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Make it at Home: Coconut Sorbet

In celebration of our newest Fall in Love promotion with AMResorts, we want to celebrate our love of coconuts on our blog today.  But first, don’t miss out on this great promotion which starts today!

Book your stay with Now Resorts & Spas TODAY!

Book your stay with Now Resorts & Spas TODAY!

While you are getting ready for your next Unlimited-Luxury® vacation at Now Resorts & Spas, try making Coconut Sorbet at home! It’s super delicious and it will whisk you off to a tropical island!

Coconut Sorbet

Ingredients:

2 14.5-ounce cans coconut milk
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla bean vanilla extract
Dash of salt
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes, lightly packed

Directions:

In a large heavy-bottom pot, whisk together coconut milk, honey, and salt over medium-low heat until honey melts and incorporates into the milk. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.  Chill the coconut mixture in a large mixing bowl for approximately one hour– until well chilled.

Chop the coconut flakes into small pieces and whisk into the chilled coconut milk.

Freeze mixture in ice cream maker, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to a plastic airtight container and freeze for 2-3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

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Make it at Home: Mexican Coffee

We have two Now Resorts & Spas in Mexico and we like to offer our guests an authentic Mexican experience when they visit Riviera Cancun.  We also like to share with our friends at home some of our traditions and offer you the opportunity to “Make it at Home.”

Today’s featured recipe is perfect for a cold evening at home or great to serve to guests at your next holiday party!

Make it at Home: Mexican Coffee

Ingredients

  • 4 scoops of ground coffee beans, Columbian or other variety – a coffee scoop is equivalent to a rounded tablespoon
  • 1 scoop (rounded tablespoon) cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon – eyeball it, plus a sprinkle for garnish
  • 4 jiggers (1 ounce shots) coffee liqueur (recommended: Kahlua)
  • 1 canister whipped cream with spray top

Directions

Place coffee, cocoa and cinnamon in a filter for coffee brewing. Make 4 cups of brewed mocha-cinnamon coffee. Pour a shot of coffee liquor in the bottom of a coffee mug. Pour in a serving of brewed mocha-cinnamon Mexican coffee. Top off the mug with a generous swirl of whipped cream and garnish with another sprinkle of cinnamon. Repeat for desired number of mugfuls!

Mexican Coffee

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Make it at Home: Delicious Fajitas

Who doesn’t love fajitas? In our mind, they’re the perfect lunch or dinner and we’re sure many of our guests at Now Resorts & Spas would agree. In fact, these yummy tortilla creations are a fan favorite among our younger visitors–they love that they can make the tortillas themselves!

If you’re not visiting us soon, but looking for a delicious meal to serve your family, here’s the recipe for chicken or steak fajitas. Enjoy!

Delicious Fajitas 

Ingredients

3/4 lb top sirloin steak or chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 garlic clove, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 flour tortillas (8 inch/20 cm)

1 – 2 onions

2 small sweet peppers (green, red, or yellow)

Toppings

Salsa

Sour Cream

Shredded Cheese

Chopped Tomato

Directions

Slice steak or chicken into thin strips

In a bowl, mix together 1 tablespoons olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, hot pepper flakes, black pepper and salt

Add beef or chicken strips and stir to coat then set aside

Wrap tortillas in foil and place in 350° oven for 5-10 minutes

Cut onions and peppers into strips

In a large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat, heat remaining tablespoons of olive oil

Add onions and peppers stirring until softened; transfer to a bowl and set aside

Add beef or chicken to skillet, stirring until cooked

Return onions and peppers to skillet; stir for about one minute

To serve, put chicken/steak, peppers, onions and toppings on the table and let guests make their own tortillas!

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Cinco de Mayo at Home: Fajitas & Margaritas

We are so excited to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Now Resorts next week! We will be partying the night away with traditional Mexican food such as tacos, chips & guacamole, enchiladas and fajitas, and enjoying delicious Mexican cocktails and beers such as margaritas, mojitos and Coronas. Even if you’re not visiting us at the resort for this fun-filled holiday, there’s no reason you can’t celebrate at home.

Here are the recipes for Fajitas and a Mango Margarita, which are simple enough to make and sure to create quite the Cinco de May party in your own household!

Fajitas

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil
3 boneless chicken breast halves, cut in thin strips
1 medium onion, cut in wedges
2 cloves garlic
4 mild green or red chile peppers, seeded and sliced
1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and cut in strips
1 green bell pepper, seeded/cut in strips
1 zucchini, trimmed, cut in strips
8 flour tortilla, warmed
1/2 cup sour cream
guacamole
1 bunch green onions, trimmed, sliced

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet; cook the chicken strips over high heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, or until cooked. Drain and serve.

Add the onion, garlic and chile peppers to the oil in the pan and sauté over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers and zucchini; cook over high heat for 4 minutes, or until the vegetables have begun to have a blackened look around the edges.

Return the chicken to the pan and heat until sizzling hot. Serve right away, with warm tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, sliced green onions, and chopped tomatoes. Serve with hot cooked rice and refried beans, if desired.

Mango Margarita

Ingredients:

1 shot (45 mL) of tequila
1/2 shot (22.5 mL) of triple sec
1 mango
few drops of simple syrup
1 tablespoon (11.25 mL) of lemon juice
2 handfuls or a cup of ice cubes

Cut the mango into slices and puree the pieces in a blender or food processor with a few drops of simple syrup. Blend the tequila, triple sec, mango puree, lemon juice, and ice cubes together. Blend until everything is smooth and the ice cubes are all blended within the drink. You will know when Pour the margarita mixture into individual glasses. Garnish the cups with your favorite tropical fruit, for example pineapples. Serve and enjoy.

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Enjoy a Gourmet Meal at Home: Rack of Lamb

Do you love the food at Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun? Well, here is your chance to make one of our gourmet meals at home. Even we admit that it may not be the same as being served by our wonderful staff while sipping on a specialty drink at our resort, but it’s still fun to experiment in the kitchen with a new recipe every now and then. Here’s the recipe for our delicious Rack of Lamb at Paramour Restaurant, which features French cuisine. Why not give it a try and create your own romantic dinner at home?

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE LAMB:

  • 2 racks of lamb (6-8 chops per rack,) fat removed and frenched
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • 2 medium shallots, minced
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary , minced
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (canned)
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
  • Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:
FOR THE LAMB:

  • Heat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and place roasting pan on oven rack.
  • Season lamb with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat.
  • Place racks of lamb in skillet, meat-side down in the center of the pan, with ribs facing outwards; cook until well-browned and nice crust has formed on surface, about 4 minutes.
  • Using tongs, stand racks up in skillet, leaning them against each other to brown the bottoms; cook until bottom sides have browned, about 2 minutes longer.
  • Transfer lamb to preheated roasting pan. (Begin pan sauce.)
  • Roast about 12 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the rack or until a meat
  • thermometer reads about 130 degrees.
  • Remove lamb from oven and cover loosely with foil and let rest about 10 minutes.
  • Carve into individual serving sizes, and serve immediately with sauce.

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • Using the same skillet used to brown the lamb, reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons of remaining liquid.
  • Place skillet over medium heat.
  • Sauté shallots until softened, about 1 minute.
  • Add red wine and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and simmer until dark and syrupy, about 7 minutes.
  • Add chicken broth; simmer until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes longer.
  • Turn off the heat, swirl in butter; season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with lamb.

Enjoy!