mexican pizza
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 16 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Pulled Pork

  • 6-7 lb pork shoulder roast, bone in
  • 1 tbsp achiote paste Found in Mexican aisle at grocery
  • 1 tbsp Tajin Mexican seasoning
  • 1/2 lime, squeezed
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cup water

Pickled Red Onions

  • 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Salsa Verde

  • 6 tomatillos, husks removed
  • 1 yellow onion, quartered
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp sugar

Other ingredients

  • 12 tbsp prepared bean dip
  • 8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
  • 1/4 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 12 mini flour tortillas (street taco size)

Instructions

Pulled Pork

  • Mix achiote paste with lime juice and massage over pork roast.  Season with Tajin Mexican seasoning and place in crockpot together with onion and water.  Cook about 6-8 hours or until fork tender.  Remove, let cool and shred.  You will only be using 1-2 cups of the meat.   Save the remainder for another use, like burritos.

Pickled Red Onions

  • Mix together  vinegar, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.  Place onions in mixture, cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour.  You may need to stir every 15 minutes if the liquid doesn’t reach all of the onion slices.

Salsa Verde

  • Place tomatillos, onion and jalapeno on a sheet pan and broil until charred.  Remove from oven and blend together with water and sugar. (This makes more than you will need for pizzas.  Save remainder for another use like salsa or burritos)

Assembly

  • Microwave flour tortillas:  Place 2 tortillas on a paper towel and cover with another paper towel.  Microwave for 1 minute. They should be firm.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.  
  • Move tortillas to sheet pans. Spread 1 tbsp bean dip on each tortilla.  top with 1 tbsp Monterrey Jack cheese and about 1 tbsp shredded pork. Broil until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and garnish with pickled red onion, salsa verde, cotija cheese and cilantro.

Notes

Use leftover pulled pork to make this recipe quick

Bacon Chipotle Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

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It’s #nationalgrilledcheeseday, like everyone’s fave day, right? I mean who doesnt LOVE everything cheesy? I took my favorite bacon wrapped jalapeno popper and basically smashed it between two perfectly toasted sourdough slices because one, Seattle is known for it’s super awesome sourdough and two, why not smash something totally awesome together?

Cheesy goodness right here. Bacon jalapeno grilled cheese.

This recipe started when we had leftover bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers that I stuffed  with chipotle cream  cheese, yes, we like it spicy round here. My kids wanted a grilled cheese and one thing led to another. The chipotle just adds that little bit of smokiness that pairs perfectly with the smoky bacon and cool creamy cream  cheese.  AND I absolutely love using Seattle Sourdough Baking Company bread. They’ve been around on Pier 57 since the early 80’s pumping out THE BEST sourdough around!

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Bacon Chipotle Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Course Main Course
Cuisine Burgers, Sandwiches, Pizza
Keyword national grilled cheese day, sandwich
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 8 slices thick cut bread I like sourdough
  • 4 jalapeno roasted, seeds removed
  • 8 slices bacon cooked
  • 1 cup cream cheese whipped
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated
  • 1 cup monterey jack cheese grated
  • ¼ cup chipotle in adobo sauce
  • 8 tbsp butter

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, chipotle, mozzarella and monterey jack cheese
  • Spread cheese mixture over 4 of the slices of bread
  • Top each with with one jalapeno (tear in half to cover surface)
  • Top with 1 ½ slices bacon and other piece of bread
  • In a large saute pan, melt 2 tbsp butter
  • Grill two of the sandwiches at a time until brown on one side (I put a lid over to melt cheese better)
  • Add another 2 tbsp butter and flip over cooking until browned
  • Repeat with other two sandwiches

Classic Potato Gratin

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Simple, Classic Potato Gratin is the perfect accompaniment to my Citrus Chipotle Ham. Layers of potato, creamy cheese and a caramelized top.

This Classic Potato Gratin can be tailored to fit your taste. I love adding fresh picked thyme leaves for an ultra-classic French taste.  With my Citrus Chipotle Ham, I like to keep it simple because of the intense glaze on the ham.  The recipe calls for two cups cheese and this time I used Monterrey Jack cheese because it’s mild and creamy.

You can easily swap the onion for fennel, or use pepper jack cheese for a Mexican take. The possibilities are endless. But, for me, my friends, it’s classic style for Easter dinner.

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Classic Potato Gratin

Layers of tender potato and creamy cheese with a caramelized top.  
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Vegetarian
Keyword Easter side dish, Potato gratin
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 4 medium Russet potatoes (about 4 cups potatoes) peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 cup cheese (such as Monterrey Jack, Swiss or Gruyere) grated
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 small yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Butter a medium baking dish (10″ x 6″). NOTE: This is a little smaller than your standard casserole dish.  
  • In a small pan over medium heat saute onion in olive oil until just tender.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine sauteed onion, potato slices, cheese, cream, salt and pepper together. Pour into prepared baking dish.  Cover with foil.  Bake for about 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender and top is nice and browned.

