Ingredient of the Week: Coconut Oil

I LOVE coconut but always shied away from anything that contained coconut oil.

A saturated fat, coconut oil was considered an artery-clogger most commonly encountered on theatre popcorn.  Recently, however, coconut oil has become a health food favorite pet.

Just make sure that coconut oil is virgin or NOT partially hydrogenated.  It is the hydrogenation that creates trans fats.  Coconut oil is solid at room temperature and usually needs to be heated or melted for use in cooking.  For more information click here for the recent NY Times article.

Coconut oil is a wonderful baking ingredient.  It makes flaky pastries and whips for frosting making it a great butter substitute for vegans.  The oil imparts a slight coconut flavor.  I tried the Coconut Oil Poundcake with Almonds and Lime Zest recipe that was in the NY Times article.

The cake was moist with a dense crumb.  The coconut flavor was very slight with more of the lime and nutmeg flavor coming through.  This is a nice "tea" cake and I would definitely make this cake again.  I will also try using coconut oil in other favorite recipes.

NYTimes photo

Not just for baking, this shrimp stir-fry is made with coconut oil.

NYTimes photo

I can't wait to try these Coconut Oil Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Tightline

If you've been following Spiral Style for a while, you know I am a big fan of 

Laura Mercier cosmetics.

I especially like the Tightline eyeliner and brush.

This product is virtually waterproof so no raccoon eyes.  As the name state, you can get a "tight line" of color pigment very close to your lashes. 

Tightline Activator is a new product.  This fluid, when mixed with the cake liner, forms a smooth paste for an even application.  I  just started using this product and I highly recommend it.  

Trench Coats

HAPPY MONDAY dear Spiral Style readers.  Hope you are rested and relaxed and ready for a new week.  We had lots of rain in the past few days and I was thinking about trench coats.  A "trench" is a real workhorse in your coat wardrobe and a great investment.  

TRENCH COATS  (can you pick out the Burberry's?)

When I think Trench Coat, I think double breasted, lapels, belted, epaulets, tabs, and flaps.  I also think Burberry.  It was Thomas Burberry who developed a water-proof fabric, used for a military coat during the Boer War.  After the war, civilians started wearing the coat, know as a trench coat...and the rest is history.    

Trench with Contrast Belt

I have two trench coats that I'm tired of and I may try a contrast belt for a new look.

Three-Quarter Length Trench at Nordstrom

I'm not a very big person and I look overwhelmed in a double-breasted coat with lots of other things going on.  This coat may be perfect for me.

What is your trench style?

Meatless Monday Menu

Sweet Potato, Chipotle and Apple Soup 

Popovers

Ready for "le week-end"

I'm ready for the weekend.  There is still snow on the ground and plenty of nasty weather in store.  I have been doing some knitting.

I finished this scarf last weekend and I've been wearing it this week while walking the dog, going to the gym and just running errands.  It is nice and warm.

I like the idea of "hand work" as my grandmother used to call knitting, crochet, embroidery.  A scarf is so easy to pick up whenever you have a minute.  Not an involved pattern as for a sweater. 

I like this stitch.  It has a textured ribbed effect.  

Yarn is on sale right now so stock up if you knit and begin a project.  

I don't have big weekend plans.  How about you?

See  you Monday.

The Lifestyle Maven

A few months ago I started following the blog, lifestyle maven.

Blog author, Cailen Asher, is an interior designer, lifestyle designer and book author.  Her engaging blog offers video tutorials on mixing drinks, date-night ideas, recipes as well as decorating ideas and self improvement tips.  

My favorite recipe from lifestyle maven...

is these egg cups which have become our new favorite weekend breakfast meal.

lifestyle maven is having a giveaway this week.  Since I am the first sponsor of the blog, Cailen is sponsoring a giveaway of a pair of my earrings.

If you'd like a chance to win a pair of these earrings, click here to check out lifestyle maven and enter to win.  Bonne chance!

Flavor of the Week: Cumin

Cumin, an ancient spice, is the seed of a plant in the parsley family.  This aromatic is especially popular in Eastern, Asian, Mediterranean, and Southwest cooking.  It is an important ingredient in curry and chili powders.  

Cumin: roasted, normal ground, seeds

Next to salt and pepper, I probably go through cumin faster than any other spice.  I love the flavor.  It works well with corn, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, winter squash, carrots, seafood, beef, chicken, chili.  

Another fan of cumin is the legendary Joel Robuchon, french chef extraordinaire.  In the March 2011 issue of Food & Wine, Robuchon claims cumin to be his favorite ingredient saying, "One should eat cumin every day!" 

 This is how I ate cumin today.

Grilled spice-rubbed salmon with corn salsa

Cumin, coriander, mustard and peppercorns

These whole seeds were toasted until aromatic and then crushed.  Mixed with a bit of brown sugar, the mixture was rubbed into the salmon and allowed to rest for 1 hour prior to grilling.

I embellished the corn salsa with the additions of black beans and red pepper to make this a side dish.  I vary this idea with green beans, various peppers and other seasonal ingredients throughout the year.  It is one of our favorite veggie dishes.  Click here for the recipes.

I found an article in the Wall Street Journal where Joel Robuchon talks about his discovery of cumin.

Moroccan cooking, Mr. Robuchon says, "should be part of the best cooking in the world...Morocco made me discover spices (like cumin and coriander) that I never appreciated before."  The chef says he never ate cumin because it smelled like wood or "smashed insects." But five or six years ago, he ate zaalouk, a dish of eggplant, tomato, lemon confit, coriander and cumin, and realized the combination made the flavors "explode in the mouth." He was against using spices in cooking "for a very long time" but, he says, "in one second I discovered what cooking with spices was all about."

Are you a fan of cumin?

How do you use the spice?  

Silver Post Earrings

I just added some new earrings to my Etsy shop.  All of these earrings are on a post.

Twisted Double Link Earrings $28

Hammered Triple Link Earrings  $28

Hammered Ring on a Post  $28

Hammered Silver Ring and Disc Earrings  $28