Citrus Chipotle Ham

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This Citrus Chipotle ham creates a beautiful outer crust while remaining tender and moist inside. Using fresh squeezed citrus together with smoky chipotle keeps things fresh and springy with a touch of heat.

A little sweet a little spicy, this ham covers all the bases

We’re ham people on Easter. Some people do lamb, we do ham. A spiral cut ham is one of those meats you can add a creative punch of flavor to the outside, while remaining pretty traditional on the inside. So, if you’re trying to please a picky crowd or introduce them to a little kick of flavor, this Citrus Chipotle Ham is the perfect way to go.

And, it’s so easy to make. The glaze comes together in just 10 minutes, so you can focus on side dishes like my Classic Potato Gratin hand mingling with your guests. This time around, for our pre-trial Easter dinner, we bought our bone in spiral cut ham from @Costco and it was delicious. I always do a pre-trial Easter dinner, that we we end up with leftovers. Otherwise, hop on over to your local butcher store and get a fresh ham. We love to get the smoked ham at Silvana Meats. It’s seriously so darn good!

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Citrus Chipotle Ham

A little sweet, a little spicy for the perfect combination 
Course Main Course
Cuisine Pork
Keyword Easter dinner, ham
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 12

Ingredients

  • 1 8-10 lb bone in spiral cut ham

Citrus Chipotle Glaze

  • 1/4 cup shallot minced
  • 1 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce
  • 1/2 cup grapefruit juice fresh squeezed
  • 1/2 cup orange juice fresh squeezed
  • 1 tsp garlic minced
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp green onions chopped
  • 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

Ham

  • Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
  • Unwrap ham, discard glaze packet that comes with the ham, place ham in a large oven safe pan and cover with foil.
  • Bake 12 minutes per pound. (My roast was 9 lb. and I baked for 1 hour and 45 minutes) You want the internal temperature to be 140 degrees. The last 10 minutes remove foil and brush glaze over the ham and in all the nooks and crannies.  Crank the oven up to 425 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. 

Citrus Chipotle Glaze

  • In a small sauce pan over medium heat cook shallot and chipotle for about 3 minutes. Add grapefruit juice, orange juice, garlic, cumin and brown sugar.  Simmer until reduced by half, about 10-15 minutes.  Add green onions and butter until melted.  Set aside until ham is ready to glaze.

Poblano-Chorizo Strata

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Kick up your next brunch Mexican style with this Poblano-Chorizo Strata. It’s loaded with roasted poblano pepper, spicy chorizo and melty jack cheese plus bread and eggs for a winning combo that’s so easy to make. Seriously, my new go-to dish for brunch or even breakfast for dinner.

What makes this dish so fabulous is that you make it the night before AND it uses up that leftover loaf of french bread that’s nearly hard as a brick. Yes, we all have that leftover french bread and you can only make so many croutons with it, right? The next morning all you have to do is take it out of the fridge and pop it in the oven. Did I mention it makes your house smell A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ? That’s the chorizo. Now, make sure you don’t get the greasy chorizo that comes in a tube. Most grocery stores carry fresh ground chorizo that looks like ground beef only with a bit of color (that’s the spice). If you can’t find it, substitute hot ground sausage like Jimmy Dean.

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Poblano-Chorizo Strata

Roasted poblano, spicy chorizo and melty Jack cheese plus bread and egg make this a winning combination
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Breakfast
Keyword Breakfast, brunch, strata
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

  • 1 poblano pepper
  • 16 oz ground chorizo
  • 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 1 cup corn kernals
  • 8 eggs
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3-4 cup stale french bread rough cubed
  • 2 cup Monterrey Jack Cheese shredded

Instructions

  • Butter a casserole dish. 
  • Broil the poblano pepper until charred on each side. Remove from oven and place in a dish with a lid for about 5 minutes.  Remove to a cutting board and scrape off skin, remove seeds and stem. Cut into bite size strips.
  • In a medium pan, brown chorizo. Remove chorizo from pan, leaving grease in pan and saute onion in grease until translucent. Add chorizo back to pan, together with corn and poblano.
  • In a small bowl, whisk eggs and cream together.
  • In a large bowl, combine chorizo mixture, bread cubes and cheese.  If you don’t have stale french bread, toast bread cubes in oven instead. Place in prepared casserole dish.  Pour egg mixture over.  Cover with foil and place in fridge for the next morning. 
  • When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake another 10-15 minutes or until starting to brown.

Grilled Halibut in a Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

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First of the season, buttery, grilled halibut fillet in a roasted tomatillo sauce with crispy fried onions is a perfect reason to fire up that grill.

Buttery grilled halibut in a roasted tomatillo sauce with crispy fried onions

Around here, first of the season halibut is quite the catch. We look forward to fresh seafood here in the Pacific NW, mostly because we are totally spoiled with having access year round to the best fish. Halibut, though, is the creme de la creme. It’s meaty, buttery and tastes great with very little effort at all, BUT it tastes especially great when grilled and served in a roasted tomatillo sauce and topped with crispy fried onions.

Want to make this recipe even easier for your weeknight meal plan? Grab some french fried onions from the grocery instead of making your own. Really, that’s the hardest part of this entire recipe and if you already have some, then you’ve got this in the bag!

My favorite memories are visiting my dad in Alaska where he had a logging camp. He and my brother would take me out fishing for halibut. They are some strong fish for sure. My dad kept a special gun on the boat just for shooting the big ones that we reeled in. these guys can easily weigh twice as much as the average person. That’s a lot of meat! But, there’s something so satisfying as eating something that you worked hard to catch and prepare.

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Grilled Halibut in a Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

Meaty, buttery grilled halibut in a roasted tomatillo sauce with crispy fried onions
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Total Time30 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Seafood
Keyword: grilled fish, halibut, pnw cuisine
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Halibut

  • 2 lb halibut fillets (4 fillets)
  • olive oil

Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

  • 6-8 tomatillos outer husk removed
  • 1/2 large yellow onion quartered
  • 1 jalapeno halved, seeds removed
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream

Crispy Fried Onions

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • 1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 1 cup corn starch
  • cooking oil for frying
  • salt

Spice Blend for Halibut

  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Instructions

Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

  • Place tomatillos, yellow onion and jalapeno on a sheet pan and broil until charred.  Remove from oven, let cool, then place in blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Crispy Fried Onions

  • Combine milk and vinegar in a bowl.  Soak onions for about 15 minutes.  Drain and then toss onions in corn starch. 
  • Heat cooking oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Fry onions until golden, remove and drain on wire rack or paper towels.  Season with salt. Set aside until ready to serve.

Spice Blend for Halibut

  • Combine all ingredients together.

Halibut

  • Prepare grill. Drizzle olive oil over fillets. Sprinkle about 1/4 tsp spice blend over each fillet. Don’t over season. You will have leftover spice blend. 
  • Grill halibut, flesh side down first. You’ll know it’s ready to flip when it turns opaque about half way up the thickness of the fillet. Flip and repeat on the other side until fully opaque.
  • Plating:  Place a large spoonful of roasted tomatillo sauce on plate, place halibut fillet on top and top with crispy fried onions.
    Optional garnish:  cilantro, radish, corn and lime wedges.

Mango Chili-Lime Cake

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Inspired by my favorite Mexican candy, this yellow cake is topped with sweet mango glaze and dusted with spicy chili-lime.

My favorite Mexican candies inspire this Mango Chili-Lime Cake. You know those fruit flavored suckers dipped in spicy chili powder? You can find them in the Mexican aisle at the grocery. my kiddos L O V E them! So, when I was looking for a fresh idea on a spring cake recipe I turned to these for my inspiration. Which doesn’t surprise me, because I really love all Mexican flavors.

The yellow cake mix is made with butter for an extra moist texture, then we slide on the mango glaze for that sweet candy flavor and it all gets dusted with a spicy chili-lime seasoning. You can add a little fresh lime zest to the top, I did! This cake will be the talk of your party, a little sweet, a little spicy and a lot of fun!

I’d love to hear your comments. If you made this recipe, let me know how it turned out by commenting below.

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Mango Chili-Lime Cake

Inspired by my favorite Mexican candy, this yellow cake is topped with sweet mango glaze and dusted with spicy chili-lime.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Dessert
Keyword bundt cake, mexican cake, spring dessert
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings 12

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 15.25 oz. box yellow cake mix with butter
  • 1 tsp Tajin chili-lime seasoning Mexican seasoning

Mango Glaze

  • 1 cup mango nectar Found in a can in juice isle
  • 2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp corn starch
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 1 cup whipped cream

Seasoned Topping

  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp Tajin chili-lime seasoning Mexican seasoning
  • 1 tsp lime zest

Instructions

Cake

  • Butter a bundt pan. Prepare cake mix according to directions on package, adding 1 tsp. Tajin chili-lime seasoning to batter.  Bake as directed for a bundt pan, usually about 45 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes, then immediately invert onto a plate to ensure the cake comes out of the bundt pan easily.

Mango Glaze

  • In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine mango nectar and powdered sugar.  Stir in heavy cream.  
  • In a small bowl, combine corn starch and cold water.
  • Stir cornstarch slurry into the mango sauce.  Bring to a simmer until thickened.  Remove from heat and fold in whipped cream.  Set aside to cool.

Topping the Cake

  • After both the cake and the mango glaze have cooled, using a fork, carefully poke holes in the top and sides of cake.  Slowly pour the mango glaze over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides.
  • In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cayenne and Tajin seasoning.  Sprinkle evenly over the top  of the cake.  Finish with a sprinkle of fresh lime zest.